Letter 22
by
George Catlin
(Extracted from Letters and Notes on the North American Indians, vol. 1,
pp. 245-88.)
Oh! "horribile visu et mirabile dictu." Thank God, it is
over, that I have seen it, and am able to tell it to the world.
The annual religious ceremony, of four days, of which I have often spoken and
which I have so long been wishing to see, has at last been enacted in this
village; and I have, fortunately, been able to see and to understand it in most
of its bearings, which was more than I had reason to expect; for no white man,
in all probability, has ever been before admitted to the medicine-lodge during
these most remarkable and appalling scenes.
Well and truly has it been said, that the Mandans are a
strange and peculiar people; and most correctly had I been informed, that this
was an important and interesting scene, by those who had, on former occasions,
witnessed such parts of it as are transacted out of doors, and in front of the
medicine-lodge.
Since the date of my last Letter, I was lucky enough to have painted the
medicine man who was high-priest on this grand occasion, or conductor of the
ceremonies, who had me regularly installed doctor or medicine-man and who, on
the morning when these grand refinements in mysteries commenced, took me by the
arm, and led me into the medicine-lodge, where the Fur Trader, Mr. Kipp, and his
two clerks accompanied me in close attendance for four days; all of us going to
our own quarters at sun-down, and returning again at sunrise the next morning.
I took my sketch-book with me, and have made many and faithful drawings of what
we saw, and full notes of everything as translated to me by the interpreter; and
since the close of that horrid and frightful scene, which was a week ago or
more, I have been closely ensconced in an earth-covered wigwam, with a fine
sky-light over my head with my palette and brushes endeavoring faithfully to put
the whole of what we saw upon canvass, which my companions all agree to be
critically correct, and of the fidelity of which they have attached their
certificates to the backs of the paintings. I have made four paintings of these
strange scenes, containing several hundred figures, representing the
transactions of each day; and if I live to get them home, they will be found to
be exceedingly curious and interesting.
I shudder at the relation, or even at the thought of these barbarous and cruel
scenes, and am almost ready to shrink from the task of reciting them after I
have so long promised some account of them. I entered the medicine-house of
these scenes, as I would have entered a church, and expected to see something
extraordinary and strange, but yet in the form of worship or devotion; but alas!
little did I expect to see the interior of their holy temple turned into a
slaughter-house, and its floor strewed with the blood of its fanatic devotees.
Little did I think that I was entering a house of God, where His blinded
worshippers were to pollute its sacred interior with their blood, and
propitiatory suffering and tortures—surpassing,
if possible, the cruelty of the rack or the inquisition; but such the scene has
been, and as such I will endeavor to describe it.
The "Mandan religious ceremony" then, as I believe it is very justly
denominated, is an annual transaction, held in their medicine-lodge once a year,
as a great religious anniversary, and for several distinct objects, as I shall
in a few minutes describe ; during, and after which, they look with implicit
reliance for the justification and approval of the Great Spirit.
All of the Indian tribes, as I have before observed, are religious—are
worshipful—and many of them go to almost
incredible lengths (as will be seen in the present instance, and many others I
may recipe) in worshipping the Great Spirit; denying and humbling themselves
before Him for the same purpose, and in the same hope as we do, perhaps in a
more rational and acceptable way.
The tribes, so far as I have visited them, all distinctly believe in the
existence of a Great (or Good) Spirit, an Evil (or Bad Spirit,) and also in a
future existence and future accountability, according to their virtues and vices
in this world. So far the North American Indians would seem to be one family,
and such an unbroken theory amongst them; yet with regard to the manner and
form, and time and place of that accountability—the
constructions of virtues and vices, and the modes of appeasing and propitiating
the Good and Evil Spirits, they are found with all the changes and variety which
fortuitous circumstances, and fictions, and fables have wrought upon them.
If from their superstitions and their ignorance, there are oftentimes
obscurities and mysteries thrown over and around their system, yet these affect
not the theory itself, which is everywhere essentially the same—and
which, if it be not correct, has this much to command the admiration of the
enlightened world, that they worship with great sincerity, and all according to
one creed.
The Mandans believe in the existence of a Great (or Good) Spirit, and also of an
Evil Spirit, who they say existed long before the Good Spirit, and is far
superior in power. They all believe also in a future state of existence, and a
future administration of rewards and punishments, and (so do all other tribes
that I have yet visited) they believe those punishments are not eternal, but
commensurate with their sins.
These people living in a climate where they suffer from cold in the severity of
their winters, have very naturally reversed our ideas of Heaven and Hell. The
latter they describe to be a country very far to the north, of barren and
hideous aspect, and covered with eternal snows and ice. The torments of this
freezing place they describe as most excruciating; whilst Heaven they suppose to
be in a warmer and delightful latitude, where nothing is felt but the keenest
enjoyment, and where the country abounds in buffaloes and other luxuries of
life. The Great or Good Spirit they believe dwells in the former place for the
purpose of there meeting those who have offended him; increasing the agony of
their sufferings, by being himself present, administering the penalties. The Bad
or Evil Spirit they at the same time suppose to reside in Paradise, still
tempting the happy; and those who have gone to the regions of punishment they
believe to be tortured for a time proportioned to the amount of their
transgressions, and that they are then to be transferred to the land of the
happy, where they are again liable to the temptations of the Evil Spirit, and
answerable again at a future period for their new offences.
Such is the religious creed of the Mandans, and for the purpose of appeasing the
Good and Evil Spirits, and to secure their entrance into those "fields Elysian,"
or beautiful hunting grounds, do the young men subject themselves to the horrid
and sickening cruelties to be described in the following pages.
There are other three distinct objects for which these religious ceremonies are
held, which are as follow:
First they are held annually as a celebration of the event of the subsiding of
the Flood, which they call Meenee-roka-hasha (sinking down or settling of the
waters.)
Secondly, for the purpose of dancing what they call, Bel-hack-na'pic (the
bull-dance); to the strict observance of which they attribute the coming of
buffaloes to supply them with food during the season; and—
Thirdly and lastly, for the purpose of conducting all the young men of the
tribe, as they annually arrive to the age of manhood, through an ordeal of
privation and torture, which, while it is supposed to harden their muscles and
prepare them for extreme endurance, enables the chiefs who are spectators to the
scene, to decide upon their comparative bodily strength and ability to endure
the ' extreme privations and sufferings that often fall to the lots of Indian
warriors ; and that they may decide who is the most hardy and best able to lead
a war-party in case of extreme exigency.
This part of the ceremony, as I have just witnessed it, is truly shocking to
behold, and will almost stagger the belief of the world when they read of it.
The scene is too terrible and too revolting to be seen or to be told, were it
not an essential part of a whole, which will be new to the civilized world, and
therefore worth their knowing.
The bull-dance, and many other parts of these ceremonies are exceedingly
grotesque and amusing, and that part of them which has a relation to the Deluge
is harmless, is and full of interest.
In the centre of the Mandan village is an open, circular area of one hundred and
fifty feet in diameter, kept always clear, as a public ground, for the display
of all their public feasts, parades, &c. and around it are their wigwams placed
as near to each other as they can well stand, their doors facing the centre of
this public area.
In the middle of this ground, which is trodden like a hard
payement, is a curb (somewhat like a large hogshead standing on its end) made of
planks (and bound with hoops), some eight or nine feet high, which they
religiously preserve and protect from year to year, free from mark or scratch,
and which they call the "big canoe"—it is
undoubtedly a symbolic representation of a part of their traditional history of
the Flood; which it is very evident, from this and numerous other features of
this grand ceremony, they have in some way or other received, and are here
endeavoring to perpetuate by vividly impressing it on the minds of the whole
nation. This object of superstition, from its position, as the very centre of
the village is the rallying point of the whole nation. To it their devotions are
paid on various occasions of feasts and religious exercises during the year; and
in this extraordinary scene it was often the nucleus of their mysteries and
cruelties, as I shall shortly describe them, and becomes an object worth bearing
in mind, and worthy of being understood.
This exciting and appalling scene, then, which is familiarly (and no doubt
correctly) called the "Mandan religious ceremony," commences, not on a
particular day of the year, (for these people keep no record of days or weeks),
but a particular season, which is designated by the full expansion of the willow
leaves under the bank of the river; for according to their tradition, "the twig
that the bird brought home was a willow bough, and had full-grown leaves on it,"
and the bird to which they allude, is the mourning or turtle-dove, which they
took great pains to point out to me, as it is often to be seen feeding on the
sides of their earth-covered lodges, and which, being, as they call it, a
medicine-bird, is not to be destroyed or harmed by any one, and even their dogs
are instructed not to do it injury.
On the morning of which this strange transaction commenced, I was sitting at
breakfast in the house of the Trader, Mr. Kipp, when at sunrise, we were
suddenly startled by the shrieking and screaming of the women, and barking and
howling of dogs, as if an enemy were actually storming their village.
"Now we have it!" (exclaimed mine host as he sprang from the table), "the grand
ceremony has commenced—drop your knife and
fork, Monsr. and get your sketch-book as soon as possible, that you may lose
nothing, for the very moment of commencing is as curious as anything else of
this strange affair.'' I seized my sketch-book, and all hands of us were in an
instant in front of the medicine-lodge, ready to see and to hear all that was to
take place. Groups of women and children were gathered on the tops of their
earth-covered wigwams, and all were screaming, and dogs were howling, and all
eyes directed to the prairies in the West, where was beheld, at a mile distant,
a solitary-individual descending a prairie bluff, and making his way in a direct
line towards the village.
The whole community joined in the general expression of great alarm, as if they
were in danger of instant destruction; bows were strung and thrummed to test
their
elasticity—their horses were caught upon the
prairie and run into the village—warriors
were blackening their faces, and dogs were muzzled, and every preparation made,
as if for instant combat.
During this deafening din and confusion within the piquets of the village of the
Mandans, the figure discovered on the prairie continued to approach with a
dignified step and in a right line towards the village; all eyes were upon him,
and he at length made his appearance (without opposition) within the piquets,
and proceeded towards the centre of the village, where all the chiefs and braves
stood ready to receive him, which they did in a cordial manner, by shaking hands
with him, recognizing him as an old acquaintance, and pronouncing his name
Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah (the first or only man). The body of this strange personage,
which was chiefly naked, was painted with white clay, so as to resemble at a
little distance, a white man; lie wore a robe of four white wolf skins falling
back
over his shoulders; on his head he had a splendid head-dress made of two ravens'
skins, and in his left hand he cautiously carried a large pipe, which he seemed
to watch and guard as something of great importance. After passing the chief and
braves as described, he approached the medicine or mystery lodge, which he had
the means of opening, and which had been religiously closed during the year
except for the performance of these religious rites. Having opened and entered
it, he called in four men whom he appointed to clean it out, and put in
readiness for the ceremonies, by sweeping it and strewing a profusion of green
willow-boughs over its floor, and with them decorating its sides. Wild sage
also, and many other aromatic herbs they gathered from the prairies, and
scattered over its floor; and over these were arranged a curious group of
buffalo and human skulls, and other articles, which were to be used during this
strange and unaccountable transaction.
During the whole of this day, and while these preparations were making in the
medicine-lodge Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah (the first or only man) travelled through the
village, stopping in front of every man's lodge, and crying until the owner of
the lodge came out, and asked who he was, and what was the matter? to which he
replied by relating the sad catastrophe which had happened on the earth's
surface by the overflowing of the waters, saying that he was the only person
saved from the universal calamity; that he landed his big canoe on a high
mountain in the west, where he now resides; that he had come to open the
medicine-lodge which must needs receive a present of some edged-tool from the
owner of every wigwam, that it may be sacrificed to the water; for he says, "if
this is not done, there will be another flood, and no one will be saved, as it
was with such tools that the big canoe was made."
Having visited every lodge or wigwam in the village, during the day, and having
received such a present at each, as a hatchet, a knife, &c. (which is
undoubtedly
always prepared and ready for the occasion,) he returned at evening and
deposited them in the medicine-lodge where they remained until the afternoon of
the last day of the ceremony, when, as the final or closing scene, they were
thrown into the river in a deep place, from a bank thirty feet high, and in
presence of the whole village; from whence they can never be recovered, and
where they were, undoubtedly, sacrificed to the Spirit of the Water.
During the first night of this strange character in the village, no one could
tell where he slept; and every person, both old and young, and dogs, and all
living things were kept within doors, and dead silence reigned every where. On
the next morning at sunrise, however, he made his appearance again, and entered
the medicine-lodge; and at his heels (in Indian file, i,e., single file, one
following in another's tracks) all the young men who were candidates for the
self-tortures which were to be inflicted, and for the honors that were to be
bestowed by the chiefs on those who could most manfully endure them. There were
on this occasion about fifty young men who entered the lists, and as they went
into the sacred lodge, each one's body was chiefly naked, and covered with clay
of different colors; some were red, others were yellow, and some were covered
with white clay, giving them the appearance of white men. Each one of them
carried in his right hand his medicine-hag—on
his left arm, his shield of the bull's hide—in
his left hand his bow and arrows, with his quiver slung on his back.
When all had entered the lodge, they placed themselves in reclining postures
around its sides, and each one had suspended over his head his respective
weapons and medicine^ presenting altogether, one of the most wild and
picturesque scenes imaginable.
Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah (the first or only man) was in the midst of them, and having
lit and smoked his medicine-pipe for their success; and having addressed them in
a short speech, stimulating and encouraging them to trust to the Great Spirit
for His protection during the severe ordeal they were about to pass through; he
called into the lodge an old medicine or mystery-man, whose body was painted
yellow, and whom he appointed master of ceremonies during this occasion, whom
they denominated in their language O-kee-pah Ka-se-kah (keeper or conductor of
the ceremonies.) He was appointed, and the authority passed by the presentation
of the medicine-pipe, on which they consider hangs all the power of holding and
conducting all these rites.
After this delegated authority had thus passed over to the medicine-man;
Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah shook hands with him, and bade him good bye, saying "that he
was
going back to the mountains in the west, from whence he should assuredly return
in just a year from that time, to open the lodge again." He then went out of the
lodge, and passing through the village, took formal leave of the chief in the
same manner, and soon disappeared over the bluffs from whence he came. No more
was seen of this surprising character during the occasion; but I shall have
something yet to say of him and his strange office before I get through the
Letter.
To return to the lodge—the medicine or
mystery-man just appointed, and who had received his injunctions from
Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah, was left sole conductor and keeper; and according to those
injunctions, it was his duty to lie by a small fire in the centre of the lodge,
with his medicine-pipe in his hand, crying to the Great Spirit incessantly,
watching the young men, and preventing entirely their escape from the lodge, and
all communication whatever with people outside, for the space of four days and
nights, during which time they were not allowed to eat, or drink, or to sleep,
preparatory to the excruciating self-tortures which they were to endure on the
fourth day.
I mentioned that I had made four paintings of these strange
scenes, and the first one exhibits the interior of the medicine-lodge at this
moment; with the young men all reclining around its sides, and the conductor or
mystery-man lying by the fire, crying to the. Great Spirit. It was just at this
juncture that I was ushered into this
sacred temple of their worship, with my companions, which was, undoubtedly, the
first time that their devotions had ever been trespassed upon by the presence of
pale men; and in this instance had been brought about in the following strange
and unexpected manner.
I had most luckily for myself, painted a full-length portrait of this great
magician or high-priest, but a day previous to the commencement of the
ceremonies (in which I had represented him in the performance of some of his
mysteries), with which he had been so exceedingly pleased as well as astonished
(as "he could see its eyes move,") that I must needs be, in his opinion, deeply
skilled in magic and mysteries, and well-entitled to a respectable rank in the
craft, to which I had been at once elevated by the unanimous voice of the
doctors, and regularly initiated, and styled
Te'h-O'pee-nee-wash'ee'-Wdska'pooska the white medicine (or Spirit) man.
With this very honorable degree which had just been conferred upon me, I was
standing in front of the medicine-lodge early in the morning, with my companions
by my side, endeavoring to get a peep, if possible, into its sacred interior;
when this master of ceremonies, guarding and conducting its secrets, as I before
described, came out of the door and taking me with a firm professional affection
by the arm, led me into this sanctum sanctorum, which was strictly guarded from,
even a peep or a gaze from the vulgar, by a vestibule of eight or ten feet in
length, guarded with a double screen or door, and two or three dark and frowning
sentinels with spears or war-clubs in their hands. I gave the wink to my
companions as I was passing in, and the potency of my medicine was such as to
gain them a quiet admission, and all of us were comfortably placed on elevated
seats, which our conductor soon prepared for us.
We were then in full view of everything that transpired in the lodge, having
before us the scene exactly. To this seat we returned every morning at sunrise,
and remained until sun-down for four days, the whole time which these strange
scenes occupied. In addition to the preparations and arrangements of the
interior of this sanctuary, as before described, there was a curious, though a
very strict arrangement of buffalo and human skulls placed on the floor of the
lodge, and between them (which were divided into two parcels), and in front of
the reclining group of young candidates, was a small and very delicate scaffold,
elevated about five feet from the ground, made of four posts or crotches, not
larger than a gun-rod, and placed some four or five feet apart, supporting four
equally delicate rods, resting in the crotches; thus forming the frame of the
scaffold, which was completed by a number of still smaller and more delicate
sticks, transversely resting upon them. On the centre of this little frame
rested some small object, which I could not exactly understand from the distance
of twenty or thirty feet which
intervened between it and my eye. I started several times from my seat to
approach it, but all eyes were instantly upon me, and every mouth in the
assembly sent forth a hush-hush! which brought me back to my seat again: and I
at length quieted my stifled curiosity as well as I could, upon learning that so
sacred was that object, and so important its secrets or mysteries, that not I
alone, but even the young men, who were passing the ordeal, and all the village,
save the conductor of the mysteries, were stopped from approaching it, or
knowing what it was.
This little mystery-thing, whatever it was, had the appearance from where I sat,
of a small tortoise, or frog, lying on its back, with its head and legs quite
extended, and wound and tasselled off with exceedingly delicate red and blue,
and yellow ribbons or tassels, and other bright colored ornaments; and seemed,
from the devotions paid to it, to be the very nucleus of their mysteries—the
sanctissimus sanctorum, from which seemed to emanate all the sanctity of
their proceedings, and to which, all seemed to be paying the highest devotional
respect.
This strange, yet important essence of their mysteries, I made every enquiry
about; but got no further information of, than what I could learn by my eyes, at
the distance at which I saw it, and from the silent respect which I saw paid to
it. I tried with the doctors, and all of the fraternity answered me, that that
was "great-medicine," assuring me that it "could not be told." So I quieted my
curiosity as well as I could, by the full conviction that I had a degree or two
yet to take before I could fathom all the arcana of Indian superstitions; and
that this little, seemingly wonderful, relic of antiquity, symbol of some grand
event, or "secret too valuable to be told," might have been at last nothing but
a silly bunch of strings and toys, to which they pay some great peculiar regard;
giving thereby to some favorite Spirit or essence an ideal existence, and which,
when called upon to describe, they refuse to do so, calling it "Great Medicine"
for the very reason that there is nothing in it to reveal or describe.
Immediately under the little frame or scaffold described, and
on the floor of the lodge was placed a knife, and by the side of it a bundle of
splints or skewers, which were kept in readiness for the infliction of the
cruelties directly to be explained. There were seen also, in this stage of the
affair, a number of cords of rawhide, hanging down from the top of the lodge,
and passing through its roof, with which the young men were to be suspended by
the splints passed through their flesh, and drawn up by men placed on the top of
the lodge for the purpose, as will be described in a few moments.
There were also four articles of great veneration and importance lying on the
floor of the lodge, which were sacks, containing in each, some three or four
gallons of water. These also were objects of superstitious regard, and made with
great labor and much ingenuity ; each one of them being constructed of the skin
of the buffalo's neck, and most elaborately sewed together in the form of a
large tortoise lying on its back, with a bunch of eagle's quills appended to it
as a tail; and each of them haying a stick, shaped like a drum-stick, lying on
them, with which, in a subsequent stage of these ceremonies, as will be seen,
they are beaten upon by several of their mystery-men, as a part of the music for
their strange dances and mysteries. By the side of these sacks which they call
Eeh-teeh-ka are two other articles of equal importance, which they call
Eeh-na-dee (rattles), in the form of a gourd-shell made also of dried skins, and
used at the same time as the others, in the music (or rather noise and din) for
their dances, &c.
These four sacks of water have the appearance of very great antiquity; and by
enquiring of my very ingenious friend and patron, the medicine-man after the
ceremonies were over, he very gravely told me, that "those four tortoises
contained the waters from the four quarters of the world—that
these waters had been contained therein ever since the settling down of the
waters!" I did not think it best to advance any argument against so ridiculous a
theory, and therefore could not even enquire or learn, at what period they had
been instituted, or how often, or on what occasions, the water in them had been
changed or replenished.
I made several propositions, through my friend Mr. Kipp, the trader and
interpreter, to purchase one of these strange things by offering them a very
liberal price; to which I received in answer that these, and all the very
numerous articles used in these ceremonies, being a society property were
medicine, and could not be sold for any consideration; so I abandoned all
thoughts of obtaining anything, except what I have done by the medicine
operation of my pencil, which was applied to everything, and even upon that they
looked with decided distrust and apprehension, as a sort of theft or sacrilege.
Such then was the group, and such the appearance of the interior of the
medicine-lodge during the first three, and part of the fourth day also, of the
Mandan religious ceremonies. The medicine-man with a group about him, of young
aspirants who were under his sole control, as was every article and implement to
be used, and the sanctity of this solitary and gloomy looking place, which could
not be trespassed upon by any man's presence without his most sovereign
permission.
During the first three days of this solemn conclave, there were many very
curious forms and amusements enacted in the open area in the middle of the
village, and in front of the medicine-lodge, by other members of the community,
one of which formed a material part or link of these strange ceremonials. This
very curious and exceedingly grotesque part of their performance, which they
denominated Bellochk-nah-piek (the bull-dance)—of
which I have before spoken, as one of the avowed objects for which they held
this annual fete; and to the strictest observance of which they attribute the
coming of buffaloes to supply them with food during the season—is
repeated four times during the first day, eight times on the second day, twelve
times on the third day, and sixteen times on the fourth day; and always around
the curb, or "canoe" of which I have before spoken.
The principal actors in it were eight men, with the entire skins of buffaloes
thrown over their backs, with the horns and hoofs and tails remaining on; their
bodies in a horizontal position, enabling them to imitate the actions of the
buffalo, whilst they were looking out of its eyes as through a mask.
The bodies of these men were chiefly naked and all painted in the most
extraordinary manner, with the nicest adherence to exact similarity; their
limbs, bodies and
faces, being in every part covered, either with black, red or white paint. Each
one of these strange characters had also a lock of buffalo's hair tied around
his ankles—in his right hand a rattle, and a
slender white rod or staff six feet long, in the other ; and carried on his
back, a bunch of green willow boughs about the usual size of a bundle of straw.
These eight men, being divided into four pairs, took their positions on the four
different sides of the curb or big canoe, representing thereby the four cardinal
points; and between each group of them, with the back turned to the big canoe,
was another figure, engaged in the same dance, keeping step with them, with a
similar staff or wand in one hand and a rattle in the other, and (being four in
number) answering again to the four cardinal points. The bodies of these four
young men were chiefly naked, with no other dress upon them than a beautiful
kelt (or quartz-quaw), around the waist, made of eagles' quills and ermine, and
very splendid head-dresses made of the same materials. Two of these figures were
painted entirely black with pounded charcoal and grease, whom they called the
"firmament or night," and the numerous white spots which were dotted all over
their bodies, they called "stars." The other two were painted from head to foot
as red as vermilion could make them; these they said represented the day, and
the white streaks which were painted up and down over their bodies, were "ghosts
which the morning rays were chasing away."
These twelve are the only persons actually engaged in this strange dance, which
is each time repeated in the same form, without the slightest variation. There
are, however, a great number of characters engaged in giving the whole effect
and wildness to this strange and laughable scene, each one acting well his part,
and whose offices, strange and inexplicable as they are, I will endeavor to
point out and explain as well as I can, from what I saw, elucidated by their own
descriptions.
This most remarkable scene, then, which is witnessed more or less often on each
day, takes place in presence of the 'Whole nation, who are generally gathered
around, on the tops of the wigwams or otherwise, as spectators, whilst the young
men are reclining and fasting in the lodge as above described. On the first day,
this "bull dance" is given once to each of the cardinal points, and the
medicine-man smokes his pipe in those directions. On the second day, twice to
each; three times to each on the third day, and /bur times to each on the
fourth. As a signal for the dancers and other characters (as well as the public)
to assemble, the old man, master of ceremonies, with the medicine-pipe in hand,
dances out of the lodge, singing (or rather crying) forth a most pitiful lament,
until he approaches the
big canoe, against which he leans, with the pipe in his hand, and continues to
cry. At this instant, four very aged and patriarchal looking men, whose bodies
are painted red, and who have been guarding the four sides of the lodge, enter
it and bring out the four sacks of water, which they place near the big canoe,
where they seat themselves by the side of them and commence thumping on them
with the mallets or drumsticks which have been lying on them; and another
brandishes and shakes the eeh-na-dees or rattles, and all unite to them
their voices, raised to the highest pitch possible, as the music for the
bull-dance which is then commenced and continued for fifteen minutes or more in
perfect time, and without cessation or intermission. When the music and dancing
stop, which are always perfectly simultaneous, the whole nation raise the huzza!
and a deafening shout of approbation; the master of ceremonies dances back to
the medicine-lodge, and the old men return to their former place; the sacks of
water and all, rest as before, until by the same method, they are again called
into a similar action.
The supernumeraries or other characters who play their parts in this grand
spectacle, are numerous and well worth description. By the side of the big canoe
are seen two men with the skins of grizzly bears thrown over them, using the
skins as a mask, over their heads. These ravenous animals are continually
growling and threatening to devour every thing before them and interfering with
the forms of the religious ceremony. To appease them, the women are continually
bringing and placing before them dishes of meat, which are as often snatched up
and carried to the prairie, by two men whose bodies are painted black and their
heads white, whom they call bald eagles, who are darting by them, and grasping
their food from before them as they pass. These are again chased upon the plains
by a hundred or more small boys who are naked, with their bodies painted yellow
and their heads white, whom they call Cains or antelopes; who at length get the
food away
from them and devour it, thereby inculcating (perhaps) the beautiful moral, that
by the dispensations of Providence, his bountiful gifts will fall at last to the
hands of the innocent.
During the intervals between these dances, all these characters, except those
from the medicine-lodge, retire to a wigwam close by, which they use on the
occasion also as a sacred place, being occupied exclusively by them while they
are at rest, and also for the purpose of painting and ornamenting their bodies
for the occasion.
During each and every one of these dances, the old men who beat upon the sacks
and sing, are earnestly chanting forth their supplications to the Great Spirit,
for the continuation of his influence in sending them buffaloes to supply them
with food during the year; they are administering courage and fortitude to the
young men in the lodge, by telling them, that "the Great Spirit has opened his
ears in their behalf—that the very
atmosphere all about them is peace—that
their women and children can hold the mouth of the grizzly bear—that
they have invoked from day to day O-ke-hee-de (the Evil Spirit)—that
they are still challenging him to come, and yet he has not dared to make his
appearance!"
But alas! in the last of these dances, on the fourth day, in the midst of all
their mirth and joy, and about noon, and in the height of all these exultations,
an instant scream burst forth from the tops of the lodges—men,
woman, dogs and all, seemed actually to howl and shudder with alarm, as they
fixed their glaring eye-balls upon the prairie bluff about a mile in the west,
down the side of which a man was seen descending at full speed towards the
village! This strange character darted about in a zig-zag course in all
directions on the prairie, like a boy in pursuit of a butterfly, until he
approached the piquets of the village, when it was discovered that his body was
entirely naked, and painted as black as a negro, with pounded charcoal and
beards grease; his body was therefore everywhere of a shining black, except
occasionally white rings of an inch or more in diameter, which were marked here
and there all over him; and frightful indentures of white around his mouth,
resembling canine teeth. Added to his hideous appearance, he gave the most
frightful shrieks and screams as he dashed through the village and entered the
terrified group, which was composed (in that quarter) chiefly of females, who
bad assembled to witness the amusements which were transpiring around the "big
canoe.''
This unearthly looking creature carried in his two hands a wand or staff of
eight or nine feet in length, with a red ball at the end of it, which he
continually slid on the ground a-head of him as he ran. All eyes in the village,
save those of the persons engaged in the dance, were centred upon him, and he
made a desperate rush towards the women, who screamed for protection as they
were endeavoring to retreat; and falling in groups upon each other as they were
struggling to get out of his reach. In this moment of general terror and alarm
there was an instant check I and all for a few moments were as silent as death.
The old master of ceremonies, who had run from his position at the big canoe,
had met this monster of fiends, and having thrust the medicine-pipe before him,
held him still and immoveable under its charm! This check gave the females an
opportunity to get out of his reach, and when they were free from their danger,
though all hearts beat yet with the instant excitement, their alarm soon cooled
down into the most exorbitant laughter, and shouts of applause at his sudden
defeat, and the awkward and ridiculous posture in which he was stopped and held.
The old man was braced stiff by his side, with his eye-balls glaring him in the
face, whilst the medicine-pipe held in its mystic chains his Satanic Majesty,
annulling all the powers of his magical wand, and also depriving him of the
powers of locomotion! Surely no two human beings ever presented a more striking
group than these two individuals did for a few moments, with their eye-balls set
in direst mutual hatred upon each other; both struggling for the supremacy,
relying on the potency of their medicine or mystery. The one held in check, with
his body painted
black, representing (or rather assuming to be) his sable majesty, O-kee-hee-de
(the Evil Spirit), frowning vengeance on the other, who sternly gazed him back
with a look of exultation and contempt, as he held him in check and disarmed
under the charm of his sacred mystery-pipe.
When the superior powers of the medicine-pipe (on which hang all these annual
mysteries) had been thus fully tested and acknowledged, and the women had had
requisite time to withdraw from the reach of this fiendish monster, the pipe was
very gradually withdrawn from before him, and he seemed delighted to recover the
use of his limbs again, and power of changing his position from the exceedingly
unpleasant and really ridiculous one he appeared in, and was compelled to
maintain, a few moments before; rendered more superlatively ridiculous and
laughable, from the further information, which I am constrained to give, of the
plight in which this demon of terror and vulgarity made his entry into the midst
of the Mandan village, and to the centre and nucleus of their first and greatest
religious ceremony.
In this plight, he pursued the groups of females, spreading dismay and alarm
wherever he went, and consequently producing the awkward and exceedingly
laughable predicament in which he was placed by the sudden check from the
medicine-pipe, as I have above stated, when all eyes were intently fixed upon
him, and all joined in rounds of applause for the success of the magic spell
that was placed upon him; all voices were raised in. shouts of satisfaction at
his defeat, and all eyes gazed upon him; of chiefs and of warriors—matrons
and even of their tender-aged and timid daughters, whose education had taught
them to receive the moral of these scenes without the shock of impropriety, that
would have startled a more fastidious and consequently sensual-thinking people.
After this he paid his visits to three others of the eight, in succession,
receiving as before the deafening shouts of approbation which pealed from every
mouth in the multitude, who were all praying to the Great Spirit to send them
buffaloes to supply them with food during the season, and who attribute the
coming of buffaloes for this purpose entirely to the strict and critical
observance of this ridiculous and disgusting part of the ceremonies.
During the half hour or so that he had been jostled about amongst man and
beasts, to the great amusement and satisfaction of the lookers-on, he seemed to
have
become exceedingly exhausted, and anxiously looking out for some feasible mode
of escape.
In this awkward predicament he became the laughing-stock and butt for the women,
who being no longer afraid of him, were gathering in groups around, to tease and
tantalize him; and in the midst of this dilemma, which soon became a very sad
one—one of the women, who stole up behind
him with both hands full of yellow dirt—dashed
it into his face and eyes, and all over him, and his body being covered with
grease, took instantly a different hue. He seemed heart-broken at this signal
disgrace, and commenced crying most vehemently, when another caught his wand
from his hand, and broke it across her knee. It was snatched for by others, who
broke it still into bits, and then threw them at him. His power was now gone—his
bodily strength was exhausted, and he made a bolt for the
prairie—he dashed through the crowd, and
made his way through the piquets on the back part of the village, where were
placed for the purpose, an hundred or more women and girls, who escorted him as
he ran on the prairie for half a mile or more, beating him with sticks, and
stones, and dirt, and kicks, and cuts, until he was at length seen escaping from
their clutches, and making the best of his retreat over the prairie bluff from
whence he first appeared.
At the moment of this signal victory, and when all eyes lost sight of him as he
disappeared over the bluff, the whole village united their voices in shouts of
satisfaction. The bull-dance then stopped, and preparations were instantly made
for the commencement of the cruelties which were to take place within the lodge,
leaving us to draw, from what had just transpired the following beautiful moral:
That in the midst of their religious ceremonies, the Evil Spirit (O-kee-hee-de)
made his entry for the purpose of doing mischief, and of disturbing their
worship—that he was held in check, and defeated by the superior influence
and virtue of the medicine-pipe, and at last, driven in disgrace out of the
village, by the very part of the community whom he came to abuse.
At the close of this exciting scene, preparations were made, as above stated, by
the return of the master of ceremonies and musicians to the medicine-lodge,
where also were admitted at the same time a number of men, who were to be
instruments of the cruelties to be inflicted; and also the chief and doctors of
the tribe, who were to look on, and bear witness to, and decide upon, the
comparative degree of fortitude, with which the young men sustain themselves in
this most extreme and excruciating ordeal. The chiefs having seated themselves
on one side of the lodge, dressed out in their robes and splendid head-dresses—the
band of music seated and arranged themselves in another part; and the old master
of ceremonies having placed himself in front of a small fire in the centre of
the lodge, with his "big pipe" in his hands, and commenced smoking to the Great
Spirit, with all possible vehemence for the success of these aspirants. Around
the sides of the lodge are seen, still reclining, as I have before mentioned, a
part of the group, whilst others of them have passed the ordeal of
self-tortures, and have been removed out of the lodge; and others still are seen
in the very act of submitting to them, which were inflicted in the following
manner:
After having removed the sanctissimus sanctorum, or little scaffold, of
which I before spoke, and having removed also the buffalo and human skulls from
the floor, and attached them to the posts of the lodge; and two men having taken
their positions near the middle of the lodge, for the purpose of inflicting the
tortures—the one with the scalping-knife,
and the other with the bunch of splints (which I have before mentioned) in his
hand; one at a time of the young fellows, already emaciated with fasting, and
thirsting, and waking, for nearly four days and nights, advanced from the side
of the lodge, and placed himself on his hands and feet, or otherwise, as best
suited for the performance of the operation, where he submitted to the cruelties
in the following manner: An inch or more of
the flesh on each shoulder, or each breast was taken up between the thumb and
finger by the man who held the knife in his right hand; and the knife, which had
been ground sharp on both edges, and then hacked and notched with the blade of
another, to make it produce as much pain as possible, was forced through the
flesh below the fingers, and being withdrawn, was followed with a splint or
skewer, from the other, who held a bunch of such in his left hand, and was ready
to force them through the wound. There were then two cords lowered down from the
top of the lodge (by men who were placed on the lodge outside, for the purpose),
which were fastened to these splints or skewers, and they instantly began to
haul him up; he was thus raised until his body was suspended from the
ground where he rested, until the knife and a splint were passed through the
flesh or integuments, in a similar manner on each arm below the shoulder (over
the brachalis extemtis). below the elbow (over the extensor carpi
indialis), on the thighs (over the vastus extemitis), and below the
knees (over the peroncus).
In some instances they remained in a reclining position on the ground until this
painful operation was finished, which was performed, in all instances, exactly
on the same parts of the body and limbs ; and which, in its progress, occupied
some five or six minutes.
Each one was then instantly raised with the cords, until the weight of his body
was suspended by them, and then, while the blood was streaming down their limbs,
the by-standers hung upon the splints each man's appropriate shield, bow and
quiver, &c.; and in many instances, the skull of a buffalo with the horns on it,
was attached to each lower arm and each lower leg, for the purpose, probably, of
preventing by their great weight, the struggling, which might otherwise have
taken place to their disadvantage whilst they were hung up.
When these things were all adjusted, each one was raised higher by the cords,
until these weights all swung clear from the ground, leaving his feet, in most
cases, some six or eight feet above the ground. In this plight they at once
became appalling and frightful to look at—the
flesh, to support the weight of their bodies, with the additional weights which
were attached to them, was raised six or eight inches by the skewers; and their
heads sunk forward on the breasts, or thrown backwards, in a much more frightful
condition, according to the way in which they were hung up.
The unflinching fortitude, with which every one of them bore this part of the
torture surpassed credulity; each one as the knife was passed through his flesh
sustained an unchangeable countenance; and several of them, seeing me making
sketches, beckoned me to look at their faces, which I watched through all this
horrid operation, without being able to detect anything but the pleasantest
smiles as they looked me in the eye, while I could hear the knife rip through
the flesh, and feel enough of it myself to start involuntary and uncontrollable
tears over my cheeks.
When raised to the condition above described, and completely suspended by the
cords, the sanguinary hands, through which he had just passed, turned back to
perform a similar operation on another, who was ready, and each one in his turn
passed into the charge of others, who instantly introduced him to a new and
improved stage of their refinements in cruelty.
Surrounded by imps and demons, as they appear, a dozen or more, who seem to be
concerting and devising means for his exquisite agony, gather around him, when
one of the number advances towards him in a sneering manner, and commences
turning him around with a pole which he brings in his hand for the purpose. This
is done in a gentle manner at first; but gradually increases when the brave
fellow, whose proud spirit can control its agony no longer, burst out in the
most lamentable and heart-rending cries that the human voice is capable of
producing, crying forth a prayer to the Great Spirit to support and protect him
in this dreadful trial; and continually repeating his confidence in his
protection. In this condition he is continued to be turned, faster and faster—and
there is no hope of escape from it, nor chance for the slightest relief, until
by fainting, his voice falters, and his struggling ceases, and he hangs,
apparently, a still and lifeless corpse! When he is, by turning, gradually
brought to this condition, which is generally done within ten or fifteen
minutes, there is a close scrutiny passed upon him
among his tormentors, who are checking and holding each other back as long as
the least struggling or tremor can be discovered, lest he should be removed,
before he is (as they term it) "entirely dead."
When brought to this alarming and most frightful condition, and the turning has
gradually ceased, as his voice and his strength have given out, leaving him to
hang
entirely still, and apparently lifeless; when his tongue is distended from his
mouth, and his medicine-bag which he has affectionately and superstitiously
clung to with his left hand, has dropped to the ground; the signal is given to
the men on top of the lodge, by gently striking the cord with the pole below,
when they very gradually and carefully lower him to the ground.
In this helpless condition he lies, like a loathsome corpse to look at, though
in the keeping (as they call it) of the Great Spirit, whom he trusts will
protect him, and enable him to get up and walk away. As soon as he is lowered to
the ground thus, one of the bystanders advances, and pulls out the two splints
or pins from the breasts and shoulders, thereby disengaging him from the cords
by which he has been hung up; but leaving all the others with their weights,
&c., hanging to his flesh.
In this condition he lies for six or eight minutes, until he gets strength to
rise and move himself for no one is allowed to assist or offer him aid, as he is
here enjoying the most valued privilege which a Mandan can boast of, that of
"trusting his life to the keeping of the Great Spirit," in this time of extreme
peril.
As soon as he is seen to get strength enough to rise on his hands and feet, and
drag his body around the lodge, he crawls with the weights still hanging to his
body, to another part of the lodge, where there is another Indian sitting with a
hatchet in his hand, and a dried buffalo skull before him; and here, in the most
earnest and humble manner, by holding up the little finger of his left hand to
the Great Spirit, he expresses to Him, in a speech of a few words, his
willingness to give it as a sacrifice; when he lays it on the dried buffalo
skull, when the other chops it off near the hand, with a blow of the hatchet!
Nearly all of the young men whom I saw passing this horrid ordeal, gave, in the
above manner, the little finger of the left hand; and I saw also several, who
immediately afterwards (and apparently with very little concern or emotion),
with a similar speech, extended in the same way, the fore-finger of the same
hand, and that too was struck off; leaving on the hand only the two middle
fingers and the thumb; all which they deem absolutely essential for holding the
bow, the only weapon for the left hand.
One would think that this mutilation had thus been carried quite far enough; but
I have since examined several of the head chief and dignitaries of the tribe,
who
have also given, in this manner, the little finger of the right hand, which is
considered by them to be a much greater sacrifice than both of the others; and I
have found also a number of their most famous men, who furnish me incontestable
proof, by five or six corresponding scars on each arm, and each breast, and each
leg, that they had so many times in their lives submitted to this almost
incredible operation, which seems to be optional with them; and the oftener they
volunteer to go through it, the more famous they become in the estimation of
their tribe.
No bandages are applied to the fingers which have been amputated, nor any
arteries taken up; nor is any attention whatever, paid to them or the other
wounds; but they are left (as they say) "for the Great Spirit to cure, who will
surely take good care of them." It is a remarkable fact (which I learned from a
close inspection of their wounds from day to day) that the bleeding is but very
slight and soon ceases, probably from the fact of their extreme exhaustion and
debility, caused by want of sustenance and sleep, which checks the natural
circulation, and admirably at the same time prepares them to meet the severity
of these tortures without the same degree of sensibility and pain, which, under
other circumstances, might result in inflammation and death.
During the whole of the time of this cruel part of these most extraordinary
inflictions, the chiefs and dignitaries of the tribe are looking on, to decide
who are the hardiest and "stoutest hearted"—who
can hang the longest by his flesh before he faints, and who will be soonest up,
after he has been down; that they may know whom to appoint to lead a war party,
or place at the most honorable and desperate post. The four old men are
incessantly beating upon the sacks of water and singing the whole time, with
their voices strained to the highest key, vaunting forth, for the encouragement
of the young men, the power and efficacy of the medicine-pipe, which has
disarmed the monster O-kee-hee-de (or Evil Spirit), and driven him from the
village, and will be sure to protect them and watch over them through their
present severe trial.
As soon as six or eight had passed the ordeal as above described, they were led
out of the lodge, with their weights hanging to their flesh, and dragging on the
ground, to undergo another, and a still more appalling mode of suffering in the
centre of the village, and in presence of the whole nation, in the manner as
follows:
The signal for the commencement of this part of the cruelties was given by the
old master of ceremonies, who again ran out as in the buffalo-dance, and leaning
against the big canoe, with his medicine-pipe in his hand began to cry. This was
done several times in the afternoon, as often as there were six or eight who had
passed the ordeal just described within the lodge, who were then taken out in
the open area, in the presence of the whole village, with the buffalo skulls and
other weights attached to their flesh, and dragging on the ground! There were
then in readiness, and prepared for the purpose, about twenty young men,
selected of equal height and equal age; with their bodies chiefly naked, with
beautiful (and similar) head-dresses of war-eagles' quills, on their heads, and
a wreath made of
willow boughs held in the hands between them, connecting them in a chain or
circle in which they ran around the big canoe, with all possible speed, raising
their voices in screams and yelps to the highest pitch that was possible, and
keeping the curb or big canoe in the centre, as their nucleus.
Then were led forward the young men who were further to suffer, and being placed
at equal distances apart, and outside of the ring just described, each one was
taken in charge of two athletic young men, fresh and strong, who stepped up to
him, one on each side, and by wrapping a broad leather strap around his wrists,
without tying it, grasped it firm underneath the hand, and stood prepared for
what they call Uh'ke-nah'ka-nah'pick (the last race). This the spectator looking
on would suppose was most correctly named, for he would think it was the last
race they could possibly run in this world.
In this condition they stand, pale and ghastly, from abstinence and loss of
blood, until all are prepared, and the word is given, when all start and run
around, outride of the other ring; and each poor fellow, with his weights
dragging on the ground, and his furious conductors by his side who hurry him
forward by the wrists, struggles in the desperate emulation to run longer
without "dying " (as they call it) than his comrades, who are fainting around
him and sinking down, like himself where their bodies are dragged with all
possible speed, and often with their faces in the dirt. In the commencement of
this dance or race they all start at a
moderate pace, and their speed being gradually increased, the pain becomes so
excruciating that their languid and exhausted frames give out, and they are
dragged by their wrists until they are disengaged from the weights that were
attached to their flesh, and this must be done by such violent force as to tear
the flesh out with the splint, which (as they say) can never be pulled out
endwise, without offending the Great Spirit and defeating the object for which
they have thus far suffered. The splints or skewers which are put through the
breast and the shoulders, take up a part of the pectoral or trapezius muscle,
which is necessary for the support of the great weight of their bodies, and
which, as I have before mentioned, are withdrawn as he is lowered down—but
all the others, on the legs and arms, seem to be very ingeniously, passed
through the flesh and integuments without taking up the muscle, and even these
to be broken out require so violent a force that most of the poor fellows
fainted under the operation, and when they were freed from the last of the
buffalo skulls and other weights, (which was often done by some of the
bystanders throwing the weight of their bodies on to them as they were dragging
on the ground) they were in every instance dropped by the persons who dragged
them, and their bodies were left appearing like nothing but a mangled and a
loathsome corpse I At this strange and frightful juncture, the two men who had
dragged them, fled through the crowd and away upon the prairie, as if they were
guilty of some enormous crime, and were fleeing from summary vengeance.
Each poor fellow, having thus patiently and manfully endured the privations and
tortures devised for him, and (in this last struggle with the most appalling
effort) torn himself loose from them and his tormentors, he lies the second
time, in the "keeping (as he terms it) of the Great Spirit," to whom he issues
his repeated prayers, and entrusts his life: and in whom he reposes the most
implicit confidence for his preservation and recovery. As an evidence of this,
and of the high value which these youths set upon this privilege, there is no
person, not a relation or a chief of the tribe, who is allowed, or who would
dare, to step forward to offer an aiding hand, even to save his life; for not
only the rigid customs of the nation, and the pride of the individual who has
entrusted his life to the keeping of the
Great Spirit, would sternly reject such a tender; but their superstition, which
is the strongest of all arguments in an Indian community, would alone, hold all
the tribe in fear and dread of interfering, when they consider they have so good
a reason to believe that the Great Spirit has undertaken the special care and
protection of his devoted worshippers.
In this last race, which was the struggle that finally closed their sufferings,
each one was dragged until he fainted, and was thus left, looking more like the
dead than the living: and thus each one laid, until, by the aid of the Great
Spirit, he was in a few minutes seen gradually rising, and at last reeling and
staggering, like a drunken man, through the crowd (which made way for him) to
his wigwam, where his friends and relatives stood ready to take him into hand
and restore him.
In this frightful scene, as in the buffalo-dance, the whole nation was assembled
as spectators, and all raised the most piercing and violent yells and screams
they could possibly produce, to drown the cries of the suffering ones, that no
heart could even be touched with sympathy for them. I have mentioned before,
that six or eight of the young men were brought from the medicine-lodge at a
time, and when they were thus passed through this shocking ordeal, the
medicine-men and the chiefs returned to the interior, where as many more were
soon prepared, and underwent a similar treatment; and after that another batch,
and another, and so on, until the whole number, some forty-five or fifty had run
in this sickening circle, and, by leaving their weights, had opened the flesh
for honorable scars. I said all, but there was one poor fellow though (and I
shudder to tell it,) who was dragged around and around the circle, with the
skull of an elk hanging to the flesh on one of his legs,—several
had jumped upon it, but to no effect, for the splint was under the sinew, which
could not be broken. The dragging became every instant
more and more furious, and the apprehensions for the poor fellow's life,
apparent by the piteous howl which was set up for him by the multitude around;
and at last the medicine-man ran, with his medicine-pipe in his hand, and held
them in check, when the body was dropped, and left upon the ground, with the
skull yet hanging to it. The boy who was an extremely interesting and
fine-looking youth, soon recovered his senses and his strength, looking
deliberately at his torn and bleeding limbs; and also with the most pleasant
smile of defiance, upon the misfortune which had now fallen to his peculiar lot,
crawled through the crowd (instead of walking, which they are never again at
liberty to do until the flesh is torn out, and the article left) to the prairie,
and over which, for the distance of half
a mile, to a sequestered spot, without any attendant, where he laid three days
and three nights, yet longer, without food, and praying to the Great Spirit,
until suppuration took place in the wound, and by the decaying of the flesh the
weight was dropped and the splint also, which he dare not extricate in another
way. At the end of this, he crawled back to the village on his hands and knees,
being too much emaciated to walk, and begged for something to eat, which was at
once given him, and he was soon restored to health.
These extreme and difficult cases often occur, and I learn
that in such instances the youth has it at his option to get rid of the weight
that is thus left upon him, in such way as he may choose, and some of those
modes are far more extraordinary than the one which I have just named. Several
of the Traders, who have been for a number of years in the habit of seeing this
part of the ceremony, have told me that two years since, when they were looking
on, there was one whose flesh on the arms was so strong that the weights could
not be left, and he dragged them with his body to the river by the side of the
village, where he set a stake fast in the ground on the top of the bank, and
fastening cords to it, he let himself half-way down a perpendicular wall of
rock, of twenty-five or thirty feet, where the weight of his body was suspended
by the two cords attached to the flesh of his arms. In this awful condition he
hung for several days, equidistant from the top of the rock and the deep water
below, into which he at last dropped and saved himself by swimming ashore.
I need record no more of these shocking and disgusting instances, of which I
have already given enough to convince the world of the correctness of the
established fact of the Indian's superior stoicism and power of endurance,
although some recent writers have, from motives of envy, from ignorance, or
something else, taken great pains to out the poor Indian short in everything,
and in this even as if it were a virtue.
I am ready to accord to them in this particular, the palm; the credit of
outdoing anything and everybody, and of enduring more than civilized man ever
aspired to or ever thought of. My heart has sickened also with disgust for so
abominable and ignorant a custom, and still I stand ready with all my heart, to
excuse and forgive them for adhering so strictly to an ancient celebration,
founded in superstitions and mysteries, of which they know not the origin, and
constituting a material part and feature in the code and forms of their
religion.
Reader, I will return with you a moment to the medicine-lodge, which is just to
be closed, and then we will indulge in some general reflections upon what has
passed, and in what, and for what purposes this strange batch of mysteries has
been instituted and perpetuated.
After these young men, who had for the last four days
occupied the medicine-lodge, had been operated on, in the manner above
described, and taken out pf it, the old medicine-man, master of ceremonies,
returned, (still crying to the Great Spirit) sole tenant of that sacred place,
and brought out the "edged tools," which I before said had been collected at the
door of every man's wigwam, to be given as a sacrifice to the water, and leaving
the lodge securely fastened, he approached the bank of the river, when all the
medicine-men attended him, and all the nation were spectators; and in their
presence he threw them from a high bank into very deep water, from which they
cannot be recovered, and where they are, correctly speaking, made a sacrifice to
the water. This part of the affair took place just exactly at sundown, and
closed the scene, being the end or finale of the Mandan religious.
The strange country that I am in—its
excitements—its accidents and wild incidents
which startle me at almost every moment, prevent me from any very elaborate
disquisition upon the above remarkable events at present; and even had I all the
time and leisure of a country gentleman, and all the additional information
which I am daily procuring, and daily expect to procure hereafter in explanation
of these unaccountable mysteries, yet do I fear that there would be that
inexplicable difficulty that hangs over most of the customs and traditions of
these simple people, who have no history to save facts and systems from falling
into the most absurd and disjointed fable and ignorant fiction.
What few plausible inferences I have as yet been able to draw from the above
strange and peculiar transactions I will set forth, but with some diffidence,
hoping and trusting that by further intimacy and familiarity with these people I
may yet arrive at more satisfactory and important results.
That these people should have a tradition of the Flood is by no means
surprising; as I have learned from every tribe I have visited, that they all
have some high mountain in their vicinity, where they insist upon it the big
canoe landed; but as these people should hold an annual celebration of the
event, and the season of that decided by such circumstances as the full leaf of
the willow, and the medicine-lodge opened by such a man as Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah
(who appears to be a white man), and making his appearance "from the high
mountains in the West;" and some other circumstances, is surely a very
remarkable thing, and requires some extraordinary attention.
This Nu-mohk-muck-a-uah (first or only man) is undoubtedly some mystery or
medicine-man of the tribe, who has gone out on the prairie on the evening
previous, and having dressed and painted himself for the occasion, comes into
the village in the morning, endeavoring to keep up the semblance of reality; for
their tradition says, that at a very ancient period such a man did actually come
from the West—that his body was of the white
color, as this man's body is represented—that
he wore a robe of four white wolf skins—his
head-dress was made of two raven's skins—and
in his left hand was a huge pipe. He said, "he was at one time the only man—he
told them of the destruction of every thing on the earth's surface by water—that
he stopped in his big canoe on a high mountain in the West, where he landed and
was saved.
"That the Mandans, and all other people were bound to make
yearly sacrifices of some edged-tools to the water, for of such things the big
canoe was made. That he instructed the Mandans how to build their
medicine-lodge, and taught them also the forms of these annual ceremonies; and
told them that as long as they made these sacrifices, and performed their rites
to the full letter, they might be assured of the fact, that they would be the
favorite people of the Almighty, and would always have enough to eat and drink;
and that so soon as they should depart in one tittle from these forms, they
might be assured, that their race would decrease, and finally run out; and that
they might date their nation's calamity to that omission or neglect."
These people have, no doubt, been long living under the dread of such an
injunction, and in the fear of departing from it; and while they are living in
total ignorance of its origin, the world must remain equally ignorant of much of
its meaning, as they needs must be of all Indian customs resting on ancient
traditions, which soon run into fables, having lost all their system, by which
they might have been construed.
This strange and unaccountable custom, is undoubtedly peculiar to the Mandans;
although, amongst the Minatarees, and some others of the neighboring tribes,
they have seasons of abstinence and self-torture, somewhat similar, but bearing
no other resemblance to this than a mere feeble effort or form of imitation.
It would seem from their tradition of the willow branch, and the dove, that
these people mast have had some proximity to some part of the civilized world;
or that
missionaries or others have been formerly among them, inculcating the Christian
religion and the Mosaic account of the Flood; which is, in this and some other
respects, decidedly different from the theory which most natural people have
distinctly established of that event.
There are other strong, and almost decisive proofs in my opinion, in support of
the assertion, which are to be drawn from the diversity of color in their hair
and complexions, as I have before described, as well as from their tradition
just related, of the "first or only man" whose body was white, and who came from
the West, telling them of the destruction of the earth by water, and instructing
them in the forms of these mysteries; and, in addition to the above, I will add
the two following very curious stories, which I had from several of their old
and dignified chiefs, and which are no doubt standing and credited traditions of
the tribe.
"The Mandans (people of the pheasants) were the first people created in the
world, and they originally lived inside of the earth; they raised many vines,
and one of them had grown up through a hole in the earth over head, and one of
their young men climbed up it until he came out on the top of the ground, on the
bank of the river, where the Mandan village stands. He looked around, and
admired the beautiful country and prairies about him—saw
many buffaloes—killed one with his bow and
arrows, and found that its meat was good to eat. He returned, and related what
he had seen; when a number of others went up the vine with him, and witnessed
the same things. Amongst those who went up, were two very pretty young women,
who were favorites of the chiefs, because they were virgins; and amongst those
who were trying to get up, was a very large and fat woman, who was ordered by
the chief not to go up, but whose curiosity led her to try it as soon
as she got a secret opportunity, when there was no one present. When she got
part of the way up, the vine broke under the great weight of her body, and let
her down. She was very much hurt by the fall, but did not die. The Mandans were
very sorry about this; and she was disgraced for being the cause of a very great
calamity, which she had brought upon them, and which could never be averted; for
no more could ever ascend, nor could those descend who had got up; but they
built the Mandan village, where it formerly stood, a great ways below on the
river; and the remainder of the people live under ground to this day."
The above tradition is told with great gravity by their chiefs and doctors or
mystery-men; and the latter profess to hear their friends talk through the earth
at certain times and places, and even consult them for their opinions and advice
on many important occasions.
The next tradition runs thus:
"At a very ancient period, O-kee-hee-de (the Evil Spirit, the black fellow
mentioned in the religious ceremonies) came to the Mandan village with
Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah (the first or only man) from the West, and sat down by a
woman who had but one eye, and was hoeing corn. Her daughter, who was very
pretty came up to her, and the Evil Spirit desired her to go and bring some
water; but wished that before she started, she would come to him and eat some
buffalo meat. He told her to take a piece out of his side, which she did and ate
it, which proved to be buffalo-fat. She then went for the water, which she
brought, and met them in the village where they had walked, and they both drank
of it—nothing more was done.
"The friends of the girl soon after endeavored to disgrace her, by telling her
that she was enceinte, which she did not deny. She declared her innocence at the
same time, and boldly defied any man in the village to come forward and accuse
her. This raised a great excitement in the village, and as no one could stand
forth to accuse her, she was looked upon as great medicine. She soon after went
off secretly to the upper Mandan village where the child was born.
"Great search was made for her before she was found; as it was expected that the
child would also be great medicine or mystery, and of great importance to the
existence and welfare of the tribe. They were induced to this belief from the
very strange manner of its conception and birth, and were soon confirmed in it
from the wonderful things which it did at an early age. They say, that amongst
other miracles which he performed, when the Mandans were like to starve, he gave
them four buffalo bulls, which filled the whole village—leaving
as much meat as there was before they had eaten; saying that these four bulls
would supply them for ever. Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah (the first or only man) was bent
on the destruction of the child, and after making many fruitless searches for
it, found it hidden in a dark place, and put it to death by throwing it into the
river.
"When O-kee-hee-de (the Evil Spirit) heard of the death of this child, he sought
for Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah with intent to kill him. He traced him a long distance,
and at length found him at Heart River, about seventy miles below the village,
with the big medicine-pipe in his hand, the charm or mystery of which protects
him from all his enemies. They soon agreed, however, to become friends, smoked
the big pipe together, and returned to the Mandan village. The Evil Spirit was
satisfied; and Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah told the Mandans never to pass Heart River to
live, for it was the centre of the world, and to live beyond it would be
destruction to them; and he named it Nai-com-pa-sa-hah (heart or centre of the
world)."
Such are a few of the principal traditions of these people, which I have thought
proper to give in this place, and I have given them in their own way, with all
the imperfections and absurd inconsistencies which should be expected to
characterize the history of all ignorant and superstitious people who live in a
state of simple and untaught nature, with no other means of perpetuating I
historical events, than by oral traditions.
I advance these vague stories then, as I have done, and shall
do in other instances, not in support of any theory, but merely as I have heard
them related by the Indians; and preserved them, as I have everything else that
I could meet in the Indian habits and character, for the information of the
world, who may get more time to theorize than I have at present; and who may
consider better than I can, how far such traditions should be taken as evidence
of the facts, that these people have for a long period preserved and perpetuated
an imperfect knowledge of the Deluge—of the
appearance and death of a Saviour—and of the
transgressions of mother Eve.
I am not yet able to learn from these people whether they have any distinct
theory of the creation; as they seem to date nothing further back than their own
existence as a people; saying (as I have before mentioned), that they were the
first people created; involving the glaring absurdities that they were the only
people on earth before the Flood, and the only one saved was a white man; or
that they were created inside of the earth, as their tradition says; and that
they did not make their appearance on its outer surface until after the Deluge.
When an Indian story is told, it is like all other gifts, "to be taken for what
it is worth," and for any seeming inconsistency in their traditions there is no
remedy; for as far as I have tried to reconcile them by reasoning with, or
questioning them, I have been entirely defeated; and more than that, have
generally incurred their distrust and ill-will. One of the Mandan Doctors told
me very gravely a few days since, that the earth was a large tortoise, that it
carried the dirt on its back—that a tribe of
people, who are now dead, and whose faces were white, used to dig down very deep
in this ground to catch badgers; and that one day they stuck a knife through the
tortoise-shell, and it sunk down so that the water ran over its back, and
drowned all but one man. And on the next day while I was painting his portrait,
he told me there were four tortoises—one in
the North—one in the East—one
in the South, and one in the West; that each one of these rained ten days, and
the water covered over the earth.
These ignorant and conflicting accounts, and both from the same man, give as
good a demonstration, perhaps, of what I have above mentioned, as to the
inefficiency of Indian traditions as anything I could at present mention. They
might, perhaps, have been in this instance however the creeds of different
sects, or of different priests amongst them, who often advance diametrically
opposite theories 1 and traditions relative to history and mythology.
And however ignorant and ridiculous they may seem, they are
yet worthy of a little further consideration, as relating to a number of curious
circumstances connected with the unaccountable religious ceremonies which I have
just described.
The Mandan chiefs and doctors, in all their feasts, where the pipe is lit and
about to be passed around, deliberately propitiate the good-will and favor of
the Great Spirit, by extending the stem of the pipe upwards before they smoke it
themselves; and also as deliberately and as strictly offering the stem to the
four cardinal points in succession, and then drawing a whiff through it, passing
it around amongst the group.
The annual religious ceremony invariably lasts four days, and the other
following circumstances attending these strange forms, and seeming to have some
allusion to the four cardinal points, or the "four tortoises," seem to me to be
worthy of further notice. Four men are selected by Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah (as I have
before said), to cleanse out and prepare the medicine-lodge for the occasion—one
he calls from the north part of the village—one
from the east—one from the south, and one
from the west. The four sacks of water, in form of large tortoises, resting on
the floor of the lodge and before described, would seem to be typical of the
same thing; and also the four buffalo, and the four human skulls resting on the
floor of the same lodge—the four couples of
dancers in the "bull-dance," as before described; and also the four intervening
dancers in the same dance, and also described.
The bull-dance in front of the medicine-lodge, repeated on the four days, is
danced four times on the first day, eight times on the second, twelve times on
the third, and sixteen times on the fourth; (adding four dances on each of the
four days,) which added together make forty, the exact number of days that it
rained upon the earth according to the Mosaic account, to produce the Deluge.
There are four sacrifices of black and blue cloths erected over the door of the
medicine-lodge—the visits of Oh-kee-hee-de
(or Evil Spirit) were paid to four of the buffaloes in the buffalo-dance, as
above described; and in every instance, the young men who underwent the tortures
before explained, had four splints or skewers run through the flesh on their
legs—four through the arms and four through
the body.
Such is a brief account of these strange scenes which I have just been
witnessing, and such my brief history of the Mandans. I might write much more on
them, giving yet a volume on their stories and traditions; but it would be a
volume of fables, and scarce worth recording. A nation of Indians in their
primitive condition, where there are no historians, have but a temporary
historical existence, for the reasons above advanced, and their history, what
can be certainly learned of it, may be written in a very small compass.
I have dwelt longer on the history and customs of these people than I have or
shall on any other tribe, in all probability, and that from the fact that I have
found them a very peculiar people, as will have been seen by my notes.
From these very numerous and striking peculiarities in their personal appearance—their
customs—traditions and language, I have been
led conclusively to believe that they I are a people of decidedly a different
origin from that of any other tribe in these regions.
From these reasons, as well as from the fact that they are a small and feeble
tribe, against whom the powerful tribe of Sioux are waging a deadly war with the
prospect of their extermination; and who with their limited numbers, are not
likely to hold out long in their struggle for existence, I have taken more pains
to portray their whole character, than my limited means will allow me to bestow
upon other tribes.
From the ignorant and barbarous and disgusting customs just recited, the world
would naturally infer, that these people must be the most cruel and inhuman
beings in the world—yet, such is not the
case, and it becomes my duty to say it; a better, more honest, hospitable and
kind people, as a community, are not to be found in the world. No set of men
that ever I associated with have better hearts than the Mandans, and none are
quicker to embrace and welcome a white man than they are—none
will press him closer to his bosom, that the pulsation of his heart may be felt,
than a Mandan; and no man in any country will keep his word and guard his honor
more closely.
The shocking and disgusting custom that I have just described, sickens the heart
and even the stomach of a traveller in the country, and he weeps for their
ignorance—he pities them with all his heart
for their blindness, and laments that the light of civilization, of agriculture
and religion cannot be extended to them, and that their hearts which are good
enough, could not be turned to embrace something more rational and conducive to
their true happiness.
Many would doubtless ask, whether such a barbarous custom could be eradicated
from these people? and whether their thoughts and tastes, being turned to
agriculture and religion, could be made to abandon the dark and random channel
in which they are drudging, and made to flow in the light and life of
civilization?
To this query I answer yes. Although this is a custom of long standing, being a
part of their religion; and probably valued as one of their dearest rights; and
notwithstanding the difficulty of making inroads upon the religion of a people
in whose country there is no severance of opinions, and consequently no division
into different sects, with different creeds to shake their faith; I still
believe and I know that by a judicious and persevering effort, this abominable
custom, and others, might be extinguished, and the beautiful green fields about
the Mandan village might be turned into productive gardens, and the waving green
bluffs that are spread in the surrounding distance, might be spotted with lowing
kine instead of the sneaking wolves and the hobbled war-horses that are now
stalking about them.
All ignorant and superstitious people, it is a well-known fact, are the most
fixed and stubborn in their religious opinions, and perhaps the most difficult
to divert from their established belief, from the very fact that they are the
most difficult to reason with. Here is an ignorant race of human beings, who
have from time immemorial been in the habit of worshipping in their own way, and
of enjoying their religious opinions without ever having heard any one to
question their correctness; and in these opinions they are quiet and satisfied,
and it requires a patient, gradual, and untiring effort to convince such a
people that they are wrong, and to work the desired change in their belief, and
consequently in their actions.
It is decidedly my opinion, however, that such a thing can be done, and I do not
believe there is a race of wild people on earth where the experiment could be
more successfully made than amongst the kind and hospitable Mandans, nor any
place where the Missionary labors of pious and industrious men would be more
sure to succeed, or more certain to be rewarded in the world to come.
I deem such a trial of patience and perseverance with these people of great
importance, and well worth the experiment. One which I shall hope soon to see
accomplished, and which, if properly' conducted, I am sure will result in
success. Severed as they are from the contaminating and counteracting vices
which oppose and thwart most of the best efforts of the Missionaries along the
frontier, and free from the almost fatal prejudices which they have there to
contend with; they present a better field for the labor of such benevolent
teachers than they have yet worked in, and a far better chance than they have
yet had of proving to the world that the poor Indian is not a brute—that
he is a human and a humane being, that he is capable of improvement—and
that his mind is a beautiful blank on which anything can be written if the
proper means be taken.
The Mandans being but a small tribe, of two thousand only, and living all in two
villages, in sight of each other, and occupying these permanently, without
roaming about like other neighboring tribes, offer undoubtedly, the best
opportunity for such an experiment of any tribe in the country. The land about
their villages is of the best quality for ploughing and grazing, and the water
just such as would be desired. Their villages are fortified with piquets or
stockades, which protect them from the assaults of their enemies at home; and
the introduction of agriculture (which would supply them with the necessaries
and luxuries of life, without the necessity of continually exposing their lives
to their more numerous enemies on the plains, when they are seeking in the chase
the means of their subsistence) would save them from the continual wastes of
life, to which, in their wars and the chase they are continually exposed, which
are calculated soon to result in their extinction.
I deem it not folly nor idle to say that these people can he saved nor officious
to suggest to some of the very many excellent and pious men, who are almost
throwing away the best energies of their lives along the declared frontier, that
if they would introduce the ploughshare and their prayers amongst these people,
who are so far separated from the taints and contaminating vices of the
frontier, they would soon see their most ardent desires accomplished and he able
to solve to the world the perplexing enigma, by presenting a nation of savages,
civilized and christianized (and consequently saved), in the heart of the
American wilderness.