able that its meaning, to him, is little more
exalted, than that of the "Great Beaver," which he believes to be the
first progenitor, if not the actual creator, of that useful animal.

We often see the fact, that the Indian believes in his _manitou_, cited
as an evidence, that he has the conception of a spiritual divinity. But
the word never conveyed such a meaning; it is applicable more properly
to material objects, and answers, with, if possible, a more intense and
superstitious significance, to the term _amulet_. The Indian's _manitou_
might be, indeed always was, some wild animal, or some part of a beast
or bird--such as a bear's claw, a buffalo's hoof, or a dog's tooth.[25]
And, though he ascribed exalted powers to this primitive guardian, it
must be remembered that these powers were only physical--such, for
example, as would enable it to protect its devotee from the knife of his
enemy, or give him success in hunting.

Materialism, then, reigns in the religion, as in the language, of the
Indian; and its effects are what might be expected. His whole system is
a degraded and degrading superstition; and, though it has been praised
for its superior purity, over that of the ancients, it seems to have
been forgotten, that this purity is only the absence of _one kind_ of
_im_purity: and that its cruel and corrupting influences, of another
sort, are ten-fold greater than those of the Greek mythology. The
faith of the Greek embodied itself in forms, ceremonies, and
observances--regularly appointed religious rites kept his piety alive;
the erection of grand temples, in honor of his deity, whatever might be
his conception of that deity's character, attested his genuine devotion,
and held constantly before his mind the abstract idea of a higher power.
The Indian, before the coming of the white man, erected no temples[26]
in honor of his divinities; for he venerated them only so long as they
conferred physical benefits[27] upon him; and his idea of beneficence
was wholly concrete. He had no established form of worship; the
ceremonies, which partook of a religious character, were grotesque in
their conception, variable in their conduct, and inhuman in their
details. Such, for example, are the torturing of prisoners, and the
ceremonies observed on the occasion of a young Indian's placing himself
under his guardian power.

The dogmas of the Indian religion, until varied by the teaching of
missionaries, were few and simple--b