Under ordinary circumstances it requires at least one year before a
Midē´ of the third grade is considered eligible for promotion, and it is
seldom that a candidate can procure the necessary presents within that
period, so that frequently a number of years elapse before any
intimation by a candidate is made to the chief priest that the necessary
requirements can be complied with. The chief reason of this delay is
attributed to the fact that the fee to the officiating priests alone
must equal in value and quantity four times the amount paid at the first
initiation, and as the success in gathering the robes, skins, blankets,
etc., depends upon the candidate’s own exertions it will readily appear
why so few ever attain the distinction sought. Should one be so
fortunate, however, as to possess the required articles, he has only to
make known the fact to the chief and assistant Midē´ priests, when a
meeting is held at the wig´iwam of one of the members and the merits of
the candidate discussed. For this purpose tobacco is furnished by the
candidate. The more valuable and more numerous the presents the more
rapidly will his application be disposed of, and the more certainly will
favorable consideration on it be had. It becomes necessary, as in former
instances of preparation, for the candidate to procure the service of a
renowned Midē´, in order to acquire new or specially celebrated remedies
or charms. The candidate may also give evidence of his own proficiency
in magic without revealing the secrets of his success or the course
pursued to attain it. The greater the mystery the higher he is held in
esteem even by his jealous confrères.
There is not much to be gained by preparatory instruction for the fourth
degree, the chief claims being a renewal of the ceremony of “shooting
the mī´gis” into the body of the candidate, and enacting or dramatizing
the traditional efforts of the Bear Man´idō in his endeavor to receive
from the Otter the secrets of this grade. One who succeeds becomes
correspondingly powerful in his profession and therefore more feared by
the credulous. His sources of income are accordingly increased by the
greater number of Indians who require his assistance. Hunters, warriors,
and lovers have occasion to call upon him, and sometimes antidoting
charms are sought, when the evil effects of an enemy’s work are to be
counteracted.
The instructor receives the visit of the candidate, and upon coming to a
satisfactory agreement concerning the fee to be paid for the service he
prepares his pupil by prompting him as to the part he is to enact during
the initiation and the reasons therefor. The preparation and the merits
of magic compounds are discussed, and the pupil receives instruction in
making effective charms, compounding love powder, etc. This love powder
is held in high esteem, and its composition is held a profound secret,
to be transmitted only when a great fee is paid. It consists of the
following ingredients: Vermilion; powdered snakeroot (Polygala senega,
L.); exiguam particulam sanguinis a puella effusi, quum in primis
menstruis esset; and a piece of ginseng cut from the bifurcation of the
root, and powdered. These are mixed and put into a small buckskin bag.
The preparation is undertaken only after an offering to Ki´tshi Man´idō
of tobacco and a Midē´ song with rattle accompaniment. The manner of
using this powder will be described under the caption of “descriptive
notes.” It differs entirely from the powder employed in painting the
face by one who wishes to attract or fascinate the object of his or her
devotion. The latter is referred to by the Rev. Peter Jones[16] as
follows:
There is a particular kind of charm which they use when they wish to
obtain the object of their affections. It is made of roots and red
ocher. With this they paint their faces, believing it to possess a
power so irresistible as to cause the object of their desire to love
them. But the moment this medicine is taken away and the charm
withdrawn the person who before was almost frantic with love hates
with a perfect hatred.
[Footnote 16: Hist. of the Ojebway Indians. London [1843?], p. 155.]
It is necessary that the candidate take a sweat-bath once each day, for
four successive days, at some time during the autumn months of the year
preceding the year in which the initiation is to occur. This form of
preparation is deemed agreeable to Ki´tshi Man´idō, whose favor is
constantly invoked that the candidate may be favored with the powers
supposed to be conferred in the last degree. As spring approaches the
candidate makes occasional presents of tobacco to the chief priest and
his assistants, and when the period of the annual ceremony approaches,
they send out runners to members to solicit their presence, and, if of
the fourth degree, their assistance.