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Show 254 BASIS OP AMERICAN HISTORY [ 1500 tween California and the southwest is undeniable. The north Pacific coast has its distinctive religious rites, just as it is peculiar in its other phases of culture. The underlying ideas are not, however, essentially different from those of the rest of the continent.^ There is, then, a progressive simplification northward, but whether the process has been one of degeneration in that direction or of elaboration in the other it is impossible to say. \ The sun- dance and similar rites of the plains, and* the green- corn dance of the southeast, give the impression of degeneration; but beyond that there is little to indicate the direction of development. Certain religious movements of a relatively new character occur from time to time and demonstrate the extreme suggestibility of the Indian, which has been mentioned above. These upheavals usually follow the appearance of a prophet, and often spread over vast areas and include diverse stocks. The ghost- dance religion, which has swept the west in recent years, is a good example of such movements. They are usually characterized by a Messianic idea which is especially strong in Indian tradition. The mythology of the Indians is voluminous vand interesting. It is also important as affording the most available means of tracing contact and intercommunication between tribes and stocksN^ The most wide- spread and characteristic myths are those relating to the genesis of the tribes and their trans- |
