The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, Vol. 2: Acadia, 1612-1614
History
The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, Vol. 2: Acadia, 1612-1614
Canada -- History -- To 1763 (New France); Indians of North America -- Canada; Jesuits -- Missions; Jesuits -- North America
Religio tota certis incantationibus, choreis, & veneficijs constat;
nimirum vt aut necessaria vitæ conquirant, aut inimicos amoliantur;
suos habent Autmoinos, hoc est veneficos, qui malū Dæmonem consulant
de vita & morte, futurorúmque euentis; & quidem sese illis mala
bellua præsentem sæpe sistit, vt ipsi asserunt, vindictam annuit,
renuítque, mortem inimicorum suorumvé, venationem prosperam, & cetera
eiusmodi ludibria, quorum vt ne quid desit, [15] etiam somnijs fidem
habent: si fortè super placito & bene auspicante somnio euigilauerint,
consurgunt, vel de nocte concubia, & omen cantu ac choreis sequuntur.
Templa, ædesvé sacras, ritus, cæremonias, disciplinam nullam habent,
vti nec leges aut artificia politiamvé vllam, præter certos mores &
consuetudinem, quorū sunt retinentissimi. Si quem Veneficus respondit
ad certā diem moriturum, is deseritur ab omnibus; quin ipse adeò miser,
vtpote iam mortis certus, vltro sibi inediam atque omnium incuriam
indicit, credo ne videatur contra fatum pugnare.
Their whole religion consists of certain incantations, dances
and sorcery, which they have recourse to, it seems, either to
procure the necessaries of life or to get rid of their enemies;
they have Autmoinos, that is, medicine-men, who consult the evil
Spirit regarding life and death and future events; and the evil
spirit [great beast] often presents himself before them, as they
themselves assert, approves or disapproves their schemes of
vengeance, promises them the death of their enemies or friends, or
prosperity in the chase, and other mockeries of the same sort. To
make these complete they [15] even have faith in dreams; if they
happen to awake from a pleasing and auspicious dream, they rise
even in the middle of the night and hail the omen with songs and
dances. They have no temples, sacred edifices, rites, ceremonies or
religious teaching, just as they have no laws, arts or government,
save certain customs and traditions of which they are very
tenacious. If the Medicine-man predicts that a certain person will
die before a fixed date, this man is deserted by all; and, in his
misery, feeling certain of impending death, he voluntarily condemns
himself to suffer hunger and complete neglect, apparently that he
may not seem to contend against fate.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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