Sye-elth, this old woman, is the satan of my people, Chish-yah, the dog, is our Guardian Angel. This old woman is our evil doer who is always trying to influence the Indians away from the path of rectitude. She hovers about them in life unseen, seeking out their weak points, that she may lead them evil ways and vindicate her cruel wants upon their death by taking their souls down the broad path to the wilderness of anguish. Fearing her powers, fearing the Unhappy Land, the Indians struggle to live simple and peaceful lives and never quarrel over their religion.
The wretched souls banished into the wilderness of anguish do not quarrel with one another, as they are too wretched in their own agony to concern themselves about others.
The Indian seeing a vision of the unhappy land tries to live the simple and honest life, near to nature, and their nature’s God. However, there is not a tribe however well guarded but some and sometimes many stray afar from the path of rectitude and are lead into the wilderness of anguish by their cruel Satan, Sye-elth.
My people believe that there will sometime come a chance for them to become regenerated, or reborn, so that many of them will be given the opportunity to recompensate for the wickedness of their former lives and given a chance to live good clean lives in their second birth. Thus given the opportunity by God when they die again, they will be rewarded in going to Heaven, Werse-on-now. However, if the ones given the opportunity of being saved, do not live lives of integrity after their second birth, they are cast off and destroyed forever.
The Indians who had always lived the life of integrity on earth when they die their soul or spirit travels a narrow and winding trail which takes the soul to north, to a land far away from their native haunts. This far northern clime is said to be the old land of Cheek-cheek-alth, where the spirit finds a ladder that reaches from earth into Heaven. As the spirit climbs the ladder to Heaven it reaches God on that infinite shore where it dwells forever in flowery fields of light, straying together with the Master in peace and love, and joining the spirits of those that have gone before them.
Can you of the Christian faith comprehend why we take so kindly to your own belief? Yet we think that ours is the most perfect and yet you call us savage. We love our God almost akin to sadness and are always ready with a prayer-offering, be it midday hour or in the hours of the silent night. The Indian in all his savagery, could never blaspheme the sacred name of his Creator in man’s builded houses, or in his daily life as he is a child of nature, akin to nature’s God, that the Divine Being is the beacon light of his soul, showing him life beyond the grave and into the flowery fields of light and love, on that infinite shore, into the glories of Heaven.
The Indian through his long centuries of barbarism battled with the environments of barbaric man. In his child-like nature he taught his sons and daughters to be kind, courageous, self-denying, industrious and above all have integrity that could not be questioned. Fathers, brothers and cousins guarded the mothers, daughters and sisters, that not one of them may stray into a life of shame by the passions of designing men. Woman was manifestly the upholder of her race, loved as the unassuming creature, who gave to the race clean limbed and vigorous men. But ah, the sad knell, the approach of civilized man, and his crushing hand of debauchery to the sorrow of our race, and our laws have long since been demolished, and with it our true religion, our life blood, our all. Out of the gloom of saddened years, rising in scattered remnants, who like the children of Israel that have lived without a country for many weary centuries, we are struggling to gain our own once more. Freedom to worship God in our own way and to be allowed to become citizens of this our own glorious country.
When a illegitimate child was born, mother and child lived in disgrace and after death could never reach the kingdom of Heaven, but traveled that broad road which leads to the wilderness, being forever lost. During their life the mother is always addressed as Caw-haw, a name that reminds her always of her disgrace every time she is spoken to, and the child is always reminded of its unwedded mother. Sometimes the unfortunate mother may marry, but she is always known as Caw-haw as long as she lives and can not take the name of the man she marries.
Those who sought unscrupulous brawls were low and disgraced, all traveled after death the broad road to Satan and are never given an opportunity to go to Werse-on-now. There are many of the miserable souls who lived a wasted life on earth, only to enter in the Spirit Land, the wilderness of anguish.
In marriage the wife takes the husband’s name and the husband takes the wife’s name, just as an exchange of names and the family names are handed down from one generation to another. This is done by giving the name to a daughter, son, cousin, etc., either the mother or father’s name on both sides of the family. Sometimes the generation dies out and there are none left of a near kindred, in this case they sometimes give the name to a close friend and this custom is followed more by the high families. As an example, some years ago an old man lived in the Pec-wan village, his name was Ta-poo-sen. He died some thirty years ago, and at this writing a middle aged man is living in the Cor-tep village who adopted his name after his death, and he is known to every one as Ta-poo-sen. There are quite a number of Indians living at the present time who have taken the names of deceased relatives or friends. The deceased has been laid at rest for at least one year before any one takes his or her name.