The Soul of the Indian: An Interpretation — John Shaqi
The Soul of the Indian: An InterpretationEastman, Charles A.
Religion
The Soul of the Indian: An Interpretation
Eastman, Charles A.
Indian mythology -- North America; Indian philosophy -- North America; Indians of North America -- Religion
Our people have always claimed that the stone arrows which are found so
generally throughout the country are the ones that the first man used in
his battle with the animals. It is not recorded in our traditions, much
less is it within the memory of our old men, that we have ever made
or used similar arrow-heads. Some have tried to make use of them
for shooting fish under water, but with little success, and they are
absolutely useless with the Indian bow which was in use when America was
discovered. It is possible that they were made by some pre-historic race
who used much longer and stronger bows, and who were workers in stone,
which our people were not. Their stone implements were merely natural
boulders or flint chips, fitted with handles of raw-hide or wood, except
the pipes, which were carved from a species of stone which is soft when
first quarried, and therefore easily worked with the most primitive
tools. Practically all the flint arrow-heads that we see in museums
and elsewhere were picked up or ploughed up, while some have been
dishonestly sold by trafficking Indians and others, embedded in trees
and bones.
We had neither devil nor hell in our religion until the white man
brought them to us, yet Unk-to-mee, the Spider, was doubtless akin to
that old Serpent who tempted mother Eve. He is always characterized as
tricky, treacherous, and at the same time affable and charming, being
not without the gifts of wit, prophecy, and eloquence. He is an adroit
magician, able to assume almost any form at will, and impervious to any
amount of ridicule and insult. Here we have, it appears, the elements of
the story in Genesis; the primal Eden, the tempter in animal form, and
the bringing of sorrow and death upon earth through the elemental sins
of envy and jealousy.
The warning conveyed in the story of Unk-to-mee was ever used with
success by Indian parents, and especially grandparents, in the
instruction of their children. Ish-na-e-cha-ge, on the other hand, was
a demigod and mysterious teacher, whose function it was to initiate the
first man into his tasks and pleasures here on earth.
After the battle with the animals, there followed a battle with the
elements, which in some measure parallels the Old Testament story of
the flood. In this case, the purpose seems to have been to destroy the
wicked animal people, who were too many and too strong for the lone man.
The legend tells us that when fall came, the First-Born advised his
younger brother to make for himself a warm tent of buffalo skins, and
to store up much food. No sooner had he done this than it began to snow,
and the snow fell steadily during many moons. The Little Boy Man made
for himself snow-shoes, and was thus enabled to hunt easily, while the
animals fled from him with difficulty. Finally wolves, foxes, and ravens
came to his door to beg for food, and he helped them, but many of the
fiercer wild animals died of cold and starvation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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