the plunging of the hand into boiling water. Forms of the sword-swallowing trick were found among the eastern tribes from the Lakes to the Gulf and on into the Pueblo area of the Southwest. In the Amazon country, the special feature is a kind of ventriloquism in which animals and men carry on conversations with the shaman in almost the same fashion as the jesako of the Central Algonkin.[1] A plant-growing trick comparable to that of the Hindu fakir was found among the Navajo, Pawnee,[2] and a few neighboring tribes. Other distributions could be cited, but we have gone far enough to reveal the geographical character of the phenomenon.
When a shaman undertakes to treat the sick, he frequently pretends to suck out the cause of disease through a tube. This trick has been reported from the whole of the New World except probably the region of highest culture and the Eskimo.[3] The use of a calabash rattle is also found throughout the Amazon area, the whole of the Pueblo and bison areas, though in the latter the bulb is often fashioned of rawhide. This distribution also extends up through the Columbia River Basin into the North Pacific Coast where rattles are made of wood, but still of the same essential form.
Though the individualism of the shaman is apparent, there does appear a tendency for the formation of cults, the best examples of which are the wabano and jesako cults of the Central Algonkin, the heyoka of the Siouan tribes, and the animal lodges of the Caddoan.[4] In nearly every case, these take the form of a group of followers with a single leader, each group specializing in certain devices and tricks.
As we have noted, these tricks are not strictly confined to shamanism, but occasionally occur in priestly organizations. One of the best known examples is found in the Hopi snake and antelope society, whose members perform tricks with rattlesnakes; among others are the shell-shooting feat of the Central Algonkin midéwin, and the dog-eating of the Nootka cannibal society. These tricks are, however, integral parts of the respective rituals and form a large portion of the public part of the ceremonies.
