by

W. J. HOFFMAN.

[Transcribers Note:

The music is available in two forms, collected in the music directory a.s.sociated with the .html version of this text.

--simplified lilypond files (extension .ly), with lyrics and dynamic markings omitted.

--MIDI (playable sound) files for each song.

Each [Music] tag includes a page number for cross-reference.]

CONTENTS.

Page Introduction 149 Shamans 156 Midewiwin 164 Midewign 187 First degree 189 Preparatory instruction 189 Mide therapeutics 197 Imploration for clear weather 207 Initiation of candidate 210 Descriptive notes 220 Second degree 224 Preparation of candidate 224 Initiation of candidate 231 Descriptive notes 236 Third degree 240 Preparation of candidate 241 Initiation of candidate 243 Descriptive notes 251 Fourth degree 255 Preparation of candidate 257 Initiation of candidate 258 Descriptive notes 274 Dzhibai Midewign 278 Initiation by subst.i.tution 281 Supplementary notes 286 Pictography 286 Music 289 Dress and ornaments 298 Future of the society 299

ILl.u.s.tRATIONS.

Page Plate II. Map showing present distribution of Ojibwa 150 III. Red Lake and Leech Lake records 166 IV. Sika.s.siges record 170 V. Origin of nshinbeg 172 VI. Facial decoration 174 VII. Facial decoration 178 VIII. Ojibwas record 182 IX. Mnemonic songs 193 X. Mnemonic songs 202 XI. Sacred objects 220 XII. Invitation sticks 236 XIII. Mnemonic songs 238 XIV. Mnemonic songs 288 XV. Sacred posts 240 XVI. Mnemonic songs 244 XVII. Mnemonic songs 266 XVIII. Jessakkid removing disease 278 XIX. Birch-bark records 286 XX. Sacred bark scroll and contents 288 XXI. Mide relics from Leech Lake 390 XXII. Mnemonic songs 392 XXIII. Mide dancing garters 298

Fig. 1. Herbalist preparing medicine and treating patient 159 2. Sika.s.siges combined charts, showing descent of Minabozho 174 3. Origin of ginseng 175 4. Peep-hole post 178 5. Migration of nshinbeg 179 6. Birch-bark record, from White Earth 185 7. Birch-bark record, from Bed Lake 186 8. Birch-bark record, from Red Lake 186 9. Eshgiboga 187 10. Diagram of Midewign of the first degree 188 11. Interior of Midewign 188 12. Ojibwa drums 190 13. Mide rattle 191 14. Mide rattle 191 15. Shooting the Migis 192 16. Wooden beads 205 17. Wooden effigy 205 18. Wooden effigy 205 19. Hawk-leg fetish 220 20. Hunters medicine 222 21. Hunters medicine 222 22. Wbeno drum 223 23. Diagram of Midewign of the second degree 224 24. Mide destroying an enemy 238 25. Diagram of Midewign of the third degree 240 26. Jessakkn, or jugglers lodge 252 27. Jessakkn, or jugglers lodge 252 28. Jessakkn, or jugglers lodge 252 29. Jessakkn, or jugglers lodge 252 30. Jessakkn, or jugglers lodge 252 31. Jessakkid curing woman 255 32. Jessakkid curing man 255 33. Diagram of Midewign of the fourth degree 255 34. General view of Midewign 256 35. Indian diagram of ghost lodge 279 36. Leech Lake Mide song 295 37. Leech Lake Mide song 296 38. Leech Lake Mide song 297 39. Leech Lake Mide song 297

THE MIDEWIWIN OR GRAND MEDICINE SOCIETY OF THE OJIBWAY.

By W. J. HOFFMAN.

INTRODUCTION.

The Ojibwa is one of the largest tribes of the United States, and it is scattered over a considerable area, from the Province of Ontario, on the east, to the Red River of the North, on the west, and from Manitoba southward through the States of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. This tribe is, strictly speaking, a timber people, and in its westward migration or dispersion has never pa.s.sed beyond the limit of the timber growth which so remarkably divides the State of Minnesota into two parts possessing distinct physical features. The western portion of this State is a gently undulating prairie which sweeps away to the Rocky Mountains, while the eastern portion is heavily timbered. The dividing line, at or near the meridian of 95 50' west longitude, extends due north and south, and at a point about 75 miles south of the northern boundary the timber line trends toward the northwest, crossing the State line, 49 north lat.i.tude, at about 97 10' west longitude.

Minnesota contains many thousand lakes of various sizes, some of which are connected by fine water courses, while others are entirely isolated.

The wooded country is undulating, the elevated portions being covered chiefly with pine, fir, spruce, and other coniferous trees, and the lowest depressions being occupied by lakes, ponds, or marshes, around which occur the tamarack, willow, and other trees which thrive in moist ground, while the regions between these extremes are covered with oak, poplar, ash, birch, maple, and many other varieties of trees and shrubs.

Wild fowl, game, and fish are still abundant, and until recently have furnished to the Indians the chief source of subsistence.

Tribal organization according to the totemic system is practically broken up, as the Indians are generally located upon or near the several reservations set apart for them by the General Government, where they have been under more or less restraint by the United States Indian agents and the missionaries. Representatives of various totems or gentes may therefore be found upon a single reservation, where they continue to adhere to traditional customs and beliefs, thus presenting an interesting field for ethnologic research.

The present distribution of the Ojibwa in Minnesota and Wisconsin is indicated upon the accompanying map, Pl. II. In the southern portion many of these people have adopted civilized pursuits, but throughout the northern and northwestern part many bands continue to adhere to their primitive methods and are commonly designated wild Indians. The habitations of many of the latter are rude and primitive. The bands on the northeast sh.o.r.e of Red Lake, as well as a few others farther east, have occupied these isolated sites for an uninterrupted period of about three centuries, as is affirmed by the chief men of the several villages and corroborated by other traditional evidence.

Father Claude Alloez, upon his arrival in 1666 at s.h.a.gawaumikong, or La Pointe, found the Ojibwa preparing to attack the Sioux. The settlement at this point was an extensive one, and in traditions pertaining to the Grand Medicine Society frequent allusion is made to the fact that at this place the rites were practiced in their greatest purity.

Mr. Warren, in his History of the Ojibwa Indians,[1] bases his belief upon traditional evidence that the Ojibwa first had knowledge of the whites in 1612. Early in the seventeenth century the French missionaries met with various tribes of the Algonkian linguistic stock, as well as with bands or subtribes of the Ojibwa Indians. One of the latter, inhabiting the vicinity of Sault Ste. Marie, is frequently mentioned in the Jesuit Relations as the Saulteurs. This term was applied to all those people who lived at the Falls, but from other statements it is clear that the Ojibwa formed the most important body in that vicinity.

La Hontan speaks of the Outchepoues, alias Sauteurs, as good warriors.

The name Saulteur survives at this day and is applied to a division of the tribe.

[Footnote 1: Coll. Minn. Hist. Soc., 1885, vol. 5, p. 130.]

According to statements made by numerous Ojibwa chiefs of importance the tribe began its westward dispersion from La Pointe and Fond du Lac at least two hundred and fifty years ago, some of the bands penetrating the swampy country of northern Minnesota, while others went westward and southwestward. According to a statement[2] of the location of the tribes of Lake Superior, made at Mackinaw in 1736, the Sioux then occupied the southern and northern extremities of that lake. It is possible, however, that the northern bands of the Ojibwa may have penetrated the region adjacent to the Pigeon River and pa.s.sed west to near their present location, thus avoiding their enemies who occupied the lake sh.o.r.e south of them.

[Footnote 2: Reproduced from the ninth volume of the New York Colonial Doc.u.ments, pp. 1054, 1055.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate II.

Ojibwa Indian Reservations in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

I Red Lake. II White Earth. III Winnibigoshish. IV Ca.s.s Lake. V Leech Lake. VI Deer Creek. VII Bois Forte. VIII Vermillion Lake. IX Fond du Lac. X Mille Lacs. XI Lac Court Orelle. XII La Pointe. XIII Lac de Flanibeau. XIV Red Cliff. XV Grand Portage.]

From recent investigations among a number of tribes of the Algonkian linguistic division it is found that the traditions and practices pertaining to the Midewiwin, Society of the Mide or Shamans, popularly designated as the Grand Medicine Society, prevailed generally, and the rites are still practiced at irregular intervals, though in slightly different forms in various localities.

In the reports of early travelers and missionaries no special mention is made of the Mide, the Jessakkid, or the Wbeno, but the term sorcerer or juggler is generally employed to designate that cla.s.s of persons who professed the power of prophecy, and who practiced incantation and administered medicinal preparations. Constant reference is made to the opposition of these personages to the introduction of Christianity. In the light of recent investigation the cause of this antagonism is seen to lie in the fact that the traditions of Indian genesis and cosmogony and the ritual of initiation into the Society of the Mide const.i.tute what is to them a religion, even more powerful and impressive than the Christian religion is to the average civilized man.

This opposition still exists among the leading cla.s.ses of a number of the Algonkian tribes, and especially among the Ojibwa, many bands of whom have been more or less isolated and beyond convenient reach of the Church. The purposes of the society are twofold; first, to preserve the traditions just mentioned, and second, to give a certain cla.s.s of ambitious men and women sufficient influence through their acknowledged power of exorcism and necromancy to lead a comfortable life at the expense of the credulous. The persons admitted into the society are firmly believed to possess the power of communing with various supernatural beings--manidos--and in order that certain desires may be realized they are sought after and consulted. The purpose of the present paper is to give an account of this society and of the ceremony of initiation as studied and observed at White Earth, Minnesota, in 1889.

Before proceeding to this, however, it may be of interest to consider a few statements made by early travelers respecting the sorcerers or jugglers and the methods of medication.

In referring to the practices of the Algonkian tribes of the Northwest, La Hontan[3] says:

When they are sick, they only drink Broth, and eat sparingly; and if they have the good luck to fall asleep, they think themselves curd: They have told me frequently, that sleeping and sweating would cure the most stubborn Diseases in the World. When they are so weak that they cannot get out of Bed, their Relations come and dance and make merry before em, in order to divert em. To conclude, when they are ill, they are always visited by a sort of Quacks, (_Jongleurs_); of whom t will now be proper to subjoin two or three Words by the bye.

A _Jongleur_ is a sort of _Physician_, or rather a _Quack_, who being once curd of some dangerous Distemper, has the Presumption and Folly to fancy that he is immortal, and possessed of the Power of curing all Diseases, by speaking to the Good and Evil Spirits. Now though every Body rallies upon these Fellows when they are absent, and looks upon em as Fools that have lost their Senses by some violent Distemper, yet they allow em to visit the Sick; whether it be to divert em with their Idle Stories, or to have an Opportunity of seeing them rave, skip about, cry, houl, and make Grimaces and Wry Faces, as if they were possessd. When all the Bustle is over, they demand a Feast of a Stag and some large Trouts for the Company, who are thus regald at once with Diversion and Good Cheer.

When the Quack comes to visit the Patient, he examines him very carefully; _If the Evil Spirit be here_, says he, _we shall quickly dislodge him._ This said, he withdraws by himself to a little Tent made on purpose, where he dances, and sings houling like an Owl; (which gives the Jesuits Occasion to say, _That the Devil converses with em_.) After he has made an end of this Quack Jargon, he comes and rubs the Patient in some part of his Body, and pulling some little Bones out of his Mouth, acquaints the Patient, _That these very Bones came out of his Body; that he ought to pluck up a good heart, in regard that his Distemper is but a Trifle; and in fine, that in order to accelerate the Cure, t will be convenient to send his own and his Relations Slaves to shoot Elks, Deer, &c., to the end they may all eat of that sort of Meat, upon which his Cure does absolutely depend._

Commonly these Quacks bring em some Juices of Plants, which are a sort of Purges, and are called _Maskikik_.

[Footnote 3: New Voyages to North America, London, 1703, vol. 2, pp. 47, 48.]

Hennepin, in A Continuation of the New Discovery, etc.,[4] speaks of the religion and sorcerers of the tribes of the St. Lawrence and those living about the Great Lakes as follows:

We have been all too sadly convinced, that almost all the Salvages in general have no notion of a G.o.d, and that they are not able to comprehend the most ordinary Arguments on that Subject; others will have a Spirit that commands, say they, in the Air. Some among em look upon the Skie as a kind of Divinity; others as an _Otkon_ or _Manitou_, either Good or Evil.

These People admit of some sort of Genius in all things; they all believe there is a Master of Life, as they call him, but hereof they make various applications; some of them have a lean Raven, which they carry always along with them, and which they say is the Master of their Life; others have an Owl, and some again a Bone, a Sea-Sh.e.l.l, or some such thing;

There is no Nation among em which has not a sort of Juglers or Conjuerers, which some look upon to be Wizards, but in my Opinion there is no Great reason to believe em such, or to think that their Practice favours any thing of a Communication with the Devil.

These Impostors cause themselves to be reverenced as Prophets which fore-tell Futurity. They will needs be lookd upon to have an unlimited Power. They boast of being able to make it Wet or Dry; to cause a Calm or a Storm; to render Land Fruitful or Barren; and, in a Word to make Hunters Fortunate or Unfortunate. They also pretend to Physick, and to apply Medicines, but which are such, for the most part as have little Virtue at all in em, especially to Cure that Distemper which they pretend to.

It is impossible to imagine, the horrible Howlings and strange Contortions that those Jugglers make of their Bodies, when they are disposing themselves to Conjure, or raise their Enchantments.

[Footnote 4: London, 1689, p. 59, et. seq.]