Archives Of Aboriginal Knowledge Collections

Vikings in America

That America was visited early in the tenth century by the adventurous Northmen from Greenland (Vikings), and that its geography and people continued to be known to them so late as the twelfth century, is admitted by all who have examined with attention, the various documents which have been published, during the last twelve years, by the Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries at Copenhagen. There are evidences which every candid and right-minded historian will admit, that the hardy and bold mariners of Scandinavia, of that period, crossed freely, in vessels of small tonnage, the various channels, gulfs, and seas of … Read more

Tribes on the Santa Fe Trail, and at the Foot of the Rocky Mountains

The tendency of the Indian population, which stretches over the prairies east of the Rocky Mountains, is towards the south and southwest. The Cheyennes, or Chawas, who once lived on a tributary of the Red River of Hudson’s Bay, crossed the Missouri, in consequence of the arrival of the Algonquian tribes on the sources of the Mississippi. The latter went as far north as the summit of the Portage du Trait, in their progress towards Athabasca Lake. The Chawas are now found very high on the Nebraska, and pressing onwards southward, below the mountains. The Sioux, or Dacotas, of the … Read more

Tribal Organization, History and Government

There are about seventy tribes, nearly all of whom are susceptible of being generalized into five ethnological groups, who have constituted the object of our policy and laws, during the three-fourths of a century that the Republic has exercised sovereignty over them. No tribe which was in existence in 1776 has become extinct. The wars that have been maintained on the frontiers have been purely wars of defense. They have never been wars of aggression, the object of which has been, in any sense, the acquisition of territory. Nor have the tribes in these contests suffered depopulation. The loss of … Read more

Traditions of the Ante-Columbian Epoch

On this subject, we are confined to narrow limits. Three or four of the chief stocks now between the Equinox and the Arctic Circle, have preserved traditions which it is deemed proper to recite. 1. In the voyages of Sir Alexander Mackenzie among the Arctic tribes, he relates of the Chepeweyan, that ” they have a tradition that they originally came from another country, inhabited by very wicked people, and had traversed a great lake, which was narrow and shallow, and full of islands, where they had suffered great misery, it being always winter, with ice and deep snow.” In … Read more

The Sacred Jeesukawin

The Sacred Jeesukawin: The art of prophecy, or the Jeesukawin, is practiced alone, by distinct and solitary individuals, who have no associates; who at least do not exist, and are never known as societies. Prophets start up at long intervals, and far apart, among the Indian tribes. They profess to be under supernatural power, and to be filled with a divine afflatus. It is, however, an art resembling that of the Medáwin, and founded on a similar principle of reliance, differing chiefly in the object sought. The meta seeks to propitiate events; the jossakeed aims to predict them. Both appeal to spirits for their power. Both exhibit material substances, as stuffed birds, bones, &c., as objects by or through which the secret energy is to be exercised. The general modes of operation are similar, but vary. The drum is used in both, but the songs and incantations differ. The rattle is confined to the ceremonies of the meda and the wabeno. The jossakeed addresses himself exclusively to the Great Spirit. His office, and his mode of address, are regarded with greater solemnity and awe. His choruses are peculiar, and deemed by the people to carry an air of higher reverence and devotion.

The Mental Type of the Indian Race

Archives Of Aboriginal Knowledge - Plate3

1. Do the traits we have been contemplating tend to establish for the Indian mind and character a type of race which may be deemed as peculiar? It may further the end in view, to examine this question by the light of their religious and psychological notions and dogmas; their mythology, and their conceptions of a Deity. They have also, in the Toltecan group, a calendar and system of astronomy, and a style of architecture, which are eminently calculated to arrest attention. More than all, the tribes over the whole continent possess a class of languages, which, by their principles … Read more

The Magic Circle In The Prairie

A young hunter found a circular path one day in a prairie, without any trail leading to, or from it. It was smooth and well-beaten, and looked as if footsteps had trod in it recently. This puzzled and amazed him. He hid himself in the grass near by, to see what this wonder should betoken. After waiting a short time, he thought he heard music in the air. He listened more attentively and could clearly distinguish the sound, but nothing could be seen but a mere speck, like something almost out of sight. In a short time it became plainer … Read more

The Island of the Blessed – or the Hunter’s Dream

There was once a beautiful girl, who died suddenly on the day she was to have been married to a handsome young hunter. He had also proved his bravery in war, so that he enjoyed the praises of his tribe, but his heart was not proof against this loss. From the hour she was buried, there was no more joy or peace for him. He went often to visit the spot where the women had buried her, and sat musing there, when, it was thought by some of his friends, he would have done better to try and amuse himself … Read more

The History of the Little Orphan who Carries the White Feather

A Dacota Legend There was an old man with his grandchild, whom he had taken when quite an infant, who lived in the middle of a forest. The child had no other relative. They had all been destroyed by six large giants, and he was not informed that he ever had any other parent or protector than his grandfather. The nation to whom he belonged had put up their children as a wager against those of the giants, upon a race, which the giants gained, and thus destroyed all the other children. Being the sixth child, he was called Chácopee. … Read more

The Fate Of The Redheaded Magician

Indian life is a life of vicissitudes the year round. As spring returns, the Indians who have been out during the winter, in the hunting grounds, come back to their villages in great numbers, and, in a short time, they have nothing to eat. Among them, however, there are always several who are willing to glean the neighboring woods for game; these remove from the large villages, and usually go off in separate families to support themselves. One of these families was composed of a man, his wife, and one son, who is called Odkshedoaph Waucheentonoah, which signifies The Child … Read more

The Erection of Mounds

It has been perceived by a part of the preceding observations, that the Indian theology recognizes deities of Good and Evil, to one or both of whom they offer sacrifices. These sacrifices, when they are made to propitiate the deity, or avert a calamity, as sickness in the family, which is one of the most common and general modes of affliction in which an Indian s heart is melted into sympathy, these sacrifices, I remark, in such cases often consist of some cherished object in the animate or inanimate creation, hung up at the lodge door, on a high peeled … Read more

The Comanches and other Tribes of Texas

During the years 1818-19, I spent a considerable time with, or in the vicinity of, the Comanche Indians of Texas. My purpose was the renovation of an impaired constitution, seriously threatened with pulmonary consumption, in which I succeeded beyond my utmost expectations. This residence in the Indian country, enabled me to collect some facts in relation to the Comanches, and some minor tribes of Texas, which may possibly be worthy of being communicated to the Department of Indian Affairs, in reply to the very voluminous inquiries concerning the aborigines of the United States

The Antiquity of Pictorial Writing

Antiquity of the Art of Pictorial Writing; Its general use amongst the Oriental Nations; its connection with Idolatry; the multiplicity of its Symbols, and its peculiarities as a System of communicating Ideas. Its advance, in the progress of Nations, into the Hieroglyphic, the Phonetic, and the Alphabetical Mode. Consideration of the Egyptian Systems of Hieroglyphics.

Synopsis of Wabeno Songs

The following synopsis, referring by figures to the hieroglyphic devices, exhibits the words of the chants and incantations in their simplest forms, together with the key-sign or ideographic terms of pictorial notation. Synopsis of Wabeno Songs. Plate 52 (see below) [one_half] Chant, or Incantation 1. My lodge crawls by the Wabeno power. 2. Under the ground I have taken him 3. I too am a Wabeno 4. I make the Wabeno dance 5. The sky the sky I sail upon 6. I am a Wabeno spirit this is my work. 7. I work with two bodies. 8. The owl! the … Read more

Symbols of Hunting in Pictography

Pictorial record of a chiefs success in hunting and war - Plate 54

Keossawin, or Hunting Pictography: A similar virtue is believed to be exerted, if but the figure of the animal sought be drawn on wood or bark, and afterwards submitted to the efficacious influences of the magic medicine, and the incantation. Pictographs of such drawings are frequently carried about by the hunter, to avail himself of their influence, or of the means of becoming more perfect in the mystical art, by intercommunication with other and distant Indians. These figures are often drawn on portable objects of his property, such as implements of hunting, canoes, utensils, or rolls of lodge-barks, or sheathing.

Symbols for Love and War in Pictography

War and Love Songs in Pictography - Plate 56

Symbols of war and love in Native American pictography.

Stone Block Prints

The Islanders of the Pacific Ocean fabricate a species of cloth, or habilimental tapestry, from the fibrous inner bark of certain trees. This bark is macerated, and extended into a comparatively thin surface by mallets of wood or stone. When the required degree of attenuation has been attained, the pieces are dyed, or colored with certain pigments, or vegetable concoctions, known to them. To impart regularity to the patterns, blocks or prints are applied. The coloring is wholly external; in no instance, of many specimens examined, does it extend through, or on both sides of the bark. A proof entirely … Read more

Stone Bill, or Tomahawk

The pointed mace, found in the early North American graves and barrows, is uniformly of a semi-lunar form. It appears to have been the Cassetete or head-breaker, such as we can only ascribe to a very rude state of society. It was employed by warriors prior to the introduction of the agakwut and tomahawk. All the specimens examined have an orifice in the center of the curve for the insertion of a handle. Its object was to penetrate, by its sharp points, the skull of the adversary. This was not done by cutting, as with the agakwut or mace, but by perforating … Read more

Songs of the Wabeno

Pictorial Signs used in the Society of the Wabeno; A Description of the Character and Objects of this Institution; Etymology of the term; The Season favorable for this, and other Ceremonial observances; Vicissitudes of Indian Life; Fallacy of the Indian Theology; Interpretation of the Pictorial Mnemonic Signs of the Wabeno, with the text of the Nuga-moon-un; Synoptical Table, showing the Ideographic value of the Symbols.

Skeleton In Armor

The following description of certain human skeletons, supposed to be in armor, found at Fall River, or Troy, in Massachusetts, is from the pen of George Gibbs, Esq. It is drawn with that writer’s usual caution and archaeological acumen.