250 An Hiflorical Journal of 



But befides the firft Being, or the Great Spirit, and the oxhcf 

 Gods which are confounded with him, they have an infinite 

 Number of Genii, or Subaltern Spirits, good and evil, which 

 have their particular Worfliip. 



The Iroquois place Atahentfic at the Head of the evil Spirits^ 

 Of the Good anà niake Joujkeka the Chief of the Good^ 



1 r ^ " They even confound him fometimes with 



tmli^enii. ^j^^ ^j^^ expelled his Grandmother 



from Heaven, for fufFering herfelf to be feduced by a Man. 

 They addrefs themfelves to the evil Genii, only to beg that they 

 would do them no Harm; but they fuppofe that the others watch 

 over Men for their Good, and that every Man has his own Genius. 

 In the Huron Language they call them Okkis, and in the Algon^ 

 ^uitiy Manitous. They have Recourfe to them when they are 

 m any Danger, when they go on any Enterprize, and when they 

 would obtain fome extraordinary Favour. They think they may 

 alk any Thing of them, however unreafonable it may be, or 

 however contrary even to good Behaviour and Honefty. But 

 Children, they fuppofe are not born under their Proteflion. 

 They muft firft know how to handle a Bow and Arrows, to merit 

 this Favour. There muft alfo be fome Preparations to receive it. 

 This is the mofl important Affair of Life. Thefe are its prin^ 

 cipal Ceremonies : 



They begin by blacking the Face of the Child ; then it mult 

 The necp.ffar eight Days, without having the 



e necp^ar^ leall Nourilhment ; and during this Time his 

 repara tons 0 - Guardian Genius muft appear to him 



tain a Guardian Dreams. The empty Brain of a poor 



Child, juft entering on the firft Stage of Youth, 

 can't fail of furnifhing him with Dreams ; and every Morning 

 they take great Care to make him relate them. However, the 

 Falling often ends before the Time appointed, as few Children 

 have Strength to bear it fo long ; but that creates no Difficulty. 

 They are acquainted here, as in other Places, with the conveni- 

 ent Ufeof Difpenfations. The Thing which the Child dreams 

 of moft frequently, is fuppofed to be his Genius ; but no doubt 

 this Thing was conlidered at firft only as a Symbol, or Shape 

 under which the Spirit manifefts himfelf : But the fame has hap- 

 pened to thefe People, as to all thofe who have erred from the 

 primitive Religion : They have attached themfelves to the Re- 

 prefentation, and have loft Sight of the Reality. 



Ncverthelefs, thefe Symbols fignify nothing of themfelves : 

 Sometimes it is the Head of a Bird, fometimes the Foot of an 

 Animal, or a Piece of Wood : In a Word, the moft ordinary 

 Things, and the leaft valued. They preferve them, however, 

 with a^HiuchCare as the Antients did thejr FmaUs. There is 



even 



