Shaman

“ CHAPTER XIV. It was morning when our tired dogs scented madame's village and began to run more eagerly and to give tongue. The noise awoke the shaman, who clutched the sides of the sled and pulled himself painfully upward.
“Think bes' go Lady's house,” he said, then mumbled something and shook his head doubtfully. I thought I caught the words in his own tongue, as if he were still bewildered and soliloquizing, “She must decide what is to be done. Must tell her everything. Too bad. She can put all the blame on me.” ”

“ If there is a shaman present he goes all round the interior of the house, beating the drum and driving away the demons (kalau) . He searches all the people in the house, and if he finds a demon's arrow sticking in the body of one of them, he pulls it out, though naturally the arrow is invisible to common eyes. In this way he protects them against disease and death. If there is no [pg 127] shaman present, the demons may be expelled by the host or by a woman skilled in incantations.344
Annual expulsion of demons among the Iroquois and the Cherokees.. ”

“ Sometimes he succeeds in heading off the departing soul by taking a short cut to the other world. A shaman can only [pg 058] stay a short time there. So as soon as he lays hands on the soul he is after, he bolts with it. The other souls give chase, but he stamps with his foot, on which he wears a rattle made of deer's hoofs. At the rattle of the hoofs the ghosts retreat and he hurries on. A bolder shaman will sometimes ask the ghosts for the soul, and if they refuse to give it, he will wrest it from them. They attack him, but he clubs them and brings away the soul by force. ”

“ The shaman is blindfolded, or else has a covering thrown over his head to prevent his countenance from being seen during the incantation. The patient lies on the ground before him and when the shaman is worked up to the proper state of frenzy he prostrates himself upon the afflicted person and begins to chase the evil from its seat. ”

“ As if the shaman's far-reaching threat had terrified them, the perturbed in habitants of the village no longer advanced, but shifted irresolute, appearing in the distance like black shadows restlessly moving over a field of glittering white. The one compact shadow was that in the midst of which was carried the dead Tzitka. It diminished, joined the others; there was a momentary halt, and then disintegration as if scattered by some invisible terror. Individual shadows were absorbed and lost in the darker shadows of houses and cabins. Every human form disappeared. ”

“ The shaman yawned, crept on hands and knees to the opposite corner of the tent where his great fur robe was thrown, stretched himself out upon it, and rolled over and over until it was wrapped about him like a mummy case. ”

“ When the Shaman draws lines upon the sand, describes various curves with his arms, utters sundry incantations, he does not address a power he perceives, nor even one he has really seen, although he may believe that he, or some one else, has seen it. ”

“ The wizard or witch was tortured and put to death, after which the sick Indian recovered or died, as the case might be.
Captain E. C. Merriman, of the U. S. Navy, destroyed the power of the shaman by rescuing the accused and punishing the shaman.
The shaman spends the greater part of his life in the forest, fasting and receiving inspiration from his totemic spirits. A concoction of dried frogs’ legs and sea water give him power to perceive a man’s soul—the Tlingit woman had no soul then—escaping from his [68] body and to catch it and restore it to the man. ”

“ So far as I know, Shamanism exists only in Asia, and flourishes specially among the tribes north of the Amur, the Samoyedes, Ostiaks, etc., as well as among hill tribes on the southwestern frontier of China. The term Shaman may be applied to all persons, male or female, whose profession it is to have direct dealings with dæmons, and to possess the power of securing their good-will and averting their malignant influences by various magical rites, charms, and incantations, to cure diseases by exorcisms, to predict future events, and to interpret dreams. ”

“ The shaman sits down on the wrong side of a dry reindeer-hide spread in the middle of the floor. There he lets himself be bound hand and foot by the assistants. The shutters are closed, and the shaman begins to invoke his ministering spirits. All at once there arises a mysterious ghostliness in the dark space. Voices are heard from different parts, both within and without the yurt, while on the dry reindeer skin there is a rattling and drumming in regular time. Bears growl, snakes hiss, and squirrels leap about in the room. ”

“ When they are supposed to return, the shaman gathers their bones and restores them to life. On the return to their villages, they behave like unknown children, fail to recognize their relatives, to understand their own language, etc. ”

“ Shuddering from the clamy touch of the shaman as they grappled with her supple form,hands wrenching at her slender arms and legs in all directions, her bare body being molested in the midst of a labyrnth of orange smudges, purpled satin, and mangled skulls, shadowed in an eerie crimson glow ”

“ In this position they wash his head, and “any water remaining from the ablution is taken and poured upon the sick man's head.”242 Among the Kwakiutl Indians of British Columbia it is forbidden to pass behind the back of a shaman while he is eating, lest the shaman should inadvertently swallow the soul of the passer-by. When that happens, both the shaman and the person whose soul he has swallowed fall down in a swoon. Blood flows from the shaman's mouth, because the soul is too large for him and is tearing his inside. ”

“ Sometimes a knowledge of healing herbs was included in the Shaman's education, and often he gave advice on personal matters. But the chief business of the Shaman was to keep man reconciled with the spirit world, to persuade it to be on his side, or to prevent the spirits from doing him harm. A Shaman was not a priest, nor was he elected to office, and in some tribes he did not even go to war, but stayed at home to protect the women and children. Any one could be a Shaman who thought himself equal to it and could persuade people to believe in him. ”

“ The great mass of the people may regard the shaman as a wise man, perhaps even as an intermediary between men and the gods, and possibly as the possessor of mysterious power; but many believe his words and works as little as other races do those of their priests. The real faith of the people is simpler and more child-like than the shaman approves of. ”

“ A term more or less interchangeable with “medicine man,” “doctor,” or even “priest.” Many tribes give Shaman and priest not merely distinct, but antagonistic functions. The priest is keeper and demonstrator of rituals. The Shaman mystifies by jugglery, pretends to foretell events and control them by incantations, and by fetish-practice prevents the [297] evil spirits to whom all mishaps are attributed from working harm. Since disease is mischief done by evil spirits, Shamans treat the sick. They are the workers of “good magic,” and preside over ceremonies peculiar to their healing powers. ”

“ Shamans were men of influence in the village, with prestige second only to that of the chief. Women shamans were uncommon and usually possessed less potent power. The life of a shaman was precarious because if he failed to effect a high percentage of cures or if he were “proven” responsible for sending pains which caused death to persons, he might be killed—sometimes even with the advance approval of the chief, and without retaliation by the offending shaman’s relatives. ”

“ He sends him on his journey under the river to the village of the spirits—kethagyiye—a way where there are, at intervals, pillars of fire at which the dead may warm himself, and may cook. At the time of giving the death stroke, the shaman also drives away all the evil spirits that are around the village. ”

“ When the shaman wishes to destroy the life of another, either for his own purposes or for hire, he conceals himself near the trail along which the victim is likely to pass. When the doomed man appears the shaman waits until he has gone by and then follows him secretly until he chances to spit upon the ground. On coming up to the spot the shaman collects upon the end of a stick a little of the dust thus moistened with the victim’s spittle. The possession of the man’s spittle gives him power over the life of the man himself. ”

“ In the absence of any definite system of government, the word of a shaman has great weight: as a class they are regarded with much awe, and as a rule are obeyed much more than the chief.”​ [1270] As leader of the local branch {p358} of a secret society the most noted Maidu shaman of each district was supposed to make rain when it was needed, to ensure a good crop of edible acorns and a plentiful supply of salmon, and to drive away evil spirits, disease, and epidemics from the village. ”

“ Among some tribes he was sick for this period. Universally he sweated and swam. Eating habits of the novice shaman varied in different cases, but were always as dictated by the specific instructions given to him by his guardian spirit. Invariably all forms of flesh were shunned. He smoked tobacco and gave his first hunting kill to an old man. During the novice period the new shaman was helped by old shamans at the fireside in the sweat house. ”

“ The shaman is his priest and physician. He performs all the ceremonies and conducts all the dances and feasts by which the gods are propitiated and evil is averted, doing all the singing, praying, and sacrificing. By this means, and by instructing the people what to do to make it rain and secure other benefits, he maintains good terms for them with their deities, who are jealous of man and bear him ill-will. He is also on the alert to keep those under his care from sorcery, illness, and other evil that may befall them. Even when asleep he watches and works just as if his body were awake. ”

“ As the spell progresses the shaman utters the most hideous noises, 196 shouting here and there as the evil flees to another portion of the body, seeking a retreat from which the shaman shall be unable to dislodge it. After a time victory is declared; the operator claims to have the disease under his control, and although it should escape and make itself again felt in the patient, the shaman continues until the person either gets well or dies. If the former, the reputation of the shaman is increased proportionally to the payment bestowed by the afflicted one. ”

“ Among the Buryats of Siberia the bones of a deceased shaman are deposited in a hole hewn in the trunk of a great fir, which is then carefully closed up. Thenceforth the tree goes by the name of the shaman’s fir, and is looked upon as his abode. Whoever cuts down such a tree will perish with all his household. Every tribe has its sacred grove of firs in which the bones of the dead shamans are buried. In treeless regions these firs often form isolated clumps on the hills, and are visible from afar. ”

“ I looked at the group of natives standing obediently and respectfully aloof, with a white band of snow between us, our dogs and loaded sleds, and when I turned for a final glance at Madame Malitka, she had gone. The door of the great house was closed, as if we had been suddenly and permanently barred from its warmth and shelter.
The shaman gave a loud shout as of one starting upon great emprise. The Indians who had been restraining the leaders released their grips. The quivering, expectant animals abruptly strained into their harness, with lolling or baying tongues outhung between white fangs ”

“ The last and crowning scene of the festival takes place at night or just at sunrise. The spears [pg 249] with the bladders attached to them are passed out by the shaman into the open air through the smoke-hole in the roof. When all are outside, a huge torch of wild parsnip stalks is lighted; the chief shaman takes it on his shoulder, and runs with it as fast as he can across the snow and out on the ice. Behind him troop all the men carrying each his spear with the bladders of the sea-beasts dangling and flapping from it ”

“ I believed we should have an advocate in the shaman, but was certain that if it came to a free-for-all battle in the village, his wound would prevent his putting up much of a struggle. I was weighing our complexities when we emerged from the forest trail, swung round through the clearing, and halted in front of the great house. The noise of our arrival had disturbed the whole village, and its population came running toward us just as the door which had so recently closed upon us opened and Malitka hastened forth. ”

“ Some of them leaped forward, unharnessed our poor dogs, picked them up in their arms and carried them away. Others under the shaman's direction gently lifted my partner from the sled and solicitously carried him into the great house in front of which we stood. Bewildered, feverish with starvation, relieved as I was, I could not but note the astonishment of these natives whose demeanor indicated that this was a most unprecedented event. ”

“ Eastern Washington bands had their shamans, too, with healing and other supernatural powers bestowed during their quest for their guardian spirits. The shaman, who could here be either a man or a woman, administered to the sick and officiated at ceremonies. Every winter, for a period of several months, dramatic spirit dances were held in the mat longhouses as part of initiation ceremonies for novices obtaining a guardian spirit, or as a special occasion under the sponsorship of a prominent shaman, or when the guardian spirit of any individual commanded a spirit dance. ”