406 



SACRIFICE 



[b. a. e. 



ject desired by the person sacrificing. 

 Thus the Hupa offer dry incense root 

 upon a rock, near which dwells a being 

 supposed to have control of the weather, 

 when they desire the rains to cease, but 

 incense root mixed with water when 

 they wish the frosts to melt and disap- 

 pear. In the same way Alaskan Eskimo, 

 when animals of a certain species are 

 scarce, offer the skin of such an animal 

 to the moon in order that the being who 

 resides there may send them more. 



Sacrifices to rocks, rapids, eddies, and 

 other natural features were usually made 

 every time a person passed them, and of- 

 ferings at meals and feasts were of course 

 governed by the time these occurred, the 

 latter being often held as the result of a 

 dream or a vow. The white dog feast of 

 the Iroquois was celebrated five days af- 

 ter the first appearance of the new moon 

 following the winter solstice. The har- 

 vest feast of the Southern tribes and the 

 corn-planting sacrifice of the Quapaw 

 were in the same way dependent on the 

 succession of the seasons, as was the 

 Ntlakyapamuk sacrifice of the first ber- 

 ries of the season. Sacrifices to the 

 thunder-beings were naturally most com- 

 mon during thunderstorms, and periods 

 of want, war, or disease determined oth- 

 ers. The Pawnee and the Creeks sacri- 

 ficed part or sometimes the whole of the 

 first buffalo or deer killed during both 

 their summer and winter hunts. The 

 first buffalo killed by a young Pawnee 

 boy was also offered, and a special offer- 

 ing was made in this tribe when the first 

 thunder was heard in the spring and it 

 was known that winter was over. The 

 Skidi Pawnee made their human sacri- 

 fice "about corn-planting time," but it 

 was not annual. According to Gushing 

 there was annually among the Zuni a 

 grand sacrifice of prayer-sticks by the 

 "Prey Brotherhood Priesthood of the 

 medical societies," and at the full moon 

 of each month lesser sacrifices of the 

 same kind by the male members of the 

 Prey clans. 



The objects for which sacrifices were 

 made were as numerous and varied as 

 the desires of the suppliants. The sum 

 and substance of all was, as usual, to 

 escape evils and secure benefits. Natu- 

 rally enough, considering the economic 

 conditions among Indian tribes, food was 

 asked for most frequently. Second only 

 to this came freedom from illness. Other 

 petitions were for good weather, the ces- 

 sation of storms, a calm sea, rain, good 

 crops of corn, increase of courage and 

 success in war, hunting, or fishing, assis- 

 tance in passing rapids or dangerous reefs, 

 and the preservation of the home and 

 the family. A full consideration of this 

 question, however, conies rather under 

 the head of Prayer (q. v.). 



As on mythology and prayer, a dis- 

 cussion of sacrifice borders closely also 

 on mortuary customs, the shades of the 

 dead being invoked and presented with 

 food, clothing, etc. , much as in the case 

 of higher powers. There are many cases 

 in which supernatural beings are said to 

 have been men originally, but a real wor- 

 ship of ancestors as such appears to be 

 altogether absent in spite of the almost 

 divine honors which were paid dead 

 chiefs among the Natchez. In dealing 

 with tobacco we touch on the subject 

 of incense, which may be defined as a 

 sacrifice to please the sense of smell of 

 the deity just as food pleases his palate, 

 and songs, dances, and ceremonies please 

 his ears and eyes. On another side we ap- 

 proach the question of taboos, which are 

 nothing more or less than prohibitions 

 against doing certain things displeasing 

 to the gods; and we find ourselves even 

 concerned with confession, since among 

 the Eskimo confession of the transgres- 

 sion of a taboo secures immunity from 

 its harmful consequences. Consecration 

 confronts us in the Natchez custom of 

 presenting seed to the temple before plant- 

 ing, and atonement is suggested by the 

 case of the Iroquois, who, having dreamed 

 that he had been captured and burned at 

 the stake, assisted by his friends went 

 through a mimic representation of burn- 

 ing at the stake, but substituted a dog 

 for his own person. Finally, from the 

 sacrifice, prayer, feast, dance, and cere- 

 mony designed to please, placate, and 

 secure the interest of supernatural beings, 

 we find ourselves passing over into the 

 charms, magic formula?, and observances 

 by which it is believed that his power 

 can be compelled almost independently 

 of his own volition. Such a transition is 

 indicated by the Lillooet belief that cold 

 weather, snow, or rain may be brought 

 on by burning the skin of an animal 

 having control over it. 



One of the best discussions of sacrifice 

 among lower races generally is given by 

 Tylor (Primitive Culture, ii, 375-410). 

 Material regarding American tribes in 

 particular must be gathered from a large 

 number of works, of which the following 

 are a few: Reports of the Bureau of Amer- 

 ican Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution, 

 and National Museum; Contributions to 

 North American Ethnology, ix; Memoirs 

 and Bulletins of the American Museum 

 of Natural History; University of Cali- 

 fornia Publications in American Archae- 

 ology and Ethnology; Reports of the Pea- 

 body Museum of Harvard University; 

 American Anthropologist (old and new 

 series) ; Journal of American Folk-lore; 

 Reports of the Committee of the British 

 Association for the Advancement of 

 Science to investigate the Northwestern 

 Tribes of Canada, and Reports of the 



