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The amount of influence wielded by Midē´
generally, and particularly such as have received four degrees, is
beyond belief. The rite of the Midē´wiwin is deemed equivalent to a
religion—as that term is commonly understood by intelligent
people—and is believed to elevate such a Midē´ to the nearest
possible approach to the reputed character of Mi´nabō´zho,
and to place within his reach the supernatural power of invoking and
communing with Ki´tshi Man´idō
himself.
By reference to Pl. III, A, No. 98, it will be observed that the
human figure is specially marked with very pronounced indications of
mī´gis spots upon the head, the
extremities, and more particularly the breast. These are placed
where the migis was “shot” into the Midē´, and the functions of the
several parts are therefore believed to be greatly augmented. All
the spots are united by a line to denote unity and harmony of action
in the exercise of power.
The mī´gis, typical of the fourth degree, consists of small pieces
of deer horn, covered with red paint on one end and green upon the
other. Sometimes but one color is employed for the entire object.
The form is shown on Pl. XI, No. 6. No. 2, upon the same plate,
represents a shell, used as a mī´gis, observed at White Earth.
Figs. 5-11, on Pl. XV, present several forms of painting Midē´
posts, as practiced by the several societies in Minnesota. Each
society claims to preserve the ancient method. The cross, shown in
No. 7, bears the typical colors—red and green—upon the upper half,
while the lower post is square and colored white on the east, green
on the south, red on the west, and black on the north. The Midē´
explain the signification of the colors as follows: White represents
the east, the source of light and the direction from which the
sacred mī´gis came; green, sha´manō
the southern one, refers to the source of the rains, the direction
from which the Thunderers come in the spring, they who revivify the
earth; red refers to the land of the setting sun, the abode of the
shadows or the dead; and north being black, because that is the
direction from which come cold, hunger, and disease.
The words of the Midē´ priest alluding to “the path that has no end”
refer to the future course and conduct of the candidate for the last
degree, as well as to the possibility of attaining unlimited powers
in magic, and is pictorially designated upon the chart on Pl. III,
A, at No. 99. The path is devious and beset with temptations, but by
strict adherence to the principles of the Midē´wiwin the Midē´ may
reach the goal and become the superior of his confrères, designated
Mi-ni´-si-nō´-shkwe, “he who
lives on the island.”
A Midē´-Wâbĕnō´
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 Wâbĕnō´ 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 Wâbĕnō´ 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 Wâbĕnō´ of the higher grade is accredited.
The special pretensions claimed by the Midē-Wâbĕnō´ 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 Wâbĕnō´ carefully
deposits within his Midē´ 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 Midē´ 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 class of Jĕs´sakkīd´. 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 Washington, District of
Columbia, in which the account was mentioned, I quote his words:
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Paul Beaulieu, an Ojibwa of mixed blood, present
interpreter at White Earth Agency, Minnesota, gave me his
experience with a Jĕs´sakkīd´,
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 277
$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 Jĕs´sakkân´—or
Jĕs´sakkīd´ 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
passage of a man’s body. At one side of the lower wrapping a
flap was left for the entrance of the Jĕs´sakkīd´.
A committee of twelve was selected to see that no
communication was possible between the Jĕs´sakkīd´ 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 Jĕs´sakkīd´ 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 passed over the knees and a billet of wood
passed through under the knees, thus securing and keeping
the arms down motionless. The rope was then passed 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 Jĕs´sakkīd´’s ma´nidō
or amulet—was left lying upon his thighs.
The Jĕs´sakkīd´ 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 Jĕs´sakkīd´. He
immediately returned, laid it down before the spectators,
and requested of the Jĕs´sakkīd´ 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 Jĕs´sakkīd´ sat
within the lodge, contentedly smoking his pipe, with no
other object in sight than the black stone mánidō.
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 class
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 278
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
shells” (i.e., the mī´gis of the Ojibwa) into the candidate.
In Pl. XVIII is shown a Jĕs´sakkīd´ extracting sickness by sucking
through bone tubes.
This site includes some historical
materials that may imply negative stereotypes reflecting the culture or language
of a particular period or place. These items are presented as part of the
historical record and should not be interpreted to mean that the WebMasters in
any way endorse the stereotypes implied. The Midē Wiwin or Grand Medicine Society, 1891
The Midē Wiwin or Grand Medicine Society
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