Take pity on me and preserve my life.
And I will make to thee a sacrifice.
“Accordingly, ‘after a successful war,’ says Heckewelder, ‘they never fail to offer up a sacrifice to the great Being, to return him thanks for having given them courage and strength to destroy or conquer their enemies.’”[54]
“Loskiel, who has given a minute account of the sacrifices offered by the Lenapés or Delawares and who is said by Heckewelder to have almost exhausted the subject, affirms that they are offered on all occasions, the most trivial as well as the most important. ‘They sacrifice to a hare,’ says he, ‘because according to report, the first ancestors of the Indian tribe had that name.’ To Indian corn they sacrifice bear’s flesh, but to deer and bears Indian corn; to the fishes, small pieces of bread in the shape of fishes; but they positively deny that they pay any adoration to these subordinate good spirits, and affirm that they only worship the true God through them: ‘for God,’ say they, ‘does not require men to pay offerings or adoration immediately to him.’ He has, therefore, made known his will in dreams, notifying to them what beings they have to consider as manittoes, and what offerings to make to them.”[55]
When a boy dreams that he sees a large bird of prey, of the size of a man, flying towards him from the North, and saying to him ‘roast some meat for me,’ the boy is then bound to sacrifice the first deer or bear he shoots to this bird. This sacrifice is appointed by an old man, who fixes on the day and place in which it is to be performed. Three days previous to it, messengers are sent to invite the guests. These assemble in some lonely place, in a house large enough to contain three fires. At the middle fire, the old man performs the sacrifice. Having sent for twelve straight and supple sticks, he fastens then into the ground, so as to enclose a circular spot, covering them with blankets. He then rolls twelve red-hot stones in the enclosure, each of which is dedicated to one god in particular. The largest belongs, as they say, to the great god in heaven; the second to the sun, or the god of the day; the third, to the sun or the moon; the fourth, to the earth; the fifth, to the fire; the sixth, to the water; the seventh, to the dwelling or house of God; the eighth, to Indian corn; the ninth, to the West; the tenth, to the South; the eleventh, to the East; the twelfth to the North. The old man then takes a rattle, containing some grains of Indian corn, and leading the boy, for whom the sacrifice is made, into the enclosure, throws a handful of tobacco upon the red-hot stones, and as the smoke ascends, rattles his calabash, calling each god by name, and saying:—‘This boy (naming him) offers unto thee a fine fat deer, and a delicious dish of sapan! Have mercy on him, and grant good luck to him and his family.’[56]
“All the inhabitants of the West Indies offered sacrifices; and of these the Charaibes were accustomed, at the funerals of their friends, to offer some of the captives who had been taken in battle.[57] I scarcely need advert to the well-known fact, that human sacrifices were offered by the Mexicans. Of these, all the Spanish historians have given the most horrible and disgusting account, and they are described more especially by Bernal Diaz, who was an eye-witness, with the most artless and affecting simplicity. Of this practice, however, there are no traces among the present Indian tribes, unless the tormenting of their captives, as Charlevoix seems to intimate, be considered as a sacrifice to the god of war.
“Having seen that Sacrifice is practised among the Indians, we are naturally led to consider the question, whether they have among them a priesthood: and on this point, the testimony of travellers is somewhat discordant. Mackenzie mentions that the Chipewyans have high-priests;[58] yet he describes the public sacrifices of the Knisteneaux, as offered by their chiefs, and the private, by every man in his own cabin, assisted by his most intimate friend.[59] Charlevoix says, that among the Indians of whom he writes, ‘in public ceremonies, the chiefs are the priests; in private, the father of each family; or where there is none, the most considerable person in the cabin. An aged missionary,’ he says, ‘who lived among the Ottàwas, stated that with them an old man performed the office of priest.’ Loskiel says of the Lenapé, or Delaware Indians, that ‘they have neither priests regularly appointed, nor temples. At general and solemn sacrifices the oldest men perform the offices of priests; but in private parties, each man bringing a sacrifice is priest himself. Instead of a temple, a large dwelling-house is fitted up for the purpose.’ He afterwards speaks of the place of offering under the name of ‘the house of sacrifice,’ and mentions it as being ‘in a lonely place.’[60]
“On the other hand, Bartram, in his account of the Southern tribes, says, ‘there is in every town, or tribe, a high-priest, with several inferior or junior priests, called by the white people jugglers, or conjurers.’[61] To the same purpose, Adair asserts, that they ‘have their high priests, and others of a religious order.’ ‘Ishtahoollo,’ he observes, ‘is the name of all their priestly order, and their pontifical office descends by inheritance to the eldest.’[62]
“Notwithstanding this diversity, however, the difference is more in appearance than in reality. Various meanings attached to the same words, in consequence of arbitrary associations, may produce a diversity of description. If a priest be one whose exclusive duty it is to celebrate the rites of religion, then it must be admitted that a priesthood exists among the Indians; for those who deny that they have priests, allow that in their public sacrifices the chiefs are the only persons authorized to officiate. The only difference, then, lies in this, whether the priesthood be, or be not, connected with the office of the magistrate.
“Among Christians, as among the Jews, the priesthood is distinct from the civil authority; but previous to the separation of the family of Aaron, these two offices were generally united. Melchizedeck was both king of Salem and priest of the most High God. Jethro was, at the same time, priest and prince of Midian; and Abraham himself, who is called a prince, performed the sacerdotal functions. We find this union of the regal and sacerdotal characters existing among heathen nations. Homer described the aged Pylian king as performing religious rites;[63] and Virgil tells of the monarch of Delos, who was both priest and king:—