480 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IV. No. 92. 



prayer, and await the failing of his bodily- 

 strength and the coming of the vision. In 

 this vision he saw familar things under 

 such new conditions that communication 

 with them was possible ; and his belief in 

 the reality of his vision could not but 

 reconcile the animistic idea with the nor- 

 mal evidence of the senses. 



The psychological conditions favorable 

 to a belief in the visions, and the ethical 

 influence of the rite of fasting, in its results 

 upon the individual and upon society, can- 

 not be considered here, but the constructive 

 power exercised by the religious societies, 

 which had their rise in the vision, claims a 

 moment's attention, as pertinent to our 

 subject. 



From the legend already quoted, as well 

 as from customs still existing in these 

 tribes, we learn that men who had had 

 similar visions became afl&liated into groups 

 or societies, and acknowledged a sort of 

 kinship on the basis of like visions. For 

 instance, those who had seen the Bear or 

 the Elk, formed the Bear or the Elk societj^, 

 and those to whom had appeared the Water 

 Creatures or the Thunder Beings, were 

 gathered into similarly defined groups. 

 Within these societies grew up an orderly 

 arrangement or classification of the mem- 

 bership, the institution of initiatory rites, 

 a prescribed ritual and the appointment of 

 officers. 



An important stage in the secular organ- 

 ization of the people was reached when the 

 acceptance of Leaders — ' men who took 

 upon themselves the authority to govern 

 and to preserve order ' — came to pass. It 

 would seem, from the evidence of tradi- 

 tions and rituals, that the establishment of 

 these Leaders, which implied the segrega- 

 tion of the people into groups of followers, 

 was of slow growth and attended with rival- 

 ries and warfare. During this formative 

 period, the early Leaders appear to have 

 used the popular belief in the supernatural 



to strengthen their authority, so that they 

 came to be regarded as specially endowed, 

 and the efficacy of their vision was thought 

 to extend over all their followers. In this 

 way the symbol of the Leader's vision grew 

 to be recognized as sacred to his kindred, 

 and was finally adopted as the sign or totem 

 of a common kinship or clan. This being 

 accomplished, the taboo was instituted as a 

 simple and effectual reminder of the totem 

 of the Leader, and of the mutual obliga- 

 tions and relations of the members of the 

 clan, which were further emphasized by 

 the adoption of a set of names for each clan, 

 all of which referred to its totem. Among 

 the Omahas and Ponkas these names are 

 called ni-ki-a, that is, spoken by a chief. 

 In the ni-ki-a name and the ceremonies 

 attending its bestowal there is a twofold 

 recognition, that of a natural ancestor and 

 that of the supernatural manifestation of this 

 ancestor's vision. We have already seen a 

 similar acknowledgment of a dual source of 

 authority, where, in the rituals, the chiefs 

 and the animals of their visions are both 

 invoked. 



In the clan organization the totem came 

 to be representative preeminently of kin- 

 ship ; and its sign, as we have noted, was 

 placed upon the dead, that they might be 

 recognized by their kindred in the other 

 world, and led directly to their clan. The 

 function of the totem was social, rather 

 than individual ; the Indian depended for 

 his personal supernatural help upon his 

 own special vision, and his clan totem in 

 no way interfered with his entrance into 

 any religious society. 



The resemblance which exists between 

 the rites and rituals of the religious socie- 

 ties, and those which hedge about the office 

 of Chief and Soldier, and Herald, marks 

 the infiuence the societies have exercised 

 upon the development of the tribal struc- 

 ture. 



The control of the Thunder people runs 



