Chapter 12

[260]Stephen Powers,Indians of California, pp. 181, 207. The Tasmanians and Fuegians, probably the lowest of known tribes, burned their dead. Hyades et Deniker,Mission Scientifique, p. 379; Fenton,History of Tasmania, p. 95. Some tribes gave as a reason for burning their dead that otherwise bears and wolves would eat the corpse, and the soul would be obliged to take on their forms.—Pres. Message and Ac. Docs., 1851, pt. iii., p. 506.[261]Alonso de la Peña Montenegro,Itinerario para Parrocos de Indios, p. 185 (Madrid, 1771).[262]Clark,Indian Sign Language, p. 263.[263]K. T. Preuss, in theBastian Festschrift.[264]Anthropologie des Naturvölker, Bd. i., p. 459.[265]The application of the blood, observes Professor Granger, “bound together in some way those who were present at the rite” (Worship of the Romans, p. 210). This subject is fully discussed by Dr. H. C. Trumbull in his works,The Blood Covenant, andThe Threshold Covenant.[266]Castren, in the Introduction to hisFinnische Mythologie, has some excellent remarks on the beneficial effects of shamanism. It is an effort to free the human mind from the shackles of blind natural forces; it recognises the dependence of the subjective on an objective will, etc.[267]Myth and Science, p. 41.[268]Hahn,Tsuni ǁGoam, p. 21.[269]Ling Roth,Natives of Sarawak, vol. i., pp. 259, 271, 282; vol. ii., App., p. clxxv.[270]Walthouse, inJour. Anthrop. Inst., vol. v., p. 415.[271]Nuñez de la Vega,Constituciones Diocesanas de Chiapas, fol. 9.[272]The locally famous Maria Candelaria. At the head of fifteen thousand warriors, she defied the Spanish army for nearly a year, and, though defeated, was never captured. Her story is scantily recorded by Vicente Pineda, in hisHistoria de las Sublevaciones Indigenas en el Estado de Chiapas, pp. 38-70.[273]Otfried Müller,Die Etrusker, Bd. ii., ss. 77, 78.[274]Compare Keary,Outlines of Primitive Belief, p. 60; and Maury,La Magie et Astrologie, p. 386,sq.[275]Geo. Turner,Samoa, p. 9; Dr. Tautain, inL’Anthropologie, tome vii., p. 548.[276]On the ordeal, see Post,Ethnologisches Jurisprudenz, Bd. ii., ss. 459,sq., 479; Waitz,Anthropologie der Naturvölker, Bd. i., s. 461. The assertion by some writers that the ordeal was not known to the American Indians is incorrect. For example, Captain Clark recounts those to test the virtue of women who have been accused.Indian Sign Language, pp. 45, 208.[277]See S. K. Steinmetz on “Der Zweikampf als Ordal” in hisEthnologische Studien zur ersten Entwicklung der Strafe, Bd. ii., s. 76,sq.[278]Post,ubi supra, Bd. ii., s. 478.[279]Adair,Hist. of the N. American Indians, p. 158; Boscana,Acc. of the Indians of California, p. 262.[280]This is presented admirably and at length by M. Kulischer in an article “Der Dualismus der Ethik bei den primitiven Völkern,” in theZeitschrift für Ethnologie, Bd. xvii., pp. 205,sqq.He also sees clearly enough that the same principle, masked and denied though it be, reigns to-day. The “categorical imperative” of Kant, is as far from realisation as is “the golden rule.”[281]There were, of course, some hobgoblins always ready to eat up or injure man; but not for any moral or ethical reason. “They afflict men, not out of anger or to punish sin, but because it is their nature to do so,” as Dalton says of the devils of the Oraons.Ethnology of Bengal, p. 256.[282]This explains what Dr. Robertson Smith, in hisReligion of the Semites, p. 140, says is so difficult to grasp,—that the primitive idea of holiness is apart from personal character, and even shameful wretches could lay claim to it. Entirely parallel instances are found in the history of Christian heresies, as the Anomians and Anabaptists, who were so holy that they could commit no sin, and hence allowed themselves the wildest licence.[283]It is in this sense that Wilhelm von Humboldt wrote: “Wahre Tugend ist unverträglich mit auf Autorität geglaubter Religion.” (Gesammelte Werke, Bd. vii., p. 72.) This is a cardinal principle in studying the history of ethics.[284]Ling Roth,Natives of Sarawak, vol. i., p. 271; Hoffman,Secret Societies of the Ojibway,passim.[285]They were called the Abecedarians, because they distrusted even the ABC. Some learned scholars actually threw away their books and joined them.[286]Bain,The Senses and the Intellect, p. 607.[287]The Descent of Man, p. 581.[288]As Wilhelm von Humboldt remarked: “Das Streben der Natur ist auf etwas Unbeschränktes gerichtet.” The meaning of this profound observation is ably discussed by Steinthal,Die sprachphilosophischen Werke W. von Humboldt’s, p. 178.[289]Bull. Amer. Museum Nat. History, vol. viii., p. 227.[290]They were preserved in the original tongue by the first missionaries, Sahagun, Olmos, Bautista, etc., and have, in part, been published.[291]This is further set forth in Rostock,Das Religionswesen der rohesten Naturvölker, p. 145, sq.; and Curr,The Australian Race, vol. i., pp. 51-54.[292]Klemm,Culturgeschichte, Bd. ii., s. 309.[293]Walthouse, inJour. Anthrop. Soc., vol. xiv., p. 189.[294]Theamokof the Malays, themali-maliof the Tagalese, etc., is a maniacal religious psychosis in which the subject will rush violently through a street, killing or wounding any one he meets. See Dr. Rasch’s discussion of it inCentralblatt für Anthropologie, vol. i., p. 54, who considers it a “suggestive influence.” Similar examples are common among American Indians.[295]Arnobius,Adversus Gentes, bk. ii., cap. 62.[296]Worship of the Romans, p. 211. This was, of course, but one side of it, though usually the most important.[297]Professor Lazarus observes: “In der Religion zeigt sich der ganze Mensch” (Zeitschrift für Völkerpsychologie, Bd. i., s. 47). That is, that the individual in no other condition of mind realises and reveals his full personality so completely as in that which is created by the religious sentiment.[298]Judaism and Christianity, pp. 5-7.[299]The literature relating to these august characters in American legendary literature is presented in myAmerican Hero-Myths,passim;also,Myths of the New World, pp. 336, 337.[300]Ancient Egyptian Religion, Introduction.

[261]Alonso de la Peña Montenegro,Itinerario para Parrocos de Indios, p. 185 (Madrid, 1771).

[262]Clark,Indian Sign Language, p. 263.

[263]K. T. Preuss, in theBastian Festschrift.

[264]Anthropologie des Naturvölker, Bd. i., p. 459.

[265]The application of the blood, observes Professor Granger, “bound together in some way those who were present at the rite” (Worship of the Romans, p. 210). This subject is fully discussed by Dr. H. C. Trumbull in his works,The Blood Covenant, andThe Threshold Covenant.

[266]Castren, in the Introduction to hisFinnische Mythologie, has some excellent remarks on the beneficial effects of shamanism. It is an effort to free the human mind from the shackles of blind natural forces; it recognises the dependence of the subjective on an objective will, etc.

[267]Myth and Science, p. 41.

[268]Hahn,Tsuni ǁGoam, p. 21.

[269]Ling Roth,Natives of Sarawak, vol. i., pp. 259, 271, 282; vol. ii., App., p. clxxv.

[270]Walthouse, inJour. Anthrop. Inst., vol. v., p. 415.

[271]Nuñez de la Vega,Constituciones Diocesanas de Chiapas, fol. 9.

[272]The locally famous Maria Candelaria. At the head of fifteen thousand warriors, she defied the Spanish army for nearly a year, and, though defeated, was never captured. Her story is scantily recorded by Vicente Pineda, in hisHistoria de las Sublevaciones Indigenas en el Estado de Chiapas, pp. 38-70.

[273]Otfried Müller,Die Etrusker, Bd. ii., ss. 77, 78.

[274]Compare Keary,Outlines of Primitive Belief, p. 60; and Maury,La Magie et Astrologie, p. 386,sq.

[275]Geo. Turner,Samoa, p. 9; Dr. Tautain, inL’Anthropologie, tome vii., p. 548.

[276]On the ordeal, see Post,Ethnologisches Jurisprudenz, Bd. ii., ss. 459,sq., 479; Waitz,Anthropologie der Naturvölker, Bd. i., s. 461. The assertion by some writers that the ordeal was not known to the American Indians is incorrect. For example, Captain Clark recounts those to test the virtue of women who have been accused.Indian Sign Language, pp. 45, 208.

[277]See S. K. Steinmetz on “Der Zweikampf als Ordal” in hisEthnologische Studien zur ersten Entwicklung der Strafe, Bd. ii., s. 76,sq.

[278]Post,ubi supra, Bd. ii., s. 478.

[279]Adair,Hist. of the N. American Indians, p. 158; Boscana,Acc. of the Indians of California, p. 262.

[280]This is presented admirably and at length by M. Kulischer in an article “Der Dualismus der Ethik bei den primitiven Völkern,” in theZeitschrift für Ethnologie, Bd. xvii., pp. 205,sqq.He also sees clearly enough that the same principle, masked and denied though it be, reigns to-day. The “categorical imperative” of Kant, is as far from realisation as is “the golden rule.”

[281]There were, of course, some hobgoblins always ready to eat up or injure man; but not for any moral or ethical reason. “They afflict men, not out of anger or to punish sin, but because it is their nature to do so,” as Dalton says of the devils of the Oraons.Ethnology of Bengal, p. 256.

[282]This explains what Dr. Robertson Smith, in hisReligion of the Semites, p. 140, says is so difficult to grasp,—that the primitive idea of holiness is apart from personal character, and even shameful wretches could lay claim to it. Entirely parallel instances are found in the history of Christian heresies, as the Anomians and Anabaptists, who were so holy that they could commit no sin, and hence allowed themselves the wildest licence.

[283]It is in this sense that Wilhelm von Humboldt wrote: “Wahre Tugend ist unverträglich mit auf Autorität geglaubter Religion.” (Gesammelte Werke, Bd. vii., p. 72.) This is a cardinal principle in studying the history of ethics.

[284]Ling Roth,Natives of Sarawak, vol. i., p. 271; Hoffman,Secret Societies of the Ojibway,passim.

[285]They were called the Abecedarians, because they distrusted even the ABC. Some learned scholars actually threw away their books and joined them.

[286]Bain,The Senses and the Intellect, p. 607.

[287]The Descent of Man, p. 581.

[288]As Wilhelm von Humboldt remarked: “Das Streben der Natur ist auf etwas Unbeschränktes gerichtet.” The meaning of this profound observation is ably discussed by Steinthal,Die sprachphilosophischen Werke W. von Humboldt’s, p. 178.

[289]Bull. Amer. Museum Nat. History, vol. viii., p. 227.

[290]They were preserved in the original tongue by the first missionaries, Sahagun, Olmos, Bautista, etc., and have, in part, been published.

[291]This is further set forth in Rostock,Das Religionswesen der rohesten Naturvölker, p. 145, sq.; and Curr,The Australian Race, vol. i., pp. 51-54.

[292]Klemm,Culturgeschichte, Bd. ii., s. 309.

[293]Walthouse, inJour. Anthrop. Soc., vol. xiv., p. 189.

[294]Theamokof the Malays, themali-maliof the Tagalese, etc., is a maniacal religious psychosis in which the subject will rush violently through a street, killing or wounding any one he meets. See Dr. Rasch’s discussion of it inCentralblatt für Anthropologie, vol. i., p. 54, who considers it a “suggestive influence.” Similar examples are common among American Indians.

[295]Arnobius,Adversus Gentes, bk. ii., cap. 62.

[296]Worship of the Romans, p. 211. This was, of course, but one side of it, though usually the most important.

[297]Professor Lazarus observes: “In der Religion zeigt sich der ganze Mensch” (Zeitschrift für Völkerpsychologie, Bd. i., s. 47). That is, that the individual in no other condition of mind realises and reveals his full personality so completely as in that which is created by the religious sentiment.

[298]Judaism and Christianity, pp. 5-7.

[299]The literature relating to these august characters in American legendary literature is presented in myAmerican Hero-Myths,passim;also,Myths of the New World, pp. 336, 337.

[300]Ancient Egyptian Religion, Introduction.

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