The world of the Wampanoags was well-populated with supernatural beings and forces. Of these, one was a sort of generalized power, calledManitou.[533]Many early observers of the Indians of northeastern North America, where this concept is widespread, developed the mistaken idea that “Manitou” referred to an anthropomorphic supreme being. Actually, Manitou is a force rather than a person. It could perhaps best be likened to that force for good luck that many Europeans think can be found in horse shoes, four-leaf clovers, etc. thus, when a Wampanoag performed an exceptional feat he was said to have Manitou, or supernatural power. Likewise, certain objects, animals, and physical features on the landscape were thought to have Manitou in them, because someone had had good luck right after seeing or touching them. This could have happened so far in the past that it was remembered only in mythology. Or, perhaps the whole incident was a vision in a dream.[534]
A related concept is something that can be called animal spirits.[535]These were supernaturals in animal form, who could interfere in the lives and fates of human beings. Whether the power of these animals was identical to Manitou is not known, and it is quite possible that the relationship was not too clearly worked out in the minds of the Indians either.
A great deal of emphasis was placed upon dreams.[536]A Wampanoag who wanted supernatural help could seek a dream in which one of the animal spirits would appear to him and agree to help him, often by becoming his guardian spirit.[537]He would then call upon this supernatural helper throughout his life for whatever aid its power enabled it to give. Crows and rabbits in particular represented animal spirits, and they were not supposed to be killed.[538]
Powows also had animal spirits that they obtained through dreams. Either the animal itself or the kind of supernatural power that the animal had (it is not possible to tell which from existing data) came to dwell within the powow. He could then send this spirit out to do his bidding.[539]Usually there were several such animal spirits dwelling within one powow.[540]
Also part of the supernatural world were the ghosts of the dead. They lingered near the camps of the living and caused trouble, often in the form of illness.[541]
The Wampanoags also had anthropomorphic supernaturals. One of these was Kiehtan, a high god who was responsible for the creation of the world and all in it, and who could influence the prosperity of the Wampanoags. He was called upon for plenty, victory, and general favor in various undertakings. His home was in the southwest, the place where spirits of the good went upon death.[542]According to some accounts this was also the place where other kinds of spirits lived.[543]
Another supernatural was Hobomock (Abamacho). The Europeans immediately identified this being with the Devil, because he had an association with snakes, seemed to be able to cause harm to people, and was often feared. Actually, he seems to have been capable of both help and harm; his role in the supernatural pantheon is not at all clear. Hobomock would actually appear to the more important Wampanoags, taking the form of an animal or bird, and most frequently a snake. He was called upon in time of sickness to cure people. One never dared to call upon Kiehtan in time of illness for fear it might have been he in the first place who sent the sickness as punishment. If the illness was sent by Kiehtan, however, Hobomock could not cure it.[544]
Mythology had it that people were made by Kiehtan (Kautantowwit). He first made a man and a woman out of stone, but, as he did not like them, he broke them into many pieces and proceeded to make another man and woman out of a tree. These he liked, and their progeny populated the earth.[545]Corn and beans were brought by the crow, who carried in one ear a kernel of corn and in the other a bean, which he had gotten from the field belonging to Kiehtan.[546]
The Wampanoags attributed a great deal of what happened to them in their daily lives to supernatural activity.[547]Sometimes it was hard to determine atonce whether a condition resulted from “natural” or supernatural causes. A supernaturally caused illness, for example, would often go unrecognized until conventional herbal techniques proved of no avail in bringing relief. Bad luck and accidents were usually blamed on the supernatural.[548]Winning at games was considered to be done as a result of supernatural aid, which was invoked throughout the period of play. Bargaining, pleading, and threatening were all methods used to bring supernatural favor upon one’s activities and to dispel any unfavorable supernatural influences.