FETICHISM.
§ 58. According to Dr. Tylor, “Fetichism is the doctrine of spirits embodied in, or attached to, or conveying influence through, certain material objects.”[68]
Fetiches may be regarded as of two kinds—those pertaining to the tribe or gens, and those belonging to individual members of the social organization. Some fetiches are amulets, others are charms.
FETICHES OF THE TRIBE AND GENS.
§ 59. Omaha tribal fetiches.—The sacred pole and white buffalo hide, in the keeping of the Hañga gens until a few years ago, but now in the Peabody Museum of Archæology and Ethnology at Cambridge, Mass., were regarded by the Omaha as “wakanda egaⁿ,” i.e., “like Wakandas,” or “partaking of the nature of deities.” During the public thanksgiving after the buffalo hunt, prayer was made towards the sacred pole.[69]
The sacred tent in which the sacred pole of the two tribes was kept was never painted. When the people remained in their permanent villages of earth lodges, the entrance of the sacred tent faced the sunrise; but when the tribe migrated, the entrance of the tent faced the direction in which they traveled. The pole was never exposed to dew, rain, or snow, but was kept within the lodge, during any kind of bad weather. It was never laid down, but was tied to a tent pole. In good weather it was exposed to view. Sometimes it was tied to one of the tent poles near the entrance, as shown in Fig. 187. When not tied thus, it rested on a forked post set in the ground, either in the rear of the tent or in front of it. The top of the pole, to which the scalp was fastened, projected beyond the forked post. When this post was in the rear of the tent, the top of the pole pointed towards the tent; but when the post was set up in front, the pole pointed in the direction to be traveled. The place for the pole in good weather was determined by its keeper.
FIG. 187.—Sacred tent in which the pole was kept.
The people feared the pole, and they would not dare to tread on the tent or its tent-poles. Should a horse tread on a tent-pole of this tent, its legs were sure to be broken subsequently. George Miller knew of two horses that did this, and their legs were broken when the people were surrounding a herd of buffalo.