the past, in that which constitutes the intellectual and

ritual life of these people.

of the

ceremonies

Initiation Ceremonies possess special educational value. Educational These are to be found with all primitive people. Usually there significance are initiation ceremonies for girls conducted by the women, as initiation well as those for boys conducted by the men. The latter, however, are by far the more elaborate and more important. The greatest variation occurs. With some tribes such ceremonies are brief; with others they extend over a series of years. In all cases they are most characteristic at the beginning of the adolescent period of the novice and culminate in his admission into adult membership in the tribe.

initiation

Central

Voluminous descriptions of such ceremonies in many tribes are now to be found. The outline of the initiation as practiced by the Central Australian tribes will suffice as an example. Here there are three distinct steps or periods in the initiation which Outline extend through several years. At the age of ten or eleven the of the boy is seized by a number of adults who are marked out for ceremonies this special work by the position which they hold in the genetic1 of the or family organization of their tribe. He is painted with the to- Australians temic symbols, tossed up into the air, and severely beaten. A few years later he is again seized and subjected to mutilation. The form of mutilation varies: it may be a scarification of back or breast that will leave throughout life marks of identification; it may be a knocking out of front teeth, a piercing of nasal septum or of lips, or a loosening of the scalp by biting. The ceremony usually culminates in a smoking or burning over a fire. During the period of these ceremonies — lasting for some days the youth is given little or nothing to eat. By hunting he must secure certain animals used in the ceremonies. Thus as an incidental part of the initiation he is trained to furnish food for the adults. The entire period is taken up with a variety of complex totemic dances and ceremonies. During the

1 Society organized on the basis of blood relationships instead of upon the territorial relationship of political societies.

foral value f this ini

ation

olitical

nd social alue

ceremonies he has a guardian to direct him, but for the most part he must observe absolute silence. The illustration given shows the concluding ceremony by which the ban of silence is removed by the medicine men who have conducted the initiation. The third phase of the initiation follows this, after an interval of some months. It consists of elaborate dances and performances participated in by large numbers, often representing several tribes, and sometimes lasting for several months with ceremonies every day. After this the youth is admitted into full membership in the tribe and henceforth associates no longer with the women and children.

Educational Meaning of the Initiation. These ceremonies possess first a moral value. Through the mutilations, the boy is taught to endure pain; through exposure and want, he is taught to endure hardship and hunger; through subservience to the performers, he is taught obedience and reverence for adults. He learns that he is expected to serve his elders and especially to supply the family, of which he becomes a member by marriage or adoption, with the necessities of life. In fact, to an observer these ceremonies seem to be largely for the purpose of continuing the dominance of the elders in the control of society. Thus they possess a social and political value.

This second value is further revealed by the fact that the decorations painted on the performers are totemic symbols. The explanation of these reveals the history and traditions of the tribe. Thus, also, are explained the complex relationships of genetic society, which constitute their politics, social order, science and religion, all in one. The dances and ceremonial performances have a similar purpose and are connected with their religious beliefs as well. In this they resemble in a crude way the early drama of the Greeks, the miracle and moral plays of the Middle Ages, and even the initiation ceremonies of modern secret societies.

Their religious value is evidenced in the fact that the totem is the center of worship and that the characters in these ceremonies

ELDA

AMENOPHIS III AND HIS DOUBLE

From an Egyptian tomb. The double is the second figure, and appears even for the tablet which is supposed to contain the soul of the dead.

value

represent totemic animals. Around such totems center their Religious religious myths. In the explanation of these is found a fifth educational function; for such myths contain whatever of in- Intellectual tellectual and scientific explanation the savage or barbarian has been able to give of the operation of the forces of nature.

value

A final value is to be found in the practical bearings of many Practical activities connected with these ceremonies. Under the direc- value tion of the designated guardian the youths to be initiated learn the methods of capturing certain animals, the arts of making fire, preparing food, and similar processes of practical value. To primitive peoples, however, the significant feature of these activities is not the practical, but the religious; all such practical activity must be performed in a definite, stipulated way. Such distinctive methods of action constitute their religion. Religion, then, does not relate to isolated phases of life, but to the most commonplace. The learning of these ways constitutes their education. But to understand fully the educational significance of such ceremonies, one must consider further,

animism

THE FUNDAMENTAL CHARACTERISTIC OF PRIMITIVE LIFE - ANIMISM. However diverse they may be in many respects, primitive peoples possess one fundamental bond of similarity. It is that interpretation of their environment which we call animism. To the savage and the barbarian, every stone, Nature of tree, canoe, dog, in fact, every form of material existence, whether animate or inanimate, possesses a soul similar to his own, the so-called double. This belief is not the result of reflection, but is due to the fact that he does not differentiate clearly between his own existence and the existence of all other things, animate or inanimate.

In his dreams he experiences with all the vividness of his waking hours the excitement of the chase, of the military expedition, and of other activities. This indicates to him that his spirit, or double, has been in other places, though his comrades convince him that his body has not moved. The trance, swoon, or other forms of insensibility, to which his life of force renders him espe

How ani

mistic belief

develop