Page:Journal of American Folklore vol. 12.djvu/613

 Giving Thanks : A Pawnee Ceremony. 265

cine ; the intermediary position of the doctor ; and the meaning and purpose of the fees given him for his service.

Knowledge of the roots, herbs, bark, etc., used by this priest in his role of doctor had been handed down to him together with the rituals belonging to the ceremonies connected with the buffalo skull. This knowledge is said to have been given to the person who, gen- erations ago, instituted this cult, and who received it in a vision from a mysterious being. This being was both man and buffalo, and had been empowered by Ti-ra'-wa to bestow the knowledge upon this person, whose supplications had reached the gods.

Ti-ra'-wa is the Pawnee name given to the invisible permeating force which animates all things, giving them form and efficiency. We are told that this power is of such a nature that it cannot directly approach man, or be seen by him, but must act through intermedi- aries, and reach man in a mysterious way, through animate or in- animate forms, seen in a vision. These forms transmit knowledge of various kinds to those men who seek thus to be instructed by observing certain rites and ceremonies.

There seem, therefore, to be certain degrees of approach to be observed between Ti-ra'-wa and man, and these same degrees are to be observed whenever man would approach Ti-ra'-wa.

The curative principle of medicine is believed to be a manifesta- tion of power coming from Ti-ra'-wa, but this power could not be brought near to man by simple, external, or internal physical appli- cation of the root or herb. This curative power must pass through these degrees of approach ; in other words, the medicine must be given by one who, in a vision, had been taught its use by a mysteri- ous being sent directly from Ti-ra'-wa, or he must have gained this knowledge, with due form and authority, from one who had so re- ceived it, for in no other way could power from the invisible Ti-ra'-wa reach man.

In the line of descent, the doctor stood next to the patient, but, depending in his turn upon the faithfulness of the intermediary next above him, represented in this instance by the buffalo skull, to secure from Ti-ra'-wa the fresh power required to make the medicine effec- tive:

The fees are the signs of the patient's thankfulness. They must be given to the priest-doctor, as only through him can the ascent be made, and the gifts be brought " to the notice of the gods," and the patient receive continued help from the source of life. The final disposition of the gifts, after offering them to the gods, seems to have been at the option of the doctor.

Speaking with the old priest about his action in returning the gifts to the young man, he said : " Some doctors keep all fees for

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