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The Soul of the Indian · 21 of 29

Chapter Va

THE UNWRITTEN SCRIPTURES A Living Book. The Sioux Story of Creation. The First Battle. Another Version of the Flood. Our Animal Ancestry. A missionary once undertook to instruct a group of Indians in the truths of his holy religion. He told them of the creation of the earth in six days, and of the fall of our first parents by eating an apple. The courteous savages listened attentively, and, after thanking him, one related in his turn a very ancient tradition concerning the origin of the maize. But the missionary plainly showed his disgust and disbelief, indignantly saying:— “What I delivered to you were sacred truths, but this that you tell me is mere fable and falsehood!” “My brother,” gravely replied the offended Indian, “it seems that you have not been well grounded in the rules of civility. You saw that we, who practice these rules, believed your stories; why, then, do you refuse to credit ours?” Every religion has its Holy Book, and ours was a mingling of history, poetry, and prophecy, of precept and folk-lore, even such as the modern reader finds within the covers of his Bible. This Bible of ours was our whole literature, a living Book, sowed as precious seed by our wisest sages, and springing anew in the wondering eyes and upon the innocent lips of little children. Upon its hoary wisdom of proverb and fable, its mystic and legendary lore thus sacredly preserved and transmitted from father to son, was based in large part our customs and philosophy. Naturally magnanimous and open-minded, the red man prefers to believe that the Spirit of God is not breathed into man alone, but that the whole created universe is a sharer in the immortal perfection of its Maker. His imaginative and poetic mind, like that of the Greek, assigns to every mountain, tree, and spring its spirit, nymph, or divinity either beneficent or mischievous. The heroes and demigods of Indian tradition reflect the characteristic trend of his thought, and his attribution of personality and will to the elements, the sun and stars, and all animate or inanimate nature. In the Sioux story of creation, the great Mysterious One is not brought directly upon the scene or conceived in anthropomorphic fashion, but remains sublimely in the background. The Sun and the Earth, representing the male and female principles, are the main elements in his creation, the other planets being subsidiary. The enkindling warmth of the Sun entered into the bosom of our mother, the Earth, and forthwith she conceived and brought forth life, both vegetable and animal. Finally there appeared mysteriously Ish-na-e-cha-ge, the “First-Born,” a being in the likeness of man, yet more than man, who roamed solitary among the animal people and understood their ways and their language. They beheld him with wonder and awe, for they could do nothing without his knowledge. He had pitched his tent in the centre of the land, and there was no spot impossible for him to penetrate. At last, like Adam, the “First-Born” of the Sioux became weary of living alone, and formed for himself a companion—not a mate, but a brother—not out of a rib from his side, but from a splinter which he drew from his great toe! This was the Little Boy Man, who was not created full-grown, but as an innocent child, trusting and helpless. His Elder Brother was his teacher throughout every stage of human progress from infancy to manhood, and it is to the rules which he laid down, and his counsels to the Little Boy Man, that we trace many of our most deep-rooted beliefs and most sacred customs.
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Themes
◆Animismcosmology

The doctrine and worldview that natural phenomena, places, and objects possess inherent spirit, soul, or personality — and that the cosmos is populated by countless local, plural, embodied divine agents: kami in mountain and tree, sidhe in cairn and well, landwights in field and stone, nymphs in spring and grove, haltija in forest and lake, lares and penates in household and threshold, Iamblichean daemons in element and place. Distinct from monotheism (single transcendent God), pantheism (one underlying substance), and emanation_hierarchy (cascading single source); animism's signature is the plurality, locality, and embodied-in-landscape character of the divine.

The passage explicitly describes the Indian worldview where every mountain, tree, spring, and element possesses a spirit, nymph, or divinity, making animism a central theme.

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◆Anthropomorphismtheology

Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.

The text explicitly contrasts the non-anthropomorphic Supreme Being with the anthropomorphic 'First-Born' figure.

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◆Apophatic Theologytheology

Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.

The Supreme Being is described by what He is not (not anthropomorphic) and remains in the background.

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◆Childlike Innocenceanthropology

The infant or child as symbol of the unfallen, undivided spiritual state; return to primordial simplicity.

The narrative of the 'Little Boy Man' created as an innocent, trusting, and helpless child who is taught by his elder brother highlights the value of this state.

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◆Cosmogonycosmology

Narratives or doctrines of cosmic origin — how heaven, earth, and the primordial deities first came into being. The Kojiki's deities born alone on the Plain of High Heaven, Voluspo's Ginnungagap, Genesis's tohu wa-bohu, the Timaeus's Demiurge fashioning the Receptacle, the Hesiodic Theogony, the Kalevala's egg-cosmogony, Egyptian Nun-and-Atum. Distinct from emanation_hierarchy (structural-ontological cascade), letters_of_creation (mechanism of creation), and apocatastasis/frashokereti (end-state restoration); cosmogony is temporally-narrative beginning.

The text details the Sioux story of creation, including the roles of the Sun and Earth as male and female principles and the emergence of the First-Born.

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◆Divine Hiddennesstheology

The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father.

The passage notes that in the Sioux creation story, the great Mysterious One remains sublimely in the background and is not conceived in anthropomorphic fashion.

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◆Divine Marriagesoteriology

The reunification of complementary divine principles (male-female, spirit-matter) as a symbol of wholeness and salvation.

Creation is described through the union of male (Sun) and female (Earth) principles conceiving life.

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◆Inner Lightanthropology

The divine spark or luminous quality residing within the human person, potentially recognisable through introspection.

The Spirit of God is described as breathed into man, implying an indwelling divine presence.

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◆Oral Tradition

Sacred knowledge transmitted as living speech rather than fixed writing — scripture carried in memory, song, and telling, renewed in each generation; the unwritten canon of a tradition.

The passage is titled 'The Unwritten Scriptures' and emphasizes the 'Living Book' transmitted orally from father to son rather than written text.

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◆Rejection Of Hypocrisyethics

Critique of outward religious observance that lacks inner transformation; form without substance.

The anecdote about the missionary criticizing Indian traditions while expecting them to accept his own serves as a critique of religious exclusivity and lack of civility.

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◆Theosis Deificationsoteriology

The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy.

The concept that humans and the universe share in the 'immortal perfection of its Maker' aligns with partaking in divine nature.

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◆Unity Of Beingtheology

The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.

The text states that the red man believes the Spirit of God is not breathed into man alone but that the whole created universe shares in the immortal perfection of its Maker.

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Related passages · 0 parallels · 1 contrast
◆jewish_mysticism|The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation)|Chapter LXXXICONTRASTS
“LXXXI. The Heavenly Tablets and the Mission of Enoch . CHAPTER LXXXI. 1. And he said unto me: 'Observe, Enoch, these heavenly tablets, And read what is written thereon, And mark every individual fact.' p. 108 2 And I observed the heavenly t…”
Both passages discuss the transmission of sacred knowledge and the role of divine figures in creation and instruction. Passage A describes the Sioux story of creation and the transmission of sacred customs, while Passage B details Enoch's reception of heavenly tablets and his mission to teach his children. Both emphasize the importance of sacred teachings and the role of divine figures in imparting knowledge.