THE MUSEUM. 
43 
pie were to have such things treated in that 
way, and also told me the owner’s name. I 
told him the circumstances of my getting it, 
and that I did not intend to do anything wrong. 
He was satisfied of that, but still was afraid. 
As he was related to the owner, who was then 
about twenty-five miles away, I offered to 
leave it with him until the owner’s return, but 
he said that' he did not dare to have it about 
the house. Seeing one or two others, I ex¬ 
plained to them about it, and brought it home. 
One of these told me that when the large beam, 
which was supported by the post, fell, it made 
the spirit very angry, and that it would prob¬ 
ably send some sickness upon the people. 
When the owner returned I talked with 
him about it, and offered to return it, but he 
said no. I then offered to pay for it, but he 
again said no, that if I had gone to him before 
getting it, and he had sold it to me, the In¬ 
dians would have thought it very bad, but as 
it was cut off above ground, it could not be 
put together; it was done, and could not be 
helped, and he appeared good-natured. I, 
however, gave him a sack of flour and some 
sugar, as a peace offering, and he has ever 
since been quite friendly to me. About two 
years afterward, there was considerable sick¬ 
ness among the Indians, and some deaths 
among the children, and one Indian hinted.to 
me that I had caused the sickness, by making 
that spirit angry. 
I still keep it. Occasionally the Indians 
speak about it, but their ideas on this subject 
have changed greatly within the last four 
years, and they have, apparently, long since 
ceased to have any anxiety about it. A year 
or two ago, as I was moving it, an Indian 
came along and offered to help me. I asked 
him if he was not afraid of it. He said no, 
and picked up one end and carried it to where 
I wished to place it. 
At another large house, built later than the 
first one, were a number of these posts. The 
house was crushed by a great snow a few years 
ago, and the posts lay scattered on the ground. 
I wished much to get hold of some of them, 
but judging from my first experience, con¬ 
cluded I had better be careful. So at first I 
simply made drawings of them. But two 
years ago, knowing that the ideas of the In¬ 
dians on the subject were changing, I ventured 
to ask the owner, who told me plainly that he 
cared nothing about them, and that I might 
go and get them if I wished. So I obtained 
four, which are about eight feet long, and at 
the same time I knew that an Indian cut up 
one of the sacred beams for rails. 
The principle of idolatry was in all this su¬ 
perstition ; but still the sticks were of such a 
shape that they could not properly be called 
idols. I had been here four years before I 
saw what could be called by this name, and 
have never seen but this one. As I visited 
them at one of their religious gatherings, in 
1878, I saw Figure'4. It was about four feet 
long, roughly carved, with the face 
and body of a man, but with no 
legs or feet, the lower part being 
set into the ground, and around 
this they performed their incanta¬ 
tions. The eyes were silver quar¬ 
ter dollars nailed to it, and at the 
time it had no clothes on, except 
a neck-tie of red cloth, white cloth, 
and beaten cedar bark. It is said 
to have been made by the father 
of a very old man, and is kept se¬ 
creted in the woods when not 
wanted. I saw it several times 
after they were done with their 
performance, and the Indians 4 ? 
willingly allowed me to make a 
drawing of it. It has since been carried oft 
to the woods again. 
The Indians have the following tradition: 
A long time ago a man made an image of a 
man, into which his guardian spirit entered, 
and over which it had considerable power; 
even to make it dance. Two young men, 
however, did not believe this, and made sport 
of it. At one time, when many people were 
assembled in the house where it was, these 
young men were told that if they did not be¬ 
lieve it could dance they might take hold of 
it and hold it still. But when they did so it 
began to dance, and soon, instead of their 
holding it still, it made them dance with it, 
