Research source

They were to him, therefore, not inferiors, but equals--even superiors

Date of account: Revised nineteenth-century edition
Source: The Myths of the New World A Treatise on the Symbolism and Mythology of the Red Race of America
Reference: The Myths of the New World A Treatise on the Symbolism and Mythology of the Red Race of America · selected passage 6
Rights: public_domain
Language: English comparative scholarship drawing on Indigenous American sources
Translation: Daniel G. Brinton
Record updated: 2026-08-24

Record summary

Published source text

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Source passage

Source text · mention only

They were to him, therefore, not inferiors, but equals--even superiors. He doubted not that once upon a time he had possessed their instinct, they his language, but that some necromantic spell had been flung on them both to keep them asunder. None but a potent sorcerer could break this charm, but such an one could understand the chants of birds and the howls of savage beasts, and on occasion transform himself into one or another animal, and course the forest, the air, or the waters, as he saw fit. Therefore, it was not the beast that he worshipped, but that share of the omnipresent deity which he thought he perceived under its form.[101-1]

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

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Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

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