IXni.WS nr MA.MIATTAX ISL.Wh 11 



'riic lii(li;ni (■hildicn, slioiily .•il'tci' hiit li. wcic t)()Uii(l lo ;i si iff hoard, 

 wliicli s(>rv(Ml as a cradle, and llicic llicy were kcj)! iiiilil llicy wcic ahlc 

 to walk and i"un about . This scrxcd (iKMJouhlc puiposc of su|)|)oil iim 

 tluMT hacks and also of k(M>|)in,n' (luMn oul of mischief. 



The religion of (he Manhallan and theii' nei<i;hh()is was a nature 

 worship, pure and sinipl(>. They believed that there were deities who 

 dw(»lt in the four (piaiters of the compass, that the sun and moon, th(^ 

 thundei' and the winds w{M"e vai'ious supernatural beings. That these 

 were all controlled by a supreme ^od whom they called '' Kickeron," 

 or " Kickerom, " was their conviction. They thought that the earth was 

 popuhited by the descendants of a woman who fell from the sky and who 

 would have been lost in the sea, save that a gigantic tortoise which after- 

 wards became the earth, caught her on his back. They were also in fear 

 of a terrible evil power, a horned snake, to whom they made sacrifices 

 by burying objects in the ground in its name. 



The ^Manhattan and their neighbors also believed in a future exist- 

 ence, placing their Elysian fields in the southwestern skies, where they 

 believed the souls of their dead journeyed. It w^as for this reason that 

 they placed food and implements in their graves with the bodies, so that 

 the wandering soul might lack nothing necessary to its comfort on the 

 trip. 



The religion of the Indians w^as marked by periodic ceremonies, 

 one of which has come down to the present day among the modern rem- 

 nants of the Shinnecock of Long Island and the Mohegan of Connecticut. 

 This is the '^ June Meeting," which was formerly a ceremony held for the 

 green corn. The Delaware in Oklahoma and Canada still perform a 

 number of other annual ceremonies. 



The old writers tell us that each Indian had some such name as 

 ''Buck's Horn," ''Wildcat," or "Rattlesnake," and that when he died it 

 was considered sacrilegious ever to mention his name again. It is also 

 know^n that polygamy was practised by the local Indians. 



The Archaeological Exhibits. 



So much for the ethnology of the Manhattan and their neighbors. 

 Let us now turn to their archaeology as set forth by the specimens on 

 view in the entrance of the Woodland Hall. 



On entering the Eastern Woodland Indian Hall the visitor w^ill find 

 that the first table sections are devoted to an exhibition, as comprehen- 

 sive as possible, showing the life of the natives in prehistoric times by 



