: Sketch of the Mythology of the North American Indians First Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 1879-80 Government Printing Office Washington 1881 pages 17-56 by Powell John Wesley - Indian mythology No

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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION--BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.

J. W. POWELL, DIRECTOR.

SKETCH

OF THE

MYTHOLOGY OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

BY

J. W. POWELL.

SKETCH OF THE MYTHOLOGY

OF THE

NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

BY J. W. POWELL.

The sense of the savage is dull compared with the sense of the civilized man. There is a myth current in civilization to the effect that the barbarian has highly developed perceptive faculties. It has no more foundation than the myth of the wisdom of the owl. A savage sees but few sights, hears but few sounds, tastes but few flavors, smells but few odors; his whole sensuous life is narrow and blunt, and his facts that are made up of the combination of sensuous impressions are few. In comparison, the civilized man has his vision extended away toward the infinitesimal and away toward the infinite; his perception of sound is multiplied to the comprehension of rapturous symphonies; his perception of taste is increased to the enjoyment of delicious viands; his perception of smell is developed to the appreciation of most exquisite perfumes; and his facts that are made up of the combination of sensuous impressions are multiplied beyond enumeration. The stages of discernment from the lowest savage to the highest civilized man constitute a series the end of which is far from the beginning.

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