File:Image from page 474 of "Bulletin" (1901).jpg

English: Title: Bulletin

Identifier: bulletin3011907smit Year: 1901 (1900s) Authors: Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology Subjects: Ethnology Publisher: Washington : G. P. O. Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries Digitizing Sponsor: Smithsonian Libraries

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Text Appearing Before Image: t'ULL. 30] FETISH 457 ons power that causes an object to be regarded as indispensable to the welfare of its possessor. In the belief of the Indians, all things are animate and incarnate—men, beasts, lands, waters, rocks, plants, trees, stars, winds, clouds, and night—and all pos- sess volition and immortal life; yet many of these are held in perpetual bondage by weird spells of some mighty enchantment. So, although lakes and seas may writhe in billows, they can not traverse the earth, while brooks and rivers may run and bound over the land, yet even they may be held by the potent magic power of the god of winter. Mountains and hills may throb and quake with pain and grief, but they can not travel over the earth because they are held in thraldom by the powerful spell of some potent en- chanter. Thus it is that rocks, trees, roots, 'stocks and stones', bones, the limbs and parts of the body, and the vari- ous bodies of nature are verily the living tombs of diverse beings and spirits. Of such is the kingdom of the fetish, for even the least of these may be chosen. More- over, a fetish is an object which may also represent a vision, a dream, a thought, or an action. The following extract from Cushing's Zuni Fetiches \2d Kep. B. A. E., 188.3) will show the reputed connection between the object and its quickener, between the object and the thing it represents. In speaking of the Two Sun Children, Cash- ing says: "Now that the surface of the earth was hardened, even the animals of prey, powerful and like the fathers (gods) themselves, would have devoured the children of men; and the Two thought it v.as not well that they should all ])e per- mitted to live, 'for,' said they, 'alike will the children of men and the children of the animals of prey multiply themselves. The animals of prey are provided with talons and teeth; men are but poor, the finished beings of earth, therefore the weaker.' " Whenever they came across the path- way of one of these animals, were he a great mountain lion or but a mere mole, they struck him with the fire of lightning which they carried in their magic shield. TJdu! and instantly he was shriveled and burned into stone. "Then said they to the animals that they had changed into stone: 'That ye may not Ije evil unto men, but that ye may be a great good unto them, have we changed you into rock everlasting. By the magic breath of prey, by the heart that shall endure forever within you, shall ye be made to serve instead of to devour mankind." "Thus was the surface of the earth hardened and scorched and many of all kinds of beings changed to stone. Thus, too, it happened that we find, here and there throughout the world, their forms, sometimes large like the beings them- selves, sometimes shriveled and distorted. And we often see among the rocks the forms of many beings that live no longer, which shows us that all was different in the 'days of the new.' "Of these petrifactions, which are of course mere concretions or strangely eroded rock forms, the Zuni say, 'Whom- soever of us may be met with the light of such great good fortune may st'e (discover, find) them and should treasure them for

Text Appearing After Image: fetish necklace of human fingers; cheyenne, (bourke) the sake of the sacred (magic) power which was given them in the days of the new.' " Such is the Zufii philosophy of the fetish. A fetish is acquired by a person, a fam- ily, or a people for the purpose of pro- moting welfare. In return, the fetish re- quires from its owner worship in the form of prayer, sacrifice, feasts, and protection, and from its votaries it receives ill or good treatment in accordance with the character of its behavior toward them. Some fetishes are regarded as more etfi- cacious than others. The fetish which loses its repute as a promoter of welfare gradually becomes useless and may de- generate into a sacred object—a charm, an amulet, or a talisman—and finally into a mere ornament. Then other fetishes are acquired, to be subjected to the same severe test of efficiency in promoting the well-being of their possessors. The fetish is clearly segregated from the group of beings called tutelars, or guardian spirits, since it may be bought or sold, loaned or inherited, while, so far as known, the tutelar is never sold, loaned, or, with the Iroquois, inherited.

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