Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 6.djvu/85

 FETISHISM

FETISHISM

the sun rise upon tlieni before they reach their cor- poreal bodies, all tlicir plans would fail and they would sicken. They dread cayenne pepper; should its bruised leaves or pods be rubbed over their corporeal bodies during their absence, their spirits are unable to re-enter, and their bodies die or waste miserably away. This society was introduced by black slaves to the West Indies, e. g. Jamaica and Hayti, and to the Southern States as Voodoo worship. Thus Voodooism or Odoism is simply African fetishism transplanted to American soil. Authentic records are procurable of midnight meetings held in Hayti, as late as 1888, at which human beings, especially children, were killed and eaten at the secret feasts. European govern- ments in Africa have put down the practice of the black art, yet so deeply is it implanted in the belief of the natives that Dr. Norris does not hesitate to say it would revive if the whites were to withdraw.

Fetishism in Africa is not only a religious belief; it is a system of government and a medical profession, although the religious element is fundamental and colours all the rest. The fetish-man, therefore, is priest, judge, and physician. To the believers in the fetish the killing of those guilty of witchcraft is a judi- cial act; it is not murder, but execution. The fetish- man has power to condenm to death. A judicial sys- tem does not exist. Whatever rules there are, are handed down by tradition, and the persons familiar with these old sajnugs and customs are present in the trial of disputed matters. Fetishes are set up to pun- ish offenders in certain cases where it is considered specially desirable to make the law operative though the crimes cannot be detected (e. g. theft). The fe- tish is supposed to be able not only to detect but to punish the transgressor. In cases of death the charge of witchcraft is made, and the relatives seek a fetish- man, who employs the ordeal by poison, fire or other tests to detect the guilty person. Formerly mhwaye (i. e. ordeal by poison) was performed by giving to the accused a poisonous drink, the accuser also having to take the test to prove their sincerity. If he vomited immediately he was innocent; if he was shown guilty, the accusers were the executioners. On the upper coast of Guinea the test is a solution of the sassa- wood, and is called ''red water"; at Calabar, the solu- tion of a bean ; in the Gabun country, of the akazya leaf or bark; farther south in the Nkami country, it is called mbuiidu. The distinction between poison and fetish is vague in the minds of many natives, to whom poison is only another material form of a fetish power. It has been estimated that for every natural death at least one — and often ten or more — has been executed.

The judicial aspect of fetishism is revealed most plainly in the secret societies (male and female) of crushing power and far-reaching influence, which be- fore the advent of the white man were the court of last appeal for individual and tribal disputes. Of this kind were the Egbo of the Niger Delta, Ukuku of the Corisco region, Yasi of the Ogowd, M'wetyi of the She- kani, Bweti of the Bakele, Inda and Nj6mb6 of the Mpongwe, Ukuku and Malinda of the Batanga region. All of these societies had for their primary object the laudable one of government, and, for this purpose, they fostered the superstitious dread with which the fetish was regarded by the natives. But the arbitrary means employed in their management, the oppressive influences at work, the false representations indulged in, made them almost all evil. They still exist among the interior tribes; on the coast, they have either been entirely suppressed or exist only for amusement (e. g. Ukuku in Gabun), or as a traditional custom (e. g. Njgmbe). The Ukuku society claimed the gov- ernment of the country. To put "Ukuku on the white man" meant to boycott him, i. e. that no one should work for him, no one should sell food or drink to him ; he was not allowed to go to his own spring. In Dahomey the fetish-priests are a kind of secret police

for the despotic king. Tluis, while witchcraft was the religion of the natives, these societies constituted their government.

Although sickness is spoken of among the natives as a disease, yet the patient is said to be sick because of an evil spirit, and it is believed that when this is driven out by the magician's benevolent spirit, the patient will recover. When the heathen negro is sick, the first thing is to call the "doctor" to find out what spirit by invading the body has caused the sickness. The diagnosis is made by drum, dance, frenzied song, mirror, fumes of drugs, consultation of relics, and con- versation with the spirit itself. Next must be decided the ceremony peculiar to that spirit, the vegetable and mineral substances supposed to be either pleasing or offensive to it. If these cannot be obtained, the pa- tient must die. The witch-doctor believes that his incantations have subsidized the power of a spirit, which forthwith enters the body of the patient and, searching through its vitals, drives out the antagoniz- ing spirit which is the supposed actual cause of the dis- ease. The nkitida, "the spirit of disease", is then confined by the doctor in a prison, e. g. in a section of sugar-cane stalk with its leaves tied together. The component parts of any fetish are regarded by the na- tives as we regard the drugs of our materia medica. Their drugs, however, are esteemed operative not through certain inherent chemical qualities, but in consequence of the presence of the spirit to whom they are favourite media. This spirit is induced to act by the pleasing enchantments of the magic-doctor. The nganga, as surgeon and physician, shows more than considerable skill in extracting bullets from wounded warriors, and in the knowledge of herbs as poisons and antidotes.

Whether the black slaves brought to America the okra or found it already existing on the continent is uncertain, but the term gumbo is undoubtedly of Afri- can origin, as also is the term vihenda (peanuts or ground-nuts), corrupted into pindar in some of the Southern States. The folk-lore of the African slave survives in Uncle Remus's tales of "Br'er Rabbit". Br'er Rabbit is an American substitution for Brother Xja (Leopard) or Brother Ihlii (Gazelle) in Paia N'jambi's (the Creator's) council of speaking animals. Jevons holds that fetishes are private only, although, in fact, not only individuals, but families and tribes have fetishes. The fetish Deute at Krakje and AHa Yaw of Okwaou were known and feared for leagues around. In the Benga tribe of West Africa the fam- ily fetish is known by the name of Ydka. It is a bundle of the parts of bodies of their dead, i. e. first joints of fingers and toes, lobe of ear, hair. The value of I'aA'd depends on the spirits of the family dead being associated with the portions of their bodies, and this combination is effected by the praj'er and incantation of the doctor. The Yaka is appealed to in family emergencies, e. g. disease, death, when ordinary fe- tishes fail. This rite is very expensive and may require a month, during which time all work is suspended.

The observances of fetish-worship fade away into the customs and habits of everyday life by gradations, so that in some of the superstitious beliefs, while there may be no formal handling of a fetish amulet contain- ing a spirit nor actual prayer nor sacrifice, neverthe- less spiritism is the thought and is more or less con- sciously held, and consequently the term fetish might perhaps be extended to them. The superstition of the African negro is different from that of the Chris- tian, for it is the practical and logical application of his religion. To the Christian it is a pitiful weakness ; to the negro, a trusted belief. Thus some birds and beasts are of ill omen, others of good omen. The mournful hooting of an owl at midnight is a warning of death, and all who hear the call will hasten to the wood and drive away the messenger of ill-tidings with sticks and stones. Hence arises the belief in the