Prey-Gods
It is thought that the hearts of the great animals of
prey are infused with a 'medicinal' or magic influence over the
hearts of the animals they prey upon, and that they overcome them
with their breath, piercing their hearts and quite numbing them.
Moreover, their roar is fatal to the senses of the lower beasts.
The mountain lion absorbs the blood of the game animals,
therefore he possesses their acute senses. Again, those powers,
as derived from his heart, are preserved in his fetish (fetish: a
charm, something made by art, and is applied to any object, i.e.
totem, large or small, natural or artificial, regarded as
possessing consciousness, volition, supernatural qualities, or
magic power), since his heart still lives, even although his body
be changed to stone. It happens, therefore, that the use of
these fetishes is chiefly connected with the chase. But there
are exceptions. The great animals of the chase, although
fetishistic, are also regarded as supernatural beings, the
mythological position of which is absolutely defined. In the
City of the Mists lives Po-shai-an-K'ia, father of the 'medicine'
societies, a culture-hero deity, who abode is guarded by six
beings known as the 'Prey-Gods,' and it is their counterfeit
presentments that are made use of as fetishes. To the north of
the City of the Mists dwells the Mountain Lion prey-god, to the
west the Bear, to the south the Badger, to the east the Wolf,
above the Eagle, below the Mole. These animals possess not only
the guardianship of the six regions, but also the mastership of
the 'medicine' or magic powers which emanate from them. They are
the mediators between Po-shai-an-K'ia and man. The prey-gods, as
'Makers of the Path of Life,' are given high rank among the gods,
but notwithstanding this their fetishes are "held as in
captivity" by the priests of the various 'medicine' orders, and
greatly venerated by them as mediators between themselves and the
animals they represent. In this character they are exhorted with
elaborate prayers, rituals, and ceremonials, and sometimes
placated with sacrifices of the prey-gods of the hunt
(we-ma-a-ha-i). Their special priests are the members of the
Great Coyote People -- that is, they consist of eleven members of
the Eagle and Coyote clans and of the Prey of Brothers
priesthood. These prey-gods appear to be almost unique, and may
be indicated as an instance of fetishism becoming allied with
religious belief. They depict, with two exceptions, the same
species of prey animals as those supposed to guard the six
regions, the exceptions being the coyote and the wild cat. These
six prey animals are subdivided into six varieties. They are,
strictly speaking, the property of the priests, and members and
priests of the sacred societies are required to deposit their
fetishes, when not in use, with the Keeper of the Medicine of the
Deer. These 'medicines' or memberships alone can perfect the
shape of the fetishes and worship them.
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