TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE: Minor typographical errors have been
addressed, but standardisation of the differing spelling of
Ojibwe words has not been attempted.
BULLETIN
OF THE
PUBLIC MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF MILWAUKEE
Vol. 4, No. 3, Pp. 327-525, Plates 46-77 May 2, 1932
Ethnobotany of the Ojibwe
Indians
By
Huron H. Smith
MILWAUKEE, WIS., U. S. A.
Published by Order of the Board of Trustees
Printed by the
AETNA PRESS, INC.
Milwaukee, Wis.
Engravings by the
SCHROEDER ENGRAVING COMPANY
Milwaukee, Wis.
Ethnobotany of the Ojibwe Indians
CONTENTS
Page
Foreword 333
Introduction 337
Ojibwe Medicines 348
Ojibwe Medicinal Materials 352
Other than plants 352
Ojibwe Medicinal Plants 353
Ojibwe Vegetal Foods 393
Ojibwe Food Plants 394
Ojibwe Vegetal Fibers 411
Ojibwe Fiber Plants 412
Ojibwe Vegetal Dyes 424
Ojibwe Dye Plants 424
Miscellaneous Uses of Plants 426
Conclusion 433
ILLUSTRATIONS
Plates
Plate XLVI. fig. 1. Ojibwe garden.
fig. 2. Ojibwe wigwam.
XLVII. fig. 1. Ojibwe dream dance.
fig. 2. Jerking deer meat.
XLVIII. fig. 1. Bead work.
fig. 2. Lac du Flambeau.
XLIX. fig. 1. Birch bark baskets.
fig. 2. Cradle board.
L. fig. 1. Pounding ash splints.
fig. 2. Making baskets.
LI. fig. 1. Rushes for weaving.
fig. 2. Ojibwe grave houses.
LII. fig. 1. Peeling birch log.
fig. 2. Birch bark roll.
LIII. fig. 1. Splitting cedar log.
fig. 2. Making canoe ribs.
LIV. fig. 1. Shaping canoe nose.
fig. 2. Canoe form.
LV. fig. 1. Jack Pine roots.
fig. 2. Coiled roots.
LVI. fig. 1. Boiling pitch.
fig. 2. Sewing canoe.
LVII. fig. 1. Pitching seams.
fig. 2. Launching canoe.
LVIII. fig. 1. Ojibwe garden.
fig. 2. Bark wigwam.
LIX. fig. 1. Piawantaginum.
fig. 2. White Cloud.
LX. fig. 1. Bear Island.
fig. 2. Tamarack branch.
LXI. fig. 1. Ground Pine.
fig. 2. Giant Puffball.
LXII. fig. 1. Balsam Fir.
fig. 2. White Spruce.
LXIII. fig. 1. White Pine.
fig. 2. Norway Pine.
LXIV. fig. 1. Bur Oak.
fig. 2. Red Oak.
LXV. fig. 1. Red Maple.
fig. 2. Mountain Holly.
LXVI. fig. 1. Sphagnum Moss.
fig. 2. Virginia Grape Fern.
LXVII. fig. 1. Pitcher-plant.
fig. 2. Cranberries.
LXVIII. fig. 1. Poison Ivy.
fig. 2. Box Elder.
LXIX. fig. 1. Balsam Apple.
fig. 2. Great Willow-herb.
LXX. fig. 1. Wild Currant.
fig. 2. River-bank Grape.
LXXI. fig. 1. Canada Mayflower.
fig. 2. Spikenard.
LXXII. fig. 1. Twisted Stalk.
fig. 2. Solomon’s Seal.
LXXIII. fig. 1. Meadow Rue.
fig. 2. Carrion-flower.
LXXIV. fig. 1. Wild Columbine.
fig. 2. Canada Anemone.
LXXV. fig. 1. Goldthread.
fig. 2. Wintergreen.
LXXVI. fig. 1. Red Baneberry.
fig. 2. Labrador Tea.
LXXVII. fig. 1. Agrimony.
fig. 2. Hawthorn.
FOREWORD
This bulletin is the third in a series of six, recounting the field
work done among Wisconsin Indians to discover their present uses of
native or introduced plants and, insofar as is possible, the history of
these plant uses by their ancestors. As far back as 1888 Hoffman[85]
reported that the medicinal lore of the Ojibwe would soon be gone. But
thirty-two years later, it is still partially recalled and practised
among the more primitive bands of these people. How long it will
persist is problematical. The Ojibwe are the most numerous of any of
our tribes and as long as they live in the northern forest and lake
district of Wisconsin, so long will the older Indians continue to
explain the natural history of their environment to the young men and
women of the tribe.
The writer deplores the brevity of the time that could be devoted to
each tribe, and applauds the similar study reported by Miss Frances
Densmore[86] in her fifteen years of research among the Ojibwe.
Necessarily the most valuable information comes from the oldest
Indians, and many informants have died since this study was made.
Three trips were made, usually of six weeks duration. The first was
made in June, 1923 to the Lac du Flambeau Reservation, in Vilas County,
Wisconsin. The same region was visited again later in the fall. During
the spring of 1924 one trip was made to Leech Lake, Minnesota, where
the remnant of the Pillager Band of the Ojibwe live on Bear Island,
(Plate 60, fig. 1), and the surrounding mainland. Since then, trips
have been made to Redcliff, Bayfield County, to Odanah, Iron County,
to Lac Court Oreilles, Clark County, and to scattered bands in various
sections of northern Wisconsin. The principal work was done at Lac du
Flambeau and Leech Lake. The Leech Lake trip checked results obtained
at Lac du Flambeau.
The writer thanks those officials and private citizens who assisted by
introductions to Indians and by making his stay among them comfortable.
Mr. James W. Balmer, Indian Agent, then at Lac du Flambeau, now at
Pipestone, Minnesota, and his chief clerk, Mr. Walter H. Shawnee,
a Shawnee Indian, still in service at Lac du Flambeau, and Mr. John
Allen, Ojibwe Indian and school disciplinarian all gave valued advice
and quartered us at their Teacher’s Club. Mr. Edward Rogers, of
Walker, Minnesota, a very successful Ojibwe attorney, and the Noble
brothers, Mr. John W. Noble and Mr. E. W. (“Van”) Noble, proprietor of
Forest View Lodge, directly across from Bear Island, rendered valuable
assistance with the Pillager band of Ojibwe.
The writer collected every plant he could find in each region because
he had been informed that the Ojibwe differ from other Wisconsin
Indians in that they believe that every plant that grows is some kind
of medicine or useful for something. The only plants discovered for
which they had no name or use were adventive plants, and one could
fairly well establish the date of their appearance in the state,
because the Indians pay much more attention to our native flora than do
the whites.
Most of our informants were men, because they found it easier to talk
to the writer than the women. It was easy to get the women to talk of
old time methods of preparing aboriginal foods. The Ojibwe had a large
number of hunting medicines used as charms. These were accompanied
by drawings on the ground designating what they hoped to accomplish
in killing game for their larder. About sixty-five per cent of their
medicinal plants were actually valuable medicinally, the remainder
being employed in a shamanistic or superstitious manner. The writer
concludes that their great knowledge of plants has been achieved
through long periods of time by a process of trial and error, basing
this belief upon their fear of mushrooms. Both men and women pointed
out plants in their native habitat and were willing to explain their
uses. They are the real ones to thank for the facts discovered and
without their cooperation such a study would be impossible. A list of
them follows.
In conformity with previous bulletins, the plants will be listed
(1) under their various uses and (2) under each of these captions,
alphabetically by their families. Where possible, the literal
translation of the Indian name is given.[87]
INFORMANTS
In the course of this work many informants have assisted the author,
among whom the following residents of Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin,
should be noted:
Jas. W. Balmer, Indian Agent; Walter H. Shawnee, Chief Clerk;
Charley Burns, Cagkecci, Indian Policeman; John Allen, Indian
Disciplinarian; Anawabi (Exalted One) Village Chief; Jack Doud, Kêkêk
(Sparrow-hawk) Captain in Civil War; Bert Skye, Anawabi’s Son; Mrs.
Bert Skye; Bear Skin, Mûkwean (Bearskin) Medicine Man; Jack Patterson,
Sîkurtz, of Sand Lake; Long John Bear of Pelican Lake; John White
Feather, Wabackiˈganeˈbi, of Flambeau Lake; Mrs. John White Feather;
Webujuonokwe, of Flambeau village; Amîkons (Young Beaver) of Flambeau
village.
We also received information from the following residents of Leech
Lake, Minnesota, Ga-sagaˈskwadjiˈmêkag:
Ben Smith, Pcikci (Deer) of Boy Lake, Minnesota; Edward Rogers
of Walker, Minnesota; John Peper, Jigwaˈbe of Bear Island;
Piˈawantagiˈnûm, Peper’s mother; White Cloud, Wabackaˈnakwad (White
Cloud) of Bear Island; Inwapiˈkwe, White Cloud’s wife; Wasawanaˈkwît,
White Cloud’s son of Federal Dam, Minnesota; John Smith, Ajoˈvbêneˈsa
of Bear Island; Mowîcgaˈwûs of Bear Island; Ed Coming, Getakiˈbînes, of
Brevick, Minnesota.
Miciˈmîn (Apple), Chief, and John Goslin, Wabackiˈganeˈbi, of Lac Court
Oreilles, Wisconsin, also contributed information.
PHONETIC KEY
The Ojibwe have written their language for a longer time than any other
Algonquin tribe and, while they employ a syllabary[88] in corresponding
with absent members of the tribe, it has little value to the
ethnologist. The writer has two books printed in English and Ojibwe.
One is “A collection of Chippeway and English Hymns”, translated by
Peter Jones, Indian Missionary, the second edition of which was printed
by the Methodist Book Concern in 1847. This was given to the writer
by Mr. Henry Ritchie, an Ojibwe, of Laona, Wisconsin. The other is
“A Dictionary of the Otchipwe Language”, explained in English, Part
1, English-Otchipwe, by R.R. Bishop Baraga, published by Beauchemin
and Valois, Montreal, in 1878. This was given to the writer by Capt.
John Valentine Satterlee, of the Menomini tribe, Keshena, Wisconsin.
With the aid of either of them one experiences little difficulty in
pronouncing Ojibwe words.
In this bulletin, the following phonetic system will be used.
VOWELS
a as in art
ä as in flat
e as in prey
ê as in met
i as in police
î as in bit
o as in go
û as in luck
u as in rule
w, y and h as in English
ai as in aisle
CONSONANTS
Post-Pal Medio-Pal Pre-Pal Dental Bilabial
Stop k, g d t t b p
Spirant c j s z
Affricative dj tc f v
Nasal ñ n m
s as in since
g as in give
z as in zeal
c as sound of sh
j as sound of zh
tc as sound of tc in witch
dj as sound of j in jug
While the writer is not a linguist, Indian pronunciation came easily
to him and he was able to pronounce all plant names in an intelligible
manner to Ojibwe people whom he had never seen before.
INTRODUCTION
The subjects of this bulletin, the Ojibwe Indians, have probably been
designated by more different spellings of their name than any other
tribe in the country. The anglicized version is Chippewa, an adaptation
of the Ojibway of Longfellow. Ojibway means “to roast till puckered
up,” referring to the puckered seams on their moccasins, from “Ojib”,
“to pucker up”, “ub-way”, “to roast”. In historic literature some
of the more common ways of spelling their name have been: Achipoes,
Chepeways, Chipaways, Odjibwag, Otchipwe, Uchipweys. Less familiar
names applied to them have been: Baouichtigouin, Bawichtigouek,
Dewakanha, Dshipowehaga, Estiaghicks, Hahatwawne, Khahkhahtons,
Neayaog, Ninniwas, Saulteur, Santeaux, Wahkahtowah and at least fifty
others.
The Ojibwe is one of the largest tribes in the United States and
Canada, and lived originally along both shores of the Great Lakes as
far west as the Turtle Mountains, North Dakota. They are of Algonkian
stock and in the north are closely related to the Cree and Maskegon
tribes. In the south, through Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota they
have always been closely associated with the Ottawa and Pottawatomi.
These three have been recently called the Three Fires Confederacy.
Their languages were even similar, and Pottawatomi have often told the
writer that their tongue was an abbreviated Ojibwe language,—“like it
was a nickname”.
This numerous people lived far away from the frontiers of the colonial
war period, hence are not often mentioned in the early history of the
United States. The original habitation of the Ojibwe in Wisconsin is
supposed to have been at La Pointe, a town no longer in existence, in
Ashland County, near Lake Superior. The first reference to them in
history is in the Jesuit Relation of 1640 when they resided at Sault
Ste. Marie. It is thought that Nicolet met them either in 1634 or
1639. Father Allouez found them at Superior, Wisconsin, in 1665-67.
According to Perrot,[89] in 1670-99 those Ojibwe on the Lake Superior
shore of Wisconsin cultivated corn and were living peaceably with their
neighbors, the Sioux. About this time they first obtained fire-arms,
and pushed their way westward fighting with the Sioux and the Meskwaki.
The French established a trading post at Shangawawmikong, afterwards
La Pointe, in 1692, which was the most important Ojibwe settlement in
Wisconsin.
In the early years of the eighteenth century, the Ojibwe succeeded in
driving the Meskwaki from northern Wisconsin, when the Meskwaki joined
forces with the Sauk Indians. The Ojibwe then turned their attention
to the Sioux, driving them across the Mississippi and as far as the
Turtle Mountains in North Dakota. The Ojibwe took part in frontier
settlement wars up to the close of the war of 1812. Those living within
the United States made a treaty with the Government in 1815 and have
since remained peaceful, with the exception of a minor uprising among
the Pillager Band of Ojibwe on Leech Lake, Minnesota. Most of them live
on reservations or allotted land in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and
North Dakota. There was a small band of Swan Creek and Black River
Ojibwe who sold their lands in Michigan in 1836 and went to live with
the Munsee, in Franklin County, Kansas.
It was represented to the writer that the Pillager Band of Ojibwe
should be quite interesting and primitive since they were the only
unsubdued Indians left in the United States. They are supposed to
have revolted during the Civil War, when Government attention was
concentrated on determining whether or not, the Union should be
preserved. They pillaged a small town, killed the inhabitants, took all
of the food stores and fled to Bear Island in Leech Lake, Minnesota,
shown in plate 60, fig. 1. Again, while the United States was at war
with Spain in 1898, the Ojibwe complained bitterly about certain
irregularities in regard to the disposal of the dead and fallen timber
on Leech Lake Reservation. They accused white speculators of firing the
woods to create a class of timber known as dead and down timber, thus
depriving them of their winter livelihood in logging operations.[90]
Rather indiscriminate arrests of the Pillager Indians by United
States marshals caused resentment and the actual warfare was caused
by the attempt of a deputy marshal to arrest certain Indians accused
of selling whiskey on the reservation. On September 15, 1898, two
Indians were arrested by deputy marshals and rescued by their comrades.
Warrants were issued for the arrest of the more than twenty Indians
who had assisted in the rescue. Since the marshals feared the Indians,
they asked for the assistance of troops. It was thought that a show of
force by regular troops would be sufficient. Twenty men of the Third
Regiment U. S. Infantry were sent, but since the Indians showed no sign
of yielding eighty more left Fort Snelling for Walker, Minnesota. Major
M. C. Wilkinson and General J. M. Bacon were in charge.
Two small lake steamers and a barge took the troops to Bear Island, and
they anchored in shoal water just across from the island, proceeding
by barge to the mainland. The battle took place at the house of
Bujonegicig, who died only a few years ago. The troops were fired upon
from the woods and Major Wilkinson, Sergeant Butler and four privates
were killed. Ten were wounded. On October 6, 1898, 214 more troops came
to assist, but no further firing was encountered and the uprising was
over. The Commissioner of Indian Affairs, W. A. Jones, arrived from
Washington, October 10. The next morning he and Father Aloysius, a
priest with great influence over the Indians, held a long and friendly
conference with the Pillager chiefs investigating and settling the
timber complaints. Troops flooded that country and persuaded the
Bear Islanders to respond to the warrants. They were duly tried,
sentenced and fined, but the fines were remitted and after two months
imprisonment the sentences were commuted and pardons granted.
The writer found but few who remembered the battle, for while there
were over a hundred men able to bear arms in 1898, the Ojibwe could
not successfully fight the influenza attack of 1919 and the present
population consists of only fourteen persons: John Peper, wife,
daughter and mother; White Cloud, shown in plate 59, fig. 2, wife and
son; Moîckaˈwus and wife; John Smith, Frank Marshall, wife and two
children. John Peper’s mother was said to be 106 years old and looked
the part, as shown in plate 59, fig. 1. John, her youngest boy was past
70 years of age. Another very old resident, John Smith, had died the
year before the writer arrived. His age was said to be 138 years. His
recollections are said to have included George Washington as President
of the United States.
All of our Ojibwe residents in Wisconsin and those in Michigan and
Minnesota were forest Indians and, as such, great hunters, although
they cultivated maize in a small way. They made very superior birch
bark canoes and were at home on the many lakes of the northland,
subsisting largely on fish and game. While at the present time, they
dress themselves to satisfy the pre-conceived ideas of tourists, in
the early days, their headdress consisted of otter skin caps, often
embellished with eagle feathers, one for each enemy slain in battle and
consequently for each scalp secured. The great feathered bonnet was not
of their culture, but has been more recently borrowed from the Plains
Indians. They never used the tepee of the Plains Indians, such as is
shown in plate 46, fig. 2, and in plate 58, fig. 2, but built a wigwam.
The wigwam was easily constructed in a half-day’s time. Poles were
thrust into the ground in a circle of from twelve to twenty feet, their
tips bent and securely tied in the center with basswood bark cord to
form a hemisphere, about eight feet in height at the center. The whole
was then covered with bark of balsam, or woven cat-tail mats, such
as the one shown in plate 46, fig. 2, and roofed with birch bark. An
entrance and smoke hole were left and mats thrown upon the ground. It
was much warmer than a tepee and better adapted to the heavy snow fall
of the north, and to low temperatures. All of their storage houses and
their smaller sweat lodges were similarly made. Their medicine lodges
followed the same construction though they were much longer: being
eighty, a hundred and even a hundred and fifty feet in length.
We had occasion to see the medicine lodge in use several times during
our stay at Lac du Flambeau. This lodge was in the old Flambeau
village, just at the edge of the woods. It was a huge affair, about one
hundred and fifty feet long, with a stout framework of saplings joined
together and arched over at a height of eight feet. The framework
was rigidly held together with other horizontal saplings secured by
basswood bark cord at every junction of poles. It stood as a framework
for several years. During use, the sides of this framework are covered
with cat-tail mats and the top with sewed birch bark, as shown in
figure 21, of the Museum’s 1923 Yearbook. By using a bone needle and
nettle string the cat-tail mats are sewed together with an invisible
stitch, that makes a windproof cover.
Down the center of the lodge is a long ellipse where countless dance
steps have bared the earth of this otherwise grassy plot. The entrance
of the lodge faces the east, and there is an exit to the west. A
fire is usually burning just inside the eastern entrance, the smoke
ascending through a smoke hole left in the roof. The medicine men are
gathered to the left of the fire on the north while the patient is
usually seated to the right of the fire on the south. The medicine
drum in use during a treatment for healing is smaller than the dream
dance drum, usually seen by tourists, and of a different shape. It is
about eight inches in diameter and sixteen inches high. The buckskin
stretched over the end is moistened from time to time by reversing the
drum which contains water, and rubbing the skin to permit it to take up
the liquid. The tone and volume are greatly enhanced by this procedure.
The medicine lodge members sit in groups around the lodge starting at
the north side, and proceeding down to the west and back along the
south side toward the east again. Every song and march around the lodge
is repeated four times, this being their sacred number. The time needed
in effecting a cure is varied but the writer has seen a woman carried
in on a litter, recover in three hours time and take part in the
dancing.
The Indian Service in the past has wished to discourage treatment
by medicine men and on larger reservations has supplied a resident
physician. It is a constant competition between the two, for naturally
a white physician cannot cure every case any more than a medicine man
can, and when the medicine man apparently effects cures after the
physician has given up or appeared to produce no improvement, the
credulous patients are going to continue to believe in the medicine
men. Christianity has had but little effect upon the Ojibwe so far as
the writer has been able to observe, largely because of the reputation
of the medicine men among them.
According to the late Dr. William Jones, the ethnologist mentioned
in “Ethnobotany of the Meskwaki Indians”, Part 2 of this volume,
the Pillager Band of Bear Island occasionally practiced cannibalism
ceremonially, and even as late as 1902 ate human flesh on the Rainy
River during a famine. He cites the fact in 1905 that polygamy was once
common and even still occurred among wandering bands.
Many visitors to the northland think of the country in terms of sand,
and consider it unfit for use agriculturally. While sandy soil is
common, it is also easy to find very good productive soil and in
some cases even clay. The Indian settlements and homesteads were
never extensive and four or five acres of land seem to suffice them
for growing hay and garden crops. The agency Indian farmer maintains
demonstration garden plots, such as the one shown in plate 46, fig.
1, and also more extensive farms, and constantly advises with those
who are trying to farm. The Indian women even grow some cultivated
flowers. At Lac du Flambeau, the Ojibwe take great pride in their
annual Indian fair and display farm animals, horticultural products,
and native arts and crafts for premiums. It is a pity that more do
not follow agriculture because they have sufficient farming land and
have also good examples to follow. Most of them like the quick returns
made in selling Indian art work, or made acting as guides for fishing
and hunting parties. The easy money is too soon spent and they suffer
considerably before the winter is over.
The native flora is about the same at both Lac du Flambeau and Leech
Lake, and the species are by no means as varied as on the Menomonie
Reservation. They make full use of everything that occurs with them
except the adventive or introduced plants. They recognize regular types
of soil as sources of their medicinal plants. Sandy meadows, sandy
wastes, lakes, still ponds, swamps, upland swamps, rocky openings in
the forest, evergreen forests, and hardwood forests all are searched
for distinctive plants. The greatest number of species of native plants
are found in the composite family and we find the Ojibwe making more
use of these than any other tribe. The heath family contributes many
species and is important to them. Grasses and sedges, while numerous
in species are not so well known to them, although here again they use
more species than the neighboring tribes.
John Whitefeather, of the Couderay Ojibwe, who adopted the writer into
their tribe, related their origin myth. Briefly it is as follows:
There has always been a controversy among the whites as to whether
such an Indian as Hiawatha ever lived. Hiawatha is the name that Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow gave to their cultural hero, Winabojo. Hiawatha or
Winabojo was never seen by man, although sometimes both names have been
used for proper names among the Ojibwe. Their great spirit or ruler of
the universe was named Dzhe Manido.
According to Whitefeather, Winabojo was the one who caused the deluge
that covered the world and was responsible for building it again.
Winabojo was sitting at the mouth of a big river and noticed a stick
bobbing up and down near the middle of the stream. He thought it was
curious that it was not carried on down stream to the big lake and
further thought that it would be fun to sit on the stick. So he swam
out and sat on it. Dzhe Manido had told him two phrases, one of which
he might sing to himself, which is translated “Lake must close in”
and the other was “Lake should spread out”, and he must not say that.
Winabojo became curious to see what would happen if he repeated the
second of these phrases. He said it. Immediately the stick sank and he
fell under. He swam back to the top but could discover no land. Other
animals were swimming around, so he requested muskrat to dive down and
get him some mud from the bottom of the lake. Muskrat dived down but it
was too far and he drowned. The martin tried it and drowned. The otter
tried it and drowned. Then beaver tried it and obtained some mud, but
died as he reached the surface. Winabojo took the mud that remained
between the claws of beaver and rolled it into a little ball. Winabojo
made this ball grow as he rolled it around in his hands, while the
animals swam around him. Finally the ball grew large enough for the
fox to jump upon it and run around. Then it grew larger until all the
animals could get upon it.
So Winabojo and the animals were the first inhabitants and Winabojo
put the plants upon the world. Winabojo lived in a little valley with
his grandmother, Nokomis. Against her wishes, he went on a voyage of
exploration, leaving his valley to climb a hill. In the next valley
he saw a lot of people all dancing and he wanted to dance with them.
So he went down and danced all day, though none of them spoke to him
or said a word to each other. When the wind died down at sunset, he
discovered them to be only cattails, so he started back home. On his
way he was approached by Cumpa. No one knows who sent Cumpa there,
but we think that it was Dzhe Manido. Nokomis had told him that there
were inhabitants somewhere on the earth. Winabojo sat down with Cumpa
and they talked over the matter of how to regulate the world. In their
conference they developed the medicine lodge idea and the Ojibwe count
Winabojo as its founder. The painted post that they erect in their
medicine lodge represents Winabojo. It is carved to resemble a human
form, but not too closely, as they wish it to be understood that
Winabojo is a god and not a human being.
Winabojo started during the month of July to hunt for the inhabitants
of the earth and finally found them in the latter part of December or
early January. Then he stayed with them for several months, teaching
them the secrets of the medicine lodge. He told them how they must
gather roots and what songs they must sing. A specimen song and its
meaning is here given.
Nin ba ba odjiˈbîke
_I go to gather roots;_
oˈoˈweˈdasaˈssema
_here is tobacco;_
mînode ni nowi nîmîcîn
_Give me direct guidance,_
gi wedjiˈbîkeiˈen
_You,-maker of roots_
da mino wi djiˈbîkeiˈan.
_That I may get the proper roots._
Their story of creation is the common one among the northern
Algonkians. They believe that all objects, both animate and inanimate
possess some mysterious power, and speak of that power as the manido
that dwells in it. On the Lac du Flambeau Reservation, the writer saw
two or three large stones, shown in plate 48, fig. 2, that were thought
to be spirit rocks. They also believed that the spirit of the departed
brave often returns to the grave, as long as the body has not turned
to dust. They often buried the body in a sitting position facing west,
or in a shallow grave on its back or side, making a mound, over which
bark, birch poles or boards were erected, to form a little grave house,
as shown in plate 51, fig. 2. This, they believe to be often inhabited
by the spirit of the departed one which they occasionally feed with
wild rice or dried jerky (deer meat) through a small opening. According
to McKenney,[91] the Ojibwe of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, buried their
dead in a box which was elevated upon a platform of poles. Mourning for
the departed usually lasted a year, unless some medicine man shortened
the time, or a relative performed some notable feat in war.
Their religion was the teachings of their Grand Medicine society or
midewiwin. The Ojibwe are probably the strictest disciples of this
society of any of our Wisconsin Indians and the part played by plants
is the greatest of any factor. Things other than plants were used, such
as rattlesnake meat, duck bones, clay and feathers, but these were so
far in the minority that they are scarcely worth mentioning. According
to the Ojibwe, every plant is medicine; if not to your particular
informant, then to some other medicine man or woman. It was a matter
of finding the proper informant to get the correct name and use.
Consequently, in the field we gathered every tree, shrub, perennial
or annual, herb or grass we encountered. All of these being medicinal
plants were thus sacred to them and must be secured with the proper
mide ceremony. This consisted of an explanatory song, and the offering
of tobacco to grandmother, the earth, and Winabojo, their cultural hero.
The constant effort of the Government to educate the Indian is
resulting in the gradual discarding of the medicine lodge ceremonies.
The Ojibwe, who have stayed on the frontier of civilization, are among
the last to change, and have clung tenaciously to their medicine
society. As with other Wisconsin Indians, the Ojibwe love their
children dearly and are rarely harsh to them. The children are taught
to dance at an early age and while subsequent education may make them
forget the names and uses of medicinal plants, they never forget the
dance tunes and steps. It is a common conception among white men that
it is useless to educate an Indian. Too many have agreed with Mark
Twain that “the only good Indian is a dead one.” Stories are related
concerning Indian college graduates that revert to the tepee and to
the dog feast. Some of these may be true, but according to Indian
psychology, there is nothing disgraceful about this. It is the fallacy
of the white man in trying to impose his culture on other peoples and
in always assuming that it is superior to any other way of living.
We are prone to point to the exceptional fall from grace, and forget
about the many who have made a success of their life according to
our standards. There are many full-blooded Indian men and women in
Milwaukee, who are useful citizens. Many Milwaukee men and women are
proud of the Indian strain in their blood. Education has been of great
assistance to the Ojibwe, who have many times proven that they have
the same capabilities as their white brothers. The Indian has the same
anatomical characteristics as the Caucasian race and is capable of
going far along the road of education.
Since the field work among the Ojibwe was completed in 1923 and 1924,
some scattering members of the tribe have adopted the peyote lodge. The
Ojibwe are fond of visiting and, in the summer time, some are always
away on visits to other tribes in Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, the
Dakotas, Kansas or Oklahoma. The old idea of fighting other tribes was
forgotten long ago and they feel that all red men are their brothers.
Those Ojibwe who have visited the Winnebago Indians in Wisconsin have
been especially influenced to adopt the peyote cult. This rarely
happens where the Ojibwe live in close contact with their tribesmen on
reservations. But several live as isolated families on the shores of
our northern lakes, and when they adopt the peyote religion they throw
overboard all of their medicine lodge paraphernalia and beliefs.
The members of the peyote cult, chew and swallow the peyote buttons
which are the button-shaped branches of a cactus (_Lophophora
williamsii_) found in Texas, New Mexico and Old Mexico. The practice
is said to have originated among the Indians of old Mexico. Under
its narcotic influence the peyote Indian claims to see in a vision
and to commune with Jesus Christ, who gives him the rule of conduct
for his life. The Indians justify their use of peyote by comparing
it to the sacramental wine of the white man. However, peyote carries
a governmental disapproval and the Indian police are supposed to be
vigilantly alert for peyote. A jail sentence, as well as confiscation
of the supply of peyote, is meted out to any member they can detect
using it.
Another type of ceremonial dance used by the Ojibwe, and in fact by
all of the forest Indians of Wisconsin, is the dream dance, such as is
shown in plate 47, fig. 1. While this is sacred, it is not performed
in secret, and the white people are often invited to come and witness
these dances. They do come from many miles away to see the Indian
dances and games. At the Lac du Flambeau Reservation, they perform
several kinds of dances, such as the corn dance, the warrior dance, the
prisoner dance, the deer hunt dance, and many others.
One dance in particular was brought back from Oklahoma by Anawabi.
It is called the “Squaw Dance.” In it men and women dance together,
as shown in figure 20 of the Museum’s Yearbook for 1923. Anawabi,
the medicine man, was credited with powers of witchcraft as well as
healing. A young Ojibwe boy sick with pneumonia, told his parents in
a delirium that Anawabi had come and was taking his breath away. His
parents believed him, and he eventually died, but before he did, some
friend hastened to Anawabi and Anawabi stood not on the order of his
going, but left at once for Oklahoma where he stayed two years. He
probably witnessed the modern two step among the Oklahoma Indians,
which they called the “Squaw Dance.” It is distinctly opposed to the
Indian way of dancing. It has always been the custom for women to
remain in the background at any of the old time dances, dancing by
themselves, outside and back of the circle or group of the men. For
them to take an equal part in a dance seems out of place. This caused a
rift in the tribe, and the older residents at the old Flambeau village
will have nothing to do with such dances.
The participants in the dream dance usually dress in all of their
native finery and nowadays wear many ornaments that are not of Ojibwe
origin. While under the spell of the singing and drumming, the dancers
assume a smiling face and are usually oblivious to the presence of any
spectators.
The Ojibwe use two types of drums. One is the large dream-dance drum,
about two feet in diameter and fourteen inches deep. The other is
a tambourine-shaped drum of rawhide only a couple of inches thick
and possibly ten inches in diameter, suspended by a loop of sinew,
decorated with human figures, and beaten with the hands or a smaller
bone drum stick. This drum is used in games and the songs differ
considerably for the various games. La Crosse, the woman’s shinny game,
the bowl and dice game, the moccasin game and others are all announced
by preliminary songs from the chief, who accompanies himself on the
game drum.
In writing this bulletin, the system adopted in previous bulletins will
be followed. Plants not found to be of use are included in this list,
as other investigators may find that they were used. The listing of
each plant will be by family and English names, followed by the Latin
binomial according to Gray’s Manual of Botany, then the Ojibwe name and
its literal translation, if that be known. Following this will be the
uses, methods of use, supposed properties, its value as an official
or eclectic drug by the whites, and any known myth connected with it.
The same procedure will be followed in the other subheadings under
investigation, viz.: foods, fibers, dyes, and plants of miscellaneous
uses such as utility, good luck charms, love potions and so on.
OJIBWE MEDICINES
The Ojibwe are probably the best informed and the strictest observers
of the medicine lodge ceremonies in the country. Their knowledge of
plants both in their own environment and far away is probably the best
of any group of Indians. While their flora is not so rich in species as
that of Indians farther south, they make trips far away from their home
to obtain necessary plants.
As among the white people, one plant may bear several common names,
according to different individuals in different sections of the
country, and again, one name may be given to several plants, as in the
case of plants used as “revivers”. Yet, there is an agreement in names
of Lac du Flambeau and Leech Lake Ojibwe, that well checks information
received. The name is usually descriptive, just as their names for
animals usually are either descriptive or representative of the cry
or note uttered by the animal, like “ko-ko-ko-o”, the hoot owl, or
“ka-ka-ka”, the raven or crow. The medicine name usually tells what
the plant looks like, where it may be found, some peculiar taste or
property, or its chief use. Often a termination is added signifying the
plural of a noun or the part of the plant used, such as the wood, the
leaf, the flower, the root, or the berry or fruit.
It is worth noting that they understand the proper time to gather the
plant part. At times, the medicinal qualities are inert, undeveloped
or dispersed by being too old. Much of the knowledge of white men
originated from studying the Indian plant uses, in the early days.
Eclectic practitioners sought the Indian herbs and observed carefully
what parts of the plant were used. This mass of early information
was sifted scientifically by the students of medicine, and finally
tested physiologically on animals. Perhaps sixty-five per cent of
their remedies were found to be potent and are included in our
pharmacopoeas; the other thirty-five per cent were discovered to be
valueless medicinally. All of the references to uses of the plants by
white men were obtained from the 1916 edition of the National Standard
Dispensatory, by Hare, Caspari & Rusby.
The medicine man depended largely upon his reputation and often cured
fancied diseases by shamanistic suggestions. His peculiar incantations
to the patient to inspire confidence and induce the patient to think
he was getting well, often worked, as it works in the case of quack
doctors and credulous white men. The young man who had the proper
dream following the period of fasting in his youth, predicting his
predilection towards the medicine man’s profession, was taken through
a rigorous course of training. Individual knowledge was handed down
through the family. Instruction to boys and girls usually comes from
the uncle or aunt, and if they have no natural uncle or aunt, then one
is assigned to them. This is considered the closest relationship among
Wisconsin Indians, and when one is adopted into the tribe and given a
medicine bag, it will be through the sponsorship of an uncle for his
nephew. Among the Ojibwe, both at Lac du Flambeau and at Lac Court
Oreilles, the writer is known as Shagashkandawe “Flying Squirrel,”
which they say was the name of a famous old chief and medicine man.
The Ojibwe still use the songs essential to digging medicine roots.
Jack Doud, the old scout captain of the Civil War, of the old Flambeau
village, told the writer that Winabojo, their deity, had received the
seeds of all plants from Dzhe Manido, the creator of the universe, and
that Winabojo had given them to Nokomis, grandmother, the Earth, to
keep in her bosom, for the use of the Indians. Jack Doud also said that
Winabojo took some of the native foods from his own body. He said that
Winabojo pulled out a little pinch of flesh and threw it on the ground
telling it to grow there as _mandamin_ or corn for the Indians. Another
pinch yielded squash, another beans and so on until Winabojo had very
little flesh left on his body. In other words, the Indians did not know
the sources of their cultivated crops, and had invented this tradition
to attempt to explain their presence.
As with other Algonkians, the Ojibwe place tobacco in the cavity
from which they dig the root, as an offering to Grandmother Earth,
to Winabojo, and to Dzhe Manido, praying in song to these deities
to make their chosen medicine potent. The medicine man or woman is
usually distinguished by two long braids of hair over either shoulder.
They are usually shrewd diagnosticians, and depend upon their senses
for discovering the ailment. They feel the pulse rate, look at the
pupils of the eyes, at the condition of the tongue, at the complexion
variation, feel the body temperature and inquire where the pain is
felt. From these symptoms they diagnose the disease. Usually they
want time to dream over the case, and drink a draught of their own
dream-inducing medicine before going to sleep. In a vision or dream,
they are directed to the proper medicine to use, and concoct it the
following day. External afflictions are treated with lotions or
poultices, while internal troubles are almost invariably treated with
a medicinal tea. The ingredients are steeped in lukewarm water, and
copious draughts are prescribed several times a day. The writer has
taken such draughts of various medicines and finds them not unpleasant
to the taste. Bitter and nauseous ingredients are usually disguised by
“seasoners” which they add to make them taste good. The time alloted
for a cure is usually four days, their sacred number, and unless there
is marked improvement in the patient at the end of that period, the
medicine man will change the treatment.
Some of the medicine men have “tattooing outfits”, which are not really
tattooing outfits as we understand the term, but rather blood-letting
instruments. Sharp fish teeth are mounted at the end of a four or
five-inch stick, and with a quick stroke on the upper side of the elbow
or near the collar bone the blood is caused to gush out. The patient
holds the arm out tensely while lying down and when the artery is
tapped the blood spurts out rapidly. A tourniquet is applied to the
upper arm when the medicine man thinks enough blood has flowed and the
medicine man then sucks out the residue. The wound is then bandaged
and the tourniquet removed. It is the thought of the medicine man that
it is necessary to let out a certain amount of bad blood, so that the
remaining blood in the patient’s body can be more easily purified by
his heart and his breathing.
The Ojibwe also believe that the medicine man can make bad medicine as
well as good, and can prescribe certain medicines from his medicine
bundle that will enable him to get the better of his enemies. They had
many hunting charms which were supposed to help them get game. The
hunter in using these would often trace the outline of the desired game
upon the ground drawing a line to its heart. He would then pierce the
heart with the line and put the proper medicine on the heart puncture
indicated. A similar procedure might be followed against human enemies.
Such practices were always kept a deep secret, becoming valueless
should anyone see the perpetrator making the figure. They were likewise
deprecated and resented by the tribe and punishment was apt to follow
anyone caught in such a practice, which all agreed was a perversion
of the grand medicine society teachings. Most of the remedies of
the medicine men were kept tied in little bits of cloth, compounded
and ready to steep for use. Combinations of nine to twelve herbs are
common. These have been ground with a mortar and pestle until it would
be difficult to identify the ingredients of the prepared medicines.
Even if one knew all of the ingredients, the amounts of each herb would
be difficult to ascertain. Often, as in the case of Sweet Flag (_Acorus
calamus_), the amount must be very limited since the medicinal effect
is so severe.
The medicine men are taught that their medicines have a great value
and will not be efficacious if disposed of cheaply. Since money is not
so plentiful they are quite willing to accept pay in valuable goods.
This may be a pony, so many blankets, so much wild rice or whatever
the patient has of value. The patient usually calls the medicine man
for ailments that have not responded to his own individual treatment.
When the patient pays what the medicine man thinks is proper, then
he may be told what was used to effect the cure, and how and when to
gather the ingredients and how to administer the remedy. The recipient
is admonished to see that he does not impart the knowledge unless he
is well paid for it, as he paid the medicine man. This explains the
difficulty one encounters when he tries to get medicinal information.
Only by completely securing the confidence of the Indians, can a white
man get this information without pay, and then it must be thoroughly
understood that the investigator is not copying their medicines to
take commercial advantage of this knowledge. The Indian is quick to
appreciate favors and to acknowledge the respect that is given to him
by the white man, and becomes quite confident when he realizes that his
confidence is not abused.
OJIBWE MEDICINAL MATERIALS
While the Ojibwe use a few remedies outside the plant kingdom, they
are not of such great importance as among some other tribes. These are
here considered first, the plants following under the proper families
alphabetically.
OTHER THAN PLANTS
REPTILES
=Rattlesnake=, “jicigwe”. The flesh of the rattlesnake commonly known
as the massasauga rattler, is sometimes used in combination with
other medicines, for its lubricant effect, similar to Russian mineral
oil. The Plains Indians and those farther south in the United States
consider rattlesnake meat quite efficient in making childbirth easier.
FISH
=Sturgeon=, “namê”. Fine teeth of the sturgeon were said to be
used to make the “tattooing” tool employed by the medicine man in
blood-letting. Large fish bladders, “pîkwadj”, were sometimes used as
syringes; a hollow duck bone bound with sinew in the end of it, being
used for anal applications.
MINERALS
=White Clay=, “wabaˈbîgan”. White clay was sometimes mixed with
medicinal powders to make them into pellets or pills, and the clay was
supposed to be a medicine, too, but for what purpose we were unable to
discover. Red Clay “osaˈman” was also used in fabricating poultices and
was supposed to help draw out the inflammation.
MAMMALS
=Bear=, “mûkwo”. Bear’s fat was used in several compounds. Melted
alone and swallowed it became a drastic physic. Buds of the Balsam
Poplar (_Populus balsamifera_) and the Large-toothed Poplar (_Populus
grandidentata_) stewed in bear fat, yielded an aromatic salve that was
used in curing ear-ache, soothing boils, and healing wounds and ulcers.
OJIBWE MEDICINAL PLANTS
ACERACEAE (MAPLE FAMILY)
=Box Elder= (_Acer negundo_ L.), “adjagobiˈmûk”, shown in plate 68,
fig. 2. The Pillager Band of Ojibwe reported that the inner bark of the
box-elder is steeped to make an emetic. There is no record of its use
by the whites.
=Red Maple= (_Acer rubrum_ L.) “cicigîmeˈwîc”, shown in plate 65, fig.
1. The Flambeau Ojibwe boil the bark of the red maple to obtain a tea
with which to wash and cure sore eyes. There is no record of its use by
the whites.
=Mountain Maple= (_Acer spicatum_ Lam.) “cacagobiˈmûk” [emetic bark].
The Pillager Ojibwe extract the pith of the twig and pinch off small
particles which are put into the eye like flax seed to remove foreign
matter. It becomes sticky and holds foreign matter which can then
be removed with the pith. The pith is also soaked in water to make
a lotion for treating sore eyes. Among the whites, Mountain Maple
bark is often gathered and sold for Cramp Bark (_Viburnum opulus_ L.
var. _americanum_ [Mill.] Ait.) In fact, it has often been wholly
substituted for it, and seems about as effective as a uterine sedative
and preventative of abortion.
ALISMACEAE (WATER-PLANTAIN FAMILY)