The Dutch Among the Natives: American Indian-Dutch Relations, 1609–1664

Jan. 4. Two men came to me and said that I should come and see how they would drive out the devil; but I said that I had seen that before. However, I had to go along anyway. There were twelve men here who were to drive him out; and because I would not go alone, I took Jeronimus with me. When we arrived, the floor of the house was completely covered with tree bark over which the devil-hunters were to walk. They were mostly old men who were all colored or painted with red paint on their faces because they were to perform something strange. Three of them had garlands around their heads upon which were five white crosses. These garlands were made of deer's hair which they dyed with the roots of herbs. In the middle of this house was a very sick person who had been languishing for a long time, and there sat an old woman who had an empty turtle shell in her hands, in which were beads that rattled while she sang.Here they intended to catch the devil and trample him to death, for they stomped all the bark in the house to pieces, so that none remained whole. Wherever they saw but a little dust on the corn, they beat at it with great excitement, and then they blew that dust toward one another and were so afraid that each did his best to flee as if he had seen the devil. After much stomping and running, one of them went to the sick person and took an otter from his hand, and for a long time sucked on the sick man's neck and back. Then he spit in the otter and threw it on the ground, running away with great excitement. Other men then ran to the otter and performed such antics that it was a wonder to see; indeed, they threw fire, ate fire, and threw around hot ashes and embers in such a way that I ran out of the house.

Charles T. Gehring and William A. Starna, trans., eds., A Journey Into Mohawk and Oneida Country, 1634-1635: The Journal of Harmen Meyndertsz van den Bogaert, Revised Edition (2013), pp. 19-21.