The Ant Ordeal

The Religion of the Luiseño Indians of Southern California, by Constance Goddard DuBois, [1908], at sacred-texts.com

THE ANT ORDEAL.

Another almost prehistoric ceremony was that of Anut, ³² called Antish ³³ or Tivihayish, used as a sort of supplement to the toloache initiation, as an education in courage, skill, and quickness for young men. It has been so long discontinued that it is impossible to obtain a complete description of it. It was not performed every year. Sometimes there were many candidates, sometimes very few.

The sand-painting was used in this ceremony, which is one of the four in which it was employed. The first night of the ritual they did not sing or dance; but they had something they whistled with all night long.

The chief would select the young men when they were old enough to endure the ordeal. It was done secretly in a place apart. A certain cone-shaped hill with rocks on top was one of the places where they used to perform it.

Early in the morning before dawn the youths would be taken into the house or sacred enclosure and given hot water to drink.

The chief had a basket in which he collected ants; and one by one the candidates were taken to the place prepared and made to lie down while the ants were shaken out of the basket and over their naked bodies with a certain sort of plant. To this a song was sung: "Toma no kwato."

After a time the ants were whipped from the body with nettles. When all was over, the sand-painting was made as in the toloache fiesta. The lump of sage seed and salt was also used in the same way. This implies that there had been a previous period of fasting. Invocation was made three times by the indescribable

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solemn groans and gestures; then the lump of sage-seed and salt was placed in the mouth of the candidate and spit into the central hole of the sand-painting.

A race was then made by the candidates, probably similar to the races made at the time of new moon; and the winner of the race painted the rock in the designated place, with red and black paint.

After this came the dances and songs of Anut, four or five of which are remembered, sung to the accompaniment of the ringing stones.

A ceremony for tattooing was somewhat similar, but no definite account has been obtained of it; and the songs belonging to it have been forgotten. They had a ceremony for it and would lay the person down in a certain place. Those who performed the tattooing were obliged to fast previously for a certain length of time.

Both men and women were tattooed. One of the old chiefs had a mark on his left wrist; another of the old men had the tattooing on his nose. The meaning of the marks could not be discovered.

Footnotes

91:32 Anut, species of large red ant, regarding which there are songs.—S.

91:33 Antish, the action of lying on an ant hill and permitting one's self to be stung, which was thought to be beneficial; anti, verb, antish, action of same.—S.