The Professor was not yet satisfied with the information as to his beliefs.
“Do not some of the tribes offer up sacrifices to the captives?”
“Yes; some do. But we do not believe in it.”
“Do the other tribes here believe about the great spirit the same as you do?”
“Yes; about the same.”
“Well, when they offer up sacrifices, what is that done for, or to whom are the sacrifices made?”
“Ah! there; you do not understand why, nor do we know. In each tribe are wise men, and they tell us that sometimes the Great Spirit asks for some sacrifice, and that when we have sickness it will make us well, and that we will be successful in battle, and we carry out the sayings of the wise men.”
“Isn’t that a kind of prayer to the Great Spirit?”
“Oh, no! In a prayer you only ask. In a sacrifice, you give. When you give something to a man it is different from asking him for something.”
The above conversation is given, not in the exact language of the chief, because that would have been impossible, and it is therefore translated and arranged so as to make it more readable.