USA > Michigan > A history of the northern peninsula of Michigan and its people, its mining, lumber and agricultural industries, Volume I > Part 6
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spirit world are beyond ordinary credence; they believe in a soul of the universe (Gezhia or Gitche Manito) who dwelt in the sky; a great and good spirit that made the world and ruled the sky and earth. They also believed in an evil spirit (Matche Manito), typified by the serpent, equally powerful with the good, who sought constantly to undo his benevolent work. The "evil one" lived in the solid earth and might be propitiated by gifts, especially libations. This belief in the duality of spirits of every degree was universal.
The Indians had no word for "God;" Manito and Oki merely meant anything endowed with supernatural powers. They believed every man might become possessed of a personal Manito, inferior however, to the Great Merciful Spirit. The control of this was obtained by fasting and prayer. The training of Indian children includes fasting at the transi- tion period; when a boy was about sixteen he smeared his face with white clay, seated himself upon some exposed rock or point, and con- stantly called upon his Manito to make him a great warrior. After four or five days of fasting some beast or bird would appear to his hunger- crazed mind, and this would be adopted at once as his "medicine." Some portion of the object that thus appeared must always be carried upon his person to keep him in touch with his Manito and insure success. This suggests the fasting and vigils of the candidates for knighthood of medieval Europe. Girls, when fasting, retired to the depths of the forest and prayed for power to become medicine women. There are records of many women, famous for their gifts of second sight and other necromantic powers. The Indians did not understand the elements, so they deified them, as well as most natural objects, such as trees, rocks, cataracts, animals and birds. In the north, thunder, and in the south, the sun, were personified as among the highest gods, while the winds, the four brothers, were venerated by all. The birds typified the winds, the ser- pent was the visible expression of lightning. All tribes agreed upon water as holding all else in solution before time began; its force and immensity awed them. It produced nothing of itself, hence the neces- sity of some creative power to act upon it. This power was typified by the winds which blew over it; the wind, personified by birds, such as the raven or dove, brought the earth forth. The moon represented water; she was the universal mother, and brought the harvests and protected the new-born babe and its mother. The moon was also identical with night, and all the dread powers it encompassed; she carried the deadly miasma in her mantle, and the hunter dared not sleep in her rays, or leave his freshly killed meat exposed to them; confusedly interwoven with this was the symbol of the serpent, suggested by the winding rivers and the connection between lightning and rain. Dogs bore some rela- tion to the moon; hence to water, and the custom of whipping dogs, soundly, during an eclipse was common. The "big dog" was swallowing the sun or moon, and whipping the small dogs would distract his at- tention and cause him to desist. Among our northern Lake Indians it was the custom, during a severe storm, to tie the legs of a dog together and throw him into the water to appease the anger of the water spirits.
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Primitive man understood animals no better than he did the elements; he had always been matched against them and often overcome. He knew animals communicated with each other in some inysterious way; that they did not fear the dark which was so full of terrors for him; they came and went so silently, and got their food so easily, that he looked upon them vaguely as his superiors, and built up a half worship of them, as well as of the elements. The animals ate each other and were strong, so the Indians ate their enemies that they might become possessed of their strength and good qualities.
All American Indians paid great attention to the flight of birds whose motions were considered ominous. Those of the carnivorous species sig- nifying war, and the gathering of these to fatten on the bodies of the slain after battle is the image most used in their chants. These are believed to have knowledge of the times and places of conflicts, as they are supposed to associate with the gods of the air, who rule in battle. The grizzly bear also typified war, while the antelope meant peace; and these typifications are almost endless.
There was no attempt to impute to the Great Merciful Spirit the at- tribute of justice, or to make man accountable to him here, or hereafter. Benevolence and pity were his chief attributes. However, he did not take upon himself the righteous administration of world affairs, but left them to be governed by spirits, good and bad, in human form. The Indian prophets paid minute attention to the clouds, their size, shape, color, motion and relation to the sun and horizon. Important events were often decided, and predictions founded on such observations. The imagery of the celestial atmosphere with its warfare of thunder, lightning, aurora borealis, and storms, is much employed in their personal names, and is highly poetic. They built no temples to observe their religion, but made their sacred fires in the recesses of the forest. They sung hymns to the sun as the symbol of the Great Spirit; the constellations were studied, and various attributes assigned to them. The great bear is called "The Seven Persons," or the "Broken Back," while the plei- ades are the "Grouped Together Stars," or the "Seven Stars." Venus is known as "Belonging to the Moon," and the Milky Way is the "Ghost Road" or "Spirit Road," or sometimes the "Wolf Road," and is be- lieved to be a short trail from the world to the Sun Lodge. They did not offer human sacrifices to their deity, though occasionally such sacrifices were made to the Morning Star. Fire was one of their ordinary symbols of worship, though in this they never used common household fire, but obtained their sacred fire by percussion, mostly with flint.
Most Indians believed that the soul remained with or visited the body for some time after death; hence the habit many tribes had of building coverings over the graves, and depositing food, weapons and household articles in them, that the soul might not suffer during its wanderings. They believed that the soul of man was immortal, and to some extent in the transmigration of souls; that the vital spark passed from one ob- ject to another, usually animate, but not necessarily, as it might for a
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time dwell in a tree, or river, or a cataract ; what determined the change does not appear, but apparently the superior will of the individual dic- tated the form of future life.
Some tribes believed in reincarnation; it is related that one Indian chief, who died about two hundred years ago, was reincarnated five times, being known during each period of life on earth by a stab in the right groin. There are many similar stories, and in some tribes there was a confused belief regarding two souls, one a spiritual, which was immortal, and went to the abode of spirits after death, and the other, material, which eventually died. The Indians held the head to be the seat of the soul, and that is one of their reasons for the preservation of skulls and scalps.
"Neither the delights of heaven, nor the terrors of hell were held out by the Indian priests as an incentive for well-doing, though they believed they would be rewarded for great deeds done on earth. Different fates awaited the departed soul; depending on the manner of death, the ob- servation of certain sepnlehral rites by living relatives, and also on eer- tain arbitrary circumstances beyond the control of the individual, though this condition might be ameliorated by intercession of the 'jossakeeds'- possibly this hinted at some vague idea of Divine judgment."
DEATH AND THE HEREAFTER
The Indians had a horror of death; they feared the mystery and the loneliness of the departing spirit, and for this reason, though they fought by stealth to preserve themselves, they held it the highest form of courage to meet death unflinchingly when it was inevitable. The reason a dog was killed on the grave of a warrior was to afford companionship to the soul. After horses became known to them the favorite animal of this sort shared the fate the dog had previously shared; that the warrior might ride care-free into the Happy Hunting Grounds.
A great many tribes placed the home of the soul in the sun, "either east whence he comes, west where he makes his bed, or south where he goes for winter. Wherever he lived was the spirit's abiding place, the heaven of the Indians, where the warriors hunted the spirit game, or chanted their own glory and praises endlessly, and the women escaped from the drudgery, privation and subjection which was all their lot while on earth. However, not all might arrive there, as many obstacles were to be overcome before the weary souls could reach a haven of rest ; these varied with the different tribes; sometimes it was a deep and swift river to be crossed on a bridge formed from a sapling, lightly supported, and the soul while erossing must defend itself from the attacks of a dog. The Chippewa name for this bridge was the owl bridge (Ko-ko-ka-jo- gan). The owl was an emissary of the dead. The Chippewas also told of a great water that must be crossed in a stone canoe. Another Al- gonquin story is of a rushing stream, bridged by an enormous serpent ; the souls that passed these bridges in safety entered the 'Happy Land' where they dwelt for a time, or perhaps for eternity, for beliefs differed,
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some holding that the spirit returned to the bones which had been pre- served on earth for this reason, and that these were reclothed with flesh, and the being resumed its earthly habits. The bones were the seed which, planted in earth, grew again. This belief extended to animals also."
The Indians do not look upon this return to earth as either a reward or punishment. The souls which failed to pass the bridges were swept away to shift for themselves. The idea that souls were sent to torment for sins committed in the flesh was not originally part of the Indians' belief, though they gradually acquired this notion as the result of their contact with Europeans, and their Christian instruction. The nearest they came to the idea of a conventional hell was that souls might be parted and live in separate regions. Most Indians believe that the world would eventually be destroyed by fire, and some believed that just before this catastrophe oceurs, blood and oil will rain down from the sky.
The bodies of the dead were never burned except among a few ex- treme western tribes, but were treated with great respect. After death the body was wrapped in the finest clothes, and all the ornaments pos- sessed in life, as well as useful articles, were placed upon it, and it was then enclosed in a bark or wooden shell, and sometimes placed aloft on poles or platforms, and sometimes hidden in caves. When the flesh had disappeared the bones, with their trappings, were buried and the "ad- jedatig," or grave post, was set up. This had the totem of the family carved upon it, inverted, however. It was the work of a person especi- ally designated for the purpose, to gather up these bones and deposit them in trenches with their accompanying tools and ornaments.
In common with other races of the world, the Indians have tradi- tions concerning a deluge which destroyed all mankind except a chosen few. The following is one of their legends concerning this flood : "When Kitehe-Monedo, the Great Spirit, first made the world he filled it with a class of beings who looked like men, but they were perverse, ungrateful, wieked dogs, who never raised their eyes from the ground to thank their Creator for anything. Seeing this, the Great Spirit plunged them with the world itself into a great lake and drowned them all. He then withdrew the earth and placed upon it a very handsome young man, but he was lonesome, and looked so sad that Kitche-Monedo took pity on him and sent a sister to cheer his loneliness. After many years the young man had a dream, which he told to his sister. Said he : 'Five young men will come to your lodge door tonight, to visit you; the Great Spirit forbids you to answer or even look up and smile at the first four, but the fifth you may welcome. The first of the five strangers who came to her door was Usama, or Tobacco, and having been repulsed he fell down and died. The second, Wapako, or pumpkin, shared the same fate. The third, Eshkossimin, or melon, and the fourth Kokees or bean, were likewise repulsed and died. But when Tamin, or Montamin, which is maize, presented himself, she opened the skin tapestry door of her lodge
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and gave him a friendly reception. They were immediately married, and from this union the race of Indians sprung. Tamin buried the rejected suitors, and from their graves grew tobacco, pumpkins, melons of all sorts, and beans; and in this manner the Great Spirit provided that the race he had made should have something to offer him as a gift at their feasts and ceremonies, as well as something to put into their kettles with their meat."
THE DELUGE AND RACIAL ORIGIN.
There are many of these legends in regard to the deluge. Some tribes say that "when the earth was destroyed by water the people made rafts on which to save themselves, but something like large white beavers cut the strings that bound the rafts, and drowned all but one family, and two of every sort of animal."
Some Indians have traditions of a "race of giants, swift of foot and powerful enough to kill buffalo with their hands. They were so large and strong that they defied their Maker and derided him. The Ruler tried to kill them by shooting the arrows of lightning at them, but these glanced off without harm; so he sent a great rain and the ground became so full of water, and so soft, that these heavy people sunk in it and were drowned."
Among the Indians the fossil remains of elephants, mastodons, and other huge animals are said to be the bones of these people. Other tribes that have a similar legend say the rock pinnacles, common in many states and often of fantastie forms, are the remains of these giants. Following the destruction of this race, "the Great Ruler made another race which he again destroyed because it was too powerful; then he made a man and woman and placed them on earth; other people and animals he made in the sky, and sent the lightning, his messenger, to place them on earth, and having enclosed them in a cloud of lightning sent them down with a crash that sunk them all in the ground which was still wet and soft. The lightning felt so grieved at the result that he cried. Now, whenever he strikes the earth he is reminded of that mishap and cries; hence the rain and thunder. All these men and animals being thus struck underground were in confusion, until one day the mole burrowed to the top and the sudden rush of light put his eyes out ; so he decided to remain beneath the surface, which he has constantly done ever since; but the rest erawled up through the hole made by the mole, and their distri- bution over the face of the globe began." In the perplexities they en- countered during their first days they were, according to tradition, con- stantly assisted by the magic articles contained in a medicine bag given by the Great Spirit to a young boy ; so it is youth, personified, that con- quers the world, and this was merely a race, in its youth, working out its destiny.
It was the young spirit which made way through the pathless forest and over foaming rivers and deep ravines, but the ignorance and super- stitution of the race demanded some visible object as a proof of su-
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pernatural help when any difficult thing had been accomplished, and the medicine bag furnished this object. To it they attributed the pro- duction of animals, fish and snakes unknown to them before. They were not many degrees removed from the cave man who seldom ventured far from his lair, and the things of the forest and field were all new to them so they were glad to believe the magic bag contained the first arrow point as a model for future weapons, and the seed of corn and tobacco for food and comfort. The primitive Indian gave his imagination full play in finding reasons for the existence of things, and their condition; thus the first cedar was bent because it had supported the weight of the Indian raee and saved them from destruction, and the crooked tendency of these trees was thereby established for all time. The crow was turned black in a futile effort to bring fire from the sun, and the swallow re- ceived his black feathers in a like vain attempt. Almost every natural object had some such notion connected with it, and volumes might be filled without exhausting the material in this line.
The Indian legends in regard to their origin are almost endless. They declare themselves to be aborigines, a declaration only supported by fable or allegory. One authority will declare they elimbed up the roots of a tree to the surface of the earth, while another that they eas- ually saw daylight through the top of a great cavern, and climbed to find it. They claimed mysterious kinship with animals that burrowed, al- ways the tradition, or memory, of cave or underground life, clung to them, which at least suggests that they are descendants of the primitive cave men, and that their line of life goes back unbroken to the beginning of life on this continent. In their traditions they skip thousands of years from the flood to the present time, and fill the interval with the wildest mythology, or demonology. Each leading family has some great hero or Manito who overcame these demons and delivered the Indians from their spells; whether you call this hero Manabozho, Neo, Glooskap, Hiawatha, Tirawa or Hinun, depends merely on the locality; the office is the same-to benefit mankind-just as it was the office of the evil qualities, personified as Artotarho, Malsum, Enigon-ha-het-gea, and others, to destroy them.
One tradition of the Indian origin runs thus: . "Neo, the spirit of life, lived in upper space; Atahoean, was the master of Heaven; Taren- yanagon, who is variously known as Michiabon, Chiabo, Manabozho, and the Great Hare, was the keeper of Heaven; Agreskoe was the spirit of war, and Atahentsic was the woman of Heaven. One of the six men originally created fell in love with Atahentsie, and she returned the affection. When Atahocan discovered this, he east her out of Heaven, and she fell headlong through space until she rested upon the back of a great tortoise lying on the water; while resting there twins were born to her, one Inigorio, or the good mind, and the other Enigon-ha-het-gea, or the evil mind; thus good and evil came into the world at the same time and were equally active. The tortoise expanded and finally be- came the earth. Atahentsie had a daughter who bore two sons, Yoseka
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and Thoitsaron. Yoseka killed his brother and became ruler of the earth ; he was the sun, and his grandmother, the heaven-born Atahentsic, was the moon."
MEDICINE BAG AND MEDICINE DANCE
Still another tradition is that a great Manito came on earth and married a mortal woman. She bore four sons at one birth; Manabozho, the friend of the human race; Chibiabos, who has the care of the dead and presides over the country of souls; Wabasso, who fled to the north as soon as he was born, in the form of a white rabbit, and was considered a very powerful spirit; and Chokanipok, the man of flint, or fire-stone. The mother died when they were born and Manabozho accused Chokani- pok of causing her death. The contests between them were long and frightful; the face of the earth was torn up and transformed during their struggles, and fragments of flesh were torn from Chokanipok and turned into stone. All the flint stones scattered over the earth were produced in this way and furnished men with the element of fire. Mana- bozho finally destroyed him by tearing out his entrails, which were changed into vines. Manabozho taught men to make axes, lances, arrow- heads, and all necessary implements of bone, stone, and wood. He also taught them to make nets, snares and traps. He and Chibiabos lived together and spent all their time planning things for the good of men. The Manitos who lived in the air, earth and water became very jealous of them. Manabozho warned his brother of their evil intentions, but one day Chibiabos wandered ont on one of the lakes, and the Manitos broke the ice beneath him and hid him in the bottom of the lake. In revenge Manabozho waged war against the Manitos and sent a number of them to the deepest abyss. He then smeared his face with black and sat down for six years to lament; uttering his brother's name all the while. The earth was neglected, the whole country in dread. To appease his anger, the older Manitos, who had not been concerned in the death of Chibia- bos, built a sacred lodge close to that of Manabozho and prepared a sumptuous feast. They then assembled in order, each carrying a saek made from the skin of some favorite animal, such as a beaver, otter or lynx. These were filled with precious and curious medieines eulled from all plants. The Manitos exhibited these and invited Manabozho to the feast; on consenting he uncovered his head, washed off his mourning paint, and followed them; when they reached the lodge they gave him a cup of liquor made from the medicinal plants. Immediately after drink- ing he felt the most inspiring effects. They then commenced their dances and songs. Some shook their sacks at him, some exhibited bags made of the skins of birds ont of which smaller birds would hop, and others did curious tricks with their drums; all danced, sang, or acted with exactness of time, motion and voice. Manabozho was cured, and he ate, danced and smoked the sacred pipe with them. In this manner the mysteries of the great medicine dance came into the world. The Man- itos then united to bring Chibiabos to life. They did so, but he was not
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permitted to enter the sacred lodge. They gave him a burning coal through a chink, and told him to go and reign over the land of the dead. the country of souls; they bade him make an everlasting fire for his uneles and aunts (all people who should die thereafter) and make them happy. After this Manabozho visited the Great Spirit, returned and confirmed the mysteries of the medicine dance, and supplied all whom he initiated with medicine for the cure of all diseases. It is to him we owe the growth of all medical plants, and the antidotes for all poisons. He entrusted the growth of them to Misuknmigakua, mother of the earth, to whom he made offerings. Manabozho continued his friendly offices; he killed the monsters, whose bones are found buried in the earth; he cleared the streams and forests of the obstructions which the bad spirit had put there, and made them fit for habitation; and he placed four good spirits at the four cardinal points, to which the Indians always point in their ceremonies.
The spirit of the north gave snow and ice to enable men to pursue game and fish : the spirit of the south gave melons, maize and tobacco; the spirit of the west gave rain, and the spirit of the east, light. Mana- bozho also commanded the sun to make his daily walks around the earth. Thunder is the voice of these spirits, to whom the Indians offer the smoke of Saman (tobacco). The Indians believed that Manabozho still lives on an immense flake of ice in the Arctic ocean ; they fear that some day the white race will find him and drive him off, and then the end of the world will come, for as soon as he puts his foot on the earth again it will take fire and every living thing will perish.
The Indians accounted for their ferocious cruelty and destructive nature, which so long retarded their improvement, by saying they were governed by Artotarho, the entangled one, whose head, like Medusa's, was covered with writhing snakes; he represented cunning, fierceness and cruel skill in war. It was Artotarho, the spirit of savagery, who overthrew the flourishing communities of the Mound Builders of pre-historic Amer- ica, and destroyed their villages, gardens and mounds. For ages he was dominant among the Indians, but opposed to him was Hiawatha, liter- ally the "river maker." His name implied peace, inter-tribal friendship and treaty. Ile induced the restless Indians to settle in villages, to add cereals to their flesh diet; and he taught them all the arts of life; to fish, trap game, make all necessary utensils and weapons, and build cov- erings for themselves. He was the spirit of progress and improvement.
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