article
Sympathetic magic and witchcraft among the Bellacoola
American anthropologist, new series • 27 • Published In 1925 • Pages: 116-121
By: Smith, Harlan Ingersoll.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This document discusses briefly the importance of magic and sorcery in Bellacoola society. The data were obtained by the author primarily from two native informants during the years 1920-1923. Information may be found in this work on: (1) magical practices used to make a child grow up to be a good dancer, industrious, a swift berry picker or a strong man; (2) curing lung troubles by magical means; and (3) magical control of natural elements (river erosion, rain). Various types of sorcery are also discussed. It is interesting to note in this study that both in their magical practices as listed above and in sorcery, the Bellacoola make abundant use of animals and plants as integral parts of the various rituals of magic.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Sorcery
- Magic
- Development and maturation
- Ethnozoology
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Nuxalk
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2010
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- North America
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Northwest Coast and California
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- John Beierle ; 1964-1965: John Beierle; 2010
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1920-1923
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1920-1923
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Bella Coola Reserve, Bella Coola Valley, British Columbia, Canada
- NotesAdditional notes
- by Harlan I. Smith
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 17015424
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Bella Coola Indians