Page:Journal of American Folklore vol. 12.djvu/654

 306 Journal of American Folk- Lore.

wimoka), to whom belong deer, corn, and the raven ; Mother South- Water (Tate Rapawiyema), to whom belongs the seed-corn ; Mother North-Water (Tate Haiitse Kupuri, " mother cotton-wool, rain and fog hanging in the trees and grass "), to whom belong corn, squashes, beans, flowers, cattle, mules, horses, and sheep ; Young Mother Eagle (Tate Velika Uimali), whose dress is the stars, and who holds the world in her talons. The moon (not highly venerated by the Huichols) is a grandmother, and has to do chiefly with making native beer and protecting against the god of death (Toka- kami). The stars are all gods or goddesses and the morning-star (these Indians bathe in the morning at dark) is the one from which they "gain knowledge " and " medicine " for rain. Another figure in Huichol mytho- logy is Grandfather Kauyumali, the god who " put the world into shape." The motif oi Huichol religion is "the desire of producing rain, and thus of successfully raising corn, their principal food" (p. 24). According to their myths, " corn was once deer, the deer having been the chief source of food in earliest times," hence they have come to look upon their later acquisi- tions, cattle and sheep, as corn also, — hikuli (Anhalonium lewinsii) is like- wise corn. The mythology of the Huichols moves about "a conception of the four elements, — fire and air (male), earth and water (female)." The main thought of their prayers is "food, corn, beans, and squashes." Even in hunting the deer, " the primary consideration is that the success of the chase means good crops of corn." An interesting point brought out is that " arrows and back-shields seem to convey mostly individual (or per- sonal) prayers, while front-shields mostly serve to convey tribal ones. ' Eyes ' cover both purposes to an almost equal extent." The richness and elaborateness of all this symbolism, with its ambiguity, etc., is well por- trayed in the shields, discs, drums, bowls, arrows, sticks, " toy " imple- ments, etc., of which figures with detailed explanations are given in the text. The following comment of the author deserves reproduction here : " Although the gods are obviously natural phenomena personified, and besides represent the four elements, they are also, to the Indian, human ; in fact, ancient Huichols engaged in much the same occupations as the tribe of to-day, whose customs and religion they originated" (p. 212). Of the front-shield we are told that it is " the most important symbol of the Huichols, and specially adapted to serve as a kind of sign-language be- tween man and god, conveying prayers and adoration, as well as religious and cosmic ideas." The comprehensive use of the word nealika = " front- shield," " face," " appearance," " picture,," suggests, Dr. Lumholtz thinks, that " the Huichols have in it a veritable word for ' symbol.' " Dr. Lum- holtz points out some interesting resemblances between Huichol symbolism and that of the Zunis, besides a striking likeness between the Dresden Codex God of Death and the Huichol God of Death, — the locust and tiger being associated with each. These facts open the way for further comparative study which it is to be hoped Dr. Lumholtz will undertake.

Alex. F. Chamberlain.

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