Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/659

* INDIANS. 575 INDIANS. ment. Aside from the shield, defensive armor was not commonly used, excepting among tribes of the Alaskan coast, who had protective cui- rasses of iory plates, wooden slats, or of a very tough hide. The bow was selected wood, fre- quently reenforccd with sinew along its entire length, and strung with a sinew cord. The Gulf tribes had also blowguns of cane for hunting. The club was of stone or wood, in the latter ca.se being sometimes supplemented with a. piercing blade of flint or iron. The shield of the plains warrior was of the toughest buflfalo-hide, cut and decorated according to the spirit dream of the maker, and given to the recipient under the most solemn vows of lifelong tabus and sacred obligations. In some tribes the direction of all that per- tained to war belonged by hereditary right to cer- tain clans or towns. Thus among the Creeks the privilege belonged to the people of the so-called 'red towns,' while on the other hand the 'white towiis' had sole direction of peace negotiations. The prairie warriors had military orders with different degi'ees, the member being advanced from one to another by gradual steps. Thus the Kiowa had six orders, beginning with the 'Rab- bits' or boys in training, and ending with a se- lect bod.y of ten tried and veteran warriors. Service in any particular expedition was en- tirely a matter of individual choice, and the au- thority of the leader rested solely upon the vol- untars' obedience of his followers. On the plains the invitation was usually given by sending around a war-pipe, which every volunteer was expected to smoke. The going and the home-com- ing were attended with numerous ceremonies, and a successful campaign was celebrated with the scalp-dance, in which the women carried the cap- tured scalps and sang the praises of the victors. Indiscriminate massacre was the ordinary rule ; but prisoners were frequently taken, either for torture, slavery, or adoption into the tribe. In the East the decision of the prisoner's fate was usually left to the women. If adopted, he was taken into a family and became thenceforth a full member of the tribe. If condemned to death, he met his fate with all the courage of his Indian training. On the plains captives were seldom tortured, but were more often taken into the tribe, being rarely, however, so completely admitted to membership as in the East. Along the Pacific Coast from Alask,i. to California regu- lar slavery existed. The practice of scalping the slain enemy was probably universal north of Mexico, excepting among certain tribes of Cali- fornia, the scalp being kept as a trophy or offered in sacrifice to some tribal medicine. It wa-s not, however, the only or even the chief evidence of the warrior's courage. His standing depended upon the number of his coups or brave deeds against the enemy, of which careful record was kept in (he tribe. A man was entitled to 'count ccup' (French, a sirnl-e) not only for killing or scalping an enemy, but also for being the first to touch an enemy in the charge, for rescuing a disabled comrade, or for stealing a horse from a hostile camp. Thus three warriors might count coup ipon a single slain enemy — viz. the one who killed him, the one who first touched the body with liis eoup-stiek or weapon, and the one who secured the scalp. In many tribes it was cus- tomary to feast upon the flesh of one of the slain enemy after a notable victory. Amusement.^. The leisure of the Indian was taken up with athlelic contests, games, dances, feasts, and story-telling. The ball-play was the chief athletic game everywhere east of the plains, as well as among some tribes of the Pacific Coast, the ball being handled with netted .sticks somewhat resembling tennis rackets. From this game are derived the lacrosse and racquet of Canada and Louisiana. Next in importance in the East was the game known to the old traders as chiinkce, played with a circular stone disk or wheel, and a pole curved at one end in the fash- ion of a shepherd's crook. The wheel was rolled by one of the contestants, while the other fried to slide the stick after it in such a way that the wheel would lie within the crook when both came to a stop. The plains tribes had a very similar game in which a netted wheel took the place of the stone disk. Foot-racing was common among the agricultural tribes, and horse-racing on the plains. The Wichitas had grand ceremonial races in which every person old enough to run participated. Dice games were universal. A favorite pastime of the plains women was the awl game, played with marked sticks which were thrown down upon a stone set in the middle of a blanket, tally being kept by advancing an awl along certain marks around the margin of the blanket. Shinny and football were also played by the women. Hunt-the-button games were played within the tepee during the long winter nights, the players accompanying the movements of the hands with songs intended to distract the attention of the other side. Games of divination were also found among many tribes. Dances, frequently preceded by purification rites and usually followed by feasting, were either social or ceremonial, and of great variety. Many were pantomimic, the performers wearing masks or other costumes intended to symbolize various animals or mythic characters, whose cries and actions they imitated. Musical instruments were the drum, flageolet or flute, eagle-bone whistle, rattles of various kinds, and even a notched stick rubbed in saw fashion with one end resting upon a gourd for a sounding-board. The rattle was most commonly used in doctor's incantations and in the peyote ceremony, the whistle in the sun dance, and the flute to accompany the songs of the young men while riding about at night. There were songs for every occasion, lullaby, work, love, gaming, medicine, war, and ceremonials. Religion and Mythology. To the Indian every animal, plant, and object of nature was ani- mated by a spirit, beneficent or otherwise, ac- cording as it was propitiated or offended. Cer- tain of these were regarded as es)>ecially power- ful or active, as the sun. fire, and water among the elemental gods, the buffalo, eagle, and rattle- snake among the animals, and the cedar, cotton- wood, corn, tobacco, and peyote among plants. The number four was peculiarly sacred, as hav- ing reference to the cardinal piiint.s. Colors had symbolic meanings, and sometimes also sex and local abiding-places. Thus with the Cherokee the red gods of ctory lived in the Sunland or east, while the blue spirits of disaster dwelt in the north. Spirits were propitiated and implored with prayer, sacrifice, vigil, and fasting, and the purificatory sweat bath usually preceded ever}' im- portant ceremony. There was no overruling 'Great Spirit,' excepting as certain gods were