The Mide'wiwin or "Grand Medicine Society" of the Ojibwa Part 26

A Mide'-Wabeno' of this degree is dreaded on account of his extraordinary power of inflicting injury, causing misfortune, etc., and most remarkable tales are extant concerning his astounding performances with fire.

The following performance is said to have occurred at White Earth, Minnesota, in the presence of a large gathering of Indians and mixed bloods. Two small wig'iwams were erected, about 50 paces from each other, and after the Wabeno' had crawled into one of them his disparagers built around each of them a continuous heap of brush and firewood, which were then kindled. When the blaze was at its height all became hushed for a moment, and presently the Wabeno' called to the crowd that he had transferred himself to the other wig'iwam and immediately, to their profound astonishment, crawled forth unharmed.

This is but an example of the numerous and marvelous abilities with which the Wabeno' of the higher grade is accredited.

The special pretensions claimed by the Mide-Wabeno' have already been mentioned, but an account of the properties and manner of using the "love powder" may here be appropriate. This powder--the composition of which has been given--is generally used by the owner to accomplish results desired by the applicant. It is carried in a small bag made of buckskin or cloth, which the Wabeno' carefully deposits within his Mide'

sack, but which is transferred to another sack of like size and loaned to the applicant, for a valuable consideration.

During a recent visit to one of the reservations in Minnesota, I had occasion to confer with a Catholic missionary regarding some of the peculiar medical practices of the Indians, and the implements and other accessories employed in connection with their profession. He related the following incident as having but a short time previously come under his own personal observation:

One of the members of his church, a Norwegian, sixty-two years of age, and a widower, had for the last preceding year been considered by most of the residents as demented. The missionary himself had observed his erratic and frequently irrational conduct, and was impressed with the probable truth of the prevailing rumor. One morning, however, as the missionary was seated in his study, he was surprised to receive a very early call, and upon invitation his visitor took a seat and explained the object of his visit. He said that for the last year he had been so disturbed in his peace of mind that he now came to seek advice. He was fully aware of the common report respecting his conduct, but was utterly unable to control himself, and attributed the cause of his unfortunate condition to an occurrence of the year before. Upon waking one morning his thoughts were unwillingly concentrated upon an Indian woman with whom he had no personal acquaintance whatever, and, notwithstanding the absurdity of the impression, he was unable to cast it aside. After breakfast he was, by some inexplicable influence, compelled to call upon her, and to introduce himself, and although he expected to be able to avoid repeating the visit, he never had sufficient control over himself to resist lurking in the vicinity of her habitation.

Upon his return home after the first visit he discovered lying upon the floor under his bed, a Mide' sack which contained some small parcels with which he was unfamiliar, but was afterward told that one of them consisted of "love powder." He stated that he had grown children, and the idea of marrying again was out of the question, not only on their account but because he was now too old. The missionary reasoned with him and suggested a course of procedure, the result of which had not been learned when the incident was related.

Jugglery of another kind, to which allusion has before been made, is also attributed to the highest cla.s.s of Jes'sakkid'. Several years ago the following account was related to Col. Garrick Mallery, U.S. Army, and myself, and as Col. Mallery subsequently read a paper before the Anthropological Society of Was.h.i.+ngton, District of Columbia, in which the account was mentioned, I quote his words:

Paul Beaulieu, an Ojibwa of mixed blood, present interpreter at White Earth Agency, Minnesota, gave me his experience with a Jes'sakkid', at Leech Lake, Minnesota, about the year 1858. The reports of his wonderful performances had reached the agency, and as Beaulieu had no faith in jugglers, he offered to wager $100, a large sum, then and there, against goods of equal value, that the juggler could not perform satisfactorily one of the tricks of his repertoire to be selected by him (Beaulieu) in the presence of himself and a committee of his friends. The Jes'sakkan'--or Jes'sakkid' lodge--was then erected. The framework of vertical poles, inclined to the center, was filled in with interlaced twigs covered with blankets and birch-bark from the ground to the top, leaving an upper orifice of about a foot in diameter for the ingress and egress of spirits and the objects to be mentioned, but not large enough for the pa.s.sage of a man's body. At one side of the lower wrapping a flap was left for the entrance of the Jes'sakkid'.

A committee of twelve was selected to see that no communication was possible between the Jes'sakkid' and confederates. These were reliable people, one of them the Episcopal clergyman of the reservation. The spectators were several hundred in number, but they stood off, not being allowed to approach.

The Jes'sakkid' then removed his clothing, until nothing remained but the breech-cloth. Beaulieu took a rope (selected by himself for the purpose) and first tied and knotted one end about the juggler's ankles; his knees were then securely tied together, next the wrists, after which the arms were pa.s.sed over the knees and a billet of wood pa.s.sed through under the knees, thus securing and keeping the arms down motionless. The rope was then pa.s.sed around the neck, again and again, each time tied and knotted, so as to bring the face down upon the knees. A flat river-stone, of black color--which was the Jes'sakkid''s ma'nido or amulet--was left lying upon his thighs.

The Jes'sakkid' was then carried to the lodge and placed inside upon a mat on the ground, and the flap covering was restored so as to completely hide him from view.

Immediately loud, thumping noises were heard, and the framework began to sway from side to side with great violence; whereupon the clergyman remarked that this was the work of the Evil One and 'it was no place for him,' so he left and did not see the end. After a few minutes of violent movements and swayings of the lodge accompanied by loud inarticulate noises, the motions gradually ceased when the voice of the juggler was heard, telling Beaulieu to go to the house of a friend, near by, and get the rope. Now, Beaulieu, suspecting some joke was to be played upon him, directed the committee to be very careful not to permit any one to approach while he went for the rope, which he found at the place indicated, still tied exactly as he had placed it about the neck and extremities of the Jes'sakkid'. He immediately returned, laid it down before the spectators, and requested of the Jes'sakkid' to be allowed to look at him, which was granted, but with the understanding that Beaulieu was not to touch him.

When the covering was pulled aside, the Jes'sakkid' sat within the lodge, contentedly smoking his pipe, with no other object in sight than the black stone manido. Beaulieu paid his wager of $100.

An exhibition of similar pretended powers, also for a wager, was announced a short time after, at Yellow Medicine, Minnesota, to be given in the presence of a number of Army people, but at the threat of the Grand Medicine Man of the Leech Lake bands, who probably objected to interference with his lucrative monopoly, the event did not take place and bets were declared off.

Col. Mallery obtained further information, of a similar kind from various persons on the Bad River Reservation, and at Bayfield, Wisconsin. All of these he considered to be mere variants of a cla.s.s of performances which were reported by the colonists of New England and the first French missionaries in Canada as early as 1613, where the general designation of "The Sorcerers" was applied to the whole body of Indians on the Ottawa River. These reports, it must be remembered, however, applied only to the numerous tribes of the Algonkian linguistic family among which the alleged practices existed; though neighboring tribes of other linguistic groups were no doubt familiar with them, just as the Winnebago, Omaha, and other allied tribes, profess to have "Medicine Societies," the secrets of which they claim to have obtained from tribes located east of their own habitat, that practiced the peculiar ceremony of "shooting small sh.e.l.ls" (i.e., the mi'gis of the Ojibwa) into the candidate.

In Pl. XVIII is shown a Jes'sakkid' extracting sickness by sucking through bone tubes.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate XVIII Jes'akkid' Removing Disease.]

DZHIBAI' MIDE'WIGaN, OR "GHOST LODGE."

A structure erected by Indians for any purpose whatever, is now generally designated a lodge, in which sense the term is applied in connection with the word dzhibai'--ghost, or more appropriately shadow--in the above caption. This lodge is constructed in a form similar to that of the Mide'wigan, but its greatest diameter extends north and south instead of east and west. Further reference will be made to this in describing another method of conferring the initiation of the first degree of the Mide'wiwin. This distinction is attained by first becoming a member of the so-called "Ghost Society," in the manner and for the reason following:

After the birth of a male child it is customary to invite the friends of the family to a feast, designating at the same time a Mide' to serve as G.o.dfather and to dedicate the child to some special pursuit in life. The Mide' is governed in his decision by visions, and it thus sometimes happens that the child is dedicated to the "Grand Medicine," i.e., he is to be prepared to enter the society of the Mide'. In such a case the parents prepare him by procuring a good preceptor, and gather together robes, blankets, and other gifts to be presented at initiation.

Should this son die before the age of p.u.b.erty, before which period it is not customary to admit any one into the society, the father paints his own face as before described, viz, red, with a green stripe diagonally across the face from left to right, as in Pl. VI, No. 4, or red with two short horizontal parallel bars in green upon the forehead as in Pl. VI, No. 5, and announces to the chief Mide' priest his intention of becoming himself a member of the "Ghost Society" and his readiness to receive the first degree of the Mide'wiwin, as a subst.i.tute for his deceased son.

Other members of the mourner's family blacken the face, as shown on Pl.

VII, No. 5.

In due time a council of Mide' priests is called, who visit the wig'iwam of the mourner, where they partake of a feast, and the subject of initiation is discussed. This wig'iwam is situated south and east of the Mide'wigan, as shown in Fig. 35, which ill.u.s.tration is a reproduction of a drawing made by Sikas'sige.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 35.--Indian diagram of ghost lodge.]

The following is an explanation of the several characters:

No. 1 represents the wig'iwam of the mourner, which has been erected in the vicinity of the Mide'wigan, until after the ceremony of initiation.

No. 2 is the path supposed to be taken by the shadow (spirit) of the deceased; it leads westward to the Dzhibai' Mide'wigan; literally, shadow-spirit wig'iwam.

No. 3, 4, 5, and 6, designate the places where the spirit plucks the fruits referred to--respectively the strawberry, the blueberry, the June cherries, and the plum.

No. 7 designates the form and location of the Dzhihai' Mide'wigan. The central spot is the place of the dish of food for Dzhibai'

Man'ido--the good spirit--and the smaller spots around the interior of the inclosure are places for the deposit of dishes for the other Mide' spirits who have left this earth.

No. 8 is the path which is taken by the candidate when going from his wig'iwam to the Mide'wigan.

No. 9 indicates the place of the sweat-lodge, resorted to at other periods of initiation.

No. 10 is the Mide'wigan in which the ceremony is conducted at the proper time.

It is stated that in former times the Ghost Lodge was erected west of the location of the mourner's wig'iwam, but for a long time this practice has been discontinued. The tradition relating to the Spirit's progress is communicated orally, while the dramatic representation is confined to placing the dishes of food in the Mide'wigan, which is selected as a fitting and appropriate subst.i.tute during the night preceding the initiation.

This custom, as it was practiced, consisted of carrying from the mourner's wig'iwam to the Ghost Lodge the dishes of food for the spirits of departed Mide' to enjoy a feast, during the time that the Mide'

priests were partaking of one. A large dish was placed in the center of the structure by the mourner, from which the supreme Mide' spirit was to eat. Dishes are now carried to the Mide'wigan, as stated above.

The chief officiating Mide' then instructs the father of the deceased boy the manner in which he is to dress and proceed, as symbolizing the course pursued by the spirit of the son on the way to the spirit world.

The instructions are carried out, as far as possible, with the exception of going to an imaginary Ghost Lodge, as he proceeds only to the Mide'wigan and deposits the articles enumerated below. He is told to take one pair of bear-skin moccasins, one pair of wolf-skin, and one pair of birds' skins, in addition to those which he wears upon his feet; these are to be carried to the structure in which the Mide' spirits are feasting, walking barefooted, picking a strawberry from a plant on the right of the path and a blueberry from a bush on the left, plucking June cherries from a tree on the right and plums on the left. He is then to hasten toward the Ghost Lodge, which is covered with mi'gis, and to deposit the fruit and the moccasins; these will be used by his son's spirit in traveling the road of the dead after the spirits have completed their feast and reception of him. While the candidate is on his mission to the Ghost Lodge (for the time being represented by the Mide'wigan) the a.s.semblage in the wig'iwam chant the following for the mourner: Yan'-i-ma-tsha', yan'-i-ma-tsha', ha', yan'-i-ma-tsha'

yan'-i-ma-tsha' ha', yu'-te-no-win' ge', he' nin-de'-so-ne'--"I am going away, I am going away, I am going away, to the village I walk"--i.e., the village of the dead.

The person who desires to receive initiation into the Mide'wigan, under such circ.u.mstances, impersonates Minabo'zho, as he is believed to have penetrated the country of the abode of shadows, or ne'-ba-gi'-zis--"land of the sleeping sun." He, it is said, did this to destroy the "Ghost Gambler" and to liberate the many victims who had fallen into his power.

To be enabled to traverse this dark and dismal path, he borrowed of Ko-ko'-ko-o'--the owl--his eyes, and received also the services of we'-we-te'-si-wug--the firefly, both of which were sent back to the earth upon the completion of his journey. By referring to Pl. III, A, the reference to this myth will be observed as pictorially represented in Nos. 110 to 114. No. 110 is the Mide'wigan from which the traveler has to visit the Dzhibai' Mide'wigan (No. 112) in the west. No. 113, represented as Ko-ko'-ko-o'--the owl--whose eyes enabled Mi'nabo'zho to follow the path of the dead (No. 114); the owl skin Mide' sack is also sometimes used by Mide' priests who have received their first degree in this wise. The V-shaped characters within the circle at No. 111 denote the presence of spirits at the Ghost Lodge, to which reference has been made.

The presents which had been gathered as a gift or fee for the deceased are now produced and placed in order for transportation to the Mide'wigan, early on the following morning.

The Mide' priests then depart, but on the next morning several of them make their appearance to a.s.sist in clearing the Mide'wigan of the dishes which had been left there over night, and to carry thither the robes, blankets, and other presents, and suspend them from the rafters. Upon their return to the candidate's wig'iwam, the Mide' priests gather, and after the candidate starts to lead the procession toward the Mide'wigan, the priests fall in in single file, and all move forward, the Mide'

priests chanting the following words repeatedly, viz: Ki-e'-ne-kwo-ta'

ki-e'-ne-kwo-ta', ha', ha', ha', nos e'wi-e', he', ki'-na-ka'-ta-mun'

do-na'-gan--"I also, I also, my father, leave you my dish."

This is sung for the deceased, who is supposed to bequeath to his father his dish, or other articles the names of which are sometimes added.

The procession continues toward and into the Mide'wigan, pa.s.sing around the interior by the left side toward the west, north, and east to a point opposite the s.p.a.ce usually reserved for the deposit of goods, where the candidate turns to the right and stands in the middle of the inclosure, where he now faces the Mide' post in the west. The members who had not joined the procession, but who had been awaiting its arrival, now resume their seats, and those who accompanied the candidate also locate themselves as they desire, when the officiating priests begin the ceremony as described in connection with the initiation for the first degree after the candidate has been turned over to the chief by the preceptor.

Sometimes the mother of one who had been so dedicated to the Mide'wiwin is taken into that society, particularly when the father is absent or dead.

INITIATION BY SUBSt.i.tUTION.

It sometimes happens that a sick person can not be successfully treated by the Mide', especially in the wig'iwam of the patient, when it becomes necessary for the latter to be carried to the Mide'wigan and the services of the society to be held. This course is particularly followed when the sick person or the family can furnish a fee equivalent to the gift required for initiation under ordinary circ.u.mstances.

It is believed, under such conditions, that the evil man'idos can be expelled from the body only in the sacred structure, at which place alone the presence of Ki'ts.h.i.+ Man'ido may be felt, after invocation, and in return for his aid in prolonging the life of the patient the latter promises his future existence to be devoted to the practice and teachings of the Mide'wiwin. Before proceeding further, however, it is necessary to describe the method pursued by the Mide' priest.