A great number of stock fetishes like the eagle's talons, the feet of the rabbit, the paw of the bear, the teeth of the tiger and the most symbolical parts of other fierce animals were suggestive of the natural and super natural qualities of the animals to which they belonged. Among many tribes the rabbit fe tish was even more feared than those of the fiercest of animals; for he obtained his repu tation as a necromancer on account of his be ing the totem of the culture god Nanabozho, one of the greatest of magicians known to Indian mythology. The survival of the rabbit superstition is still strong among the Indians of the Plains and of the wooded countries to the north and east. Half-breeds of the Cana dian Northwest and the negroes of the South of the United States alike have assimilated the Indian faith in the efficacy of the rabbit's foot. It was and still is an Indian belief that the fetish, in return for the good done its possessor, demanded special deference and attentions in the shape of prayers, incantations and sacrificial offerings, which were duly given it. Great festivals were often held by the tribes in honor of the tribal fetishes. Many of the so-called ornaments of the American Indians were primarily fetishes. It is there fore very difficult to draw the line which separates the fetish from the ornament. The many legends of talismanic jewels so implic itly believed in during the Middle Ages and even in more recent times, among all classes and races in Europe, show that the fetish, in becoming purely ornamental, still retained, in the minds of many, in particular cases, its traditional The tribal fetish, like the oyraon, guiding spirit of the Iroquois, might be, and frequently was, revealed in a dream or vision or in some miraculous way; and often the Indian youth, when performing the fasting customary before entering upon the duties of manhood, had one or more powerful fetishes revealed to him. Sometimes he was favored with one or more of these which had the ability and the will to help the whole tribe. In such cases the youth was sure to become a medicine man of note; which did not pre vent him also becoming a great warrior. In this way some of the fetishes contained in the medicine bags of the medicine men were obtained. While the objects in the medicine bags were symbolical of ritualistic ideas, many of them, if not all, are supposed to have been fetish in origin and powers.
A fetish may be a stone, a rock, a piece of wood, an arrow-head, a feather, in fact anything. It may have real power residing within itself as in the case of a rock or stone; it may derive its power from being a part of a well-known whole, as the feather of the eagle; or it may have.a power derived from its symbolism, as the foot of the rabbit, the totem of a divinity. The fetish associations may make a hero of one of the most stupid of ani mals, as in the case of the rabbit just cited; around which have been woven countless stories, in which the totem of Nanabozho is generally the hero and the conqueror on ac count of his natural shrewdness, his cunning and his miraculous powers. Trophies obtained from slain enemies often proved most effective fetishes; and it is very probable that the scalp taken by the American Indian from his fallen foe was primarily looked upon as a fetish, since numerous superhuman Indian characters could be wounded only in the crown of the head; or, in other cases, like Sampson, their strength resided in their hair. This myth was as widely spread in America as in Europe and Asia.
many Indian ceremonies observed throughout the American continents until quite recently covered a very wide field of relationships of society, of the individuals to society as a whole and to one another. They
referred to birth, childhood, manhood, mar riage, death and every important movement of life. The ceremonies, however, are naturally largely taken up with the food supply, war and the preservation of the tribe and the individual from the dangers that threatened them from the magic power of ill-disposed magicians. This latter include the means taken to assure mankind against disease, always caused the wiles of the enchanter who send evil spirits into the human body. Among the more cul tured tribes elaborate ceremonies are made use of to pay due deference to the most revered or feared of their divinities. The ceremonies of the American Indian are ritualistic and the order of the ritual must be implicitly followed to assure results. Ceremonies consist of two classes — secret and public. In the former only the initiated can take part while in the latter the whole tribe may, in most cases, participate. The secret ceremony is nearly always prepara tory to the public ceremony. In it are pre.
pared all the paraphernalia to be used in public by priest and layman, such as dresses, masks and other distinctive markings, upon which is placed the stamp of sacredness belonging to all things and ceremonies connected with the Sacred Tepee. Ceremonial smoking, prayers and sacrifices form a part of the secret cere monial. An altar almost always occupies a prominent position in the place of ceremonies and on it are laid symbolical representations of the chief tribal gods, of the Spirits of the Four Winds (or six) and the Four Quarters of the World governed by them, of vegetation, thunder, lightning, the rainbow and other per sonifications of the more prominent phases of nature.. Possessions of priests, traditional and tribal songs, music and dancing accompanied by rattles, drums and whistles, costumes of special ceremonial significance, tattooing and body painting form part of the ceremonial of a tribal festival. Each distinct ceremonial per formance has its own ritual, costume, dances and symbolical representations. The more cul tured the Indian tribe or nation the more numer ous and complex the ceremonies. The Peru vians, the Aztecs, the Mayas and other cul tured races of Mexico, Central and South America and the Pueblo Indians had a net work of ceremonies which covered from a fourth to a half of the year; and symbolized almost every conceivable activity of life. They began even before the child was ushered into the world and continued after the indi vidual was dead and buried. The Hopi Indians still have 13 great ceremonies each of nine days' duration, all of which are performed with a very elaborate obligatory ceremonial; and, in addition to these, they have others which cover only one day. As their land is dry the rain god plays a very prominent part in all their ceremonies. In ceremonial significance, van ety, richness of detail and strictness of rit ualistic observance these tribal festivals of the Hopi Indians are equalled on the American continents only by those of the civilized na tions of Mexico, Central America and Peru at the time of the conquest. The ceremonies of the American races vary widely between the broad extremes of extended symbolism just instanced and the almost purely medical dances of some of the more primitive of the tribes. Among other tribes, as the Kwakiutl, the ceremonies are almost altogether priestly functions, as they were in Mexico and Central America.