173 
to appease them, when they have received in their opinion some 
disf^race from them, or believe they have incurred their anger or 
indignation. Here are the ceremonies they employ in these sacri- 
fices. They throw some Tobacco into the fire; and if it is, for 
example, to the Sky that they address themselves, they say, Aron- 
liiate onne aonstaniwas taitenr, ‘ O Sky, liere is what I offer thee 
in sacrifice; have pity on me, assist me.’ If it is to implore health, 
taenguiaens, ‘ Heal me.’ A Cree told Thompson that during the 
great smallpox epidemic of 1781-82 “ what little we could spare we 
offered to the Bad Spirit to let us alone and go to our enemies. To 
the Good Spirit we offered feathers, branches of trees, and sweet 
smelling grass.”- Minor powers received the same attention. In 
every part of the Dominion the Indians made offerings at waterfalls 
and rapids, at passes in the mountains, at trees or rocks that stood 
solitary, at every place that seemed in any way dangerous or uncanny. 
The offering might be only a whiff of tobacco, or a stick added to 
a pile that had already accumulated; but always its purpose was 
the same, to propitiate the supernatural force or being that lurked 
in the vicinity. Special regard w-as paid to the spirits that controlled 
the food sup])ly. The Indians of the Pacific coast held a solemn 
ritual at the arrival of the salmon-run to projiitiate the spirit of the 
salmon, the Eskimo deposited gifts beside every bear carcass, and 
the Montagnais wdien moose were scarce threw^ grease on the fire say- 
ing. “ Make us find something to eat.’'*^ During the great Sun-Dance 
festival on the plains many Indians tortured themselves to win the 
favour of the Sun or Sky-god, and the Iroquoians and neighbouring 
Algonkians sacrificerl wdiite dogs as thank-offerings and to w'ard off 
impending evil. It is notew'orthy, how’ever, that the human sacri- 
fices so common in the higher civilization of the Aztecs of Mexico 
were rare in Canada, and confined to the two regions wdiere the social 
organization was most advanced, the Irocpioian area and the Pacific 
coast. 
Even more important than gifts or sacrifices were the taboos 
observed by the natives that they might give no offence to the super- 
natural powers. The number of taboos w^as almost limitless, and 
they affected every phase of social life. There w^ere prohibitions that 
1 “.lesiiit vol. x, p- 
2 Thompson: Op. cit., p. 337; cf. p. 324. 
^ “Jesuit Ri'Iations,’’ vol, vi, p. 173. Other tribes, o.g, tiie Carrier, followed tlie same practice as 
the Montagnais. 
