people whose origin is shrouded in mystery. Venus is the planet whose worship was attended by the rite of human sacrifice among our savages. The Indian's belief in the influence of the stars upon human life has already been mentioned. Sabianism-in a primitive, perhaps in its original, form-is found among the red men; but that the worship of, or belief in, a divinity in fire arose from star-worship among the Indians, as is claimed in relation to the Persians, does not seem probable. Belief in, or worship of, the indwelling divinity of fire appears to be the origin of the belief in the stars, and in sidereal metempsychosis; for the savages recognized physical heat to be the embodiment of spiritual life, and believed that this principle, which was described as a fiery substance beyond the sun, was the origin of stars and men. The divinity of this divine fire was believed to overrule the stars in their influence for good or evil

This picture, to which reference is made earlier in this chapter, contains the composite figures, the sacred

vessels, the crown upon priest-robed personages, and the sacred tree, together with the sacred symbol above the tree, which have already been mentioned singly in comparison with other sacred emblems and figures of the Indians. On this seal is a cuneiform inscription. In this picture is seen the composite

figure of man and bird, as made by the Iudian. It represents a priest or Jossakeed, "sustained by birds in prophecy," according to Indian authority.

Prominent among other emblems seen on the heads of the four figures in the picture below, from a Babylo

nian cylinder, are the horns, so common among Indians. There is also seen the closed cross at the base

of a parallelogram, crowned with a star. The division of the parallelogram into six compartments, a duplication of the sacred number three, distinguishes it from the common open cross-figure, adding to the complexity of the combination of sacred emblems. This picture is denominated by Mr. Smith, The Builders, as it suggested to his mind the building of the Tower of Babel. It is especially interesting as containing em

blems used by our savages. The representation of the Babylonian sacred lion has a resemblance to the catamount used in the metai chants, that " elder brother," guardian over its species, invoked in the Indian hunter's sacred feasts. It is noteworthy that there are four figures in the design, the fourth of which is remarkable for the appearance of rays, three upon each side of the arms and shoulders, concerning which farther mention is made in the Miscellaneous Chapter, where will be seen another picture of similar design.

In one of the wigwam tales of the exploits of the Indian god Manabozho, it is stated that when he walked the earth, his footsteps measured eight leagues. The mountains were no impediment to his mighty tread; he passed from vale to peak with one stride. In the representation of this figure, the same tale seems to be illustrated, of a mythic personage in Babylonian tradition.

This figure is accompanied by the following chant:

We-waw-bum o-kah-tawn neen-gah-beah no-kwa-nah.

We-waw-bun o-kah-tawn we-he-ha-ya!

(I make the east wind come and pass over the ground.)

This is sung four times, the north, south, and west wind being successively substituted for the east wind. The sounds in the utterance of the syllables in the words of this chant are illustrations of the Indian's vocal representation of objects by the sound of the name itself, the whirr of the wind rushing unimpeded across an open plain being well expressed in the first

word of the chant. We have here again, in the last word of the chant, the mystic syllable ya, combined with ha and we-he, and used in reference to the unseen air. It has been observed, already, that one or more of these syllables were applied to objects believed to possess beneficent qualities, two of which are seen in the name of the founder of the Iroquois League, Hayenwatha (Hiawatha), and in the name given the league, Kayanerenhkova, the Great Peace. Glancing at the names of the Iroquois chiefs, given in their Book of Rites, these syllables are discovered, coupled with others, that together form titles of encomium. Skanyadriyo, "beautiful lake; "shadekaronyes, "skies of equal length," or "the equal skies; "1 shakenjowane, "large forehead." According to Mr. Hale, akwah is a form of assent, truly, very. It is the Iroquois yea, in itself a bond, in the stern uprightness of unbroken faith. One of the syllables appears in the Mohawk (Canienga) konoronkwa, "I esteem him." Yo, seen in the wiyo of the Seneca dialect, signifies good. Lastly, the verb I love is kenonwes, the last syllable being but a softer utterance of the wa or wah, the appearance of which, in the mystic yo-he, yo-he-wah, is explained by these examples. It is noteworthy that the Tuscarora Indian, David Cusick, gives as the meaning of Ouau-we-yo-ka (Mississippi)," the principal stream;" and it is a fact

1 It would almost seem as if the poet Pope had in mind the Indian's metaphoric name when he wrote his oft-quoted couplets concerning our primitive savage :—

Lo, the poor Indian whose untutored mind
Sees God in clouds, or hears him in the wind.

that in Iroquois hydrography this river was the central stream," the great river of the ancient Alligewi domain," to which all the rivers of the West are tributary; for in seeking the meaning of the mystic name of Indian invocation, we have this to add to the examples, which is of importance. It is by this, and other examples, that some approach is made to an understanding of the Indian's conception of deity. Was their invocation that of fetich-worshippers, when they called on Yo-he-wah ? Let their language itself reply; for in this manner prejudice, preconception, or sentiment ceases to have part in the argument. Their myths disclose a belief in a supreme God, governor of other and lesser gods, who was chief, like the principal stream of the Mound-builders' country, to which there were many tributaries.

The character of this God was Love, kenonwes, and Goodness, iyo, synonymous with Beauty. It was the ak-wah, the yea, of the universe, answering blind appeal, -the power which all good things resembled. The brotherly league of the children of men; the overbending blue of the skies; the beautiful lake - these all, and many other things, were an image of Him. Hence their metaphoric names.2

1 Book of Rites, p. 14; also chapter x. p. 99–113, on the Iroquois Language.

2 Other examples might be given, illustrative of the meaning of the name Yo-he-wah. Royaner was the name of a member of the Iroquois League; oyander — old form was the title of the oldest matron of a noble family, whose privilege it was to select the successor of a deceased chief of that family. The Iroquois Raweniio, Great Master, was substituted for our word God, in the Indian translation of the Bible, and Royaner, for Lord. Vide M. Cuoq, "Lexique de la Langue Iroquoise," and others.

See final Chapter.