IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 



171 



THE SOCIETY OF THE MEN WHO MOVE SPIRITS « 



" Little Water Medicine " which is called the Indian's elixir of life. Some 

 of the strange habits and superstitions of the doctors. 



(Mrs Converse, the author of this strictly true narrative was in 

 1884 formally adopted into the family of the Seneca chief, Tho-no- 

 so-wa, a descendant of Red Jacket, that she might thus become a 

 great-great -granddaughter of the chieftain whom her father had 

 powerfully befriended. Later she was made a member of the 

 Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, Tuscarora and Mohawk nations. 

 Since writing this story she has been made a chief of the Iroquois 

 League in recognition of her public services for the welfare of the 

 eastern tribes of Indians.) 



The Ne-gar-na-gar-ah 2 Society is known to all the North American 

 Indians. 



Its rites are the same everywhere although the location of tribes 

 and the animal and bird inhabitants of the localities govern some- 

 what the character of the sacred song which is recited at the four 

 yearly conventions. 



It is with the consent of the Iroquois members that I relate 

 some of the ceremonies at my own initiation into this great secret 

 medicine society, to correct false ideas among the " palefaces." 

 Certain vows of silence prevent a complete account. 



The Indians have been accused of conducting the rites of the 

 Ne-gar-na-gar-ah with pagan profanities. This is not true. Amoral 

 and deeply religious spirit prevails. If there be superstition in the 

 legend of the origin of the society, there is none the less undeniable 

 remedial and curative virtue in the " Little Water Medicine " pre- 

 pared by the mystery man especially in the case of gunshot and 

 arrow wounds. 



I had been told the traditionary perils attending the initiation 

 into the society. I had been warned that an evil spirit might take 

 possession of me whereupon I would be transformed into a witch 

 and could assume the form of bird, beast or reptile, just whichever 

 would best serve my plan in carrying out any horrible purpose. 

 Moreover if I were discovered in my practices or if I were even 

 complained of by any outside person I would be secretly poisoned 

 or shot. I might be compelled to join a band of invisible demons 

 who hold secret meetings in the darkness for which the initiation 

 fee is a human life, they to select the victim. I might be con- 



1 From The Republic, St. Louis, Mo., October 16, 1892. 



2 Mrs Converse has spelled the name of the medicine ne-gar-na-gar-ah, conforming to the 

 old form of pronunciation used by the members. 



