In the event of war, drought, famine, and for some cases of sickness, ceremonial activities which constituted requests for supernatural aid were carried out.[549]To beg for rain, people from all localities of the tribe would gather at some high place and perform supplications until the drought was broken.[550]Other ceremonials were occasioned by a spirit of thanksgiving for peace, health, plenty, and prosperity.[551]
As nearly as can be told, ceremonial activity encompassing all of the above circumstances involved dancing and sacrifice of personal wealth to please the supernatural. The sacrifice of wealth might take either the form of gifts to the poor or actual destruction of property by casting it upon the fire.[552]This latter custom was carried out by the Narragansetts, and the more a man brought to burn up, the more he was esteemed. The Wampanoags said they did not cast goods into the fire, but they acknowledged this to be a powerful practice and attributed to it the Narragansetts’ salvation from the plague.[553]The seeking of supernatural assistance was highly pragmatic; if one supernatural source did not send the desired aid, another was tried until the proper combination was discovered.[554]
The Wampanoags placed a great deal of importance upon dreams. A bad dream was considered to be a threat from the supernatural, and a man awakening from one would fall to offering prayers of supplication. If the vision were especially ominous, a man might call in his friends to keep watch with him. He would offer them food, but he himself kept a fasting and wakeful watch for several days and nights.[555]
Among the Wampanoags, names had supernatural significance. “Obscure and mean persons amongst them....” had no names.[556]Probably such persons were resident non-members of the tribe and youngsters who had not yet undergone initiation. Once received, a name was a closely guarded piece of personal property. It was considered discourteous to refer to or call a person by his true name. Instead, a circumlocution or a substitute pronoun was used.[557]