CH. X MYTHOLOGY OF THE MINAHAS8EB8 247 



It is a curious circumstance that whilst in the northern 

 districts the principal deity and her first offspring are re- 

 presented as women, in the southern districts both the 

 Wailan wangko, the great god, and the miraculously formed 

 first human being, Wangi, are both men. 



It should be noted, however, that in the story of Wailan 

 wangko no attempt is made to trace any blood-relationship 

 between him and Wangi, nor between Wangi and Adam and 

 E wa, so that the natives of the southern districts do not trace 

 then- descent from the first gods as they do in the north. 



From this fact, and the undoubted traces of some 

 Christian influence, it seems probable that the story of 

 Wailan wangko has been profoundly modified within com- 

 paratively speaking modern times, that, in fact, some of the 

 teachings of the old Catholic priests have become grafted 

 on to the native myth, and some of the names of the native 

 heroes changed to those of the Hebrew scriptures. 



The religion of the Minahassers was a differentiated 

 form of animism. They believed not only that certain 

 trees, rocks, waterfalls and other objects were possessed of 

 souls, but also in a number of free wandering spiritual forms 

 of various ranks, powers, and capabilities for good or evil. 



There is little reason to doubt that the origin of the 

 religions of savage races may be traced to a form of fetich- 

 ism, a beHef that every natural object with which the 

 savage came into daily contact possessed a soul or fetich. 

 These fetiches were the cause of the growth, the flowering 

 and the fruiting of the trees, the sound of the waterfall, the 

 dangers of the rocks, and the perils of the mountains. It 

 was the belief in them which caused, under certain circum- 

 stances, the tabu of the South-sea islanders, and the same 

 thing occurs in Sangir under the name 'pihh,' and in 

 Minahassa and Bolang Mongondu under the names ' hi ' or 

 ' poton.' 



