The Midewiwin or Grand Medicine Society of the Ojibwa | Page 3

Reproduced from the ninth volume of the New York Colonial Documents, pp. 1054, 1055.]
[Illustration: Plate II. Ojibwa Indian Reservations in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
I Red Lake. II White Earth. III Winnibigoshish. IV Cass Lake. V Leech Lake. VI Deer Creek. VII Bois Forte. VIII Vermillion Lake. IX Fond du Lac. X Mille Lacs. XI Lac Court Ore?-lle. 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 Mid?��?��wiwin, Society of the Mid?��?�� or Shamans, popularly designated as the a�?Grand Medicine Society,a� 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 Mid?��?��, the Jes?��sakk??d?��, or the W?��b??n??��, but the term sorcerer or juggler is generally employed to designate that class 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 Mid?��?�� constitute 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 classes 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 class 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 a�?sorcerers or jugglersa� 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 cura�?d: 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 a�?em, in order to divert a�?em. To conclude, when they are ill, they are always visited by a sort of Quacks, (Jongleurs); of whom a�?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 cura�?d 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 a�?em as Fools that have lost their Senses by some violent Distemper, yet they allow a�?em to visit the Sick; whether it be to divert a�?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 possessa�?d. When all the Bustle is over, they demand a Feast of a Stag and some large Trouts for the Company, who are thus regala�?d 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 a�?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