OF THE ODAHWAH INDIANS. 121 



in sacred history. Here I would take the liberty to remark that, his- 

 ' torians seem to think that the old legends of a nation, however fanci- 

 ful and absurd they may appear to us, are by no means devoid of truth 

 and that we ought not to throw them aside as useless fictions, without 

 examining them closely first, to see if we cannot discover some histori- 

 cal truth therein, as it is only by means of traditions and legends that 

 the early history of a nation can be divined. 



Notwithstanding the belief of the Indians of America in the exist- 

 ence of many gods, they acknowledge but one Supreme Being. They 

 believe this Supreme God to be all powerful, all knomng, infinitely 

 perfect and invisible. So far as it is possible to ascertain by verbal 

 information as furnished by the Indians themselves in this part of 

 America, this Supreme Being was never represented under any corpo- 

 real figure. The idea that he was subject to any imperfection appears 

 never to have entered into their heads ; and He was supposed to pre- 

 side over the whole world, nothing escaping his eye. From this it is 

 evident that their notion of the Supreme Being was far superior to 

 that of the ancient Romans and Greeks, respecting their Jupiter and 

 Zeus, whom their poets did , not hesitate to represent as beings subject 

 to all the passions and frailties of hum.an nature. 



It is true that the Indians sometimes introduced the name of the 

 Lord of the Universe into their war songs. They did so, not with 

 levity, but in a solemn manner and in token of their submission to 

 His will, v/hatever might happen to them in the warlike enterprise in 

 which they were about to engage. 



I think they had a pretty correct idea of the doctrine of Omnipres- 

 ence, for they were careful to impress upon the minds of their children 

 that the Great Spirit was above their heads, watching over them con- 

 tinually; and in order to have them properly instructed in their duties 

 towards their parents and neighbors, a certain number of discreet aged 

 people were selected to exhort the children in the evening. To the 

 residences of these instructors the children repaired after their work 

 was done, where they received good counsel and caution against doing 

 evil. They were made to imderstand that however careful they might 

 be to avoid suspicion or detection when doing injury to a neighbor, the 

 Great Spirit would see all their actions, who was always near them. 

 That if they incurred his displeasure, they had no right to expect any 

 favors from him, as He withheld his good gifts from those who took 

 delight in creating discord by calumny, and in tormenting others by 

 means of jugglery and poisonous weeds. That they were to respect 

 and obey their parents, that they might put to shame the evil spirit 



