Section 5 Traditions
Even since the Columbian discovery some tribes have employed devices yet ruder than the rudest pictorial attempt as markers for the memory. An account of one of these is given in E. Winslow’s Relation (A. D. 1624), Col. Mass. Hist. Soc., 2d series, ix, 1822, p. 99, as follows:
Instead of records and chronicles they take this course: Where any remarkable act is done, in memory of it, either in the place or by some pathway near adjoining, they make a round hole in the ground about a foot deep and as much over, which, when others passing by behold, they inquire the cause and occasion of the same, which, being once known, they are careful to acquaint all men as occasion serveth therewith. And lest such holes should be filled or grown over by any accident, as men pass by they will often renew the same, by which means many things of great antiquity are fresh in memory. So that as a man traveleth, if he can understand his guide, his journey will be the less tedious by reason of the many historical discourses which will be related unto him.
In connection with this section students may usefully consult Dr. Brinton’s (f) Lenâpé and their Legends.
As an example of a chart used in the exact repetition of traditions, Fig. 167 is presented with the following explanation by Rev. J. Owen Dorsey:
The chart accompanies a tradition chanted by members of a secret society of the Osage tribe. It was drawn by an Osage, Red Corn.
The tree at the top represents the tree of life. By this flows a river. The tree and the river are described later in the degrees. When a woman is initiated she is required by the head of her gens to take four sips of water (symbolizing the river), then he rubs cedar on the palms of his hands, with which he rubs her from head to foot. If she belongs to a gens on the left side of a tribal circle, her chief begins on the left side of her head, making three passes, and pronouncing the sacred name three times. Then he repeats the process from her forehead down; then on the right side of her head; then at the back of her head; four times three times, or twelve passes in all.
Beneath the river are the following objects: The Watse ʇuʞa, male slaying animal (?), or morning star, which is a red star. 2. Six stars called the “Elm rod” by the white people in the Indian territory. 3. The evening star. 4. The little star. Beneath these are the moon, seven stars, and sun. Under the seven stars are the peace pipe and war hatchet; the latter is close to the sun, and the former and the moon are on the same side of the chart. Four parallel lines extending across the chart, represent four heavens or upper worlds through which the ancestors of the Tsiↄu people passed before they came to this earth. The lowest heaven rests on an oak tree; the ends of the others appear to be supported by pillars or ladders. The tradition begins below the lowest heaven, on the left side of the chart, under the peace pipe. Each space on the pillar corresponds with a line of the chant; and each stanza (at the opening of the tradition) contains four lines. The first stanza precedes the arrival of the first heaven, pointing to a time when the children of the “former end” of the race were without human bodies as well as human souls. The bird hovering over the arch denotes an advance in the condition of the people; then they had human souls in the bodies of birds. Then followed the progress from the fourth to the first heaven, followed by the descent to earth. The ascent to four heavens and the descent to three, makes up the number seven.
When they alighted, it was on a beautiful day when the earth was covered with luxuriant vegetation. From that time the paths of the Osages separated; some marched on the right, being the war gentes, while those on the left were peace gentes, including the Tsiↄu, whose chart this is.
Then the Tsiↄu met the black bear, called in the tradition Káxe-wáhü-san’ (Crow-bone-white), in the distance. He offered to become their messenger, so they sent him to the different stars for aid. According to the chart he went to them in the following order: Morning star, sun, moon, seven stars, evening star, little star.
Then the black bear went to the Waↄiñʞa-ↄüʇse, a female red bird sitting on her nest. This grandmother granted his request. She gave them human bodies, making them out of her own body.
The earth lodge at the end of the chart denotes the village of the Hañʞa uta¢anʇsi, who were a very warlike people. Buffalo skulls were on the tops of the lodges, and the bones of the animals on which they subsisted whitened on the ground. The very air was rendered offensive by the decaying bodies and offal.
The whole of the chart was used mnemonically. Parts of it, such as the four heavens and ladders, were tattooed on the throat and chest of the old men belonging to the order.
The tradition relating to Minabō’zho and the sacred objects received from Kítshi Man’idō is illustrated in Fig. 168, which, represents a copy (one-third original size) of the record preserved at White Earth. This record is read from left to right and is, briefly, as follows:
a represents Minabō’zho, who says of the adjoining characters representing the members of the Midéwin: “They are the ones, they are the ones who put into my heart the life.” Minabō’zho holds in his left hand the sacred medicine bag.
b and c represent the drummers; at the sound of the drum everybody rises and becomes inspired, because the Great Spirit is then present in the lodge.
d denotes that women also have the privilege of becoming members of the Midéwin. This figure holds a snake-skin “medicine bag” in her left hand.
e represents the tortoise, the good spirit, who was the giver of some of the sacred objects used in the rite.
f the bear, also a benevolent spirit, but not held in so great veneration as the tortoise. His tracks are visible in the lodge.
g the sacred medicine bag, Biń-ji-gú-sân, which contains life and can be used by the Midē’ to prolong the life of a sick person.
h represents a dog given by the spirits to Minabō’zho as a companion.
Fig. 169 gives copies, one-third actual size, of two records in possession of different Midē’ at Red lake. The characters are almost identical, and one record appears to have been copied from the other. The lower figure, however, contains an additional character. The following is an incomplete interpretation of the characters, the letters applying equally to both:
a, Esh’gibŏ’ga, the great uncle of the Unish’-in-ab’-aig, the receiver of the Midéwin.
b, the drum and drumsticks.
c, a bar or rest, observed while chanting the words pertaining to the records.
d, the bin’-ji-gu’-sân, or sacred medicine bag. It consists of an otter skin, and is the mī’gis, or sacred symbol of the midē’wigân’ or grand medicine lodge.
e, a Midē’ shaman, the one who holds the mī’gis while chanting the Midē’ song in the grand medicine lodge, f. He is inspired, as indicated by the line extending from the heart to the mouth.
f, representation of the grand medicine lodge. This character, with slight addition, is usually employed by the southern division of the Ojibwa to denote the lodge of a jĕssakkī’d, and is ordinarily termed a “jugglery.”
g, a woman, and signifies that women may also be admitted to the midē’wigân’, shown in the preceding character.
h, a pause or rest in the chant.
i, the sacred snake-skin bag, having the power of giving life through its skin. This power is indicated by the lines radiating from the head and the back of the snake.
j represents a woman.
k, another illustration of the mī’gis, represented by the sacred otter.
l denotes a woman who is inspired, as shown by the line extending from the heart to the mouth in the lower chart, and simply showing the heart in the upper. In the latter she is also empowered to cure with magic plants.
m represents a Midē’ shaman, but no explanation was obtained of the special character delineated.
In Fig. 170 is presented a variant of the characters shown in a of Fig. 169. The fact that this denotes the power to cure by the use of plants would appear to indicate an older and more appropriate form than the delineation of the bow and arrow, as well as being more in keeping with the general rendering of the tradition.
Fig. 171, two-thirds real size, is a reproduction, introduced here for comparison and explanation, of a record illustrating the alleged power of a Midē’.
a, the author, is the Midē’, who was called upon to take a man’s life at a distant camp. The line extending from the Midē’ to i, explained below, signifies that his power extended to at least that distance.
b, an assistant Midē’.
c, d, e, and f represent the four degrees of the Midéwin, of which both shamans are members. The degrees are also indicated by the vertical lines above each lodge character.
g is the drum used in the ceremony.
h is an outline of the victim. A human figure is drawn upon a piece of birchbark, over which the incantations are made, and, to insure the death of the subject, a small spot of red paint is rubbed upon the breast and a sharp instrument thrust into it.
i, the outer line represents a lake, while the inner one is an island, upon which the victim resides.
The ceremony indicated in the above description actually occurred at White Earth during the autumn of 1884, and, by a coincidence, the Indian “conjured” died the following spring of pneumonia resulting from cold contracted during the winter. This was considered as the result of the Midē’’s power, and naturally secured for him many new adherents and believers.
Fig. 172 represents a jĕssakkī’d, named Ne-wik’-ki, curing a sick woman by sucking the demon through a bone tube. It is introduced here for comparison, though equally appropriate to Chap. xiv, sec. 3. The left-hand character represents the Midē’ holding a rattle in his hand. Around his head is an additional circle, denoting quantity (literally, more than an ordinary amount of knowledge), the short line projecting to the right therefrom indicating the tube used. The right-hand character is the patient operated upon.
The juggling trick of removing disease by sucking it through tubes is performed by the Midē’ after fasting and is accompanied with many ceremonies.
The Origin of the Indians
Sikas’sigé, one of the officiating priests of the Midē’ society of the Ojibwa at White Earth, Minnesota, gives the following explanation of Fig. 173, which is a reduced copy of a pictorial representation of a tradition explaining the origin of the Indians:
In the beginning, Ki’tshi Man’idō—Dzhe Man’idō, a—made the Midē’ Man’idōs. He first created two men, b and c, and two women, d and e, but they had no power of thought or reason. Then Dzhe Man’idō made them reasoning beings. He then took them in his hands so that they should multiply; he paired them, and from this sprung the Indians. Then, when there were people, he placed them upon the earth; but he soon observed that they were subject to sickness, misery, and death, and that unless he provided them with the sacred medicine they would soon become extinct.
Between the position occupied by Dzhe Man’idō and the earth were four lesser spirits, f, g, h, and i, with whom Dzhe Man’idō decided to commune, and to impart the mysteries by which the Indians could be benefited; so he first spoke to a spirit at f, and told him all he had to say, who in turn communicated the same information to g, and he in turn to h, who also communed with i. Then they all met in council and determined to call in the four wind gods at j, k, l, and m. After consulting as to what would be best for the comfort and welfare of the Indians, these spirits agreed to ask Dzhe Man’idō to communicate the mystery of the sacred medicine to the people.
Dzhe Man’idō then went to the Sun Spirit (o) and asked him to go to the earth and instruct the people as had been decided upon by the council. The Sun Spirit, in the form of a little boy, went to the earth and lived with a woman (p) who had a little boy of her own.
This family went away in the autumn to hunt, and during the winter this woman’s son died. The parents were so much distressed that they decided to return to the village and bury the body there; so they made preparations to return, and as they traveled along they would each evening erect several poles upon which the body was placed to prevent the wild beasts from devouring it. When the dead boy was thus hanging upon the poles the adopted child—who was the Sun Spirit—would play about the camp and amuse himself, and finally told his adopted father he pitied him, and his mother, for their sorrow. The adopted son said he could bring his dead brother to life, whereupon the parents expressed great surprise and desired to know how that could be accomplished.
The adopted boy then had the party hasten to the village, when he said, “Get the women to make a wig’iwam of bark (q), put the dead boy in a covering of birch bark and place the body on the ground in the middle of the wig’iwam.” On the next morning, when this had been done, the family and friends went into this lodge and seated themselves around the corpse.
After they had all been sitting quietly for some time they saw, through the doorway, the approach of a bear (r), which gradually came toward the wig’iwam, entered it, and placed itself before the dead body, and said hŭ’, hŭ’, hŭ’, hŭ’, when he passed around it toward the left side, with a trembling motion, and as he did so the body began quivering, which increased as the bear continued, until he had passed around four times, when the body came to life and stood up. Then the bear called to the father, who was sitting in the distant right-hand corner of the wig’iwam, and addressed to him the following words:
Nōs | Ka-wi’-na | ni’-shi-nâ’-bi | wis’-si | a-ya’wi-an’ | man’-i-do | nin-gi’-sis.
My father | is not | an Indian | not | you are | a spirit | son.
Be-mai’-a-mi’-nik | ni’-dzhi | man’-i-do | mi’-a-zhi’-gwa | tshi-gi’-a-we-an’.
Insomuch | my fellow | spirit | now | as you are.
Nōs | a-zhi’-gwa | a-se’-ma | tshi-a’-to-yek’. | Â’-mi-kun’-dem | mi-e’-ta
My father | now | tobacco | you shall put. | He speaks of | only
a-wi-dink’ | dzhi-gŏsh’-kwi-tōt’ | wen’-dzhi-bĭ-mâ’-di-zid’-o-ma’ | a-ga’-wa
once | to be able to do it | why he shall live here | now
bi-mâ’-di-zid’-mi-o-ma’; | ni’-dzhi | man’-i-do | mi’-a-zhi’-gwa | tshi-gi’-we-an’.
that he scarcely lives; | my fellow | spirit | now I shall go | home.
The little bear boy (r) was the one who did this. He then remained among the Indians (s) and taught them the mysteries of the Grand Medicine (t), and after he had finished he told his adopted father that as his mission had been fulfilled, that he was to return to his kindred spirits, the Indians would have no need to fear sickness, as they now possessed the Grand Medicine which would assist them to live. He also said that his spirit could bring a body to life but once, and he would now return to the sun from which they would feel his influence.
This is called Kwi’-wi-sĕns’ wed-di’-shi-tshi’ ge’-wi-nĭp’—“Little boy, his work.”
From subsequent information it was learned that the line (w) denotes the earth, and that, being considered as one step in the course of initiation into the Midē’wiwin, three others must be taken before a candidate can be admitted. These steps, or rests, as they are denominated, are typified by four distinct gifts of goods, which must be remitted to the Midē’ priests before the ceremony can take place.
The characters s and t are repetitions of the figures alluded to in the tradition (q and r) to signify that the candidate must personate the Makwa’ Man’idō—bear spirit—when entering the Midē’wiwin (t); t is the Midē’ Man’idō, as Ki’tshi Man’idō is termed by the Midē’ priests. The device of horns, attached to the head, is a common symbol of superior power, found in connection with the figures of human and divine forms in many Midē’ songs and other mnemonic records; v represents the earth’s surface, similar to that designated as w. w, x, y, and z represent the four degrees of the grand medicine.