46 SIOUAN TRIBES OF THE EAST

moon1:y]

SAPONI AND TUTELO ^CUSTOMS. 47

evidentlyalso oftheSaponilanguage, are maosti, "turkey-cock beard,"

and cohanl-.s, "wild goose,"the latter being

an

ononiatope (Byrd, 10).

In the journal of the

same

expedition,as printed inthe NorthCarolina Colonial Records, the

names

sometimes appearin slightlydift'erentform through misprintsorcarelessness in the original writing(N. C. 11.,5).

From Byrd and

his Saponi informant ^{several littlepoints in regard} to Indian habit

and

belief are obtained.

Although

not alwaysdefi- nitely so stated,the references are usuallyintended to apply to the Saponi

and

their associated tribes, theTutelo, Occaneechi,

and

others atFortChristanna.

Fire

was made by

rubbing together

two

dry sticks of

papaw

wood, the process requiring about ten minutes.

On

the occasion of

any

religiousceremony

new

fire

was

always

made

forthe purpose from

two

stickswhich

had

never beforebeen used, as it

was deemed

a sacrilege touse thefirealreadykindled.

From

thefiberofakindof "^silkgrass"

the

women made

a strong thread from which they

wove

baskets

and

theaprons Avhichformed the chief part of the

woman's

dress. These apronsor skirts were

wrapped

roundthe

body and hung

from thewaist tothe knee, borderedwith a^{fringe at} thebottom. Spoons were

made

of buffalo horn,

and

the Indians believed that thes3 spoons

would

split

and

fallto piecesifpoisonwere putintothem. Skinsweredressedwith deer's brains, a

method

which theEnglishlearned topattern,

and

the skin

was

sometimes stretched over a

smoke

to dry^it

more

speedily.

They

annointed^their bodies withbear's grease as a protection against mosquitos

and

allotherinsects.

A

^dietofbear's

meat was

supposedto increase the generative power.

Ifwas

believed that venison

and

turkey

(i. 6., the flesh of birds

and

of quadrupeds)

must

never be cooked together, onpenalty of provoking the angerof the hunting gods,

who would

drive the

game away

so that the olTending hunter

would

never be abletokill anything afterward.

When

the party laughed at Bearskin's fears on this score

and

deliberately violated the tabu to convince

him

that he

was

in error, he took the precaution afterward

when

he

had

shot a

buck

and a wild turkey together, of leaving the turkey behind

and

bringing only the deer into camp, in orderto put such asacrilegeout of theirpower.

They

justified theirlaying of the heavierburdens on theweaker sex

by

a tradition that

work had

orig- inally

come upon

the

human

race through

some

faultof the

woman

(Byrd, 9).

The

general statement of the Saponi ^{belief in regard} tothe spirit world, as obtainedfrom Bearskin in a

Sunday

night talkaround the

fire, is best told inthe languageof

Byrd

himself, always

making

lib- eralallowanceforthepreconceived notions of awhite

mau who

^{did not}

claim to be an ethnologist.

The

transmigration idea here set forth agrees with

what

Lederer says ofthe

same

people:

In the evening wo examiu'd our

Mend

Bearskin, concernin<; thereligionofhis country,andhecxplaiu'dittous. withoutanyof that reserve towhich his nation }Bsubject, Hetoldusheboliev'd therewasone supreme Ood,whohad^severalsub-

48

SIOITAN

TRIBES OF THE

EAST. _[ethnology

alterii deities uuiler biiii. And that this iiiiister-God madethe worhlalongtime ago. That he tohl the sun, the moon,and stars,theirbusiuessinthe beginning, wliichthey,withgoodh)okingafter,liavefaithfullyperform'd eversince. Thatthe same power that made all things at lirsthastakencareto keeji theminthesame methodand motioneversince. Hebeliev'dGod hadforni'dmanyworldsbeforehe form'd tills,but that those worlds cither grewold andruinous,orweredestroyed forthe dishonesty ofthe inhabitants.

ThatGodisveryjustandA'^ery good

—

over wellpleas'dwith those menwho pos- sess those God-likequalities. That he takesgood people into his safeprotection, makes them veryrich, fills theirbelMesplentifully, jtreservesthem fi'omsickness,

and from being surpriz'd or overcome bytheir enemies. Butallsuchastell lies,

and cheat those they have dealings with, he never failsto punish withsickness, poverty andhunger, and, afterallthat, suffers themtobe knockt ontheheadand scalptbythose thatfightagainstthem.

He believ'd that afterdeathbothgoodand badpeoi)leareconducted byastrong guard into agreat road, inwhichdepartedsoulstraNeltogetherforsometime,till ata certain distancethisroadforksintotwopaths,theone extremelylevil,andthe other stonyand mountainous. Herethegoodarepartedfromthebadbyaflashof lightening,theiirstbeinghurry'dawaytotheright,the othertotheleft. Theright handroad leadstoacharmingwarmconntry,where the springiseverlasting, and everyniontli is May; and asthe yearisalwaysinitsyouth,soaretlicpeople, and particularly thewomenare brightas stars,and neverscold. Thatinthishappycli-

matethere aredeer,turkeys, elks,andbuffaloes innumerable, ]>erpetna]ly fat and

gentle, Avhilc the trees are loaded with delicious fruit quite throughoutthe four seasons. Thatthesoilbrings forth corn spontaueouslj-,withoutthecurse of labour, andsovery wholesome,thatnonewhohavethehappinesstoeatofitare eversick,

growold, ordy. Nearthe entrance into this blesse<llandsitsavenerable oldman ona mat richlywoven, who examinesstrictlyallthatarebroughtbeforehim,and

ifthey have behav'dwell, the guards areorder'dto openthecrystal gate, andlet

themcuterintotheland ofdelights.

Thelefthandpath^isveryruggedanduneaven,leadingtoadarkandliarrencoun- try,where^it isalwayswinter. The ground is tlie wholeyearroundcover'dwith snow,and nothingistobeseenuponthetreesbuticicles. Allthei)eople are hun- gry,yethave not a morselof anythingto eat,excepta bitterkindof potato, that gives them the dry-gripes, and fills their wholebodywith loathsomeulcers,that stink, andareinsupportablypainfull. Here allthewomenare oldandugly,having claws like apanther, with which theyflyupon thementhatslight theirpassion.

Foritseemsthesehaggardoldfuriesare intolerablyfond,andexpect a vast deal of cherishing. They talk much,andexceedingly shrill,giving exquisite paintothe drumoftheear,whichinthat place of thetormentissotender,that everysharp note wounds it to the quick. At the end ofthis pathsitsa dreadful oldwomanona monstroustoad-stool, whose head is cover'd withrattle-snakes instead oftresses, with glaringwhite eyes, that strike aterrorunspeakableintoallthatbeholdher.

This hag pronounces sentence of woe upon all the miserable wretches that hold uptheir hands at hertribunal. Afterthisthey are deliver'dover tohugeturkey- buzzards, likeharpys, thatflyawaywiththemtotheplaceabove mentioned. Here, afterthey have been tormented^:xcertainnumberofyears,accordingto theirseveral degrees ofguilt, they arc again driven back into this world,to tryiftheywill

mend^theirmanners, andmerit ai)lacethenext timeinthe regions ofbliss.

Thiswasthesubstance of Bearskin'sreligion,and wasasmuch totheiiurjioseas cou'dbeexpected fromameerstateof nature, without one glimps of revelation or philosophy (Byrd12).

On

their return fioni the mountains their guide loft tliem asthey approached the settlements

and

hurried on ahead.

As

the commis- sioners

drew

near Meherriuriver allthechiefs of theSaponi

came

out

muunTy] SAPONI

early

HISTORY.

49

to meetthem,

and amoug them was

their old friendBearskin, dressed in allhisceremonial liuery.

The

whole party

Mas

on horseback,whit^h

was

evidentlyin greater honor of the occasion, as the distance from the village

was

only 3 miles, and, as Batts says, they

had

probably walked as faron foottocatch their horses.

Bnt

these timber Indians were verydifierentfromthefreerangersof theplains, for the traveler declares that they rode

more awkwardly

than a

Dutch

sailor.

With them came

several

women, who

lode man-fashion, asdo the

women

of

all the tribes.

The men

aredescribed as having somethinggreat

and

venerablein theircountenances,

beyond

the

common

mien of savages, which agreed with theirreputation asthe most honest and braveIndi- ans the Virginians

had

ever known.

Anyone

familiar with thefacial

type

and

bearingof the Siouxor

Osage

will understand

what

^it

was

that struck the observer so forcibly inthe appearanceof these Saponi,

Continuing, thetraveler says

:

This peopleisnowmade upof theI'einnautof severalother nations,of Avhich the most considerable are the .Sai)ponys, the Occaneches, and Steukenhocks,who not tindiiig themselves separatelynumerous enough for their defence,have agreedto uniteintoouebody,andallofthemnowgo underthenameof theSapponys. Each of thesewas formerlya distinct nation, or rather a several clan or canton of the samenation, sjieaking the samelanguage, anil using the samecustoms. Buttheir Iterpetualwarsagainstall other Indians, intime,reduc'dthemsolowas tomakeit necesssarytojointheirforcestogether(IJyrd,8).

He

goes on to tell how, about twenty-five years ago, they

had

fled

from the

Yadkin and

taken refugein Virginia,

where

Governor Spots- wood, havinga goodopinion of their courage

and

fidelity,

had

settled

them

at Fort Christanna as a barrier against the attacks of other foreign Indiansupon the settlements. His purpose

was

defeated,how- ever,

by

(hedebauchery

wrought among them by

theAvhites,resulting

ill

many

disorders

and

culminating at last in a

murder

committed by one oftheir chiefs while drunk,

and

for

which

he

was hanged

afterhe

had become

sober.

The

ignominious

manner

of his death angered his people exceedingly, largelyfrom an idea,

common

to othertribes, that thesoulof thedead person, being preventedbythis

mode

ofexecution from leaving the

body by

the mouth,

must

necessarily be defiled.

Some

of the Indians took the matter so

much

to heart that theysoon after left their settlement

and moved

in a

body

to the

Catawba

ti'ibe.

Byrd

says that those

who

thus

removed

tothe south were the Sapoui proper,butthisis certainly a mistakeifintendedto applyto thewhole

tribe. Itis

more

probable that theywerethe

Eno

orthe

Keyauwee,

or perhapsthe Sara, the

two

former of

whom had

joined the Saponi

and

Tutelo about 1701, but were afterwards found incorporated with the Catawba, with

whom

also the Sara

had

confederated.

He

states also thatthe daughterof theTutelochief went

away

withthem, but being thelastofhernation,

and

fearing thatshe would notreceive the treat-

ment

due her rank, shei)oisoiied herself with the rootof thetrumpet BULL.

V=22

⁴