All tribes firmly believed that prayer combined with fasting and 
ceremonial purity exercised a powerful influence on the unseen woi’ld, 
particularly if the sup])liant was at the age of adolescence. Almost 
inevitably he would be granted a vision that would bestow on him 
supernormal powers, or give him one or more supernatural protectors. 
The tyj^e of vision varied tribally according to traditional patterns. 
On the plains an Indian would hear a voice, or behold a strange being, 
human or animal, that would promise its help in the crises of life. 
Among the Carriers and other tribes of British Columbia the spirit 
of a dreamer might journey to some distant cavern in the mountains, 
where it woulfl hear the beating of a drum and the noise of singing. 
Whatever variations the visions might tlisplay, their purpose was the 
same everywhei’e; they provided a means whereby man could divert 
to his own use some of the mysterious forces around him, and prevail 
against the difficulties of his environment. So, throughout nearly the 
wliole of Canada, boys, and sometimes girls, passed days and even 
months in partial solitude, striving under the direction of parents and 
relatives to obtain a guardian spirit. Such experiences always aroused 
feelings of the deepest awe, and few Indians dared to reveal their 
visions afterwards from fear of offending the sjiiritual world and for- 
feiting its blessings. Very typical, however, is the following descrip- 
tion given by an early missionaiy among the Hurons. 
A certain man who urged us to baptize him, had, when but 
fifteen or sixteen years of age, retired into the desert to prepare him- 
self by fasting for the ajiparition of some demon. After having fasted 
sixteen days without eating anything, and drinking water only, he 
suddenly heard this utterance, that came from the sky: ‘Take care 
of this man aiul let him end his fast.’ At the same time, he saw an 
aged man of rare beauty who came down from the sky, approached 
him, and, looking kindly at him, said: ‘ Have courage, I will take care 
of thy life. It is a fortunate thing for tliee, to have taken me for thy 
master. None of the demons, who haunt these countries, shall have 
any power to harm thee. One day thou wilt see thy hair as white 
as mine. Thou wilt have four children; the first two and the last will 
be males, and the third will be a girl; after that, thy wife will hold 
the relation of a sister to thee.’ As he concluded these words, he held 
out to him a piece of human flesh, quite raw. The youth in horror 
turned away his head. ‘ Eat this,’ said the old man, presenting him 
