The Mide'wiwin or "Grand Medicine Society" of the Ojibwa Part 30

[Ill.u.s.tration]

I am feeling for it.

[The Mide' is reaching into holes in the earth in search of hidden medicines.]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

I am talking to it.

[The Mide' is communing with the medicine Man'ido' with the Mide'

sack, which he holds in his hand. The voice lines extend from his mouth to the sack, which appears to be made of the skin of an Owl, as before noted in connection with the second character in this song.]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

They are sitting round the interior in a row.

[This evidently signifies the Ghost Lodge, as the structure is drawn at right angles to that usually made to represent the Mide'wigan, and also because it seems to be reproduced from the Red Lake chart already alluded to and figured in Pl. III, No. 112. The spirits or shadows, as the dead are termed, are also indicated by crosses in like manner.]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

You who are newly hung; you have reached half, and you are now full.

[The allusion is to three phases of the moon, probably having reference to certain periods at which some important ceremonies or events are to occur.]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

I am going for my dish.

[The speaker intimates that he is going to make a feast, the dish being shown at the top in the form of a circle; the footprints are directed toward, it and signify, by their shape, that he likens himself to the Bear man'ido, one of the guardians of the Midewiwin.]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

I go through the medicine lodge.

[The footprints within the parallel lines denote his having pa.s.sed through an unnamed number of degrees. Although the structure is indicated as being erected like the Ghost Lodge, i.e., north and south, it is stated that Midewiwin is intended. This appears to be an instance of the non-systematic manner of objective ideagraphic delineation.]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Let us commune with one another.

[The speaker is desirous of communing with his favorite man'idos, with whom he considers himself on an equality, as is indicated by the anthropomorphic form of one between whom and himself the voice lines extend.]

On Figs. 36-39, are reproduced several series of pictographs from birch-bark songs found among the effects of a deceased Mide' priest, at Leech Lake. Reference to other relics belonging to the same collection has been made in connection with effigies and beads employed by Mide' in the endeavor to prove the genuineness of their religion and profession.

These mnemonic songs were exhibited to many Mide' priests from various portions of the Ojibwa country, in the hope of obtaining some satisfactory explanation regarding the import of the several characters; but, although they were p.r.o.nounced to be "Grand Medicine," no suggestions were offered beyond the merest repet.i.tion of the name of the object or what it probably was meant to represent. The direction of their order was mentioned, because in most instances the initial character furnishes the guide. Apart from this, the ill.u.s.trations are of interest as exhibiting the superior character and cleverness of their execution.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 36.--Leech Lake Mide' song.]

The initial character on Fig. 36 appears to be at the right hand upper corner, and represents the Bear Man'ido. The third figure is that of the Mide'wiwin, with four man'idos within it, probably the guardians of the four degrees. The owner of the song was a Mide' of the second degree, as was stated in connection with his Mide'wi-gwas or "medicine chart,"

ill.u.s.trated on Plate III, C.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 37.--Leech Lake Mide' song.]

Fig. 37 represents what appears to be a mishkiki or medicine song, as is suggested by the figures of plants and roots. It is impossible to state absolutely at which side the initial character is placed, though it would appear that the human figure at the upper left hand corner would be more in accordance with the common custom.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 38.--Leech Lake Mide' song.]

Fig. 38 seems to pertain to hunting, and may have been recognized as a hunter's chart. According to the belief of several Mide', it is lead from right to left, the human figure indicating the direction according to the way in which the heads of the crane, bear, etc., are turned. The lower left hand figure of a man has five marks upon the breast, which probably indicate mi'gis spots, to denote the power of magic influence possessed by the recorder.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 39.--Leech Lake Mide' song.]

The characters on Fig. 39 are found to be arranged so as to read from the right hand upper corner toward the left, the next line continuing to the right and lastly again to the left, terminating with the figure of a Mide' with the mi'gis upon his breast. This is interesting on account of the boustrophic system of delineating the figures, and also because such instances are rarely found to occur.

DRESS AND ORNAMENTS.

While it is customary among many tribes of Indians to use as little clothing as possible when engaged in dancing, either of a social or ceremonial nature, the Ojibwa, on the contrary, vie with one another in the attempt to appear in the most costly and gaudy dress attainable. The Ojibwa Mide' priests, take particular pride in their appearance when attending ceremonies of the Mide' Society, and seldom fail to impress this fact upon visitors, as some of the Dakotan tribes, who have adopted similar medicine ceremonies after the custom of their Algonkian neighbors, are frequently without any clothing other than the breechcloth and moccasins, and the armlets and other attractive ornaments. This disregard of dress appears, to the Ojibwa, as a sacrilegious digression from the ancient usages, and it frequently excites severe comment.

Apart from facial ornamentation, of such design as may take the actor's fancy, or in accordance with the degree of which the subject may be a member, the Mide' priests wear shirts, trousers, and moccasins, the first two of which may consist of flannel or cloth and be either plain or ornamented with beads, while the latter are always of buckskin, or, what is more highly prized, moose skin, beaded or worked with colored porcupine quills.

Immediately below each knee is tied a necessary item of an Ojibwa's dress, a garter, which consists of a band of beads varying in different specimens from 2 to 4 inches in width, and from 18 to 20 inches in length, to each end of which strands of colored wool yarn, 2 feet long, are attached so as to admit of being pa.s.sed around the leg and tied in a bow-knot in front. These garters are made by the women in such patterns as they may be able to design or elaborate. On Pl. XXIII are reproductions of parts of two patterns which are of more than ordinary interest, because of the symbolic signification of the colors and the primitive art design in one, and the subst.i.tution of colors and the introduction of modern designs in the other. The upper one consists of green, red, and white beads, the first two colors being in accord with those of one of the degree posts, while the white is symbolical of the mi'gis sh.e.l.l. In the lower ill.u.s.tration is found a subst.i.tution of color for the preceding, accounted for by the Mide' informants, who explained that neither of the varieties of beads of the particular color desired could be obtained when wanted. The yellow beads are subst.i.tuted for white, the blue for green, and the orange and pink for red. The design retains the lozenge form, though in a different arrangement, and the introduction of the blue border is adapted after patterns observed among their white neighbors. In the former is presented also what the Ojibwa term the groundwork or type of their original style of ornamentation, i.e., wavy or gently zigzag lines. Later art work consists chiefly of curved lines, and this has gradually become modified through instruction from the Catholic sisters at various early mission establishments until now, when there has been brought about a common system of working upon cloth or velvet, in patterns, consisting of vines, leaves, and flowers, often exceedingly attractive though not aboriginal in the true sense of the word.

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

Mide' Dancing Garters.]

Bands of flannel or buckskin, handsomely beaded, are sometimes attached to the sides of the pantaloons, in imitation of an officer's stripes, and around the bottom. Collars are also used, in addition to necklaces of claws, sh.e.l.ls, or other objects.

Armlets and bracelets are sometimes made of bands of beadwork, though bra.s.s wire or pieces of metal are preferred.

Bags made of cloth, beautifully ornamented or entirely covered with beads, are worn, supported at the side by means of a broad band or baldric pa.s.sing over the opposite shoulder. The head is decorated with disks of metal and tufts of colored horse hair or moose hair and with eagle feathers to designate the particular exploits performed by the wearer.

Few emblems of personal valor or exploits are now worn, as many of the representatives of the present generation have never been actively engaged in war, so that there is generally found only among the older members the practice of wearing upon the head eagle feathers bearing indications of significant markings or cuttings. A feather which has been split from the tip toward the middle denotes that the wearer was wounded by an arrow. A red spot as large as a silver dime painted upon a feather shows the wearer to have been wounded by a bullet. The privilege of wearing a feather tipped with red flannel or horse hair dyed red is recognized only when the wearer has killed an enemy, and when a great number have been killed in war the so-called war bonnet is worn, and may consist of a number of feathers exceeding the number of persons killed, the idea to be expressed being "a great number," rather than a specific enumeration.

Although the Ojibwa admit that in former times they had many other specific ways of indicating various kinds of personal exploits, they now have little opportunity of gaining such distinction, and consequently the practice has fallen into desuetude.

FUTURE OF THE SOCIETY.

According to a treaty now being made between the United States Government and the Ojibwa Indians, the latter are to relinquish the several areas of land at present occupied by them and to remove to portions of the Red Lake and White Earth Reservations and take lands in severalty. By this treaty about 4,000,000 acres of land will be ceded to the Government, and the members of the various bands will become citizens of the United States, and thus their tribal ties will be broken and their primitive customs and rites be abandoned.

The chief Mide' priests, being aware of the momentous consequences of such a change in their habits, and foreseeing the impracticability of much longer continuing the ceremonies of so-called "pagan rites," became willing to impart them to me, in order that a complete description might be made and preserved for the future information of their descendants.

There is scarcely any doubt that these ceremonies will still be secretly held at irregular intervals; but under the watchful care of the national authorities it is doubtful whether they will be performed with any degree of completeness, and it will be but a comparatively short time before the Mide'wiwin will be only a tradition.