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diff --git a/35745-8.txt b/35745-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5a536ee --- /dev/null +++ b/35745-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1788 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Religion of the Indians of California, by +A. L. Kroeber + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Religion of the Indians of California + +Author: A. L. Kroeber + +Release Date: April 1, 2011 [EBook #35745] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RELIGION OF THE INDIANS *** + + + + +Produced by Tor Martin Kristiansen, Joseph Cooper and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS +AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY + +Vol. 4 No. 6 + +THE RELIGION OF THE INDIANS OF CALIFORNIA + + + +BY + +A. L. KROEBER + + + +BERKELEY +THE UNIVERSITY PRESS +SEPTEMBER, 1907 + + +Facsimile Reprint by + +Coyote Press +P.O. Box 3377 +Salinas, CA 93912 +http://www.CoyotePress.com + + + + +UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS +IN +AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY + +VOL. 4 NO. 6 + + + + +THE RELIGION OF THE INDIANS OF CALIFORNIA[1] + +BY + +A. L. KROEBER. + + +Fundamentally the religion of the Indians of California was very +similar to that of savage and uncivilized races the world over. Like +all such peoples, the California Indians were in an animistic state of +mind, in which they attributed life, intelligence, and especially +supernatural power, to virtually all living and lifeless things. They +lacked no less the ideas and practices of shamanism, the universal +accompaniment of animism: namely, the belief that certain men, through +communication with the animate supernatural world, had the power to +accomplish what was contrary to, or rather above, the events of daily +ordinary experience, which latter in so far as they were distinguished +from the happenings caused by supernatural agencies, were of natural, +meaningless, and, as it were, accidental origin. As in most parts of +the world, belief in shamanistic power was centered most strongly about +disease and death, which among most tribes were not only believed to be +dispellable but to be entirely caused by shamans. In common with the +other American Indians, those of California made dancing, and with it +always singing, a conspicuous part of nearly all their ceremonies that +were of a public or tribal nature. They differed from almost all other +tribes of North America in showing a much weaker development of the +ritualism, and symbolism shading into pictography, that constitute +perhaps the most distinctive feature of the religion of the Americans +as a whole. Practically all the approaches to a system of writing +devised in North America, whether in Mexico, Yucatan, or among the +tribes of the United States and Canada, are the direct outcome of a +desire of religious expression. The California Indians however were +remarkably free from even traces of this tendency, equally in their +religion and in the more practical aspects of their life. In many parts +of North America, and more often where the culture was considerably +developed than where it was rude, there was a considerable amount of +fetishism, not of the crass and so to speak superstitious type of +Africa, but rather as an accompaniment and result of over-symbolism. +This fetishistic tendency was very slightly developed in California, +and this in spite of--or as an Americanist could more properly say on +account of--the generally rude and primitive condition of culture. By +contrast, as the action and the visible symbol were a less important +means of religious expression, the word, both spoken and sung, was of +greater significance in California. The weakness of the ritualistic +tendency is however again marked in the circumstance that the exact +form of religious speech was frequently less regarded than its +substance. In this aspect the Indians of California differed widely +from such nations as the Egyptians and the peoples of Asia, where the +efficacy of the word and speech used for a religious purpose was +usually directly dependent upon the accuracy of their external and +audible rendering, even to their pronunciation and intonation. + + [1] This paper may be cited as Univ. Calif. Publ. Am. Arch. + Ethn., Vol. 4, No. 6. + +As an ethnographic province the greater part of California plainly +forms a unit. There are, however, two portions of the present political +state that showed much cultural distinctness in times of native life +and that must usually be kept apart in all matters of ethnological and +religious consideration. One of these divergent culture areas comprised +the extreme northwestern corner of the state, in the drainage of the +lower Klamath and about Humboldt Bay. The other consisted of what is +now usually known as Southern California, extending from the Tehachapi +pass and mountains in the interior, and from Point Conception on the +coast, southward to the Mexican boundary. The religion of the Indians +of the peninsula of Lower California is very little known from +literature, and the people themselves are almost extinct. It is +probable that it was more or less different from the forms of religion +occurring in Southern California, that is to say, the southern part of +the American state of California. Ethnographically Southern California +was considerably diversified. The tribes of the plains and mountains +near the sea must be distinguished on the one hand from those of the +desert interior and of the valley of the Colorado river, and on the +other from those of the Santa Barbara archipelago and the adjacent +coast of the mainland to the north. The latter island group of tribes +has become entirely extinct without leaving more than the merest trace +of records of its religion. The two other groups, the sea-ward and the +interior, apparently presented a much greater uniformity in religion +than in their material and social life, so much so that in the present +connection all the tribes of Southern California of whom anything is +known may be regarded as constituting a single ethnographic province. +The culture of the small Northwestern area was in every way, and that +of the larger Southern province at least in some respects, more highly +organized and complex than that of the still larger and principal +Central region, which comprised at least two-thirds of the state and +which, if such a selection is to be made, must be considered as the +most typically Californian. + +The religious practices of the Indians of California fall into three +well marked divisions: (1) such observances as are followed and +executed by individuals, although their perpetuation is traditionary +and tribal; that is to say, customary observances; (2) individual +practices resting upon a direct personal communication of an individual +with the supernatural world; in other words, shamanism; (3) observances +and practices which are not only the common property of the tribe by +tradition, but in which the entire tribe or community directly or +indirectly participates; in other words, ceremonies. + + +CUSTOMARY OBSERVANCES BY INDIVIDUALS. + +Customary observances are as strongly developed as farther north along +the Pacific slope. This entire western coast region thus forms a unit +that differs from the interior and eastern parts of the continent, in +which such observances are usually a less conspicuous feature than +public and tribal ceremonies. By far the most important of the +customary observances in California are those relating to death. Next +come those connected with birth and sexual functions. Beliefs and +practices centering about the individual's name are of importance +particularly in so far as they are connected with the customs relating +to death. There are restrictions and superstitions as to food, but +these are not more numerous than seems generally to have been the case +among the North American Indians, and certainly of much less importance +than in the Pacific island world and Australia. + +Death was considered to cause defilement and almost everywhere brought +after it purification ceremonies. In the Northwestern region these were +particularly important, and among such tribes as the Hupa and Yurok the +observance of religious purification from contact with the dead, the +most essential part of which was the recitation of a certain formula, +was the most stringently exacted religious custom. The method of +disposing of the dead varied locally between burial and cremation, +cremation being practiced over at least half of the state. Air burial +and sea burial were nowhere found. Mourning, which consisted primarily +of singing and wailing, began immediately upon death and continued for +about a day, sometimes longer by the immediate relatives of the +deceased. Among some tribes this mourning commenced with full vigor +some time before impending death, often during the full consciousness +of the patient and with his approval. Mutilations on the part of the +mourners were not practiced to any great degree, except that the hair +was almost universally cut more or less, especially by the women. Among +many tribes the widow, but she only, cut or burned off all her hair. +Mourning observances were almost always carried further by the women +than men. Among some tribes of the Sierra Nevada the widow did not +speak from the time of her husband's death until the following annual +tribal mourning ceremony, except to one attendant, or, in cases of +actual necessity, to women only. In the Sierra Nevada was found also +the custom of the widow smearing her face and breast with pitch, which +was not washed or removed until this annual ceremony. Except in the +case of the Northwestern tribes, who possessed more elaborately +constructed houses of wood, the house in which a death had occurred was +not used again, but was burned. Objects that had been in personal +contact or associated with the deceased were similarly shunned and +destroyed. The name of the dead was not spoken. Even the word which +constituted his name was not used in ordinary discourse, a +circumlocution or newly coined word being employed. It is certain that +this stringently observed custom has been a factor in the marked +dialectic differentiation of the languages of California. The mention +of the name of the dead, whether intentionally or accidentally, in some +cases aroused feelings of fear connected with his spirit, but more +generally was objected to as causing grief, which appears to have been +actually and often intensely felt on such occasions. In Northwestern +California the naming of the dead could be compensated for only by the +payment of a considerable sum. Practically the only form of curse or +malediction known, other than an occasional indirect allusion to the +object of the malediction as being in the condition of a corpse, was a +reference to his dead relatives. Some property, but more rarely food, +was buried with the dead. The idea that such articles were for his use +in the world of the dead was not so strong a motive for such acts as, +on the one hand, the feeling that the objects had been defiled by +association with him, and on the other, the desire to give expression +to the sincerity of the mourning by the destruction of valuables. On +the whole, however, the immediate observances of death paled in +importance before the annual communal mourning ceremony, which was +everywhere, except in the Northwestern region, one of the most deeply +rooted and spectacular acts of worship. + +Observances connected with sexual functions, including birth, are next +in importance after those relating to death. The menstruating woman was +everywhere regarded as unclean, and excluded especially from acts of +worship. Not infrequent was the conception that she contaminated food, +especially meat; in other words those varieties of food which were at +once more highly prized and at the same time, through being obtained +with less regularity and only through special and skilled exertions, +regarded as most directly under the control and influence of +supernatural powers. Among many tribes, as elsewhere in America and +other continents, she was excluded from the living-house as well as +from the ceremonial chamber, and confined to the menstrual hut. As +elsewhere in North America, the custom in this regard however varied +from tribe to tribe, the menstrual hut not having been used in some +localities even in purely aboriginal times. Not only was seclusion, as +a means of preventing contact and association, frequently required of +the woman for the protection of others, but her refraining from all but +the most necessary activity was sometimes deemed essential for her own +good. + +All these observances were greatly intensified at the time of a girl's +first menstruation, a condition for which most of the languages of +California possess a distinctive and often unanalyzed word. The girl at +this period was thought to be possessed of a particular degree of +supernatural power, and this was not always regarded as entirely +defiling or malevolent. Often, however, there was a strong feeling of +the power of evil inherent in her condition. Not only was she secluded +from her family and the community, but an attempt was made to seclude +the world from her. One of the injunctions most strongly laid upon her +was not to look about her. She kept her head bowed and was forbidden to +see the world and the sun. Some tribes covered her with a blanket. Many +of the customs in this connection resembled those of the North Pacific +Coast most strongly, such as the prohibition to the girl to touch or +scratch her head with her hand, a special implement being furnished her +for the purpose. Sometimes she could eat only when fed and in other +cases fasted altogether. Some form of public ceremony, often +accompanied by a dance and sometimes by a form of ordeal for the girl, +was practiced nearly everywhere. Such ceremonies were well developed in +Southern California, where a number of actions symbolical of the girl's +maturity and subsequent life were performed. Certain tribes, however, +including at least one in the Northwestern area and certain of those in +the Sierra region, did not practice public ceremonies of this type. + +Religious customs connected with birth consisted in part of observances +before the birth of the child, in part of observances relating to it +after birth, and especially of restrictions imposed on one or both of +its parents after birth. Practices affecting the child itself, or the +mother before its birth, related in great part to food. In the +Northwest the newly born child was fed for a number of days only on a +soup of vegetable substance resembling milk. The newly born child was +washed, often repeatedly, among many tribes. The mother after a birth +was regarded as more or less defiled, though this feeling usually did +not approach in intensity those connected with either death or the +woman's periodical functions. Either the mother or both father and +mother were usually enjoined from activity for some time after a birth, +the motive being not only protection of the child but of themselves. +This idea is especially developed among the Yokuts of the southern San +Joaquin valley. The couvade in its strict form, with restrictions and +observances which are imposed entirely upon the father to the exclusion +of the mother, does not seem to be found. + +Observances regulating or restricting the use of food were in the main +connected with the customs relating to death, sexual functions, and +birth. That is to say it was primarily the persons affected by these +occurrences, and next to these such as were engaged in acts of intense +worship or shamanistic practices, who were prohibited from using +certain or all foods. As already stated, animal food rather than +vegetable, and meat rather than fish, and among meat that of the deer +and elk, the largest of the game animals, were particularly subjected +to restriction. In Northwestern California the idea was very deeply +rooted that the deer when killed and eaten are not destroyed, but come +to life again and report to their fellows their treatment in the hands +of the hunter. Any violation of the numerous stringent observances +regarding deer meat are therefore known to all the deer, who, as their +capture is always a voluntary act on their part, are in position to +utterly destroy his luck in the chase if not placated by certain spoken +formulae. In Southern California young people, or in some cases the +hunter himself, must not eat his game. Fasting is less frequently and +less rigorously practiced by the California tribes than by those of +most other parts of North America. This is in keeping with the +generally lower pitch of intensity of their religious feeling. Many +public ceremonies are not accompanied by any requirement of abstention +from food. In the Northwestern region it is only the principal priest, +in whom the most sacred part of the ceremony is vested, who fasts. On +the other hand there is a general feeling in this region that not only +acts of a religious nature but ordinary work cannot be well performed +after eating. Among the men of Northwestern California breakfast was +therefore habitually slight or entirely omitted. Perhaps the greatest +development of the practice of fasting in North America occurs in +connection with the acquisition of shamanistic power. Shamanism is +fully as important among the California Indians as elsewhere, but +differs in that it is more frequently regarded as an obsession, +something that of its own accord comes upon a man rather than something +that it is sought to acquire by actions. Much of the incentive for +fasting among other Indians is therefore lacking, and when the practice +is observed it is usually less rigorous. In Northwestern California, +for instance, a person engaged in almost any supernatural or religious +practice abstains from drinking water; but as to practical effect this +provision is done away with through his being allowed to drink thin +acorn soup at will. + +In Northwestern California there is a special development of spoken +formulae, whose content is little else than a myth and which constitute +not only the basis and essential element of public ceremonies but are +connected with almost all customary observances. To such an extent have +these formulae, locally called "medicines," grown into the mind of +these Indians as being what is most sacred and most efficacious in all +aspects of religion, that they partly supplant shamanism, which is a +less important feature of religious life here than elsewhere in the +state, where the characteristic features of this peculiar ritual by +formula are almost absent. Not only purification from death and other +defilement, but luck in hunting and fishing, in gambling, escape from +danger, success in felling trees and making baskets, in the acquisition +of wealth, in short the proper achievement of every human wish, were +thought to be accompanied by the proper knowledge and recitation of +these traditional myth-formulae, usually accompanied by only the +smallest amount of ritualistic action. + + +SHAMANISM. + +Shamanism, the supposed individual control of the supernatural through +a personally acquired power of communication with the spirit world, +rests upon much the same basis in California as elsewhere in North +America. In general among uncivilized tribes the simpler the stage of +culture the more important the shaman. It is as if he constituted an +element that remained nearly constant in quantity of effect, as it is +fundamentally unvarying in form, through all successive periods of +civilization to the highest; but that as increase in degree of +civilization brought with it ever more and more new elements, religious +and otherwise, and these unfolded in ever expanding complexity, he +became, relatively to the total mass of thought and action of a people, +less and less important. Certainly the difference is marked between the +Eskimo, whose religion consists of little else than shamanism, and the +much more highly organized Indians of the North Pacific Coast, where +shamanism is but one of several and by no means the most important +religious factor, even though it may be the most deep seated. The same +contrast is found between the rude simple-minded Indians of California +as compared with those of the Plains and of the Southwest, where the +supremacy of the shaman is rather obscured by that of the priest +conversant with a ceremony. Even within California the difference holds +good. In the Northwest, where the native civilization reached on the +whole its greatest complexity, the shaman is less prominent than +anywhere else in the state. In the south, where the culture is also +more developed than in the Central part of the state, the shaman is +certainly as much dreaded as there; but that his province is more +restricted is shown by the fact that in Southern California the shamans +in their capacity as such do not seem to form associations, perform +public ceremonies, or directly participate in the tribal dances. + +The power of the shaman being directly dependent upon his personal +acquisition of a connection with the supernatural world, an +understanding of the method by which this acquisition takes place +generally furnishes also a pretty accurate idea of the nature of his +functions and influence. The most common way of acquiring shamanistic +power in California, as in so many other parts of the world, is by +dreaming. A spirit, be it that of an animal, a place, the sun or +another natural object, a deceased relative, or an entirely unimbodied +spirit, visits the future medicine-man in his dreams, and the +connection thus established between them is the source and basis of the +latter's power. This spirit becomes his guardian spirit or "personal." +From it he receives the song or rite or knowledge of the charm and the +understanding which enable him to cause or remove disease and to do and +endure what other men cannot. In California, with a few special +exceptions, the idea does not seem so prevalent as elsewhere that this +guardian spirit is an animal. Occasionally it is the ghost of a person +who has once lived, usually a relative. Perhaps most frequently it is +merely a spirit as such, not connected with any tangible embodiment or +form, either human, animate, or inanimate. The belief that the shaman +acquires the spirits most frequently in dreaming is prevalent through +the whole Sierra Nevada region and in many other parts of the state. + +In certain regions another important method, that of the waking vision +and trance, is recognized. The person is in a wild desolate place, +perhaps hunting. Suddenly there is an appearance before him. He becomes +unconscious and while in this state receives his supernatural power. On +his return to his people he is for a time demented or physically +affected. After he again becomes normal he has control of his +supernatural influences. Such beliefs prevail in part among the Yuki +and Athabascans of the Coast Range and the Maidu of the Sacramento +valley, and no doubt occur more or less sporadically in other regions. + +Finally, the shaman sometimes acquires his powers through seeking for +them rather than by having them thrust upon him during a dream or +vision. This of course is a common procedure in the Plains and in part +on the North Pacific Coast. Among the Yurok of the lower Klamath, for +instance, the person whom the spirits have visited in dreams, ascends +high peaks where he spends one or more nights until he has acquired his +powers. Among the Wiyot of Humboldt Bay there are similar beliefs. In +the same Northwestern region a man who wishes to be fierce, strong, and +invulnerable swims at night in lakes inhabited by monsters or thunders. +From these, if his courage is sufficient to await and endure their +presence, he receives the desired powers. This practice of bathing in +lonely lakes closely recalls the custom prevalent along the Pacific +slope for some distance northward, and within California it is probably +not strictly confined to the Northwestern culture area. On the whole, +however, this deliberate method of acquiring shamanistic power is not +common, nor, as has already been stated, would it be in accord with the +generally lower intensity of religious feeling among the California +Indians as compared with those of most other parts of the continent. + +The Northwestern area is not only exceptional in being the principal +one within the state where this deliberate seeking of shamanistic power +is prevalent. The conception of a guardian spirit is much less clearly +defined among the Northwestern tribes, with whom the possession of +"pains," the small material objects which cause disease, rather than of +true spirits, seems to be what is generally associated with shamanistic +power. As already stated, shamanism forms a much less important part of +religion as a whole in the Northwestern area than elsewhere, and it is +in accord with this fact that the majority of the shamans, and those +supposed to be most powerful, are women. + +In parts of Southern California also the idea of the guardian spirit +does not seem to be well developed. Here the method of acquiring +shamanistic power is almost exclusively by dreams; but among the Mohave +and probably other Colorado river tribes, myths, and not a personal +meeting or communion with an individual spirit, constitute the subject +of the dreams. The Mohave shamans believe that they were present at the +beginning of the world, before mankind had separated into tribes. They +were with the great leader and almost creator, Mastamho. They saw him +singing, blowing, and rubbing over the body of a sick man, if their own +power be that of curing disease, and from Mastamho they thus learned +the actions and speeches which constitute their power. Before him they +showed what they had learned from him, and by him were designated those +who had seen and learned most and those of less power. Each man saw +only the shamanistic actions relating to his particular power, whether +these had reference to the curing of disease, to love, to war, or to +some other activity. The Mohave universally speak of having dreamed +these scenes, just as each narrator affirms his knowledge of +non-shamanistic myths and of ceremonies to have been individually +derived from dreaming them. It is probable that to a certain extent +this is true. That it is not entirely true becomes evident when the +Mohave with equal unanimity state that these dreams were dreamed by +them before birth. In other words, their statement that they have +dreamed such experiences is to be interpreted mainly as a belief that +they as individuals were present in spirit form at the beginning of the +world, at the time when it took shape and everything was ordained, and +when all power, shamanistic and otherwise, was established and +allotted. It is obvious that with this conception as the basis of their +whole religion, there is but little room for any beliefs as to guardian +spirits of the usual form. + +Of course there is nothing that limits the shaman to one spirit, and +among many or most tribes, such as the Maidu, a powerful medicine-man +may possess a great number. + +Frequently in Central and Northwestern California there is some more or +less public ceremony at which a new shaman is, so to speak, initiated +before he practices his powers. The body of initiated shamans do not +form a definite society or association. The ceremony is rather an +occasion that marks the first public appearance of the novice, in which +he receives for his own good, and presumably for that of the community +also, the assistance of the more experienced persons of his profession. +Commonly it is thought that the novice cannot receive and exercise the +full use of his powers without this assistance. The ceremony is usually +held in the ceremonial chamber and is accompanied by dancing. The +efforts of the older shamans are directed toward giving the initiate a +firm and permanent control of the spirits which have only half attached +themselves to him and which are thought to be still more or less +rebellious. Of course exhibitions of magic and of the physical effects +of the presence of the spirits are a prominent feature of these +ceremonies. This initiation of doctors is found among the Northwestern +tribes and in the Central region among the Maidu and Wintun and +probably other groups. + +A special class of shamans found to a greater or less extent among +probably all the Central tribes, though they are wanting both in the +Northwest and the South, are the so-called bear doctors, shamans who +have received power from grizzly bears, often by being taken into the +abode of these animals--which appear there in human form,--and who +after their return to mankind possess many of the qualities of the +grizzly bear, especially his apparent invulnerability to fatal attack. +The bear shamans can not only assume the form of bears, as they do in +order to inflict vengeance on their enemies, but it is believed that +they can be killed an indefinite number of times when in this form and +each time return to life. In some regions, as among the Pomo and Yuki, +the bear shaman was not thought as elsewhere to actually become a bear, +but to remain a man who clothed himself in the skin of a bear to his +complete disguisement, and by his malevolence, rapidity, fierceness, +and resistance to wounds to be capable of inflicting greater injury +than a true bear. Whether any bear shamans actually attempted to +disguise themselves in this way to accomplish their ends is doubtful. +It is certain that all the members of some tribes believed it to be in +their power. + +The rattlesnake doctor, who cured or prevented the bite of the +rattlesnake, was usually distinct from other medicine-men. Among the +Yuki his power, as that of the rattlesnake, was associated with the +sun; among the Maidu with the thunder. Among the Yokuts the rattlesnake +shamans annually held a public ceremony designed to prevent rattlesnake +bites among the tribe. On this occasion they displayed their power over +the snakes by handling them in a manner analogous to that of the Hopi, +and by even allowing themselves to be bitten. + +As everywhere else, the practice of shamanism in California centers +about disease and death. It is probably more narrowly limited to this +phase than in most other portions of North America. Being an +essentially unwarlike even though a revengeful people, it is natural +that the supernatural power personally acquired by the California +Indian should not often be directed toward success in battle. Success +in love is also less often the result of such personal power than for +instance on the Plains, perhaps because in the latter region the custom +which made virtually every young man seek shamanistic power, resulted +in a condition where those whose proclivities were not toward medicine +or war, desired and received their powers in this direction. Influence +over game and over nature's yield of vegetable products was sometimes +attributed to shamans in California, but on the whole their powers in +this respect were not very much insisted upon except in Southern +California, favorable or adverse conditions of this kind being +attributed rather to the tribal ceremonies, and in the Northwest +connected with the all-important formulae. The causing and prevention +of disease and death were therefore even more largely the predominant +functions of the person who had acquired personal supernatural power in +California than elsewhere in America. + +That the medicine-men who could cure diseases were also the ones who +must cause it, unless it were the direct consequence of an infraction +of some religious observance or prohibition, was the almost universal +belief, which was probably adhered to with greater definiteness than in +most portions of North America. The killing of medicine-men was +therefore of frequent occurrence. Among some tribes, as the Yokuts, the +medicine-man who had lost several patients was held responsible for +their death by their relatives. Among the Mohave also murder seems to +have been the normal end of the medicine-man. In the Northwestern +region the shaman who failed to cure was forced to return the fee +received in advance. If he refused to attend a patient when summoned, +he was compelled to pay, in the event of the latter's death, an amount +of property equal that proffered him for his services. So completely +was the shaman regarded as the cause of disease and death, as well as +of their prevention, that one hears very little among the California +Indians of witchcraft, that is to say, of malevolent practices +performed by persons, often very old or very young people, who are not +believed to be endowed with the shaman's power of curing. + +Disease, as among most primitive peoples the world over, was usually +held to be caused by small material objects which had in a supernatural +way been caused to enter the body. The determination and extraction of +these was the principal office of the medicine-man and, also as +elsewhere, was most frequently accomplished by sucking. In certain +regions, especially the South, the tubular pipe was brought into +requisition for this purpose, the disease-object being supposed to be +sucked into the doctor's mouth through it. Among such tribes the pipe +was also smoked by the medicine-man as part of his ritual. In other +cases the sucking was performed directly with the mouth, but, just as +the disease-causing object had by supernatural means entered the body +without causing or leaving an opening, so it was extracted by the +medicine-man without an incision or a trace of its passage. This object +might be a bit of hair, a stick, an insect or small reptile, a piece of +bone, deer sinew, or almost any other material. In the greater part of +northern California, including the Northwestern region, it was not an +ordinary physical object working mischief by its mere presence in the +body or by the supernatural properties with which the shaman or his +spirits had endowed it, but an object itself supernatural and called a +"pain." These pains are variously described, frequently as being sharp +at both ends and clear as ice. They possessed the power of moving even +after extracted, and were able to fly through the air to the intended +victim at the command of the person who had sent them. The medicine-man +after extracting the disease-object or pain almost always exhibited it. +It was then either destroyed by him or kept by him for his own use. In +Northwestern California he sometimes swallowed it, the degree of his +power being thought to be dependent upon the number of pains he kept in +his body, both those which he received upon his becoming a shaman, when +they were "cooked" before a great fire in the doctor-initiation dance, +and those which he subsequently secured in doctoring his patients. The +rattlesnake's bite was regarded as being dangerous on account of its +injection into the victim's body of a material animate object, which +the rattlesnake shaman must extract if death was not to ensue. Among +the Yuki this object was a small snake; among the Yokuts a rodent's +tooth or other object supposed to have formed part of the animals upon +which the snake subsisted. In some cases two classes of medicine-men +were distinguished, one diagnosing, the other treating the patient. +Among the Wiyot or Wishosk the former by dancing before the patient saw +in a vision the nature and location of the disease-object and +determined what had caused it to enter the body. Somewhat similar +though varying distinctions between shamans whose power consists of +knowledge, and those who have practical capacity as well, occurred +among other tribes. Sucking is not always resorted to. The Mohave +principally blow or spit over their patients and stroke or rub or knead +their bodies, which actions are supposed by them to drive out the +disease. Medicines and drugs are but little used, or if so, in a manner +that gives no opportunity for their physiological efficacy. Four or +five drops--the number varying according to the ceremonial number of +the tribe--of a weak decoction may be given to the patient or even only +applied to him externally. It is natural that where the magic effect of +the drug as used in a certain ritual is believed in, the quantity so +used is not an essential consideration. It is the supernatural +qualities connected with the plant that bring about the desired result, +and these are as inherent in a drop placed upon the forehead as in a +basketful taken internally. Perhaps the most-used medicinal plant +throughout the state is the angelica root, probably principally on +account of its fragrance. Tobacco is considerably employed by shamans, +but is of equal importance in other aspects of religion. + + +PUBLIC CEREMONIES. + +After the exclusion of such public observances as the shaman +initiation, menstrual dance, and victory celebration, which, while +generally participated in, are performed primarily for the benefit of +individuals, the ceremonies of the California Indians which are of a +really public or communal purpose and character fall into three +classes: (1) mourning ceremonies; (2) initiation ceremonies connected +with a secret society; and (3) a more varied group of dances and other +observances which all, however, have in common the benefit either of +the community or of the world at large, in that they cause a good crop +of acorns and natural products, make the avoidance of rattlesnake bites +possible, or prevent the occurrence of disease, earthquake, flood, and +other calamities. + +Of these three classes of ceremonies the mourning ceremonies are at +least as important as the others and by far the most distinctive of the +state as an ethnographic province, although neither they nor the secret +society are found in the specialized Northwestern area. The mourning +ceremonies further do not occur among the Athabascan, Yuki, and Pomo +tribes to the south of the Northwestern tribes as far as the bay of San +Francisco; but outside of this strip in the northern coast region they +are universal in the state. Among the Maidu they are usually known as +"burning," among the Miwok as "cry." Among the Yokuts they have been +called "dance of the dead," and among the Mohave and Yuma "annual." +These ceremonies are usually participated in by a number of visiting +communities or villages. They last for one or more nights, during which +crying and wailing, sometimes accompanied by singing and exhortation, +are indulged in, and find their climax in a great destruction of +property. While those who have recently lost relatives naturally take a +prominent part, the ceremony as a whole is not a personal but a tribal +one. Among the Yokuts and probably other groups it is immediately +followed by a dance of a festive nature, and usually there is a +definitely expressed idea that this general ceremony puts an end to all +individual mourning among the participants. A typical form of the +mourning ceremony is found among the Maidu, who call it östu. Each +village or political unit possesses its burning ground. Participation +in the ceremony is effected by receipt of a membership-string or +necklace, both the receipt and return of which are marked by payments +or presents. The ceremony is held in autumn in a circular brush +enclosure. Property to be destroyed is tied to poles which are erected +on the ground. After an opening exhortation by the chief or shaman in +charge of the ceremony, the wailing begins, to continue throughout the +night, many exclamations to the dead being uttered. Toward morning the +numerous articles displayed on the poles are taken down and burned. +When everything has been destroyed the assembly breaks up for gambling +and feasting. The purpose of the ceremony is to supply the ghosts of +the dead with clothing, property, and food. Although its general tenor +is communal, each family offers only to its own relatives. In some +cases elaborate images of stuffed skins ornamented with dancing apparel +are made to represent important people who have died. These are burned +with the property offered to the dead. + +Initiation ceremonies which result in something analogous to a secret +society are found in the whole state except in the Northwestern region +and among the agricultural tribes at the extreme southeast in the +Colorado valley. They are apparently as well developed among the Yuki +and Pomo, who do not practice tribal mourning ceremonies, as among +their neighbors who do. In a strict sense there is no secret society, +even though the precepts taught boys at initiation are not made public. +There are usually no paraphernalia or insignia of a society, no degrees +or ranks, no membership or other organization, nor is there a definite +purpose for the society. The great majority of the males of the tribes +are made to undergo the initiation, and in many cases there is a +distinct desire to force it upon every man, whether he be willing or +unwilling. In so far as a society may therefore be said to exist at +all, its principal purpose and public function are the initiation of +new members. There is however often a special name for those who have +been initiated, such as yeponi among the Maidu and pumal among the +Luiseño, and to a certain extent the initiates are regarded as a class +or council having a more or less indefinite decision over religious +matters affecting the community. The precepts imparted to the +initiates, other than the ritualistic knowledge relating to the +initiation ceremony itself, seems to be of the most general kind and +pertains principally to daily life and the most obvious maxims of +native morality. In some ways this initiation is a puberty ceremony for +boys corresponding to the first-menstruation-ceremony of girls. The +initiates are however not limited as to age, men being sometimes +included. Among at least the Yokuts in Central California and the +Mission Indians of Southern California the initiation was accompanied +by the drinking of toloache or jimson-weed, datura meteloides, the +stupor and visions produced by which were regarded as supernatural. In +Southern California the idea of an ordeal and instruction was specially +developed. Boys were made to undergo severe tests of pain and endurance +and were given numerous injunctions regarding their adult life. Among +the Maidu of the Sacramento valley instruction both in the myths of the +tribe and in the more important ceremonies was imparted. Among certain +of the Maidu the secret society, in so far as it comprises the more +adult men, is difficult to distinguish from an association of shamans. + +The public ceremonies other than mourning and initiation observances, +in other words the tribal dances of California, differ thoroughly in +the three culture regions, which must therefore be considered +separately. + +In Central California these dances, like the initiation ceremonies, +have disappeared to a much greater extent than the mourning ceremonies, +and where they survive have often been more or less influenced by +modern ideas. As a rule they were held in the large assembly or +ceremonial chamber, more often at night than during the day, and either +lasted for a number of nights or consisted of a series of successive +dances extending over a considerable period. Some of the dances, though +a minority, were named after animals, and in such there was usually +some imitation of the actions of animals. Sometimes rude paraphernalia +were used to represent the animal itself, but this was not very common +and masks were never employed. At least in the Sacramento valley and +northern Coast Range region there was some impersonation of mythical +characters, as of Taikomol, creator among the Yuki, and of the mythical +being Kuksu among the Pomo and Maidu. Such impersonators usually wore +either the "big head," an enormous head-dress of feathers attached to +radiating sticks, or a large cape of feathers fastened to a network, +which concealed both body and face, or both pieces of apparel. There +seems to have been nothing corresponding to an altar. The dancers were +painted but crudely, and such symbolism as was denoted by the painting +was of the simplest. One or more of the posts that supported the roof +of the assembly chamber were usually of ceremonial importance. The +dancers frequently entered and left the house by a hole above instead +of the door at the ground. A rude drum consisting of a hollow slab +placed on the ground and stamped with the feet was often used. An +important character in most ceremonies was the clown or buffoon, part +of whose duties was to caricature the more serious performance. In some +cases shamanistic exhibitions of magic were included in the ceremony. +At times an exchange or compulsory giving of property formed part of +the ceremony. The participants were rarely if ever called upon to +undergo severe trials of endurance, pain, or courage, as among so many +other Indians. The whole ritual was comparatively simple. + +The exact nature and relation of the various dances are very little +known among most of the tribes of the Central region. Probably a +typical example of these dances is furnished by the Maidu of the +Sacramento valley, who declare that their ceremonies were obtained from +their neighbors, the Wintun. This statement is borne out by indirect +evidence. Among the Maidu the ceremonies were performed in winter and +constituted a series of fifteen or more distinct dances, coming for the +most part in a definite order. So far as known they were the following: +Hesi, Luyi, Loli, Salalu-ngkasi, Duck, Bear, Coyote, Creeper, Turtle, +Aloli-ngkasi, Yokola-ngkasi, Moloko-ngkasi, Deer, Aki, Hesi. The +majority of these dances were performed by men, but some by women only. +There is no evidence that participation in these dances was dependent +upon anything like membership in an association. Each had its +characteristic paraphernalia or combinations of paraphernalia. In +several there are participants with special apparel and with a +distinctive name. At least some of these seem to represent mythical +characters. In several instances these performers enact ceremonial +operations, largely in the nature of complex approaches and departures +which take place outside the assembly chamber. The names of several of +these ceremonies occur also among neighboring Indians speaking entirely +different languages, and thus give proof of the transmission of the +ceremonies from one locality to another. The Hesi, the most important +of the Maidu series, is danced also by the Wintun. The Loli is an +important ceremony among the Maidu, Miwok, and Pomo. The performer +called Kuksu, who refers to important myths, is found among the Maidu, +Wintun, Pomo, and either the Miwok or Costanoan Indians formerly at +Mission San José. There is every reason to believe that a fuller +acquaintance with the tribes whose ceremonies are as yet least known +will reveal other instances of ceremonies held in common and known +under the same name. Farther to the south, among the Yokuts of the +Tulare basin, these ceremonies do not seem to have penetrated. Here the +majority of the public ceremonies, like the rattlesnake ceremony that +has been mentioned, were of the nature of shamanistic performances. +Throughout the Central region the dances, while they might be held only +in structures of certain kinds, were never rigorously attached to a +specific locality. + +In Northwestern California the more important ceremonies can always be +held only at certain spots, and the performance of ceremonies of the +same name always varies somewhat at different places. The performers do +not represent mythological or other characters and do not imitate +animals. The more important dances last at least a number of days, not +infrequently as many as ten. The dances are held either out-doors or in +certain sacred houses, which are however not different from the +ordinary living-house of the region except through their traditionary +and ceremonial associations. The essential religious portion of the +ceremony consists of the actions gone through by a priest, with +sometimes one or two assistants. The more important part of his +procedure is the recital of one of the sacred formulae so +characteristic of the region. This formula relates specifically to the +exact locality at which the dance is held, and therefore often varies +considerably from spot to spot. The formula is regarded as it were as +private property, and its knowledge is sufficient to institute the +priest in his capacity. The public portions of the ceremony, such as +the dancing, are practically dissociated from this purely religious +element. The dancers are mostly young men without any knowledge of the +ceremony other than of the simple dance-step and songs. The +paraphernalia which they wear belong neither to them nor to the +priests, but to wealthy men of the tribe, for whom the occasion is an +all-important opportunity for the display of their wealth, which +consists in large part of the dancing regalia, and the possession of +which is the chief factor toward their social prominence. The dancers +appear in from two to five parties, representing neighboring villages, +each of which is aided by the wealthy men of other villages; and these +parties vie with each other primarily in the display of their regalia. +The most important ceremonies are the Deerskin dance and the Jumping +dance, which are held either annually or biennially, the former always +out-doors, the latter at some places out-doors, sometimes in boats, at +others in-doors. The purpose of both dances, which where both are +practiced are usually given in close succession, is the good of the +world. Earthquake and disease are prevented and a food supply insured. +Very little of the sacred formulae and accompanying ritual, and nothing +in the remainder of the dance, has however any specific reference to +this purpose. A third, minor ceremony, the Brush dance, completes the +series of public ceremonies in this region, the remaining dances being +held only on occasion of war, a girl's puberty, or the initiation of a +shaman. Even the Brush dance is not fully of a tribal character, +inasmuch as it is performed for the benefit of a single individual, a +sick child, although it is participated in by an entire village with +the assistance of visitors from others, and though there seems to be a +desire to perform the ceremony at least once a year in each of the +larger villages. + +In Southern California mourning ceremonies are everywhere the most +prominent. In the coast region, among the various groups of Mission +Indians, initiation ceremonies make up most of the public rituals that +are not connected with mourning. In the interior the Mohave possess no +initiation ceremonies. In both regions such ceremonies as partake +neither of the nature of mourning nor initiation are conspicuous by the +prominence of the myth element. They consist essentially of long series +of songs, occupying one or more nights in the recital, which recount, +in part directly but more often by allusion, an important myth. At +times the myth is actually related in the intervals between the songs. +In some cases dancing by men or women accompanies the singing, but this +is never spectacular and in many cases is entirely lacking. Being only +ceremonial recitations of myths, these ceremonies are not attached in +their performance to specific localities, and when dancing regalia are +used they are of the simplest character; nor is there opportunity for +either altar or ritual. The predominance of the mourning element in the +ceremonies of this region is further shown by the fact that among some +tribes, as the Mohave, these same singing ceremonies, besides being +performed independently, are also sung for many hours at every death. +The series of songs selected for each individual on this occasion is +that with which he is acquainted. In accord with what has been said of +the dream as the basis of Mohave religious life, these singing +ceremonies are almost always believed by each person to have been +dreamed by himself. + + +CEREMONIAL STRUCTURES AND PARAPHERNALIA. + +The ceremonial chamber is also of distinctive character in the three +culture areas. In the Central region it is a large, circular, +dome-shaped structure, partly underground and with a covering of earth. +It serves also as place of assembly and at least at times as sudatory, +whence its popular name of sweat-house. In the Northwest the +sweat-house is quite small, almost entirely underground, and its roof +consists of boards without a covering of earth. It is constantly used +for sweating and is the regular sleeping place of all adult males. It +is not used for public ceremonies except in the case of the dance +initiating shamans. In the South the ceremonial structure is not a +house, but either a mere enclosure of brush, as among the Mission +tribes, or a simple shade of brush on upright posts, as among the +Mohave. This type of ceremonial structure is also found in the southern +part of the Central region among the Yokuts. + +In the matter of dancing apparel the Northwest differs fundamentally +from all the remainder of the state. Some of the most important of the +regalia, such as long obsidian knives and albino deerskins, are not +worn on the body or used ritually but merely carried for display, being +primarily objects of great value. Large forehead-bands entirely covered +with brilliant red woodpecker feathers more nearly resemble ordinary +dancing apparel, but are also articles of value, the unmounted +woodpecker feathers virtually constituting one form of currency. Other +objects used in dancing are dresses, cloaks, and head-bands of skin and +fur, head-dresses of network, and carefully ornamented plumes and head +feathers. All these, while worn on the body, and decorative, also +possess considerable commercial value. The drum is not used, the +whistle employed at times, and the rattle, which consists of deer +hoofs, but sparingly. + +In the Central region objects made of feathers greatly predominate over +all others, and are mostly made to be worn actually on the body. +Head-dresses are particularly conspicuous and of many forms. In the +Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys and the adjacent region cloaks of +large feathers attached to a network are worn. In the Tulare basin +these are replaced by skirts consisting of strings of eagle-down. With +these down-skirts are worn large upright head-dresses of crow and +magpie feathers. This combination of costume was used also by the +Mission Indians in Southern California and by the Washo of Nevada, and +at least the head-dress is found as far north as the Sacramento valley. +Network caps filled with down, and forehead bands of down, are frequent +in various parts. Perhaps the most typical single object of ceremonial +apparel is a flat band, usually worn on the forehead, and consisting of +the trimmed red quills of the yellow-hammer sewed side by side. This +head-band occurs through the whole of Central California and is used +also by the tribes east of the Sierra Nevada, in the state of Nevada, +and south of Tehachapi pass in Southern California. The large foot drum +of the Central region has already been mentioned. Whistles are also +used and there are two forms of rattle, one consisting of silk cocoons +containing gravel, the other of a split stick. The cocoon rattle is +usually associated with the shaman, the clap-stick with dancing. + +In the South, especially among the Mission Indians, the dancing +apparel, as is evident from the instances already mentioned, is of much +the same type as in the Central area. On the Colorado river feather +ornaments of the same general character are used, though they are of a +simpler type and head-dresses predominate. The whistle is but little +used in the South, the drum occasionally, baskets and other objects +being chiefly employed for this purpose. The rattle is the +all-important musical instrument in this region. It is made most +frequently from a gourd or a turtle-shell. + + +MYTHOLOGY AND BELIEFS. + +In mythology a deep-going difference between the three culture areas +again appears. The Northwestern mythologies are characterized primarily +by a very deeply impressed conception of a previous, now vanished, +race, who by first living the life and performing the actions of +mankind were the producers of all human institutions and arts as well +as of some of the phenomena of nature. Second in importance in the +Northwest are myths dealing with culture-heroes more or less of the +trickster type familiar from so many other parts of North America. + +In Central California there is always a true creation of the world, of +mankind, and of its institutions. The conception of the creator is +often quite lofty, and tricky exploits or defeats are usually not +connected with him. Often there is an antithesis between this +beneficent and truly divine creator and a second character, usually the +Coyote, who in part coöperates with the creator but in part thwarts +him, being responsible for the death of mankind and other imperfections +in the world-scheme. In the northern half of the Central region the +creator is generally anthropomorphic; if not, he is merged into one +personage with the more or less tricky Coyote. In the southern half of +the region the creators seem always to be animals with the dignified +and wise eagle as the chief. The myths of the Central region not +directly concerned with creation are mostly stories of adventure, of +much the same type as European folk and fairy tales. They do not +explain the origin of phenomena except in a casual, isolated way, and +but rarely are of ceremonial import. + +In Southern California there is no creation. The various animate and +inanimate existences in the world are born from heaven and earth as the +first parents. Sometimes heaven and earth are regarded as the first +concrete existences, who were, however, preceded by a series of psychic +beings grouped in pairs. The bulk of the Southern origin myth consists +of a history of mankind, at first as a single tribe and later centered +in the tribe which tells the story. In the successive experiences of +this body of people, which are accompanied by more or less journeying, +the world is gradually brought to its present stage, and all the +institutions of mankind, particularly of the narrating tribe but also +of others, are developed. The people are under the leadership of one or +two great leaders, at least one of whom always dies or departs after +his beneficent directions. The thoroughly Southwestern and Pueblo +character of this long origin myth is obvious. It is usually followed +to a greater or less extent by migration legends recounting the +wandering and conflicts of different tribes or clans. The remaining +myths are in plot essentially not very different from the adventure +stories of the Central region, but both much longer and more elaborate, +and at the same time distinctively ritualistic in that they form the +basis or framework of the singing ceremonies that have been described. +As these ceremonies themselves are nothing but myths, there is neither +need nor room for traditionary accounts explaining the origin of the +ceremonies. + +An identification of myth and ceremony that is in many ways similar to +that prevalent in Southern California is characteristic also of the +Northwestern region, where the formulae which constitute the essential +religious elements, as well as being the direct means, of most +supernatural accomplishment, are nothing but myths. The Northwestern +formula is a myth, rarely a direct prayer, and practically every more +serious myth is either in whole or in part a also a formula. In +purpose, however, as well as in rendering, the spoken myth-formulae of +the Northwest and the sung myth-ceremonies of the South are different, +the former having always a definite practical result in view, whereas +the latter have no aim other than their own recital. + +Thus the mythology of Southern California resembles that of the +Southwest rather than that of the remainder of the state. That of the +Northwestern region shows affinities to the North Pacific Coast in its +prevalence of the culture-hero and trickster over the creator. The most +marked special characteristic of the Northwestern mythology, other than +its practical use of myths for religious purposes in the shape of +formulas, is its strong and definite, though inconsistently carried +out, idea of the previous race which is parallel to but distinct from +mankind, and which is the originator, not by any act of creation but by +merely living its life, of everything human except mankind itself, the +origin of which is never accounted for. This idea of a previous +supernatural race analogous to mankind crops out to some extent in +almost all North American mythologies, and particularly in other parts +of California: but it seems nowhere to be so deep-seated and so freely +expressed as in this region. The members of this vanished race are +almost always strictly human, in Northwestern California, and not +animals or personifications. They are nothing but men, living the life +of the Indians, transposed into a mythic supernatural age, and by the +fact of their mere existence regarded as the originators of the present +condition of the world. They therefore leave no room for a creator, and +but little for the culture hero, whose exploits, when not of purely +personal significance, consequently consist mainly of the destruction +of evil beings. + +If the mythology of Northwestern California in spite of its partial +northern affinities accordingly has a dominant character all its own, +the same is also true of the larger, more representative Central +region. A true creator, and a full and consistent attempt at an account +of the creation, are found nowhere else in North America, or at least +only sporadically and carried out with an apparently much less degree +of thoroughness. The remainder of the Central Californian mythology +however scarcely presents any unique qualities, even some of the +specific myth-episodes, such as the favorite one of the bear and deer +children, being found over considerable territories outside of +California. Even the important characteristic of the presence of +creation-myths is in a measure a negative one, for from a world view +some approach to such a myth may be expected among most peoples, +whether primitive or civilized, and it is primarily only in America +that special bents of mind and of religious thought have supplanted the +idea of creation by the culture hero, the tribal history, and other +conceptions. We are therefore not far from right if we regard the +unique development of creation myths over the greater part of +California as merely a part of a general tendency of the California +Indians towards simplicity and lack of strongly marked peculiar and +American qualities in any one direction, a tendency which has already +been emphasized in other aspects of their religion, and which must be +said to characterize their whole life and culture. + +Ideas as to the world and the existence of the dead vary from tribe to +tribe but present nothing specially distinctive. The world is usually +regarded as surrounded by water, sometimes as floating upon it. It is +often secured by four or five pillars, ropes, or other supports. Beyond +where earth and sky meet there is often another land. The dead +sometimes go below, sometimes above, sometimes across the ocean to the +west, and sometimes to more or less distant parts of this earth. The +entrance to the world of the dead is pointed out by some tribes. People +who have temporarily died have been there and returned to describe it. +Dances constitute the principal occupation of the dead. No ideas of +future rewards and punishments based on conduct in this life have yet +been found. If such ideas exist they must be very scantily developed. +As in other parts of the world, there are occasional ideas of +transmigration of souls into animals, but these conceptions are nowhere +systematically worked out or of any religious importance. + + +SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF DIFFERENT TRIBES. + +Such are the principal characteristics of the religion of the Indians +of California as a whole, and of the larger ethnographical areas of the +state. It is obvious that with so great a linguistic and political +diversification as existed among these Indians, there must have been +many local modifications of the scheme which has been outlined. The +most conspicuous or best known of these special modifications it is the +purpose of the remainder of this paper to consider. In this review the +groups to be taken up will, for the sake of greatest convenience of +classification, be the linguistic families. These numerous families are +territorially so restricted, and usually so small in numbers, that they +almost form the equivalent of the tribe in other regions of North +America, that is to say, of a subdivision of the family. Strictly there +are no tribes in the greater part of California. The families or stocks +are the largest linguistic units, usually subdivided into several +dialectic areas, each of which contains a number of small village +communities that are the only units of political or social +organization. + +In the Northwestern region, in spite of the excessive limitation of +this territory, a distinction must be made between three tribes which +occupy the heart of the region and show the culture in its most extreme +form, and a fringe of surrounding tribes where the Northwestern culture +is either less developed or subject to greater extraneous influences. +The three more characteristic groups are the Yurok and Karok, small +independent linguistic families, and the Hupa division of the +Athabascan family. These alone practice the Deerskin dance and the "New +Year's" or world-making ceremonies. With them also the peculiar +mythological and shamanistic conceptions typical of the region are +found in the purest form. The surrounding tribes are the Wishosk or +Wiyot, perhaps the Chimariko and some of the Shasta, the Athabascan +Tolowa, and the Athabascans southwest of the Hupa. + +The Yurok held the Deerskin and Jumping dances at three places along +the Klamath river, and the Jumping dance alone at three points on the +coast, to the south. At the mouth of the river an annual spring +ceremony to cause or regulate the ascent of the salmon was made. Until +this ceremony had been made salmon were not eaten. The shamans of the +Yurok were almost all women. Alone of all the tribes in the +Northwestern region the Yurok held no dance or public ceremony on the +occasion of a girl's puberty. Their traditions seem to have the +peculiar Northwestern qualities perhaps more deeply impressed upon them +than even those of their neighbors, the Karok and Hupa, especially in +regard to the underlying conception of a previous race and its +function. In accord with the development of this conception, the +mythical heroes of the Yurok show less approximation to being creators +than those of the other tribes, and animals are mentioned in the +mythology surprisingly little. + +The Karok, who live immediately upstream from the Yurok on the Klamath, +held the Deerskin and Jumping dances at three places. At each of these +the dances were conducted in connection with a sacred ceremony called +"New Year's" by the whites and "making the world" by the Indians. This +ceremony was performed early in autumn, practically by one man, the +priest who knew the formula and ritual. A similar ceremony was held at +a fourth locality in spring, in connection with the coming of the +salmon. The Karok regard the Deerskin and Jumping dances of the Yurok +and Hupa as the equivalents of these ceremonies of their own, reckoning +altogether ten places in the world at which they are performed. Karok +mythology is of the Northwestern type, but shows more animal characters +than that of the Yurok. + +The territory held by the Hupa was much less extended than that of +their neighbors, and this was no doubt the occasion of their making +only one Deerskin and Jumping dance in their valley. They held a New +Year's ceremony in autumn which had distinct reference to the acorn +crop. Ceremonials and restrictions connected with menstruation were +considerably developed, much more than among the neighboring Yurok. It +was thought dangerous to speak to a dog, as he might be provoked to +answer, which would be a fatal portent. + +The religion of the other Athabascans in this part of the state is very +little known, but it is certain that before the southern end of +Humboldt county is reached, in other words, in the Eel river drainage, +a totally distinct set of conceptions and practices is encountered, +which are allied to those of the Central region. + +The Wiyot or Wishosk, who adjoin the Yurok on the south, did not +practice the Jumping dance, other ceremonies, which are very little +known, taking its place among them. One dance was performed by women +standing up to the hips in water. Shamanism is of more prominence among +them than with their neighbors the Yurok, and men as well as women are +affected with supernatural powers. The sex of the guardian spirit is +usually the opposite of that of the shaman. It is possible that on +account of the almost complete disappearance of their tribal life and +communal religious practices, shamanism, which has been retained with +greater vigor among the Wiyot, now appears relatively more important, +as the only remnant of the religious side of their culture. An +elaborate hanging feather head-dress, a belt, a pipe for smoking, and +another for sucking, are the constant paraphernalia of the +medicine-man. Two shamans often support each other in curing disease, +one diagnosing, the other removing the pain. The mythology of the Wiyot +resembles that of the Yurok chiefly through possessing certain specific +narrative episodes in common with it. But the idea of a previous +parallel race is very little developed, and there is a true creator, +Above-Old-Man. Most of the other mythical characters are animals. The +whole mythology therefore is of the Central rather than of the +Northwestern type. + +With the Yuki of Mendocino county a pure form of the Central culture +obtains. The creator is Taikomol, "he who goes alone." His companion, +who supplements his work, especially as regards the culture of man, is +Coyote. There is a Taikomol ceremony in which this character is +impersonated, and which is shamanistic at least to the degree of being +performed to cure an individual of sickness. There is no trace of the +sacred formulae of the Northwest. The shaman, who is usually a man, +receives his power either by dreaming or in a vision in a desolate +place. His power is not sought by him and he possesses definite +guardian spirits. Bear shamans are much feared. All the Yuki possess a +sacred society initiation ceremony, in which performances of magic are +prominent. Among the northern Yuki and neighboring Wailaki this is +called Flint ceremony, and the initiates display magic powers in +handling and swallowing flint points. Among the southern Yuki, as among +the neighboring Pomo and Athabascan Kato, the ceremony relates to +ghosts and is popularly known as Devil dance. The members possess power +of causing sickness and contend against each other much like the +shamans of the Maidu and Yokuts. + +One of the most conspicuous features of the religion of the Pomo, who +are south of the Yuki, is their shamanistic fetishes. The medicine-man +possesses a number of objects, stones, parts of animals, and other +articles, which he treasures and with which his power is largely bound +up. Pomo mythology is characterized by the importance of Coyote, who +comes nearer than any other personage to playing the part of creator. +In certain ceremonies there are exhibitions of fire-eating and the +clown occurs. + +The Wintun occupy a territory which is of much greater extent from +north to south than from east to west. The northern and southernmost +members of the family therefore differ considerably. In the north there +is a well defined conception of a creator who dwells above, and to whom +Coyote forms an antithesis. In the south, where everything shows the +Wintun and Pomo to have influenced each other considerably, he is +replaced by Coyote. In both regions a world-fire is prominent in the +mythology. In the north the shaman is inaugurated in his career in a +ceremony in which he is assisted by his older colleagues. The southern +Wintun may prove to have been the people who largely developed the +dances and ceremonies characteristic of a large part of the Sacramento +valley. They show much in common with their western neighbors the Pomo, +and with the Maidu who adjoin them on the east and who themselves +declare that they have derived the Hesi and other dances from them. + +None of the groups so far discussed, with the possible exception of +part of the Wintun, practiced any distinct mourning ceremony. On the +other hand, all that follow, with the possible doubtful exception of +one or two tribes on the outskirts of the state, held mourning +ceremonies as among the most important of all their religious +practices. + +The Maidu everywhere possessed a secret society. Their system of dances +becomes less and less developed as one proceeds farther from Wintun +influence. Among the mountain tribes almost all ceremonies were much +less developed than in the Sacramento valley. Shamanistic beliefs and +practices also varied, although there was everywhere a clear idea of +spirits personally acquired and controlled by the medicine-man. Among +the northeastern Maidu every shaman's son invariably became a shaman, +although only through his own acquisition of spirits, which might be +those of his father. In the Sacramento valley spirits were acquired by +involuntary dreaming without much regard to heredity. Puberty +ceremonies for girls were performed both among the northwestern and +northeastern Maidu, perhaps among those of the south also. The +mythology of the several Maidu divisions is much more uniform than +their religious practices. The creator is always opposed and his +beneficent work rendered incomplete by Coyote. It is clear that the +mythology of the Maidu is distinctive and much less under Wintun +influence than their ceremonies. + +Among the Miwok the Coyote largely takes the place of the creator. As +among their northern neighbors the Maidu, the mourning ceremony was +important, and the two stocks held at least certain dances in common. +The individual mourning practices and restrictions of the widow were +elaborate and severe. Nothing is as yet known of a secret society, but +as both the southern and northern neighbors of the Miwok performed +initiation ceremonies, it is likely that they also possessed them. + +Among the Yokuts, who occupied the head of the San Joaquin-Tulare +valley south of the Miwok, there are no traces of the ceremonial system +of the Sacramento valley, which is replaced by public shamanistic +ceremonies, in which contests and exhibitions of magic were +conspicuous. The annual rattlesnake ceremony which has been described +is of this type, as is the Ohowish, a ceremony in which medicine-men +from different villages or districts; directed their powers against +each other. There seem to have been also certain animal dances among +the Yokuts. Medicine-men usually acquired their power by dreaming, +sometimes by visions while alone. Bear shamans were known, but were not +so much dreaded as farther north. Rain doctors, who could control the +weather, were important. Their power was bound up with certain stone +amulets evidencing a fetishistic development. Formulae, some with +ritualistic accompaniment, were spoken, but differed from those of the +Northwest in being short direct prayers or supplications instead of +mythical narratives. The creators in Yurok mythology are several +animals, the chief of whom is the eagle and among whom Coyote always +finds a place. A favorite mythological personage is the prairie-falcon, +and a myth which has found a particular development relates the visit +of a husband to the world of the dead in pursuit of his wife. + +Very little is known of the ethnology of the coast tribes west of the +Miwok and Yokuts. Among the Southern Costanoan peoples creation myths +resembling those of the Yokuts are found. Coyote is at once a trickster +and a giver of civilization and arts to man. Similar ideas probably +prevailed among the Salinan tribes. As regards the Esselen and Chumash +nothing is known. + +Tribes belonging to the great Shoshonean family held almost all the +eastern border of the state as well as a large part of the southern +desert and coast region. The former inhabited the Great Basin, and are +culturally entirely distinct from those of Southern California, of whom +alone is there any considerable knowledge extant as regards religion. +Certain of the northern groups, such as the Mono, lived on the western +or California slope of the Sierra Nevada, in contact with the Yokuts +and Miwok, and partook more largely of the culture and presumably +religion of these people than of the tribes of the Basin. + +Among the Shoshoneans of Southern California, such as the Gabrielino +and Luiseño, the so-called Mission Indians, mourning ceremonies were +more important than any others, and were held both on the death of a +person, sometime afterwards, and again in a still more public manner at +large gatherings. At some of these ceremonies images representing the +dead, and recalling those of the Maidu far to the north, were burned. +One form of mourning ceremony was the Eagle dance, performed with an +eagle that was slowly killed as the ceremony went on through the night. +Many of the songs of the mourning ceremonies are of mythological +content, referring to the great leader or culture-hero Wiyot. The +puberty ceremonial for girls was elaborate and contained symbolic +actions. The initiation of males was intended for boys, and therefore +also took on largely the character of a puberty ceremony. This +character was heightened by the presence of numerous ordeals. Part of +the initiation of boys consisted of the drinking of jimson-weed. Sand +paintings of a very simple type, evidently influenced by basket +patterns, but thoroughly symbolic in meaning and therefore essentially +of the same nature as those of the Pueblos and Navaho, were made in +connection with this initiation. On the whole religious symbolism was +more developed than in Central California or even among the Yuman +tribes to the east, who are geographically so much nearer the Indians +of the Southwest. The shaman acquired his power by dreaming, and the +pipe with which he sucked as well as smoked was of the utmost +importance to him. Paraphernalia were much used by the shamans, +especially boards or wooden swords, which were swallowed and worn as +head-dresses. These, however, were not purely fetishistic objects, but +of potency rather through symbolism and association. The mythology of +the Shoshonean Mission Indians was not essentially different from that +of the other Indians of Southern California. + +The Yuman family, which is so much represented in Arizona and Lower +California, occupied the southernmost portion of Southern California. +The Diegueño in the coast mountains and on the coast were culturally +similar to the Shoshonean Luiseño, with whom they are generally +included as the present Mission Indians. Along the Colorado river the +physical and ethnic environment was quite different, but as has already +been said, there was much closer resemblance to the Mission Indians in +matters of religion than in almost any other phase of culture. The +principal Yuman tribes in this Colorado region are the Mohave and the +Yuma. The religion of only the former is known, but the two give every +evidence of having been very similar. The religion of the Shoshonean +Paiute or Chemehuevi in the desert adjoining the Mohave has been +largely colored by the influence of the latter. The most distinctive +feature of Mohave religion is the insistence upon dreaming as the +source of everything religious, although this dreaming must be +interpreted rather as a belief in the presence of the individual in +spirit form at the great events of mythic times. All myths that are at +all of sacred character are believed not to be handed down by +tradition, but to be dreamed by each narrator. The shaman receives his +power by dreaming ritualistic myths, which reveal to him his practices. +The lengthy series of songs which are the essence of all ceremonies, +and the mythical narratives connected with them, are also learned in +dreams. It is probably a result of this importance of the dream-world +and of the identification of myth and ceremony, of religious belief and +religious practice, that ritualism is so slightly developed among the +Mohave. Their geographical nearness and intercourse with the Hopi and +other southwestern tribes, among whom ritualism and symbolism find +perhaps their highest development on the continent north of Mexico, +would certainly justify a contrary expectation. Both ceremonial actions +and ceremonial paraphernalia and dress are developed only to a very +slight extent. There is no initiation or society. The singing +ceremonies, which with the exception of a few minor observances such as +that for a girl's puberty, constitute all the Mohave ceremonies other +than mourning ceremonies, are quite numerous, more than twenty being +known. Some of these ceremonies are acknowledged to have been borrowed +from other Yuman tribes, especially the Yuma, and these Indians no +doubt have also acquired Mohave ceremonies. Some of the ceremonies are +primarily mythical in character, others somewhat shamanistic. All are +also sung in mourning. In addition there is a distinctive mourning +ceremony held annually for important men. + + +BIBLIOGRAPHY. + +Much of the material on which the statements in the preceding essay are +based is information collected by the University of California's +Ethnological and Archaeological Survey of California since 1901 and as +yet unpublished. Of old accounts dealing with the religion of the +Indians of California, the best is by the Franciscan missionary +Boscana, entitled Chinigchinich and published in the 1846 edition of a +volume by A. Robinson called Life in California. It deals with the +Shoshonean Indians of Mission San Juan Capistrano. An occasional +reference of value may be found in other works, such as Venegas' +History of California. The series of translations and republications of +early explorers in California and the Southwest, published in the Land +of Sunshine, later Out West, beginning in 1899, is also convenient, +though naturally it deals but incidentally with religion. Reid's +account of the Indians of Los Angeles county, published in an early Los +Angeles newspaper and republished by Alexander Taylor in the fourteenth +volume of California Farmer in 1861, is particularly good, though less +so on the side of religion than on most others. Stephen Powers' Tribes +of California, issued in 1877 as the third volume of the Contributions +to North American Ethnology, a government series, deals with the +Indians of the greater part of the state and contains many references +to their religious life. Powers is however often very inexact, and the +value of his work is in its comprehensiveness rather than in its +reliability. An important work is Creation Myths of Primitive America, +by Jeremiah Curtin, which consists of a collection of myths from the +Wintun and Yana of Northern California. The differences of form which +these myths show from most Indian myths that have been published in +translation are apparently chiefly due to the method of their +presentation by the author. Curtin's introduction is very suggestive +but exaggerated. Professor R. B. Dixon has brought out a paper on Maidu +Myths, and another, a great part of which is devoted to religion, on +the Northern Maidu, both in the seventeenth volume of the Bulletin of +the American Museum of Natural History. These two contributions are +among the most careful studies as yet made by a trained observer in any +part of the state. The same author has also published briefer articles +on Some Coyote Stories from the Maidu Indians of California, System and +Sequence in Maidu Mythology, and Some Shamans of Northern California, +in recent volumes of the Journal of American Folk-Lore, and on The +Mythology of the Shasta-Achomawi in the American Anthropologist for +1905. Professor P. E. Goddard has published Life and Culture of the +Hupa, the last portion of which refers to religion; and Hupa Texts +(with both interlinear and current translations), almost all of which +are religious in character. These two papers constitute Volume I of the +University of California Publications in American Archaeology and +Ethnology. In the Journal of American Folk-Lore for 1906 is a paper by +the same author on Lassik Tales. Miss Constance Goddard DuBois has +published a number of valuable papers on the Mission Indians, mainly +concerning the mythology of the Diegueño, in the volumes of the Journal +of American Folk-Lore for 1901, 1904, and 1906. In the American +Anthropologist for 1905 Miss DuBois has an article on the Religious +Ceremonies and Myths of the Mission Indians, while another paper on The +Mythology of the Diegueños appears in the Proceedings of the Thirteenth +International Congress of Americanists. From the present author there +have appeared, in the second and fourth volumes of the series of +American Archaeology and Ethnology, of the University of California +Publications, Types of Indian Culture in California, in part treating +of religion, and Indian Myths from South-Central California; in the +Journal of American Folk-Lore between 1904 and 1906, A Ghost Dance in +California, Wishosk Myths, and Two Myths of the Mission Indians; in the +American Anthropologist for 1902, A Preliminary Sketch of the Mohave +Indians. In the American Anthropologist for 1905 and 1906 the late +Major H. N. Rust has two brief articles on The Obsidian Blades of +California and A Puberty Ceremony of the Mission Indians. The Journal +of American Folk-Lore has contained a rather confused article on The +Cosmogony and Theogony of the Mojave Indians, by Capt. J. G. Bourke, in +1889, and others by G. W. James, on myths of the Mission Indians of +Southern California, in 1902 and 1903. In the same Journal appeared in +1902 An Indian Myth from the San Joaquin Basin by J. W. Hudson, and A +Composite Myth of the Pomo Indians by S. A. Barrett in 1906. Since 1906 +the Journal has contained a series of Notes on California Folk-Lore. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Religion of the Indians of +California, by A. L. 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