966 



WITHLACOOCHEE WITHLAKO 



[B. A. E. 



same custom was recorded by Alexander 

 Henry among the Chippewa, except that 

 the figure was outUned in sand, ashes, or 

 clay. The Kwakiutl wizard stuffed articles 

 obtained from his victim into the mouth, 

 nose and ears of a corpse, or in a more 

 elaborate form of bewitching, called 

 e^k''a, into human bones and skulls. 

 Dawson's description of this particular 

 form is as follows: 



"An endeavor is first made to procure 

 a lock of hair, some saliva, a piece of the 

 sleeve and of the neck of the dress, or of 

 the rim of the hat or headdress which has 

 absorbed the perspiration of the person 

 to be bewitched. These are placed with 

 a small piece of the skin and flesh of a 

 dead man, dried and roasted before the 

 fire, and rubbed and pounded together. 

 The mixture is then tied up in a piece of 

 skin or cloth, which is covered over with 

 spruce gum. The little package is next 

 placed in a human bone, which is broken 

 for the purpose, and afterwards carefully 

 tied together and put within a human 

 skull. This again is placed in a box, 

 which is tied up and gummed over and 

 then buried in the ground in such a way 

 as to be barely covered. A fire is next 

 built nearly, but not exactly, on the top 

 of the box, so as to warm the whole. 

 Then the evilly disposed man, beating 

 his head against a tree, names and de- 

 nounces his enemy. This is done at night 

 or in the early morning and in secret, 

 and is frequently repeated till the enemy 

 dies. The actor must not smile or laugh, 

 and must talk as little as possible till the 

 spell has worked. If a man has reason to 

 suppose that he is being practiced on in 

 this way, he or his friends must endeavor 

 to find the deposit and carefully unearth 

 it. Rough handling of the box may 

 prove immediately fatal. It is then cau- 

 tiously unwrapped and the contents are 

 thrown into the sea. If the evilly dis- 

 posed person was discovered, he was in 

 former years immediately killed. If, after 

 making up the little package of relics as 

 above noted, it is put into a frog, the 

 mouth of which is tied up before it is re- 

 leased, a peculiar sickness is produced, 

 which causes the abdomen of the person 

 against whom the sorcery is directed to 

 swell." 



Breaking the spell by separating the 

 articles employed to effect it and throw- 

 ing them into "the sea was common to the 

 Tlingit, and probably other tribes on the 

 N. Pacific coast as well. There was a 

 special set of persons among the Kwa- 

 kiutl whose business was to undo the 

 wizard's work. These went through the 

 same ceremonies as the wizard himself, 

 but ended by putting everything into the 

 fire. This, therefore, was a sort of puri- 

 fication by fire. 



Probably the most common method of 

 bewitching was to inject a spearpoint, 

 arrowpoint, piece of bone, or similar ob- 

 ject into the body, either by symbolic 

 propulsion or by exerting mental energy. 

 Thus the Ntlakyapamuk shaman shot the 

 nasal bones of the deer into a person by 

 means of his guardian spirits or his 

 thoughts. A shaman might also draw 

 out the soul from a person and send a spirit 

 of a snake or other animal into him that 

 would prevent him from killing animals. 

 Wizards were often supposed to be able 

 to assume the forms of animals them- 

 selves, and other remarkable feats were 

 attributed to them. 



Taking the North American peoples as a 

 whole, no crime seems to have been more 

 quickly or more severely punished than 

 witchcraft, mere suspicion being often 

 equivalent to conviction and execution, al- 

 though bloodshed might follow if the vic- 

 tim's family were strong. The Tsimshian 

 suspected of witchcraft was tied up and 

 starved until he confessed, when he was 

 driven into the sea in order to expel the evil 

 spirit. If he refused to confess, he was 

 starved to death or exposed on the beach 

 at low tide until the water rose over him. 

 The Tlingit wizard was starved for some 

 time, but liberated finally if he refused 

 to confess. In the alternative case all 

 that was done was to force him to take 

 the bundle through which he had oper- 

 ated and scatter it in the ocean. Among 

 the Haida witchcraft was supposed to be 

 due to mice which had got inside of a 

 person's body, and if these could be ex- 

 pelled he might be restored to his right 

 mind. There were said to be as many 

 as ten of these mice sometimes, one of 

 which (the last to leave) was a white one. 

 The charge of witchcraft was not only 

 brought against individuals but entire 

 towns and tribes, and in the S. W. the 

 people of the Hopi pueblo of Awatobi 

 were destroyed on this ground. As an 

 illustration of its influence on religious 

 rites it may be stated that the Powamu 

 ceremony of the Hopi was undertaken to 

 relieve the land from the bewitchment of 

 winter. See Oyaron. (j. R. s. ) 



Withlacoochee (^Wi-lak-uchi, 'little Wi- 

 lako' [Withlako], i. e. 'little great 

 water'). A former Seminole town on 

 Withlacoochee r., probably in Citrus or 

 Sumter co., Fla. 



Weecockcogee. — McKenney and Hall, Ind. Tribes, 

 11, 72, 1854. 



Withlacoocheetalof a {tal of a = ' town ' ) . 

 A former Seminole town between St Marks 

 and Ocklocknee rs., probably in Wakulla 

 CO., Fla. 



Wethoecuchsrtalofa. — Bell in Morse, Rep. to Sec. 

 War, 307, 18J2. Wi-'la-ku-tci talofa.— F. G. Speck, 

 inf'n, 1907 (correct form; ic=ch). 



Withlako {lui-lako, 'great water'). A 

 former Seminole village, 4 m. from 



