Among the gods or demigods of the Abnaki are those who particularly preside over the making of petroglyphs. Their name in the plural, for there are several personages, is Oonagamessok. They lived in caves by the shore and were never seen, but manifested their existence by inscriptions on the rocks. The fact that these inscribed rocks are now very seldom found is accounted for by the statement that the Oonagamessok have become angry at the want of attention paid to them since the arrival of the white people and have caused the pictures to disappear. There is no evidence to determine whether this tradition should be explained by the fact that the ingenious shamans of the last century would sometimes produce a miracle, carving the rocks themselves and interpreting the marks in their own way, or by the fact that the rock inscriptions were so old that their origin was not remembered and an explanation was, as usual, made by ascription to a special divinity, perhaps a chieftain famous in the old stage of mythology, or perhaps one invented for the occasion by the class of priests who from immemorial antiquity have explained whatever was inexplicable.
At a rock near the mouth of the Magiguadavic river, at the time immediately before the Passamaquoddy Indians chose their first governor after the manner of the whites, the old Indians say there suddenly appeared a white man’s flag carved on the rocks. The old Indians interpreted this as a prophecy that the people would soon be abandoned to the white man’s methods, and this came to pass shortly after. Formerly they had a “Mayouett” or chief. Many other rock carvings are said to have foretold what has since come to pass. Strange noises have also been heard near them.
The Omaha superstition is mentioned on pages [91]-[92] infra.
The Mandans had an oracle stone on which figures appeared on the morning after a night of public fasting. They were deciphered by the shaman, who doubtless had made them.
Mr. T. H. Lewis (a) gives the following tradition relating to the incised bowlders in the upper Minnesota valley:
In olden times there used to be an object that marked the bowlders at night. It could be seen, but its exact shape was indistinct. It would work making sounds like hammering, and occasionally emit a light similar to that of a firefly. After finishing its work it would give one hearty laugh like a woman laughing and then disappear. The next morning the Indians would find another pictured bowlder in the vicinity where the object had been seen the night previous.
Mr. J. W. Lynd (a) says of the Dakotas:
The deities upon which the most worship is bestowed, if, indeed, any particular one is nameable, are Tunkan (Inyan) the Stone God and Wakinyan, the Thunder Bird. The latter, as being the main god of war, receives constant worship and sacrifices; whilst the adoration of the former is an every-day affair. The Tunkan, the Dakotas say, is the god that dwells in stones or rocks, and is the oldest god. If asked why it is considered the oldest, they will tell you because it is the hardest.
Mr. Charles Hallock, on the authority of Capt. Ed. Hunter, First Cavalry, U. S. A., furnishes the following information respecting the Assiniboin, Montana, rock pictures, which shows the reverence of these Indians for the petroglyphs even when in ruins:
Some of the rocks of the sculptured cliff cleaved off and tumbled to the ground, whereupon the Indians assembled in force, stuck up a pole, hung up some buffalo heads and dried meat, had a song and dance, and carefully covered the detached fragments (which were sculptured or painted) with cotton cloth and blankets. Jim Brown, a scout, told Capt. Hunter that the Indians assembled at this station at stated times to hold religious ceremonies. The pictures are drawn on the smooth face of an outcrop or rocky projection.