Because the rattlesnake, the lightning serpent, is thus connected with the food of man, and itself seems never to die but annually to renew its youth, the Algonkins called it “grandfather” and “king of snakes;” they feared to injure it; they believed it could grant prosperous breezes, or raise disastrous tempests; crowned with the lunar crescent it was the constant symbol of life in their picture writing; and in the meda signs the mythical grandmother of mankind me suk kum me go kwa was indifferently represented by an old woman or a serpent.[120-1] For like reasons Cihuacoatl, the Serpent Woman, in the myths of the Nahuas was also called Tonantzin, our mother.[120-2]
The serpent symbol in America has, however, been brought into undue prominence. It had such an ominous significance in Christian art, and one which chimed so well with the favorite proverb of the early missionaries—“the gods of the heathens are devils”—that wherever they saw a carving or picture of a serpent they at once recognized the sign manual of the Prince of Darkness, and inscribed the fact in their note-books as proof positive of their cherished theory. After going over the whole ground, I am convinced that none of the tribes of the red race attached to this symbol any ethical significance whatever, and that as employed to express atmospheric phenomena, and the recognition of divinity in natural occurrences, it far more frequently typified what was favorable and agreeable than the reverse.
[101-1] That these were the real views entertained by the Indians in regard to the brute creation, see Heckewelder, Acc. of the Ind. Nations, p. 247; Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, iii. p. 520.
[101-2] Egede, Nachrichten von Grönland, p. 156.
[102-1] Voiages aux Indes Occidentales, pt. ii. p. 203: Amst. 1722.
[102-2] Beverly, Hist. de la Virginie, liv. iii. chap. viii.
[103-1] Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, v. p. 420.
[103-2] Mrs. Eastman, Legends of the Sioux, p. 191: New York, 1849. This is a trustworthy and meritorious book, which can be said of very few collections of Indian traditions. They were collected during a residence of seven years in our northwestern territories, and are usually verbally faithful to the native narrations.
[104-1] Müller, Amer. Urreligionen, p. 222, after De la Borde.
[105-1] Acc. of the Inds. of California, ch. ix. Eng. trans. by Robinson: New York, 1847. The Acagchemem were a branch of the Netela tribe, who dwelt near the mission San Juan Capistrano (see Buschmann, Spuren der Aztek. Sprache, etc., p. 548).