BOURKE. ] TASKS OF THE MEDICINE-MEN. 461 
in our schools has as yet exercised an influence in eradicating this sen- 
timent. 
Strange to say, 1 was unable to find any observance of lucky or 
unlucky days among the Apache. The Romans in the period of their 
greatest enlightenment had their days, both “fasti” and “ nefasti.” 
Neither was I able to determine the selection of auspicious days for 
marriage; indeed, it was stated that the medicine-men had nothing to 
do with marriage. Among the Zapotecs the wedding day was fixed 
by the priests. In this the Apache again stands above the Roman who 
would not marry in the month dedicated to the goddess Maia (May), 
because human sacrifice used to be offered in that month. This super- 
stition survived in Europe until a comparatively recent period. Accord- 
ing to Picart the Hebrew rabbis designated the days upon which 
weddings should take place. 
Herbert Spencer? says that the medicine-men of the Arawaks claimed 
the “jus prime noctis.” There is no such privilege claimed or conceded 
among the North American tribes, to my knowledge, and the Arawaks 
would seem to be alone among the natives of the whole continent in 
this respect. 
In the town of Cumanaé, in Amaracapanna, apparently close to 
Carthagena, in the present republic of Colombia, South America, the 
medicine-men, according to Girolamo Benzoni, exercised the ‘jus 
prime noctis.”® 
To recover stolen or lost property, especially ponies, is one of the 
principal tasks imposed upon the medicine-men. They rely greatly 
upon the aid of pieces of crystal in effecting this I made a friend of 
an Apache medicine-man by presenting him with a large crystal of den- 
ticulated spar, much larger than the one of whose mystical properties 
he had just been boasting tome. I can not say how this property of 
the erystal is manifested. Na-a-cha, the medicine-man alluded to, could 
give no explanation, except that by looking into it he could see every- 
thing he wanted to see. 
The name of an American Indian is a sacred thing, not to be divulged 
by the owner himself without due consideration. One may ask a 
warrior of any tribe to give his name and the question will be met with 
either a point-blank refusal or the more diplomatic evasion that he ean 
not understand what is wanted of him. The moment a friend ap- 
proaches, the warrior first interrogated will whisper what is wanted, 
and the friend can tell the name, receiving a reciprocation of the cour- 
tesy from the other. The giving of names to children is a solemn mat- 
ter, and one in which the medicine-men should always be consulted. 
Among the Plains tribes the children were formerly named at the 
moment of piercing their ears, which should oceur at the first sun 
dance after their birth, or rather as near their first year as possible. 
' Dorman, Primitive Superstitions, p. 380, quoting Herrera, dec. 3, p. 262. 
? Descriptive Sociology. 
3 Admiral Smyth's translation in Hakluyt Society, London, 1857, vol. 21, p. 9% 
