INDIANS
559
INDIANS
"father," "sustainer," " revivifier." Miiller maintains that there were numerous subordinate hostUc tleities, who created discord, sickness, death, and every possible form of evil, and tliat in many cases these were reputed to be under the leadership of the moon, which was tlie parciit of misfortune with some, and yet was the chief di- vinity of other of the warlike races, such as the Caribs.
Tlio Manito or Manedo is alleged to have no personal meaning, but to be equivalent to "spirit," or "a spirit," perhaps somewhat akin to our thought of a guardian spirit. Schoolcraft thinks that, so far as a meaning dis- tinct from an invisible existence attaches to it at all, the tendency is to a bad meaning, and that a bad meaning is distinctly conveyed in the inflection osJi or ish (Red Races, p. 214). In considering this belief in manitos it is necessary to remember that the Indian conceives ev- ery department of the universe to be filled with invisi- ble spirits, holding the same relation to matter that the soul docs to the body, and in accordance with which, not only every man, but every animal, has a soul, and is en- dowed with a reasoning faculty. Dreams are a means of direct communication with the spiritual -world, and are gcncrallj^ regarded as the friendly warnings of their personal manitos. No labor or enterprise is undertaken against their indications, whole armies being sometimes turned back by dreams of the officiating priest. Under the guidance of a particular spirit, names are commonly supposed to be bestowed. These jiersonal spirits are invoked to give success in hunting. These manitos are, liowever, of varied ability, and there is a constant fear lest the manito of a neighbor may prove more powerful than one's own.
The mythological personages who are the heroes of Indian tales, and who are in some way associated with the highest good, as set forth above, may be represented by Mk-haho or Blanibozho of the Algonquins, and Qiiet- zalcoatl, the god of the air, the highest deity of the Tol- tecs. The same deity appears with more or less of modification among all the tribes, though under various names. It is Isoheha among the Iroquois, Wasi among the Cherokees, Tamoi with the Caribs, Zanina with the Maj'as, Nemqueteha with the Muyscas, Viraco- cha among the Aymaras, etc. Among them all he ap- pears as the one who taught them agriculture, the art of i)icture-writing, the properties of jilants, and the se- crets of magic; who founded their institutions, estab- lished their religions, and taught them government.
There were presentiments of a better time to come connected with the return of these heroes of their tales, \vhich it is thought had much to do with the sudden colla])se of the great empires of INIcxico and Peru, of the Natchez and the IMaj-as before the Spaniards. Associ- ated in their legends with the return of their gods and the better time was, in most cases, the notion of the coming of a white man of superior strength from the father of the sun.
5. The Soul and afutin-e Xt/'c— The immortality of the human soul is universallj' believed by the North- American Indians.
Among all the tribes smd is equivalent to breath, or the wind. The same person may have more than one sold; some say four, and others even more than this number. Generally, ho^vever, there is some distinction made in these souls. One may remain with the bodj', being attached to its earthly functions, and is absorbed in the elements, while another soul may pass away to the "Ha]ipy Hunting-grounds;" or, in other cases, one may watch the body, one wander about the world, one hover about the village, and another go to the spirit land. According to an author quoted by Mr. Brinton, certain Oregon tribes located a spirit "whenever they could detect a pulsation," the supreme one being in the heart, and which alone would go to the skies at death.
Among all the tribes, from the Arctic region to the tropics, the abode of the departed soul is declared to be where the highest good, i. e. where light comes from, or, iu other words, iii the suii-realm. Hence the soul is
variously said to go at death toAvards the east, or to- wards the west, the place of the coming or departure of the light, or among some northern tril^es, to whom the sun lay in a southern direction, the soul is said to go to- wards the south. It is in this realm of light or sphere of the sun-god that this permanent soul finds its ulti- mate home. " Spirituality is clogged with earthly ac- cidents even in the future world. The soul hungers, and food must be deposited at the grave to sujjply its need. It suffers from cold, and the body must be wrap- ped about with clothes. It is in darkness, and a light must be kindled at the head of the grave. It wanders through ])lains and across streams, subject to the vicis- situdes of this life, in quest of a place of enjoyment. Among some northern tribes a dog was slain on the grave, and there are indications of a like practice hav- ing obtained in INIexico and Peru." In other localities, and where the government was despotic, not only ani- mals, but men, women, and children ivere often sacfi- ficed at the tomb of the " cacique." There are traces of this on the Lower Mississippi. Among the Natchez Indians, when a chief died, " one or several of his wives and his highest officers were knocked on the head, and buried with him." There is the belief among many of them that the soul needs light, particularly for four nights or days after death, as it is either confined in the bod}', or " wandering over a gloomy marsh," or in some other perplexity which prevents its ascending to the skies. The natives of the extreme south, of the Pampas and the Patagonians, suppose the stars to be the souls of the departed.