hang suspended from the pole by their own flesh, which they must
break loose before being released. I well remember the comments in
our own home upon the passing of this simple but impressive
ceremony, and its loss of all meaning and propriety under the
demoralizing additions which were some of the fruits of early
contact with the white man.

Perhaps the most remarkable organization ever known among
American Indians, that of the "Grand Medicine Lodge," was
apparently an indirect result of the labors of the early Jesuit
missionaries. In it Caucasian ideas are easily recognizable, and
it seems reasonable to suppose that its founders desired to
establish an order that would successfully resist the encroachments
of the "Black Robes." However that may be, it is an unquestionable
fact that the only religious leaders of any note who have
arisen among the native tribes since the advent of the white man,
the "Shawnee Prophet" in 1762, and the half-breed prophet of the
"Ghost Dance" in 1890, both founded their claims or prophecies
upon the Gospel story. Thus in each case an Indian religious
revival or craze, though more or less threatening to the invader,
was of distinctively alien origin.

The Medicine Lodge originated among the Algonquin tribe, and
extended gradually throughout its branches, finally affecting the
Sioux of the Mississippi Valley, and forming a strong
bulwark against the work of the pioneer missionaries, who secured,
indeed, scarcely any converts until after the outbreak of 1862,
when subjection, starvation, and imprisonment turned our
broken-hearted people to accept Christianity, which seemed to offer
them the only gleam of kindness or hope.