upon an inductive study of the data; but we have seen that, by means of
two powerful tendencies, he in reality based his interpretation upon a
deductive study. He does, it is true, claim that the existence of these
tendencies was established inductively; but even if we were to grant
this, it is apparent that he subsequently disassociated the tendencies
from the data, and used them as new entities from which to re-interpret
the facts.
It has been pointed out before that Schurtz did not believe that the
absence of any or all of the “symptoms” constituted an argument against
his theory. In the same way, any evidences of convergent evolution, of
the appearance of “symptoms” of higher stages associated with those of
a lower stage, would not militate against his position. Such phenomena
were to be regarded as purely adventitious. Dissemination of cultures,
he held, was possible; but, although similarities due to such an agency
might obscure the normal development, this normal development could
hardly be fundamentally disarranged thereby.
* * * * *
The theory of Schurtz might be examined from two points of view. One
might critically examine the validity of the assumptions _per se_, and
the justifiability of his inferences; or one might temporarily lay
aside the theory entirely, and examine the data individually. It is the
latter method of approach that I shall here adopt.
With this purpose in view, I have selected for examination and
interpretation the data furnished by the Ojibwa-Menominee Midewiwin,
the Winnebago Medicine Dance, and the Omaha Shell and Pebble Societies.
The investigation of specific data will, however, not have any general
validity, unless it can be shown that their specific content is the
result of certain very general psychological tendencies.
The common elements in the ceremonial complexes have led to the
predication of their identity, and it will be best therefore to begin
our study with an analysis of them.
III. THE SHOOTING RITUAL.—It might perhaps be expedient, before
discussing the phenomena of “shooting” in general, to analyze what is
supposed to be its precise nature among the various tribes possessing
it in one form or another. Generally speaking, the essential idea
lies in the simulation of being shot by a missile, and re-acting by
simulating muscular contractions until the individual falls prone
upon the ground. The general theory of the Ojibwa-Menominee and of
the Winnebago is, that death must thereupon normally result, but that
certain conditions may change this fatal effect into one of temporary
unconsciousness. Among the Omaha, the simulated death is interpreted
as the dramatic representation of the death of certain persons known
in the ceremony of the Shell Society as “children.” Among the Santee
Dakota, it seems to have had no very definite meaning.[16]
The Ojibwa,[17] Menominee,[18] Winnebago, and Dakota are at one in
interpreting the effects of the shooting as the result of the magical
powers inherent in the missile used. Efficiency in shooting, however,
depends not merely upon the missile, but also upon the shaman using it.
According to the esoteric interpretation of the Winnebago, the specific
results could only be obtained by being a member of the Medicine Dance.
There are indications that this specific efficacy was associated with
the general magical power of shamans,—a power that had been obtained
through personal visions, not in any way connected with this society.
For the Ojibwa-Menominee, this latter seems to have been by far the
more important source for efficacy. For example, the otter-skin bag
could be used with the same effect quite apart from the performances of
the Midewiwin. In the Omaha ceremonies it is not quite clear exactly
what renders the shooting efficacious, and whether the result is
inherent in the magical power of the missile.
In all the ritualistic complexes there are variations both as to the
manner in which the shooting is done, and as to the portion of the body
aimed at. Excluding the Omaha societies, these variations in all cases
depend upon the status of membership. The Ojibwa-Menominee shooting is
in nature and in interpretation quite similar to that of the Winnebago;
while the Omaha presents a number of variations from the type.
In the Ojibwa-Menominee ceremonies the shooting ritual is always
associated with the admission of a new member. This includes, of
course, also the initiation of individuals into higher degrees,
wherever such exist. The shooting is done principally by the newly
initiated individual, because he is supposed to be trying his powers.
There occurs, besides this, a general shooting, in which all members
indulge, and which is supposed to increase their shooting powers. The
strengthening of their power is supposed to resist the effects of
the shot. Among the Omaha this general shooting is unassociated with
initiation, while among the Winnebago it is found associated both with
initiation and with the basic ceremony. It is therefore of considerable
importance to understand what relation this general shooting ritual
bears to the specific shooting associated with initiation. Shooting is
either an element primarily associated with initiation, and afterwards
separated, or it is some general element that has become associated
with any of a large number of other cultural elements. In order to
determine this, we have next to examine with what elements shooting
becomes associated.
Among the Kwakiutl[19] there is a dance in which an individual
(mā′maq’a) throws disease into the people. This disease is represented
by some object, either a stick or a harpoon-head. The shooting has
precisely the same effect as in the Medicine Dance. No association of
shooting of any kind occurs with initiation into a society.
The Kwakiutl example brings up the real question involved in the
shooting. To what extent is the shooting ritual of the Medicine
Dance of the Winnebago merely one of the forms of disease-throwing
which is so common a practice of sympathetic magic? The Central
Algonkin Midewiwin are really loose associations of men and women,
whose powers are obtained more from individual revelations obtained
outside of the Midewiwin than from the benefits of membership in that
society. Shamanistic practices appear to form an integral part of
this society. But apart from this, the shooting of disease, or of any
malignant power, at an enemy, is an extremely common feature among
the Central Algonkin as it is among all other American shamans. The
question that presents itself is, whether the shooting, as found in the
Ojibwa-Menominee and Winnebago Medicine Societies, is not one aspect of
this same general shamanistic practice.
To judge from the speeches and the songs of these societies, the main
religious function is to obtain the power to resist the influence
of the shot. The muscular contortions and the various movements the
individual shot at goes through, are intended to be symbolical of this
resistance. What the members expect to obtain are powers sufficiently
strong to resist any malignant influences that they might meet in the
general course of a lifetime; that is, we are dealing with a very
general manifestation of shamanism, and we ought therefore not to
be surprised to find it wherever shamanism occurs, either entirely
unassociated, or associated with a large number of different elements.
We find it unassociated in a large number of places scattered over
North America. Among the Kwakiutl it is associated with a certain
dance; among the Central Algonkin and Winnebago, with initiation. If it
can now be shown that among the Omaha, and among the Winnebago also,
we find it again in a different association, then the association of
shooting with an initiation ritual will have to be regarded as one
of a number of complexes into which shooting has entered. Whether,
in a specific case, shooting, or the initiation-shooting complex, is
historically related to a similar ritual among other tribes, is a
question that only direct historical evidence or a strong historical
probability can determine. The presence of shooting in a number of
different ceremonies, however, will not in itself demonstrate any
relationship between these ceremonies.
We will now examine the nature of the complex with which shooting
is associated in the night division of the general ceremony of the
Winnebago Medicine Dance and in the Omaha Pebble and Shell Society.
A large number of the societies among the Winnebago and Omaha are based
on the common possession of revelations from the same animal. We may
have a society “of those who have had communication with the Thunders,”
or with the Nights, or with the Grizzly Bear, or what not. The bond
of such a society is generally expressed outwardly, by the possession
of some “gift” which is intimately connected with the animal, be it
a head-dress, a tail, facial decorations, or the right to the use of
a certain drum, etc. The only society among the Winnebago where no
revelation is required for admission is the Medicine Dance. There are,
however, a number of elements which connect the Medicine Dance with
the other type of society so common among the Winnebago. For instance,
there is an outward mark of membership; namely, the otter-skin and the
“migis.”[20] On the warpath the Winnebago wraps the otter-skin around
his shoulder to signify that, as a member of the Medicine Dance, he
is protected from the attacks of his enemies. In the shooting ritual
of the night division of the general ceremony of the Medicine Dance,
and in the Medicine Feast, there are a number of features similar to
those of the Winnebago Buffalo, Grizzly Bear, Night, etc., Societies.
From the point of view of organization, the only difference would
seem to be, that, instead of a common bond lying in a supernatural
communication, it lies here in the mutual shooting. If we wished to
describe the Medicine Dance in terms of Winnebago society norms, we
might call it a “society of those who shoot one another.” The shooting
forms an integral part of the ritualistic complex, much in the same
way as do the set songs and the set speeches. In the basic ritual of
the day ceremony, the shooting occurs in two combinations,—on the one
hand, as an initiation-shooting-complex, set off more or less from
the general ceremony; and, on the other hand, in a complex that is a
repetition of one which occurs at night, and which forms unquestionably
the basic portion of the entire Medicine Dance. We will return to a
discussion of this subsequently.
Shooting in the Omaha Pebble and Shell Societies is associated
precisely in the same manner as in the basic ritual of the Medicine
Dance. In the Pebble Society we have, as a matter of fact, exactly the
condition which we assumed might perhaps be the correct interpretation
of the Medicine Dance. The society is named “Those who shoot the
Pebble.” In the Shell Society the bond of union is similarly the
shooting, the society being called “Those who shoot with a Shell.”
It therefore seems quite probable, taking into account the fact that
three Siouan (one Winnebago and two Omaha) societies present a shooting
feature in their basic rituals, that this ritualistic complex is a
general characteristic of this area. To sum up, a shooting ritual
has entered into a complex quite different from that existing among
the Kwakiutl, Central Algonkin Midewiwin, and in one part of the day
ceremony of the Winnebago Medicine Dance. We must therefore conclude
that the association of shooting with initiation is merely one of many
possible associations, and that the shooting found in the basic complex
must be regarded as historically different from the shooting found in
the initiation complex.
Returning to the question of shooting as associated with an initiation
ritual, it must be granted that it is somewhat improbable that
this particular association should have arisen independently among
two tribes living in closely contiguous geographical areas. We may
therefore assume that the Winnebago either borrowed from the Central
Algonkin, or _vice versa_. All indications point to the former as
having been the case.
The shooting, then, as found in the societies discussed, is merely one
phase of sympathetic magic. A cultural element common to a very large
area has become associated with a special significance and with special
ceremonies. For the cultural areas discussed, this association seems
to have developed into two types of complexes,—the shooting-initiation
complex of the Central Algonkin, and the basic complex of the Omaha and
Winnebago.
IV. THE INITIATION RITUAL.—The elements common to the Central Algonkin
Midewiwin and to the Winnebago Medicine Dance consist of two parts,—an
initiation and a shooting. Of these, the shooting was shown to have
been a more or less free element, capable among other tribes of
entering into an indefinite number of associations; that, indeed, in
the Medicine Dance itself, it had become associated with two different
ritualistic complexes. We have already examined the shooting ritual;
and we will therefore proceed to examine the initiation ritual, in
order to understand its precise significance and its position in the
general ceremony and in the complete ceremonial complex of the Medicine
Dance.
1. _Ojibwa-Menominee._—The simplicity of the organization of the
Ojibwa-Menominee Midewiwin impresses one at a glance. Only a small
number of individuals take active part. It is similarly impossible
to discern any elaborate ritual. A few ritualistic myths are told,
some songs sung, speeches delivered, and then preparations are made
for the shooting of the novice. The ceremony practically ends as
soon as the shooting terminates. In this semi-public performance
there is practically only one ritualistic complex, that of the
shooting-initiation. The only purpose of this complex seems likewise to
be the initiation of an individual into the Midewiwin.
This initiation ritual, we know, is only the terminal element in a long
course of instruction which the novice must go through. It is during
this instruction that the specific teachings and practices of the
Midewiwin are elucidated, and it is then that the symbolism used in the
bark records is explained.
These teachings and practices, apart from some ethical teachings of
the most general nature, vary with each mide. In each case the novice
is taught the mide’s individual songs, his particular tricks and
practices, his specific herbs, and the uses to which he puts them. The
bond connecting the teaching of the mides is of the loosest nature.
When the instruction is over (and it is over as soon as the novice has
exhausted the wealth he expects to spend in each particular case),
the novice is ready for initiation. But into what is he really being
initiated? It would seem purely into the powers purchased from a
certain mide. If this particular mide did not chance to be a member of
the Midewiwin, the same or an extremely similar method of transference
of personal powers would be gone through. In other words, the novice
is being initiated into the status of a mide. If one may speak of any
formal initiation here, it consists in giving to the new mide some
object which is generally regarded as a symbol of the preceptor’s
power. It may be a medicine-pouch, or herbs, or anything, in fact.
But is this not precisely what takes place at the initiation into the
Midewiwin? There, a person is presented with the “migis” and otter-skin
bag, which is symbolical of the powers of a certain type of shaman, the
mide.
The Midewiwin, from this point of view, is hardly a society at all. It
does, nevertheless, possess some of the essential characteristics of a
society: a number of individuals form a rather definite unit, owing to
their possessing in common a number of ritualistic myths, a symbol and
common status, in the eyes of outsiders.
As a society, the Midewiwin presents no such unit as does the definite
organization of the Winnebago Medicine Dance or the Omaha Shell and
Pebble Societies. The bond of unity in the Midewiwin lies in the fact
that all members are mide. An individual is a mide, however, not by
reason of membership in the Midewiwin. The powers that make him a mide
have nothing to do with the Midewiwin at all. They are purely personal.
The Midewiwin is primarily, then, an association of mide; not of
individuals who have become mide because they belong to that society.
It is because of this fact that the individuality of the members is
so potent a factor, and it is because of this fact that no strong
ceremonial unit exists. It is for the same reason that initiation into
the society presents, in all its essentials, the picture of a normal
transference of individual mide power.
Historically I do not doubt that it really is such a transference.
As the idea of the Midewiwin as a ceremonial unit developed more
definitely, the individual transference of the individual mide power
may have become associated with initiation into the Midewiwin itself.
It is perfectly natural, when all the mide became members of the
Midewiwin, that the transference of power should not have been thought
of apart from the society to which the mide belonged. It thus followed
that obtaining knowledge from a mide would be synonymous with joining
the Midewiwin.
As the Midewiwin grew in popularity, and as all the mide and a
majority of the other members of the tribe joined it, there came
to be associated with it certain specific benefits, that had in
themselves nothing at all to do with the mide, but which were
generally characteristic of Central Algonkin culture. The association
of these specific benefits played necessarily an important part in
the history of the society, because it meant that an individual, in
joining the society, obtained much more than certain mide powers. He
obtained, in fact, all the mide powers, plus those specific benefits
which membership in the Midewiwin now brought with it. Through the
transference of the objects symbolical of the mide’s power,—“the migis”
and the otter-skin bag,—shooting now initiated him not only into the
status of a mide, but also into that of a member of a society with an
esoteric ritual. The shooting itself no longer bore the impress of
a general shamanistic practice, but stood as a symbol of initiation
into a society. At the transference of individual shamanistic power,
shooting did not occur. It must consequently have become associated
with initiation when the loose union of the mide developed into a more
or less definite society.
Summing up briefly, we may be justified in saying that the initiation
ritual of the Ojibwa-Menominee Midewiwin is a transference of
individual power as found among the individual mide, modified by the
addition of another element, the shooting-incident. The initiation
can in no way be regarded as necessarily associated with shooting, but
this association will have to be regarded as simply a characteristic
of the Central Algonkin Midewiwin. In other words, just as “shooting”
may enter into an indefinite number of associations, conditioned by the
cultural individuality of an area, so initiation may similarly enter
into an indefinite number of combinations.
2. _Shell Society._—In the Shell Society of the Omaha there is no
specific initiation ceremony. According to the origin legend, an
animal appears to a family consisting of father, mother, and four
children, and helps them to obtain food. They, in order to show their
gratitude, offer him their children. The children are subsequently
shot and killed. As they lie on the shore of a lake, four tremendous
waves sweep them away. They afterwards emerge from the midst of the
lake, and assure their parents that, although they are dead, they are
quite content, and they would advise them to put off their mourning,
return to their own tribe, and form a society. They could obtain new
members by selling to other people the powers they had obtained. The
shooting that occurs in the ceremony proper, and which is interpreted
by the Omaha as a dramatic representation of the shooting of the
four children, has nothing to do with initiation into the society.
Initiation consists entirely in the transference of certain knowledge
and symbols by one of the owners of the society to any individual who
is considered eligible, and who has paid the requisite price.
As a matter of fact, only members are shot. The shooting, whatever
may have been its original significance, is here but one element in
an intricate ritualistic complex similar to the basic ritual of the
Winnebago Medicine Dance. Its purpose seems to be exclusively that of
“strengthening” the powers of the members.
Anything approaching the dramatic initiation into the Midewiwin does
not exist. Admission into the society is in no way connected with the
shooting ritual, although the shooting ritual is actually found in the
society.
3. _Pebble Society._—The nature of initiation into the Pebble Society
is not definitely known. As membership, however, depends upon
supernatural communications from the same animal, it probably is the
same as that found among other Omaha societies of the same kind.
Initiation would thus consist in the obtaining of the supernatural
communication itself. Every person who has had a supernatural
communication with a spirit—in this particular case, the water
spirit—is eligible for membership into the society. Shooting is found,
but it is in no way connected with admission or initiation into the
society. It has, it would seem, practically the same significance as in
the Shell Society.
4. _Medicine Dance._—In the Winnebago Medicine Dance, membership
does not depend upon supernatural communication of any kind, but
must be purchased from the leader of one of the five bands. A long
preparation is necessary, lasting in olden times as long as four
years. The individual is then initiated into certain of the teachings
of the society. It makes no difference into which of the five bands
he is initiated. The knowledge he obtains will, to all intents and
purposes, be the same, excluding certain songs. This does not mean,
of course, that there may not be information belonging to the member
as an individual, which is taught to the novice; but it is understood
that any powers belonging specifically to an individual, and which
the novice wishes to purchase, have primarily no connection with the
society. As every leader is likely to be a prominent shaman as well
as a member of the Medicine Dance, it would be quite impossible to
draw a hard and fast line between what belongs specifically to him as
a shaman, and what belongs to him as a member of the Medicine Dance.
However, it is generally understood that a leader is initiating an
individual into those powers that are the special property of the
society.
As among the Ojibwa-Menominee, initiation is accompanied by a formal
transfer of a “shell” and of an otter-skin bag. Externally the general
ceremony of the Medicine Dance might consequently be regarded as
similar to the semi-public ceremony of the Midewiwin. There are two
features, however, which stand out prominently in the general ceremony
of the former, which must be explained before we can accept this
external similarity as real. They are, first, the peculiar position
of the initiation ritual of the general ceremony; and, secondly, the
presence of another ritual, the basic ritual, and the importance it
assumes.