M. R. HARRINGTON — SACRED BUNDLES OP THE SAC AND FOX INDIANS. 169

pileated and ivory-bill, could be used for such a purpose. Woodpeckers are very skilful in finding their prey, even when well concealed — a quality which made their skins desirable as amulets, for either hunting or war, as by their aid the Indian believed he could locate his enemy or even a deer, just as the bird can locate the larvae hidden away beneath the bark of a tree. Besides this, as one Indian put it, "The bird can peck a great hole in a tree in a short time; the warrior who wore the skin could do the same thing — it did not take him long to make a great hole in the enemy.”
The downy skin of the young swan, seen in so many bundles, was not, so far as I could discover, supposed to impart any warlike powers to its wearer, but was merely worn on the scalp lock or elsewhere as a badge or sign to distinguish friends from foes, especially in the night (PI. XXVI, B, H, Q).
As to snakes, the deadly power of the dreaded “rattler,” which must have impressed every Indian, needs no explana- tion; while the little green snake was used on account of its ability to travel unseen and conceal itself readily and quickly.
The weasel has much the same qualities, and, in addi- tion, quickness, cunning and the power of attacking and slay- ing creatures much larger than itself (PI. XXVIII, A).
The small birds used, especially those of the swallow family, are very difficult to hit with an arrow or bullet, a power imparted to the warrior. Moreover, the person wear- ing such a bird skin properly prepared, would look small as the bird itself to the enemy, when they tried to shoot at him (PI. XXVI, N). Such bird skins were sometimes attached to the mane or tail of the war pony to make it look small to the enemy and hard to hit (PI. XXVI, P).
The tireless endurance of the wolf was much dwelt on by my informants as a desirable power for the warrior; the powers of the bear, lynx and mink can be inferred, although I have no direct information about them from the Sac and Fox tribe; but the properties of war amulets made from the
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170 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM — ANTHROPOLOGICAL PUBLICATIONS VOL. IV.
beaver, lizard, mallard duck and wild goose may only be sur- mised, in the absence of any data. They may merely represent creatures appearing to the faster in his visions.
Among the most powerful of the patrons of war, and yet but scantily represented by amulets in this lot of war bundles, are the Thunders, those awful supernatural beings, at the same time bird-like and man-like, who wield the dreadful lightning. Their token is frequently the miniature war club worn upon the scalp lock (PI. XXVI, C), which symbolizes the blows struck by the lightning, or balls of stone or other mate- rials, of similar significance, both of which are supposed to impart “Thunder-power” to the user.
All but five of the bundles contained war whistles made of the bamboo-like cane found growing along streams in many parts of the South, both east and west of the Mississippi. In earlier days, before the Sac and Fox left the north, they prob- ably got their cane by exchange with other, more southern tribes. The whistles were blown in battle, after having been treated with magic herbs, to weaken the power of the enemy and bewilder his senses, and are also sounded in the dances enacted at the war bundle feasts (PI. XXIX, E, F, G).
The skins of little spotted fawns were usually employed as covers for the different amulets in the bundles (PI. XXXIII, E), but in some cases buckskin was used instead. Probably all the bundles contained at one time, some form of incense, either native tobacco, cedar leaves and twigs or sweet grass (PI. XXVI, R); but in some these have been used up and not replaced; and all probably once contained packages of magic herbs and paints, although these are now missing in some cases.
There was also a considerable number of tiny medi- cine packets usually from a quarter to half an inch in diameter, tied fast to the different amulets; these are enumerated in the description of the individual bundles which follows. They contain small portions of the roots, herbs and paints supposed to have the power of magically turning aside bullets and arrows, of “hypnotizing” the enemy and of curing the
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