Rare Indian Curios

RARE INDIAN CURIOS Belonged to the Shaman Paraphernalia Centuries Ago Important Find Links Ute {Ceremonial Observance with the Greatf Uto-Aztecan Group of Indians of the Distant Past. By Frank Beckwith William Heise recently discovered near Delta a rare and highly valued Indian curio, which was often used in an ancient interpretive dance of highest religious import, practiced by the former inhabitants of Utah centuries before Columbus trod our soil. The object he found is what is technically termed "a ceremonial blade." It bore an important part in that mystical dance of all dances*, when the primitive red-man thanked the spirits of air and earth for the blessings bestowed upon this child of nature during the year. Photo by Frank Beckwith THE CEREMONIAL BLADE Discovered by Wm. A. Heise, in Millard County. Length 1 1 inches; width 2% inches; weight 5%. ounces. Made of a light and dark banded,- vari-colored variety of flint-like stone, resembling Obsidian in a dull polish. Of chocolate color toned with reddish brown. This ceremonial blade is fashioned in the hard, glass-like stone of volcanic origin called obsidian; it is beautifully chipped in wondrous handiwork, now a lost art, in form a double-pointed blade, with the edges of the entire contour so keen as to present almost cutting sharpness. , The color of the stone is chocolate red, with a creamy lighter color banded or splotched irregularly over it. A ceremonial blade is sometimes called a double-pointed spear point, or a skinning knife, from lack of knowing its proper applica- tion; but the correct use of this rare curiosity, and an idea of its archaeological and intrinsic value may be obtained by quoting from a Smithsonian Institution report, as will be done later. There are no thong notches, nor are there any grooves in the blade, to show that it was intended to be mounted on a shaft as is a spear head; nor has it a shaft to be inserted into a handle like a knife; nor even is it to be bound to a club for use as a battle axe, adze for tilling the soil, or axe for felling trees. Bulletin 78, of the Smithsonian Institute of Ethnology, en-

414 IMPROVEMENT ERA titled, Handbook of the Indians of California, on page 26, plate II, gives an illustration of two of these objects, which it saysi are "Treas- ures of the Yurok Indians, exhibited in Dances. Obsidian ceremonial blades." "A 20-inch piece of black obsidian, would be worth about $50," says that volume; "and the renowned giants, that reach 30 and even 33 inches, from the native point of view, are inestimable. "The red, which is the rarer, and does not come in as large pieces, is worth considerably more." Hence Mr. Heise has found, therefore, one of the rarer kind, and consequently all the more highly valued. For the color of the article discovered by him is chocolate red, in the beautiful, glass-like luster of obsidian. It is 11 inches long, iy2 inches wide, and weighs 5% ounces. THE CEREMONIAL USE The Indian of California used the ceremonial blade in conjunc- tion with a sacred display of an "albino," or white, deer hide. If the albino deer hide accompanied with transparent hoofs, that rarity was then valued at as much as $500. And it is needless to say that every art,, every guile, every bit of skill (even to deception) were used to whiten such a skin in the tanning, and to render the hoofs as highly transparent as that material could be brought. In the Fall of the year, the primitive red-man, who, because of living so closely to nature, ever fed from the bounty of the gods, gave thanks to the beneficent powers of earth and air and sky for the blessings showered upon him from the largest of powers who held those blessings in their laps. The whole tribe, with neighbor tribes assembled, formed a huge hollow ring; on the outer circumference was the throng of women and children; close to the center came the rows of bearers of the albino skins, weaving in and out with the ever-increasing intricacy of the dance movement; in the innermost circle danced the two chief shamans or priests in an interpretive dance of the greatest symbolical significance. The host of the people on the outside beat torn toms or clapped hands in solemn measure; the bearers of the albino hides .performed their evolutions in rhythmic movement, timed to the beats, while the two nearly naked dancers, presented their blades in mimic salute, one to the other, in high sweeping gestures. The dance thus well begun, followed in a maze incomprehensible to the white man. The deep import of the God-touched deer, to be so signally marked in spotless white, and the obsidian ceremonial blade, dug from the bowels of the earth, signified the animal manifestation of nature on the one hand, on whom man's substenance so largely de- pended, and the treasures owned by mother earth, on the other' hand, a use of which, loaned to man, lengthened his arm, and gave him \ tooth which bit from afar, for without his obsidian-tipped arrow

RARE INDIAN CURIOS 415 heads, man alone would be ineffectual to secure his food. For that bountiful supply of animal food, and for the loan of that stone which helped him in the quest of his daily sustenance, primitive man gave thanks. No doubt the full symbolic meaning was known to the ritual- istically initiated only; but the tenor of the thought, the beautiful simplicity of it, is so like the primitive Indian, who saw God and heard him in every wind, that it fires the poetic sentiment. THE GODS LEND THIS WEALTH The two participants are highly ornamented with decorations dear to the Indian heart — necklaces fringed with bear's claws, to prove the valor of the brave who worsted Bruin; dance head-dresses of eagle feathers; waist coverings of dyed rabbitskin cloth, woven in strips of that animal's fur, painsakingly done, as benefitting so ostentatious an occasion, that each wearer might reflect the pride of the tribe in its inestimably prized possessions. This dance interpreted that all blessings, all possessions, these rare and valued articles of material wealth, all were loans from powers above — to whom solemn thanks were then and there being returned. What a contrast between this attitude of mind and the thought of possession as gained from a stock market manipulation! "For knives and arrowheads," says the volume already quoted from, "the Maidu Indian used obsidian obtained in trade, apparently from the north; also local flint, and basalt-like stones. The latter material answered for a tolerable knife; but a good arrowhead was pos- sible only in obsidian or flint. "A flint mine existed in a cave at Table Mountain, near Oro- ville. This mine was considered sacred. Offerings of beads or dried meats were thrown into it, and then the Indian went within, and de- tached only so much material as could be obtained from one blow! Then the operator crawled out backward." Think of that! — so precious was this useful material to their life that its source was held sacred! No commercializing of that font of supply; no greedy grabbing. Propitiatory offerings instead. Gifts for the privilege of a loan — and gratitude when given. Ulysses poured a libation to Pluto before he invaded that dread monarch's realm; and every Greek trader vowed a hecatomb to Hermes, patron god of craft and barter, should the merchant do well with a cargo of goods. But to mine obsidian by making propitiatory offerings in advance is not in our accustomed mode of thought. And limited to the quantity loosened by one blow! That sacred mode taken, back out, with eyes averted from the prize, so as not to belittle the gift by too close scrutiny! OBSIDIAN MINE IN MILLARD Hy Erickson and Jim Mace, both of Deseret, have found and

416 IMPROVEMENT ERA visited an ancient Indian mine of obsidian, located in the Cricket mountains, south of Deseret, where chips, discards and other frag- ments attest that the Indian gathered his supply from that place. We wonder if the native Ute, before contact with the white, gave a similar offering at that mine; whether he made an equally fair ex- change, and propitiated the guardian of the spot, before taking an equivalent from the hoarded troves of Mother Earth. And if they did, we further wonder what was the basis of trade. If the native Ute was .so fortunate as to fleck off with one blow so huge a chunk as that out of which Mr. Heise's treasure was made, did he, after backing out with downcast eyes, then see in full light of day the munificence bestowed on him? Did he, think you, present the gods with a further offering out of a full heart? PARAPHERNALIA OF A SHAMAN "Large blades of obsidian," continues the Smithsonian report, "single or double pointed, were probably not knives, as the local anti- quarian usually assumes, but part of the paraphernalia of a shaman. All evidence from central California points to this use." The rare curio discovered by William, Heise substantiates the findings of linguistic science; for similarity of language proves that the Ute of Utah belongs to that vast Shoshonean group, anciently spread from Montana, Idaho, Utah and Nevada, on the North, down through California, Arizona and New Mexico to the very seat of culture of the ancient Aztecs, with whom the Utes are far-distantly, ethnically related. And the same rite, the same symbolic "ceremonial blade," establishes a commonality of Utah with California in a re- ligious observance of wide-spread extent. A cultural relationship embraced all that area; hence the scientific name designating the family relationship — Uto-Aztecan. Picture in your mind's eye some dark night; fires flashing, and casting a lurid flare over a vast assemblage on the great alkali desert near the town of Deseret; two dancers prominent before the rest, each with a ceremonial blade which they held in the upraised right hand; and those two performers dance 'up to each other as in a Virginia Reel, nearly touch the sacred and precious objects, and then back away, to repeat, over and over, with variations interjected galore, as the dance progresses in intricacy. All this to the rhythmic tread of the encircling bearers of the albino deer skins; while all the other members of the tribe, women and children included, monotonously chant to the beat of torn toms and the clapping of hands. Picture that scene to your inner self, and then know that the obsidian ceremonial blade discovered in Millard county has been through many such observances. THE SUPERSTITION Around this obsidian blade, — yes, there clung a superstition.

RARE INDIAN CURIOS 417 It was shamanistic paraphernalia. It truly possessed magic. It was "heap good medicine." But, before passing a too hasty judgment upon our red brother, what were our own beliefs at about that period? Then, and later than then, (1647 to 1696) New England be- lieved in witches! Twenty-five were found in tribunals to be guilty of that superstition, the non-existent crime of witchcraft. Two cen- turies before (1431) the tender Joan was burned at the stake for the hideous crime (God save the word!) of "hearing voices;" and to save the soul of that innocent child, her life must be taken in the cruellest of all cruel deaths — a decision reached, not in the heat of passion, but in solemn conclave! This and these, and other things, of the then and now, does the discovery of Mr. Heise open to our minds, as we peer back through the centuries, scrutinizing the customs of our Indians who used this ceremonial blade in their shamanistic rites; nor in snugness should we fancy ourselves entirely free in that era from all superstition, for mayhap, ' contemporary with that time, we ourselves held equally irrational beliefs, though our superstitions were differently phased. Delta, Utah Dark Days I have seen some days of sorrow, When my hopes were crushed and dead; And I seemed alone, dejected, With a heart weighed down like lead. I have stood alone and friendless Longing for some tender friend Who would feel the same as I feel, Or a bit of comfort lend. Strange, how morbid thoughts affect us Like the frost upon the flower; And our spirit droops in anguish, Wilting more and more each hour. But there's One who gives you comfort, When your last friend turns away; You have only just to ask Him, Or in earnest #ccents pray. I have often gained that comfort, When my days were dark as night; And my soul was raised from sorrow, Raised from darkness into light. So, I say to those discouraged Who are plodding life's rough way, You are sure to find sweet comfort If you don't forget to pray. Menan, Idaho ELSIE M. LARSEN