Maximilian, Prince of Wied, saw some of the Piegans of northwestern Montana "hang round their necks a green stone, often of various shapes." He describes it as "a compact talc or steatite which is found in the Rocky Mountains."[744]
PHYLACTERIES.
The term phylactery, as herein employed, means any piece of buckskin or other material upon which are inscribed certain characters or symbols of a religious or "medicine" nature, which slip or phylactery is to be worn attached to the person seeking to be benefited by it, and this phylactery differs from the amulet or talisman in being concealed from the scrutiny of the profane and kept as secret as possible. This phylactery, itself "medicine," may be employed to enwrap other "medicine" and thus augment its own potentiality. Indians in general object to having their "medicine" scrutinized and touched; in this there is a wide margin of individual opinion; but in regard to phylacteries there is none that I have been able to discover, and the rule may be given as antagonistic to the display of these sacred "relics," as my Mexican captive interpreter persisted in calling them.
The first phylactery which it was my good fortune to be allowed to examine was one worn by Ta-ul-tzu-je, of the Kaytzentin gens. It was tightly rolled in at least half a mile of orange-colored saddlers' silk, obtained from some of the cavalry posts. After being duly uncovered, it was found to be a small piece of buckskin two inches square, upon which were drawn red and yellow crooked lines which the Apache said represented the red and yellow snake. Inside were a piece of green chalchihuitl and a small cross of lightning-riven twig (pine) and two very small perforated shells. The cross was called "intchi-dijin," the black wind.
A second phylactery which I was also allowed to untie and examine belonged to Na-a-cha and consisted of a piece of buckskin of the same size as the other, but either on account of age or for some other reason no characters could be discerned upon it. It, however, enwrapped a tiny bag of hoddentin, which, in its turn, held a small but very clear crystal of quartz and four feathers of eagle down. Na-a-cha took care to explain very earnestly that this phylactery contained not merely the "medicine" or power of the crystal, the hoddentin, and the itza-chu, or eagle, but also of the shoz-dijiji, or black bear, the shoz-lekay, or white bear, the shoz-litzogue, or yellow bear, and the klij-litzogue or yellow snake, though just in what manner he could not explain.
Fig. 447.—Phylacteries.
It would take up too much time and space to describe the manner in which it was necessary for me to proceed in order to obtain merely a glimpse of these and other phylacteries, all of the same general type; how I had to make it evident that I was myself possessed of great "medicine" power and able to give presents of great "medicine" value, as was the case. I had obtained from cliff dwellings, sacred caves, and other places beads of talc, of chalchihuitl, and of shell, pieces of crystal and other things, sacred in the eyes of the Apache, and these I was compelled to barter for the information here given.
