"My good helper, stone pile, you give me good luck. I am going out to hunt now. I give you this [stone]. Help me to have good luck hunting deer. This is what I want you to do." (Ramsey 1977:186)RAMSEY, Jarold. 1977. Coyote Was Going There: Indian Literature of the Oregon Country. Modoc Prayers. Seattle; London: University of Washington Press.
Photo: "Indian Post Office," along the Lolo Trail in the Bitterroot Mountains. Taken by Ed Brenegar - Link
Although the Modoc were from Oregon, Jesuit Missionaries recorded a similar ritual prayer among the Seneca:
ReplyDelete"His guide offered him a piece of wood, to throw upon two round stones which, surrounded by evidences of the superstition of these poor people, are encountered upon the road. It is the custom, in passing, to throw a small stick on the stones by way of homage, and add these words: Kouë askennon eskatongot,—that is to say, 'Here is something to pay my passage, that I may proceed in safety.'" (Jeune [1656]1898:24-25)
JEUNE, Paul Le. [1656] 1898. Lower Canada. In The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents: Travels and Explorations of the Jesuit Missionaries in New France 1610—1791, Vol. XLIV. Cleveland: The Burrows Brothers.
Some good finds! Thank you for posting them.
ReplyDeleteThis post office pile is not a donation pile. i.e not an example of what is described in the prayer.
ReplyDelete