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 Manido. The third figure is that of the Midewiwin, with four manidos 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 Midewi-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 hunters 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 migis 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 migis 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 actors 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 Ojibwas 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 migis 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 officers 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 Midewiwin will be only a tradition.
Errata for Midewiwin:
A number of Ojibwa words are recorded with w where the correct form has b. Since w:b is not an attested dialectal variation, these may be mishearings on the part of the original transcriber. Other errors such as G:S or h:k can be attributed to misreading of handwritten text.
Variations and inconsistencies (unchanged):
Ojibwa : Ojibway Manido(s) : Manido(s) [_throughout text_]
Bois Forts [_modern name Bois Forte, but Forts is common in early texts_]
INDEX: [_all spellings unchanged_]
[Note 11] History of the Ojebway Indians, London [1843(?)]
[_question mark and brackets in original_]
sacred objects which Minabozho had deposited [_word is usually spelled Minabozho_]
Before proceeding further with the explanation of the Mide [_word is usually spelled Mide_]
The bear going to the Midewigan [_word is usually spelled Midewign_]
The boy then narrated ... man-i-do n-gi-gin-o-a-mk [_the apostrophe in n-gi-gin-o-a-mk occurs nowhere else in the text; it may be phonetic (elision of i?) or an error_]
Corrections:
A-mi-kun-dem mi-e-ta -bi-d.i.n.k [-wi-d.i.n.k]
the Midewiwin was at that time held annually [Midwiwin]
shall guard it during the night [shal]
Aminikanzibi [Annibikanzibi]
calling upon the other Manidos to join him [_text reads to / to at line break_]
This wigiwam is dome-shaped measures about 10 feet in diameter [_text unchanged: and measures, measuring?_]
shooting the migis (see Fig. 15) is explained on page 215 [_text reads page 192 (page number of Fig. 15)_]
Ni-nin-de, a-ya [Ni-nin-de, e, o, ya]
Ne-wode-e. [He-wog, e, e]
Gagainwunsh-- Raven Tree. [Sagainwunsh]
Iskigomeaush-- Sap-flows-fast. [Ishigomeaush]
Yellow Birch. Winnissik. [Wiumissik]
White Birch. Wigwas. [Migwas]
Kinebigwoshk-- Snake weed or Snake Vine. [Kinewigwoshk]
Sunflower. Pukitewubbokuns. [Pukitewukbokuns]
Makademiskwiminok-- Black Blood Berry. [Makadewiskwiminok]
Choke Cherry. Sisanweminakonsh. [Sisanwewinaknsh]
Okwemish-- Scabby Bark. [Okwewish]
at the time during which the investigations were made [_text reads investiga/gations at line break_]
Wabosominisok-- Rabbit berries [Wabosaminisok]
Culvers Root. Wisogedzhibik [Wisogedzhiwik]
h.o.a.ry Willow. Sisigobemish. [Sisigewemish]
_Symphoricarpos vulgaris_ [Symphoricarpus]
(_Gen. et sp. ?_) Termed Kinebik wanshkons and Snake weed.
[_Smilacina racemosa: False Solomons seal_]
(_Gen. et sp. ?_) Kitshiodeiminibok-- Big Heart Leaf.
[_Potentilla spp.: Cinquefoil_]
Waterleaf. Bunkitebaguns. [Hunkitewaguus]
Downy Yellow Violet. Ogitebaguns.
[... Violet, Ogitewaguns]