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30 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 99
and especially the emotional value given to the word, always conveys
concepts expressing baseness, meanness, slyness, an activity of an
insidious, nefarious, deleterious nature.
These activities are not subject to the same "reasonable" motives
as are those of the *'man-ldllers"; whereas the latter harm to take
(just) revenge for some (uncalled-for) offense, the witch harms simply
because it is an inherent trait of his or her wicked nature.
Moreover, whatever the witch can steal of the Ufe, and therefore of
the vital principle, of the animus, the power, the "orenda" of his
victim, he adds to his own, and this is the reason why witches are
always hovering about the sick, the feeble, the moribimd people;
invisible as they can make themselves, they put their mouths over
those of the victims, and steal their breath; according to some inform-
ants "because they hke the taste of sick people's breath; it is so
sweet "(!); according to others, because stealing their breath comes to
the same as securing for themselves the victim's vitality, which they
add to their own. At the time the moribund expires, especially, the
witch is careful not to miss his chance.
Although, as a rule, to become a witch one has to be "brought up "
for the profession (see p. 129), it is possible to become one, even if one's
parents neglected to go through the necessary ritual and prescrip-
tions. A peculiar root, that of the scarce a'o-'thye'o'^'ski "it (the root)
has it (the stalk) growing from its mouth" {Sagittaria latifolia
Willd.?),^^ looks like a beetlelike insect, with the stem of the plant
growing from its mouth. It has to be steeped and drunk, the usual
fast being observed . If the infusion is drunk and the fasting prolonged
for four days, you will be able to metamorphose yourself into any
person or animal living on the surface of the ground; i. e., a man can
take the shape of a woman, and vice versa; they can also take the
form of a dog, a deer, an opossum, etc.
If, however, the treatment is prolonged for seven days you will have
power to take the shape of animals flying in the air or living under the
ground ; you will be able to fly in the air or to dive under a mountain
you can at will put on the appearance of an eagle, an owl, a raven, a
mole, an earthworm, etc.
The metamorphosis into a raven is one of the most common, and a
witch traveling about in this garb is referred to as k'o"'lano° a'ye'lt'ski
"he (is) a raven unitator."
When traveling about at night a witch of this "degree" very frequently
travels through the air as a flame, a spark, or a light. Some
informants pretend to have seen that the "medicine" previously re-
ferred to, and which the witches have to drink, has at certain times of
the year—some say in spring and early summer—a purplish fire droop-
" This same medicine is given to a dog to make it a sure tracker of game. The
animal must di-ink the infusion for four consecutive mornings. It must not fast.
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