The Spirit of the Whortleberry; or, aspects of Iroquois culture I propose we revive

Ages ago now, sometime in late August, I happened upon a copy of Minnie Myrtle's The Iroquois; or, The Bright Side of Indian Character (1855) at a garage sale. The man presiding over the heaps of stuff said that he had found it when "clearing out an old friend's log cabin," and I was intrigued enough by the friend, and impressed enough by the patterns of molding and water damage, that I forked out a dollar and brought it home. The book itself is that curious mix of celebratory anecdote and naive Eurocentrism that is common to the 19th century, though it does end damningly enough by presaging the downfall of those that cause the extinction of 'the Indian'. Humbly, and in the spirit of Victorian delight with the 'other occidentals', I propose we seriously consider adopting the following customs:

1. Returning to some sort of frame of mind in which the haecceity of spearmint, as much as a mountain, is of value.

"Not only they themselves, but every thing in nature, that was beautiful to the eye or good for food, had a protecting spirit. There was the spirit of fire, of medicine and of water; the spirit of every herb and fruit-bearing tree; the spirit of the oak, the hemlock and the maple; the spirit of the blackberry, the blueberry and the whortleberry; the spirit of spearmint, of peppermint, and tobacco; there was a spirit at every fountain and by every running stream, and with all they held communion- personifying every mountain river and lake" (pp. 46-7).

2. Strawberry worship and strawberry festivals.

"The strawberry was one of their delicacies, and one which they believed they were to enjoy in another world. Some of them indeed expected the felicity of Heaven to consist in one continual strawberry feast, and this is something from which the most cultivated palate will not revolt, and is proof that there was a great degree of refinement in their taste!" (p. 50).

3. Communal dream interpretation in which the best interpretation is handsomely rewarded.

"Another diversion was the guessing of dreams. Some person went about from house to house telling a wonderful dream he had had, and requesting any one who pleased to relate it. Whether those attempted, guessed rightly or not, the dreamer after a while acknowledged that the true interpretations had been given, and then he was obliged to pay a forfeit, and whatever was required, he cheerfully performed, however great the sacrifice" (pp. 59-60).