The Mide'wiwin or "Grand Medicine Society" of the Ojibwa: Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1885-1886, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1891, pages 143-300
The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mide'wiwin or "Grand Medicine Society"of the Ojibwa, by Walter James HoffmanThis eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and withalmost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away orre-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License includedwith this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.orgTitle: The Mide'wiwin or "Grand Medicine Society" of the Ojibwa Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1885-1886, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1891, pages 143-300Author: Walter James HoffmanRelease Date: September 25, 2006 [EBook #19368]Language: EnglishCharacter set encoding: UTF-8*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GRAND MEDICINE SOCIETY ***Produced by Louise Hope, Carlo Traverso, and the OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (Thisfile was produced from images generously made availableby the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) athttp://gallica.bnf.fr, with additional images fromhttp://www.1st-hand-history.org/) [Transcriber’s Note: This e-text includes a few characters that can only be viewed with utf-8 (unicode) encoding: ā ē ī ō ū : vowel with macron (“long” mark) ă ĕ ĭ ŏ ŭ : vowel with breve (“short” mark) ⁿ : small raised n If these characters do not display properly--in particular, if the diacritic does not appear directly above the letter--or if ...
The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mide'wiwin or "Grand Medicine Society"
of the Ojibwa, by Walter James Hoffman
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: The Mide'wiwin or "Grand Medicine Society" of the Ojibwa
Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the
Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1885-1886,
Government Printing Office, Washington, 1891, pages 143-300
Author: Walter James Hoffman
Release Date: September 25, 2006 [EBook #19368]
Language: English
Character set encoding: UTF-8
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GRAND MEDICINE SOCIETY ***
Produced by Louise Hope, Carlo Traverso, and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at
http://gallica.bnf.fr, with additional images from
http://www.1st-hand-history.org/)
[Transcriber’s Note:
This e-text includes a few characters that can only be viewed with
utf-8 (unicode) encoding:
ā ē ī ō ū : vowel with macron (“long” mark)
ă ĕ ĭ ŏ ŭ : vowel with breve (“short” mark)
ⁿ : small raised n
If these characters do not display properly--in particular, if
the diacritic does not appear directly above the letter--or if the
quotation marks in this paragraph appear as garbage, you may need to
change your text reader’s “file encoding” or “character set”, or use
a different font. Note that the accent marks, as in “Midē´wiwin,” are
_not_ meant to display on top of any letter. As a last resort, use
the ascii-7 version of this file instead.
The music is available in two forms, collected in the “files”
directory associated 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.
Variant spellings and typographical errors are listed at the end of
the text. Bracketed passages other than footnotes or illustration tags
are in the original.] * * * * *
THE MIDĒ´WIWIN OR “GRAND MEDICINE SOCIETY”
of
THE OJIBWA.
by
W. J. HOFFMAN.
* * * * *
CONTENTS.
Page
Introduction 149
Shamans 156
Midē´wiwin 164
Midē´wigân 187
First degree 189
Preparatory instruction 189
Midē´ 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´ Midē´wigân 278
Initiation by substitution 281
Supplementary notes 286
Pictography 286
Music 289
Dress and ornaments 298
Future of the society 299
ILLUSTRATIONS.
[Plates and Figures were numbered continuously within each Bureau
of Ethnology volume, so there is no Plate I in this article.]
Page
Plate II. Map showing present
distribution of Ojibwa 150
III. Red Lake and Leech Lake records 166
IV. Sikas´sige’s record 170
V. Origin of Âníshinâ´bēg 172
VI. Facial decoration 174
VII. Facial decoration 178 VIII. Ojibwa’s 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. Jĕs´sakkīd´ removing disease 278
XIX. Birch-bark records 286
XX. Sacred bark scroll and contents 288
XXI. Midē´ relics from Leech Lake 390
XXII. Mnemonic songs 392
XXIII. Midē´ dancing garters 298
Fig. 1. Herbalist preparing medicine
and treating patient 159
2. Sikas´sigĕ’s combined charts,
showing descent of Mī´nabō´zho 174
3. Origin of ginseng 175
4. Peep-hole post 178
5. Migration of Âníshinâ´bēg 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. Eshgibō´ga 187
10. Diagram of Midē´wigân
of the first degree 188
11. Interior of Midē´wigân 188
12. Ojibwa drums 190
13. Midē´ rattle 191
14. Midē´ rattle 191
15. Shooting the Mīgis 192
16. Wooden beads 205
17. Wooden effigy 205
18. Wooden effigy 205
19. Hawk-leg fetish 220
20. Hunter’s medicine 222
21. Hunter’s medicine 222
22. Wâbĕnō´ drum 223
23. Diagram of Midē´wigân
of the second degree 224
24. Midē´ destroying an enemy 238
25. Diagram of Midē´wigân
of the third degree 240
26. Jĕs´sakkân´, or juggler’s lodge 252
27. Jĕs´sakkân´, or juggler’s lodge 252
28. Jĕs´sakkân´, or juggler’s lodge 252
29. Jĕs´sakkân´, or juggler’s lodge 252
30. Jĕs´sakkân´, or juggler’s lodge 252
31. Jĕs´sakkīd´ curing woman 255
32. Jĕs´sakkīd´ curing man 255
33. Diagram of Midē´wigân
of the fourth degree 255
34. General view of Midē´wigân 256
35. Indian diagram of ghost lodge 279
36. Leech Lake Midē´ song 295
37. Leech Lake Midē´ song 296
38. Leech Lake Midē´ song 297
39. Leech Lake Midē´ song 297THE MIDĒ´WIWIN 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 passed 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 latitude, 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