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 mīgis 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:
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 $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 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.
[Illustration: Plate XVIII
Jĕs´akkīd´ Removing Disease.]