There might be mentioned here also the "Chinook Jargon* of the Columbia River re gion, the "Ligoa Geral* of Brazil, and the minor jargons and trade languages of other sections of the continent, which prove how the Indian has compelled the white man, more or less, to use his language in some form or other for the purposes of friendly or commercial intercourse.
Religion.— The mythology and religion of the American Indians have received particular treatment at the hands of Muller, Brinton, Powell, etc. Perhaps the most general myth of importance is that of the divine hero, teacher and civilizer, who, after accomplishing his labors, leaves the earth, promising to return at some future time. This myth is found in Mexico (Quetzalcoatl), Yucatan (Kukulkan), Colombia (Bochica), northeast North America (Manabozho, Gluskap, etc.). Somewhat analogous is the myth of the twin reformers of the primitive world among the Pueblo Indians, Navahos, etc. The Iroquoian stock have the myth of the contest of the good and bad mind. The Algonkians have a myth-circle of the rabbit, the tribes of the northwest Pacific coast one of the raven and thunder-bird, the Rocky Mountain peoples one of the coyote, the Bra. zilian Indians one of the jaguar, etc. Some of the tribes are very rich in animal myths and, as Mr. Mooney asserts, the characteristic tales of Remus' found among the Cherokee and other peoples have not, as many suppose, been borrowed from the negroes of the South. Even the famous °tar-baby* tales have their independent Amerindian ana logues. Flood-legends are widespread in America and vary from the simple, locally col ored stories of rude Athapascans to the elabo rate conceptions of the civilized peoples of Mexico, Central America, etc. The cardinal points and the number four have developed with many tribes a rich symbolism, with which the chief colors are often connected.
The °medicine men" of the Ojibwa, the Cherokee, the Apache, have been investigated by Hoffman, Mooney and Bourke, and a large amount of accurate and authentic information concerning shamanism among the Amerindian peoples has been accumulated. The power of the °medicine man° varies much from tribe to tribe,— with some he is a personage of little or no importance; with others he is the controlling influence in secular as well as in religious af fairs. The acme of such influence is found among some of the tribes of Guiana and Brazil. These °medicine menu had often Their secret societies and °lodges° into which chosen neo phytes were admitted with appropriate ceremo nies. They had also, with many tribes, the control of the rites to which the youth were subjected at the time of puberty, with others they performed such marriage ceremony as existed. Besides these shamans, there were and religious reformers, especially since contact with the whites. The widespread
((Ghost Dance," in its more recent outbreaks, has been studied in detail by Mooney. Worthy of note is also the "new religion° of the Irc. quois, and the °Shakerx' religion of the Indians of Puget Sound. The investigations among the Pawnee by Miss Fletcher and G. A. Dorsey have demonstrated the existence of a relatively high form of primitive religion in a rather un expected quarter,— their worship of the morn ing star in connection with agriculture was, however, at one time accompanied by human sacrifice. The mortuary rites of the American Indians, corresponding to diverse ideas of the soul and its future in the other world, varied from simple neglect of the corpse to what is represented in material form by some of the mounds of the Mississippi Valley and the stone tombs of Peru. The mortuary customs of the aborigines of North America have been made the subject of a special monograph by Dr. Yar row, and the doctrine of °animism" among the South American peoples has been treated at length by Koch. The contemplation of the totem (properly Ojibwa tribal or family mark,— of certain Algonkian tribes has given rise to theories of °totemism,)) concern ing which there is much dispute in the world of science. as exemplified in the Zufiis, has been investigated with some detail by Cushing. Cannibalism (the word eatesibal is the corrupted form of a South American tribal name) has been rarer in America than is generally believed. Outside of its occurrence through necessity in ways known to civilized peoples, it was chiefly partial and ceremonial. Epicurean cannibalism flourished along the coast of South America and on some of the Caribbean islands; ritual cannibalism among certain tribes of the northwest Pacific coast, in ancient Mexico, etc. The almost extinct Tonk aways of Texas have the reputation of being the °last of the cannibals," while the Attacapas owe their name to this practice attributed to them by their neighbors. In the legends of the Cree and Ojibwa tribes of the Algonkian stock, a cannibal giant (wendigo) figures, and a horror of human flesh eating is expressed at the pres ent time, whatever may have been the case in the past. From the condition of human bones and other remains in the shell-heaps of various parts of the coast, some authorities have come to the conclusion that cannibalism did exist in prehistoric among some of the Indian tribes. Religious ideas approximating to mono theism are attributed by some chroniclers and investigators to some of the more enlightened aboriginal rulers of Mexico and Peru. In these regions of the continent, as also in Cen tral America, architecture and the arts of com memoration and record were at the service of religion. See AMERICAN MYTHOLOGY ; Four TAUS AND MYTHS OF AMERICAN INDIANS.