Social Life and Ceremonial Bundles of the Menomini Indians
NUNC COGNOSCO EX PARTE
TRENT UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
I
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ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS
OF THE
American Tluseum of Natural
History.
Vol. XIII, Part I.
SOCIAL LIFE AND CEREMONIAL BUNDLES OF THE MENOMINI INDIANS.
BY
ALANSON SKINNER.
NEW YORK:
Published by Order of the Trustees. 1913.
ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS
OF THE
American Museum of Natural History
Vol. XIII, Part I.
SOCIAL LIFE AND CEREMONIAL BUNDLES OF THE MENOMINI
INDIANS.
By Alanson Skinner.
CONTENTS.
Page.
INTRODUCTION . 3
HOME LIFE OF THE MENOMINI . 5
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION . 8
Government . . 22
Comparative Notes .......... 27
MARRIAGE CUSTOMS . 29
TERMS OF RELATIONSHIP . 32
CHILDREN, BIRTH AND NAMING CUSTOMS . 35
DREAM FASTING OF YOUTHS AND MAIDENS .... 42
MENSTRUAL CUSTOMS . . 52
GAMES . 53
Ball Game ............ 53
Sand or Earth Game . 54
Flying Stick Game . . 54
Snow Snake . 54
Ice Game ............ 55
Lacrosse . 55
Shinney . 57
Bowl and Dice Game . 58
Cup and Pin Game . 59
Moccasin Game . 59
Cat’s Cradle . 61
Draw Stick Game . 61
Racing . 61
MONTHS AND SEASONS . 62
JU URL 4L CUSTOMS . 63
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Page.
COSMOLOGY AND MEDICINE BUNDLES . 73
General Concepts of the Universe . 73
Future Life 85
Medicine Bundles and their Relation to War and Hunting . 91
War Bundles . 96
Diffusion of War Bundles ........ 129
Hunting Customs . 131
The Big Bear and Little Beaver Medicine . 150
Private Medicines . • ■ • • • • • .154
Buffalo Medicine .......... 157
The Guardian Doll and its Ritual . 158
BIBLIOGRAPHY . 162
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Text Figures.
Page..
- War and Peace Paraphernalia ........ 23
- Menomini Woman, showing Method of carrying Child .... 36
- Games ............. 56
- Pagan Menomini Cemetery ........ 64
- Menomini Graves .......... 67
6-8. Three Birchbark Strips containing Records of the Thunderbirds . . 76
- War Bundle opened and spread out to show Contents . . . .102
- Painted Robe from a War Bundle ....... 103
11-20. Details of Records shown on painted Robe, Fig. 11 . . . 104-117
- Deer Hoof Rattles from War Bundle ....... 11S
- Menomini Rain Ceremony ......... 120
- War Charms ........... 124
- Buffalo Skin Headdress once the Property of Chief Oshkosh . . .126
- Misasakiwis, the Great Hunting Medicine, Bag, and Part, of the Medi¬
cine . . 133
- Ivitagasa Muskiki, the Fawnskin Medicine and its Contents . . . 141
- Reverse Side of Basswood Bark Twine Bag containing the Fawnskin
Medicine .......... 143
- Flat Board containing Hunting Dream Formulae ..... 156
- Buffalo Calling Medicine . . . . . . . . .157
- Birchbark Record accompanying a Medicine Doll .... 159
INTRODUCTION.
The Menomini 1 or Wild Rice People, are a small tribe of Algonkin-speak- ing Indians who dwell on their reservation in Shawano and Oconto Counties, Wisconsin, not far from their original habitat on Green Bay. In number, they can now muster about fifteen hundred souls, of whom perhaps one third still retain their former religion and pagan practices.
The Menomini first came in contact with the whites about the year 1634r when they were visited by the Sieur Jean Nicollet at Green Bay. From that time on their friendship with the whites has been practically unbroken. They refused the successive advances of Pontiac, Tecumseh, and Black Hawk, and assisted materially in causing the downfall of the latter.2 They sided with the English after the withdrawal of the French, although they had previously fought against them on several occasions. One hundred and twenty-nine Menomini warriors were present under Marin at the fall of Fort William Henry in 1757. We find them arrayed with the English against the Americans in 1812, but they joined us against Black Hawk. At a later date, many of them served as volunteers in the Civil War on the side of the LTnion. Owing to their friendship for the settlers their impor¬ tance in the early history of Wisconsin can hardly be exaggerated.
Because of their peaceful attitude towards the white man the Menomini have never been as well known to us as some of their more warlike neighbors, such as the Potawatomi and the Sauk and Fox. The only literature of any importance bearing on them is Hoffman’s paper, “The Menomini,” and the fragmentary, though often very excellent accounts contained in the annual reports of the Wisconsin Historical Society and the Jesuit Relations.
For the past four summers the writer has been engaged in studying the ethnology of this tribe. Through the able and untiring assistance of Mr. John V. Satterlee, LTnited States Government interpreter and chief of In¬ dian police at Keshena, a large amount of data have been gathered. During the course of the work the writer became intimately acquainted with most of the head men of the pagan party. With a feeling of mutual confidence established, it was possible to obtain for the Museum examples of the sacred bundles and their rituals, as well as information about the lesser religious and other concepts.
1 Oma'nomaneo, known to the French as Folles Avoines.
2 For the best historical account, see Hoffman, 14-20.
3
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII
A study of the social and religious life of the Menomini is presented in the following paper, and it is hoped that at some not far future date, another paper on the cults and ceremonies, the folklore and mythology of the tribe may be sent to the press. It is our intention to withhold the data on material culture until more have been gathered from other tribes of the Central Algonkin group, when a general comparative study will be made.
Besides John V. Satt.erlee, through whose faithful labor and friendship alone this work could have been compiled, we owe a debt of gratitude to Mr. Angus Nicholson, Special Agent to the Menomini, who has assisted us in every way possible. Among the Indians themselves we wish to thank especially, James Black-cloud, Judge Perrote, Jane and Antoine Shipikau, Kinesa, Jim Wisu, David Waupoose, Thomas W’aupoose, Nawakwitcikwap, Pamopomi, Ksewatosa, Ivesoapomesao, Joe and Sophia Pecore, John Keshena, Nakuti, and Pitwaskum. Thomas Hog, and Niopet, deceased, also rendered valuable assistance, besides many others.
The system of notation of Indian words that has been followed is very simple. All vowels have continental values. The following symbols have been used.
a as a in man a aw in saw e a in say u u in tuck
u a whispered terminal u
x a whispered aspirant
’ hiatus caused by closure of glottis 1
Alanson Skinner.
September, 1913.
1 Throughout, when the name of the culture hero appears, read Ma’nabus instead of Ma'nabus.
1913.]
Skinner, Menomini Social Life and Ceremonial Bundles.
5
HOME LIFE OF THE MENOMINI.
The Menomini day began at sunrise. As soon as it was fairly light the women rose, brought water, and built the fire. The men were not long in following and soon the first of the two daily meals was served. The men and boys always ate first and the women and girls afterwards. Breakfast over, the men departed for the hunting or fishing grounds, while the women attended to the crops, prepared food, gathered basswood bark, collected roots, sewed and embroidered, or did any of the various tasks assigned to Woodland Indian women. At twilight, or a little before, the men returned for supper, and immediately thereafter the social time of the day began. There was little or no smoking for pleasure in former years, so the warriors gossiped and gambled, courted, or told stories. In the summer their tales related to their owm warlike exploits, supernatural adventures, dreams,1 or fairy stories; but myths were entirely avoided for fear that “the horrid old toad” would crawl into bed and sleep with the narrator. In winter, however, the long nights were beguiled away with more sacred tales. The telling of the myth that deals with the extraordinary and comical adventures of the culture hero, Ma'nabus, formed one of the favorite pastimes of bygone winters. This myth is so long and composed of so many sections that “ No one man ever has been, or ever will be, able to learn and tell them all.” Indeed, the narrator usually began early in the fall and talked every night for a few hours so the story was spun out all winter until spring. No one ever interrupted and the story teller always received a small guerdon of tobacco or a little present for each section of the story. Some myths, of course, were too sacred for public narration except on ceremonial occasions, and these were bought in private from the older men by the youths, segment by segment. Thus a young man would appear some evening at the lodge of one of the elders, heap up a pile of goods on the floor and then, with a preliminary offering of tobacco, would request the elder to tell him such a myth. Asked in this ceremonial manner, the older man might not refuse for fear of angering the gods. On the other hand, without the customary present, it was equally offensive to mention the great powers.
The favorite games for indoors were bowl and dice, moccasin, and cat’s cradle. The cup and pin game was semi-ceremonial, and, since it had a bearing on hunting and hunting medicines, was only made and used when
1 Called “ true stories ” by the natives.
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,
on the chase. It was never kept around the house for fear that the family of the owner might go hungry.
Summer evenings were utilized by the young Indians as by our own race for courting. With the fall of twilight, the melody of the pi pikwun, or lovers’ flute might be heard in the vicinity of the wigwams, where some youth was endeavoring to lure the girl of his choice to his side. Some flutes were famous for their mellow tone, and often lovers would hire them in order to be more successful in their courting adventures. Others were provided with medicines to gain the affections.
Besides these activities there were very few social dances, as such, so far as our information goes, but there were semi-ceremonial and ceremonial functions ad infinitum. In early spring, too, there was the annual sugar¬ making festival at the camps when the toil of reducing the maple sap was lightened by merriment, dances, and buffoonery.
Hospitality was a cardinal virtue of the olden days. A visitor or a stranger was never denied admittance, lodging, and food; yet none of these were ever thrust upon him. On arriving at a lodge, etiquette demanded that the visitor pause at the threshold and await an invitation to enter. The master of the house, on being apprised of the approach of a guest, would first say to his wife, “Make haste and sweep a place for our friend to sit upon, it may be that he is going to come in here.” Straightway the woman would hurry to prepare a spot at the extreme rear of the lodge, farthest from the door, often laying a clean mat there in readiness. When the stranger arrived at the threshold, the host, without rising, or leaving whatever he may have been engaged in doing, addressed him in these set words, “ N’hau ! Come in if you so desire, but you need not if you do not wish to.” The guest would reply, “Yoh!” or “Eh!” in assent, and, entering, take his place. The host would then order his wife to prepare food for their company and when it was set before the guest he said, “Now eat, if you so desire, but refrain, if you do not care for this kind of food. It is what we eat every day; we have nothing better to offer you.” After the stranger had eaten, tobacco was given him and he smoked. No embarrassing questions as to his name or business followed. The stranger was free to give or withhold information and to go and come as lie pleased. It was considered a duty to look out for a guest’s welfare and to treat him with the utmost respect.
Among themselves, the rights of the individual were paramount. A husband might not sell or dispose of his wife’s or children’s property, nor kad any other person, except the owner, any right to them. If a member of the family chose to bargain off personal possessions, no other member ever interfered in any way. Even infants had the sole right to what was theirs.
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Skinner, Menomini Social Life and Ceremonial Bundles.
7
For this reason, Menomini young women who are loose in virtue are not condemned by their native brothers and sisters. A woman, before she is married, is mistress of her own person, and may preserve or barter her honor as she pleases. For an Algonkin people, however, the Menomini moral standard, judged from our point of view, is noteworthy. It is far higher than that of the Ojibway or Cree and is about equal to that of a similar rural community of whites. The Indians are probably not more immoral than their white neighbors in Wisconsin, but certainly more openly so.
This regard for the individual carried itself from private to public affairs, so that the sanctity of a promise was often disregarded when the maker felt his obligation inconvenient. This is especially true nowadays when the old time strength of character of the Menomini has largely degenerated. It is this peculiarity which has caused the white man to condemn the Indian as utterly irresponsible and unreliable. It is, however, only fair to say that among the Menomini and every other tribe, there are many individuals whose sense of business and personal honor is as high as the loftiest concepts of our own race.
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION.
Perhaps the best introduction to the social structure of the Menomini is to be found in their own origin myth: 1 — ■
In the beginning, the Menomini came into existence near the mouth of the Menominee River. First of all, a bear came forth from under the earth and became a man. Then another followed him and became a woman and they existed there. The name of the man was Sekatcokemau,2 and he sprang from the great underground bear or the turtle.3
As soon as the man and woman saw each other they were pleased and recognized that they were to be mates. The man realized that they would need shelter. He built the first mat wigwam for their home and then made a canoe in order that he might go out on the waters and catch sturgeon, which were very abundant at the foot of a nearby cataract, where they had been created for the use of man. Sekatcokemau was very successful in taking sturgeon. He brought home a large quantity which his wife prepared. First she split them from the head down and drew them; then she hung them over a frame to dry. When they were sufficiently cured she cut them into flakes and made the first sacrifice and feast to all the powers.
One day three thunderbirds 4 dropped from the heavens and lit far away at the great ledge of rock which projects into Lake Winnebago near Fond du Lac. As their feet touched the earth they became men and there they stayed, living upon powerful wild animals such as underground bears and horned hairy snakes. One day the two lesser men pointed to the west and said to their chief, Nakatciskaw, “Look over there, do you see that wigwam?”
“Why yes, I see it, ” said Nakatciskaw quietly, “I know already who has at last appeared on earth.”
“Let us journey over and pay a visit to him,” suggested the two lesser men.
So they walked around the lake, for they could no longer fly, being in the shape of men. As they traveled they came to a river and they were obliged to follow along its bank for many miles before they came to a riffle where the water was shallow enough for them to cross over dry shod. Once on the other side they went down along the shore again until he came to Sekatcokemau’s camp.
Meanwhile Sekatcokemau had returned from his fishing and was lying within his lodge smoking his long pipe, while his wife dressed his catch. As the woman labored, she looked up and saw the three men approaching. Wondering who these strangers might be, she went into the wigwam, “Somebody is coming to our abode,” she told him.
1 Told by Nakuti (Sun-fish) aged 84.
2 Chief of chiefs.
3 The turtle is the earthly representative of the great underground bear and as such is particularly desirable as food at all feasts in honor of the thunderbirds, who prey on the underneath gods.
4 They were Wiskino, Nakatciskau, and another whose name is not preserved.
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Skinner, Menomini Social Life and Ceremonial Bundles.
9
“Look closely when you go out, and note in what direction they are coining,” was the only reply that her husband gave. The woman went out and pretended to go on with her work. Presently she came in again.
“They are coming directly for our place!” she cried breathlessly.
“Sweep this floor quickly,” commanded her spouse. “Perhaps they are coming here and we will ask them to come in and rest.”
His wife hurriedly did as she was bid and then hastened out again to her work. The men kept drawing nearer so she ran in and told her husband.
“See if they come any closer,” he ordered. She started to go out.
“Why here they are at our very door!” she exclaimed.
“Come in, if it pleases you,” called out Sekatcokemau from where he lay.
“Yoh!” responded the three in assent, as they stooped and entered the lodge. They came in and seated themselves on the opposite side from then- host.
“Now, old woman,” said Sekatcokemau to his wife, “cut up and cook one of our best sturgeon for our guests.”
His wife withdrew and prepared one of the fish. She stirred the pot as it boiled, holding the bits of meat under the surface of the water with her wooden ladle so that they might be thoroughly cooked. At last her task was accomplished and she called through the door, “The kettle of sturgeon is cooked now.”
“Go out and get our biggest wooden bowl and set the meat before our guests, you can put the broth in three smaller vessels,” replied her spouse.
The woman did as she was told. “Now eat, if you so desire,” said Sekatcokemau to the three thunder men, “or refrain, if you do not care for this kind of food. It is what I eat every day and it is all that I have to offer you.”
The three men fell to heartily, and soon finished the repast. “Take away the dishes, our visitors have finished their meal,” cried Sekatcokemau to his wife. Then turning to his guests he added, “I am delighted that you have come here to see me, for I have been worrying, wondering whom I could invite to visit me here in a few days, for I propose to ask all living beings to meet me here in council, in order that I may find out who they are and their numbers, so that they can assist me and form a league with me.”
“Yes,” replied the three, “that is good. Let us know the day you select and we will join you.” “Do you see that servant of mine lying there?” asked Sekatcokemau, pointing to a naked bear whose head and feet alone had fur on them. “He is to be the messenger of the earth and will carry the news for me.”
The three thunderers looked attentively for a moment and then rose, thanked their host, and departed. When the appointed time came, the bear was sent on his rounds. He found the invited guests at their homes. At Mackinaw he discovered Awase, the black bear. The crane, Kwutatcia, he found in a large marsh on the Wisconsin River and so he bade the various animals attend.
They all heeded his words and one by one they set out for the council place. The wolf proceeded until he came to the shore of Lake Michigan at Green Bay. He paused at the brink wondering how he could cross, for he had a great distaste for swimming. As he meditated, the water spoke to him. “Hello, Wolf! Why do you sit there so silently? What are you going to do? ” “I want to go over to the council that Sekatcokemau has called on the other side, but I do not know how to get across,” he answered. “ Why, that is all right, don’t worry, I ’ll take you over,” said the water, “just get on my back.”
The wolf, however, hesitated to leap in and a wave came rolling up. “Jump on
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History.. [Vol. XIII,
my back,” it cried. Then the wolf sprang on the wave which upheld him like a board and ferried him over. When Wolf had arrived safely, he leaped ashore and said, “Thank you, my friend! Henceforward you and I shall be partners, our totems shall be the same, and my descendants shall bear your name.” Later on, when Wolf became a man, he carried out his promise and today the wolf and wave subgentes head a gens together and the name Teko, or wave, is preserved as a gentile name.
In like manner the bear came to Lake Michigan as he traveled from Mackinaw to the council. He, too, was unable to cross, and as he sat discouraged, a voice called to him from the air. He looked up and saw Pinasiu, the bald eagle. “WThat is the trouble, brother bear? Why do you look so sad?” “Why, I am bidden to the council and I do not know how to cross this lake.”
“Well, never mind, I’ll lend you one of my wings in exchange for one of your forelegs, then you can flutter across.” “All right,” growled the bear. The exchange was made and the bear flopped heavily over and landed near Escanaba where he crossed a bay. When he arrived, Pinasiu was waiting for him. “Many thanks, my friend,” said the bear to the eagle as he gave back the borrowed wing, “we shall always be brothers hereafter, you and I.” It fell about as he had promised so that nowadays the black bear and the bald eagle form linked gentes and there are names to commen- orate this event found in the clans.
At length all the guests arrived at the council. For a while they sat and smoked and after a time Sekatcokemau thus addressed them: “My friends, I have called on you to meet here for this purpose. We are of animal nature, but I propose that we change our forms and commence to exist as human beings. We shall be Meno- mini Indians.”
“N’hau!” responded all the animals in chorus, and when they had discussed the matter and approved it they went to their various homes, where they gathered their families and returned to pick out their future residences. Then they became men, the ancestors of the Oma'nomaneo.
The original ten animals invited to the feast became the ancestors of the dominant subgentes of the ten gentes, or “brotherhoods” of the Meno- mini of which Sekatcokemau is the royal gens.
These, in the order of their importance, are : — -
1 Sekatcokemau
2 Kitcinakau 3-4 Muhwao-Te'ko
5 Noma
6 Kwuta/tcia
7 Omaskos
8-9 Awa/se-Pinasiu
10 Inama'ki11
The Great Bear
Great Sand (mythical bear)
Wolf Wave (double or linked gentes) 1
Beaver
Crane
Elk
Black Bear and Bald Eagle (double or linked gentes)
Thunder Bird
1 A member belonging to either one of the linked gentes may claim one or both ancestors as totems because of the traditional pact made by them.
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Skinner, Menomini Social Life and Ceremonial Bundles.
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Each of these subgentes is the leading subgens of the gens or group which bears its name and includes several other subgentes supposed to be not so old. For example, in the Sekatcokemau gens we have the following subgentes :
a Sekatcokemau Great Bear
b Mikana Turtle
c Kitami1 11 Porcupine
These subgentes are all putatively related and may not intermarry. An Indian belonging to the gens when asked his totem would first answer giving all three subgentes, but when pinned down, would finally give the one in which he was actually born. This is true of all gentes. To this group in common, irrespective of the subgentes, belong several distinctive gentile names, a number of which have been confounded with the subgentes themselves by Hoffman. Formerly, the use of these names was strictly required and at no time was one of the titles allowed to be vacant. Now, however, those appellations have fallen into desuetude. Sometimes persons in the gens assumed a gentile name when the totem animal had appeared to them as a personal (dream) guardian. No office was attached to any of these titles, but they were given those thought to be more closely descended from the original totem animals as a rule.
Gentile Names Male
Awase'se *, Little Bear
Nf/kau 2, Bear (proper name for bear)
Wapina/niu, White Bear (sacred)
Wakidjana/pe, Beak-like-an-eagle (reference to assistance of bear by eagle)
Female
Awasiukiu, Black-Bear-Woman Nokifikiu, White-Bear-Woman Pinasiukiu, Bald-Headed-Eagle-Woman
We find similar conditions obtain in all the gentes.
1 Refers to the servant hear dwelling under the hill at Mackinaw.
a Among the Ojibway (Warren, 44 and 49) No'kau seems to have been an alternate name with mukwuh for the bear clan. The name “ Ni'opet,” borne by one of the sons of Oshkosh, and generally translated as “four-in-a-den,” is not, as given by Hoffman, a gentile name. It has nothing whatever to do with this class of titles, but was derived from a dream concerning the four judges of life who are seated at the top of the heavenly cylinder.
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2 Ketci'nakau Widicianun, Big-Sand Gens Subgentes
a Ketci'nakau, Big-Sand 1 b Awase, Black Bear c Pmasiu, Bald Eagle
The gentile names are the same as in the Sekatcokemau gens, as all bears are closely related.
3-4 Muhwao-Teko Widicianun, Wolf-Wave, double gens
Subgentes
a Muhwao, Wolf b Teko, Wave c Wa’ko, Fox d Aniim, Dog e Apa’sos, Deer
Gentile Names.
Male
Matcimunwao, Terrible Wolf Wapa'sipon, White Raccoon Kita'kana'm, Spotted Dog
Female
Anyuaten, Resembles Lake Water 2 Sakanl'u, Wolf, or dog, running with mouth open
5 Noma' Widicianun, Beaver Gens
Subgentes
a Noma', Beaver b Osos, Muskrat
1 Refers to mythical bear.
a The female counterpart of the Teko make Wave a gens name.
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Skinner, Menomini Social Life and Ceremonial Bundles.
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Gentile Names Male
Waiapinika/t, White Hand Piwatinit,1 Muskrat (obsolete term)
Wa/nisa/o, Beaver’s Child
Female
Nomakokiu, Beaver Woman
6 Kwuta/tcia Widicianun, Crane Gens
Subgentes
a Kwuta’tcia, Crane 2 b Wapikisu'nien, Shagpoke
Gentile Names Male
Wapita/tcia, White Crane
Female
Sawaniukiu, South Woman (?) Reference to the color of the bird’s tail Wapananiukiu, White-tail-crane-woman (east woman)
7 Oma/skos Widicianun, Elk Gens
Subgentes a Oma/skos, Elk
Gentile Names Male
Oma/skos, Elk
Female
Omaskosiukiu, Elk Woman
- See Hoffman, 40. This is not an alternative name for Noma' in the gentile system.
3 Crane is not associated with any other animal except the shagpoke, Hoffman to the contrary notwithstanding.
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Yol. XIII
8-9 Awase-Pinasiu Widicianun, Bear and Bald-Eagle Gens, double gens Subgentes
a Awase, Black Bear b Pina/siu, Bald Eagle
There are no other associates but the black bear is closely related to the subgentes included in gentes No. 1 and 2.
Gentile Names Male
InanSniu, Regular Walk (reference to gait of the bear)
Female
Awasiu'ukiu, Black Bear Woman Kitciawakiu, Loving Walking
10 Ina/makiu Widicianun, Thunder Bird Gens Subgentes
a Ina/makiu, Thunder Bird b Kine'u, War or Golden Eagle c Kakakiu, Crow
Gentile Names Male
Wfskino, Bird Mat'cikini11, Terrible Eagle Kinema/nikin, Big Eagle
Female
Matcikini'uukiu, Terrible Eagle Woman Kine'ukiu, Golden Eagle Woman
The above comprised the total list of true Menomini gentes. According to the Indians, all others are intrusive and comparatively modern. The moose, otter, sturgeon, and bullhead subgentes now in existence are perhaps Ojibway, Potawatomi, or Ottawa. The chicken and hog are totems as-
1913.]
Skinner , Menomini Social Life and Ceremonial Bundles.
15
sumed by English and trench half-breeds who have no native totem of their own. The thunder bird is assigned to Americans because the Indians have observed the eagle on our coinage. There were undoubtedly more gentile names at one time than there are now, but their use is obsolescent.
It is said that formerly during lacrosse games the sides were determined by selecting the men present from all gentes having bird totems to play against those having animals, and further, that the animal side always won because the bears were strongest in war. This is strongly reminiscent of the Winnebago, who are divided into two phratries, the people above and the people below, presided over by the thunder and bear clans respectively. The latter is the war clan par excellence.
The information as here given was obtained from an old Menomini, Nakuti, or Sun-fish, aged eighty-four. In 1911 he was the only Indian who claimed to have a full knowledge of their ancient system.1 After the list was obtained, however, several old men corroborated it in part, as far as their information extended, and except for some omissions, particularly of gentile names, it is probably fairly correct.
In the New York Colonial documents 2 is a census of Indian tribes connected with the government of Canada compiled by an unknown person, and variously attributed to Joncaire, Chauvignerie, and Celeron the younger, though according to Thwaites, it is probably the work of the latter. At all events it is dated October 12, 1736, and contains, under the caption of Folles Avoines, the first statement on record with regard to the totems of the Menomini. It says: —
The most considerable tribes [have] for device, the Large tailed Bear, the Stag, a Killiou — that is a species of Eagle (the most beautiful bird of this country), perched on a cross.
In explanation of a Cross forming the armorial bearings of the Indians, it is stated that formerly a chief of the Folles Avoines finding himself dangerously sick, consented, after trying the ordinary remedies, to see a missionary, who, Cross in hand, prayed to God for his recovery, and obtained it from his mercy. In gratitude for this benefit, the Chief desired that to his arms should be added a Cross on which the Killiou has ever since been always perched.
The large-tailed bear is of course Sekatcokemau, the underground bear, who is represented in native drawings as having a long curling tail, said to be of metal.
The stag is the omaskos or elk gens, and the killiou is probably the bald eagle, piniisiu, and not, as I understand it, kineu, the golden eagle subgens.
1 In 1913 an exhaustive search was made for other competent informants, but none could be found. All still referred the writer to Nakuti.
2 New York Colonial Documents, IX, 1052-1058.
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII
The influence of Christianity has done much to break up the old system, for the converts usually drop a large portion of their old beliefs. Thus a great change has come over the Menomini in regard to their social organiza¬ tion, especially since the rule of exogamy is now disregarded. Hoffman, though working twenty years earlier, found even then that the scheme had degenerated. I give his list, and the variant origin myth which he collected, in full. I doubt some of the details as I was unable to get corroboratory information. He has mistaken gentile names for subgentes in several cases, I have italicised these, together with several gentes that he gives but which do not exist now. Some of these are subgentes, some I cannot explain.
It is admitted that originally there were a greater number of totems among the Menomini than at the present time, but that they gradually became extinct. The tradition relating to some of them is here given, the translation being literal so nearly as possible:
When the Great Mystery made the earth, he created also numerous beings termed manidos or spirits, giving them the forms of animals and birds. Most of the former were malevolent ana'maqki'u (“underground beings”); the latter consisted of eagles and hawks, known as Thunderers, chief of which was the Invisible Thunder, though represented by Kine'uv, the Golden Eagle.
When Masha' Mdnido 1 — the Good Mystery — saw that the bear was still an animal, he determined to allow him to change his form. The bear, still known as Nanoqke, was pleased at what the Good Mystery was going to grant him, and he was made an Indian, though with a light skin. This took place at Mi'nika'ni se'pe (Menomini river), near the spot where its waters empty into Green Bay, and at this place also the Bear first came out of the ground. He found himself alone, and de¬ cided to call to himself Kine'uv, the Eagle, and said, “Eagle, come to me and be my brother.” Thereupon the eagle descended, and also took the form of a human being. While they were considering whom to call upon to join them, they perceived a beaver approaching. The Beaver requested to be taken into the totem of the Thunderers, but, being a woman, was called Nama'kukiu' (Beaver woman), and was adopted as a younger brother of the Thunderer. (The term younger brother is here employed in a generic sense, and not specifically.) The totem of the Beaver is at present termed the Pow'atinot'. Soon afterward, as the Bear and the Eagle stood on the banks of a river, they saw a stranger, the Sturgeon (Noma'eu), who was adopted by the Bear as a younger brother and servant. In like manner Omas'kos, the Elk, was accepted by the Thunderer as a younger brother and water-carrier.
At another time the Bear was going up Wisconsin river, and becoming fatigued sat down to rest. Near by was a waterfall, from beneath which emerged Moqwai'o, the Wolf, who approached and asked the Bear why he had wandered to that place. The bear said that he was on his way to the source of the river, but being fatigued and unable to travel farther, he had come there to rest. At that moment Ota'tshia (the crane), was flying by, when the Bear called to him and said: “Crane, carry me to my people at the head of the river, and I will take you for my younger brother.” As the Crane was taking the Bear on his back, the Wolf called out to the Bear, saying,
1 Not a Menomini term.
1913.]
Skinner, Menomini Social Life and Ceremonial Bundles.
17
“Bear, take me also as a younger brother, for I am alone.” The bear answered, “Come with me Wolf, and I will accept you also as my younger brother.” This is how the Crane and Wolf became younger brothers of the Bear; but as Moqwai'o, the Wolf, afterward permitted Anam, the Dog, and Aba/shush, the Deer, to join him' these three are now recognized as a phratry, the Wolf still being entitled to a seat in council on the north side and with the Bear phratry.
Ina maqki u (the Big Thunder) lived at Winnebago lake, near Fond du Lac. The Good Mystery made the Thunderers the laborers, and to be of benefit to the whole world. When they return from the southwest in the spring, they bring the rains which make the earth green and cause the plants and trees to grow. If it were not for the 1 hunderers, the earth would become parched and the grass would wither and die. 1 he Good Mystery also gave to the Thunderers corn, the kind commonly known as squaw corn, which grows on small stalks and has ears of various colors.
The Thunderers were also the makers of fire, having first received it from Ma'na- bush, who had stolen it from an old man dwelling on an island in the middle of a great lake.
The Thunderers decided to visit the Bear village, at Mi'nika'ni, and when they arrived at that place they asked the Bear to join them, promising to give corn and fire in return for rice, which was the property of the Bear and the Sturgeon, and which abounded along the waters of. Mi'nika'ni. The Bear family agreed to this, and since that time the two families have therefore lived together. The bear family occupies the eastern side of the council, while the Thunderers sit on the western side. The latter are the war chiefs and haye charge of the lighting of the fire.1
The Wolf came from Moqwai'o O'sepe'ome (“Wolf, his creek”). The dog (Anam') was born at Nomawi'qkito (Sturgeon bay); the Aba' shush (deer) came from Sha'wano Nipe'se (Shawano or Southern lake) and, together with the Dog, joined the Wolf at Menomini river.
After this union, the Bear built a long wigwam, extended north and south, and a fire was kindled by the Thunderers in the middle. From this all the familes received fire, which is carried to them by one of the Thunderers, and when the people travel the Thunderers go on ahead to a camping place and start the fire to be used by all.2
The Totems of the Present.
The Menomini totems or gentes as they exist at this day arranged in their re¬ spective phratries and in order of importance are as follows:
I. Owa'sse wi'dishi'anun, or Bear phratry:
Owa'sse .
. Bear
Kita'mi .
. Porcupine
Miqka'no .
. Turtle
Ota'tshia .
. Crane
Moqwai'o .
. Wolf
Mikek' .
. Otter
Nomci'e .
. Sturgeon
Naku'ti .
. Sunfish
1 This is very interesting as conflicts with all the testimony I have been able to gather. Radin (a, 216-217) states that the thunderbird clan of the Winnebago was the one from which peace officers were elected and it had the lire as its peculiar property.
2 No information could be gathered on this point. It seems to be a forgotten duty of the thunder gens.
18
Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII
Although the Wolf is recognized as a member of the Bear phratry, his true position is at the head of the third phratry.
II. Ina'maqki'u wi'dishi'anun, or Big Thunder phratry:
KingV . Golden Eagle
Shawa'nani' . Fork-tail hawk
Pinash'iu . Bald Eagle
Opash'koshi . Turkey-buzzard
Pakash'tsheke'u' . Swift-flying Hawk
Pe'kike'kune . Winter Hawk (remains all winter in Wisconsin)
Ke'shewa'toshe . Sparrow Hawk
Maq'kwoka'ni . Red-tail Hawk
Kaka'kg . Crow
Inaq'tek . Raven
Piwat'inot' . Beaver (former name Noma'i)
Omas'kos . Elk
Una'wanink' . Pine Squirrel
III. Moqwai'o wi'dishi'anun, or Wolf phratry:
Moqwai'o . Wolf
Anam' . Dog
Aba'shush . Deer
According to Shu'nien and Wios'kasit the arrangement of totems into phratries and subphratries was as follows:
I. The Owa'sse wi'dishi'anun, or Bear phratry, consisting of the following totems and subphratries:
Owa'sse . Bear
Miqka'no . Mud-turtle ) „ ,
. t, • f Totems
Nama'nu . Beaver ^Subphratries (these two beings
0"sass . Muskrat ) brothers)
II. The Ivine'uvwi'dishi'anun, or Eagle phratry, consisting of the following
totems :
Pinash'iu . Bald Eagle
Kaka'ke . Crow
Ina'qtek . Raven
Ma'qkuana'ni . Red-tail Hawk
“ Hinana’ shiuv ” . Golden Eagle
Pe'niki'konau . Fish Hawk
III. The Ota'tshia wi'dishi'anun, or Crane phratry, consisting of the following totems :
Ota'tshia . Crane
Shakshak'eu . Great Heron
Os'se . “Old Squaw” Duck
O'kawa'siku . Coot
IV. The M'oqwai'o wi'dishi'anun, or Wolf phratry, consisting of the following totems:
Moqwai'o . Wolf
“ Hana ” [ana'm] . Dog
Apaq'ssos . Deer
- J
Skinner, Menomini Social Life and Ceremonial Bundles.
19
V. The Mons wi' dishi' anun, or Moose phratry, with the following totems:
Mons . Moose
Oma'skos . Elk
Waba'shiu . Marten
Wu'tshik . Fisher 1
Since Hoffman’s time information concerning the former social organiza¬ tion has grown harder to obtain with each succeeding year. Owing to the causes enumerated, only one or two of the oldest people are now able to give any coherent account of the subject. I received from the younger men, even those who were generally well informed on matters concerning the past, only a garbled, unsatisfactory account. The origin myth as generally given nowadays is substantially the same as that recorded by Hoffman, save that it is more abbreviated, lacking a number of the incidents. The following short list of gentes and subgentes was collected on my first visit, not from one, but from a group of several middle-aged Menomini, who, between them, frankly confessing their ignorance, were able to do no better. It shows what is now left of the old system. At first it seems puzzling that the system should have gone out of existence so completely, but the answer is that it simply did not fit into the changed social and economic conditions of reserva¬ tion life under white control. The gentes and subgentes are given today as follows: —
1st or highest phratry
2nd
3rd
4th
Bear
Dog
Thunderbird
Crow
Turtle
Deer
Eagle
Beaver
Porcupine
Wolf
Muskrat
The Menomini were formerly divided into bands which were known by the names of their chiefs. This was apparently only after they were dis¬ turbed and displaced by white settlements, and during their wandering period before they came on the reserve.
Marriage outside of the gens was imperative, and disregard of this rule would have been incest, because of the putative relationship of all those claiming descent from the same totem. Violations of the rule are said to have been unknown in old days. Descent was patrilineal, as was inheri¬ tance. With regard to inheritance the following customs now prevail. The lion’s share of the property of the deceased goes to those who caitd for him during his last illness, unless he designated his heirs beloie dying. Part of the property is used to pay for the tcebai noket and other funeral ceremonies. The gentes formerly occupied separate territory. Leaders
i Hoffman, 39, 44.
20
Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [\ ol. XIII,
for war or other purposes were not chosen from any particular gens.1 A member of any gens or totem who proved himself worthy might be selected. The marriage of closer relations than second cousins was incest.
The joking-relationship exists between a person and his uncles and aunts, nephews and nieces, sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, on either side, but is strictly tabooed between cousins. Any joke, no matter how rough, is permissible, and so is sexual intercourse.2 A person’s nephews, nieces, and brothers- and sisters-in-law are his closest relations next to the parents, nearer even than an actual blood brother or sister. If a man goes to war his nephew, on either side, or his brother-in-law, must follow him regardless of any hindrance. This is a great point of honor, and most strictly observed. The nephew must act as a servant to him and protect him from danger at the risk of his own life. If the uncle is killed his nephew must get a scalp from the enemy in revenge, or never come home alive. In a like manner the nephew is his uncle’s blood avenger, should the uncle be slain in an intertribal quarrel. Nephews and nieces are greatly indulged by their uncles and aunts, who refuse them nothing for which they ask, no matter how costly it may be, or how inconvenient. It would be a great disgrace to do so.3
A man may never speak to his mother-in-law, and must be respectfully silent in her presence. Though there is no fixed rule to this effect, the same thing is usually observed in the case of his father-in-law. To the father-in- law belong certain privileges in dividing his son-in-law’s game. In the case of a bear, he skins the animal and keeps the skin, one side, the head and neck, while his son-in-law gets the other side and all four quarters. This rule is not followed in regard to any other game.
There is no camp circle or organized camp group, but the totems for¬ merly stayed together in pitching their lodges. Gentile bundles were unknown, all sacred packs were individual property and there were no special
1 Hoffman, 41, to the contrary.
2 In 1911, while attending an outdoor ceremony of the dreamers, I stopped to talk witli John Keshena, an Indian storekeeper, when chief Sabatis came up. Sabatis at once began to revile Keshena, warning me to purchase nothing of him. “ Tobacco, anywhere else five cents, ten cents he charges! He lies, he steals, he cheats!”
During this tirade Keshena grinned pleasantly, and seemed not in the least offended. At the conclusion of his outburst chief Sabatis turned to me and said, smiling at my surprise, “ Oh that is just our Indian way! I can joke with him, he is my brother-in-law!”
I have observed another case in which Thomas Waupoose called his brother-in-law Keokuk to him, as he drove by with a heavy load of wood, in order to make an obscene re¬ mark which the other was obliged to accept as a jest, although much inconvenienced by the matter.
3 Tlie writer once wished to purchase a woman’s quill embroidered buckskin legging of which he had been told. When the old woman who was supposed to have it was found, she explained that she had given it to her niece, much as she wanted it for a keepsake, because the niece asked for it and she could not refuse. Other examples are common.
1913.] Skinner, Menomini Social Life and Ceremonial Bundles. 21
gentile properties or gentile lodges. As to the gentile rites, the Sekatcoke- mau, or royal gens, usually took first place in the council.
If a man met his totem animal he would often give it tobacco or some of its favorite food. For instance, if a bear, he would give it a piece of maple sugar. Hoffman says: —
Although a Bear man may kill a bear, he must first address himself to it and apologize for depriving it of life; and there are certain portions only of which he may eat, the head and paws are taboo, and no member of his totem may partake of these portions, although the individuals of all other totems may do so ... .
Should an Indian of the Bear totem, or one whose adopted guardian is repre¬ sented by the bear, desire to go hunting and meet with that animal, due apology would be paid to it before destroying it. The carcass would then be dressed and' served, but no members of the Bear totem would partake of the meat, though the members of all other totems could freely do so. The hunter could, however, eat of the paws and head, the bones of the latter being subsequently placed upon a shelf,, probably over the door, or in some other conspicuous place. Due reverence is paid. to such a relic of the totem, and no greater insult could be offered to the host than for any one to take down such bones and to cast them carelessly aside.1
According to my informants no taboos against eating the totem animal were observed, however, a man made it a point of honor never to drop a morsel of its flesh when he was eating. If he did, some bystander, pre¬ ferably a member of his gens, would cry, “Oh! our friend has dropped his totem!” whereupon he woidd come over and pick it up. The offender was then obliged to get down on the floor and roll over, before the other would give him back his food. He could refuse to do this, but it was con¬ sidered a great offense to the totem, and he would be disgraced. To put a moccasin on the wrong foot was a sign that the person was to meet his totem.
The gentes did not have separate burial grounds, but all interments were made in a common yard; the outline of the totem animal of each individual being marked on the head board. The mark of the two sacred bear gentes was a bear surrounded by its own long curling tail, the sign of its sacred power. The animals were drawn head downward, presumably to signify death. The gentes and subgentes had no such thing as reciprocal functions for burying or anything else. The totem was never tattooed or painted on the body, but figures of the totem animals were carved on utensils 01 woven in basswood bags. Formerly most games were played settlement against settlement, but intergentile games, while not unknown, were un¬ common.
i Hoffman, 44 and 65.
22
Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,
Government.
The office of tribal chief is hereditary in the royal family of the royal gens, the direct lineal descendants of the first Menomini, Sekatcokemau. The last incumbent was Niopet, son of the noted Oshkosh. The head man in each gens must be a member of the royal subgens. The duties of the head men were normally civil, for all military functions were performed by the Mikewuk, or sacred war bundle holders, and a head man was by no means necessarily such. On the other hand, the fact that a person was a head man did not debar him from being a Mikiio, as this depended entirely on the nature of his youthful dream revelation. The chief of the tribe was, at least theoretically, a man of considerable power, and had charge of the police.
The duties of the Mikao were not altogether military. It was also his function, together with all men of notable bravery, to police the camp; to act as the mouthpiece or agent of the chiefs in making public announce¬ ments and speeches; to take charge of ceremonies; regulate the wild rice harvest; and act as go-between in quarrels. The name by which these warrior police are known is Nanawetauwuk, or, braves, but they are some¬ times called Minisnowuk, red ones, and more rarely by the significant title of Akitcita, suggesting the “soldiers” of the Sioux, from whom the title seems to have been borrowed.1 The badge of their civil authority was a scalloped leather necklace ending in a round sun-like figure suspended over the breast, precisely the same insignia as that worn by a head man, except that it was smaller. One among them, necessarily a member of one of the bear clans, bore the name Sakanahowao and had charge of the “peace pipe” supposed to have been given these clans by the chief underground bear.2
1 This borrowing seems to have been indirect, as Satterlee finds that the title was ob¬ tained through the Ojibway. A letter from him on this subject says in substance: — The word Ah ke che taw, means “ a brave man,” and is a Chippewa expression. Our Menomini have borrowed it and use it in a way to show their relationship with the Chippewa. In the Menomini language the word for a brave man is Nanahwaytaw.
2 The last Menomini Sakanahowao was ICeshina, from whose son the last peace maker’s pipe and regalia (Fig. 1) were obtained. The regalia consist of thirty-two German silver ornaments on harness leather forming a collar and pendant of which twenty of the discs formed a collar with a heart-shaped ornament in front with ten more discs forming a pendant which fell in front. This is, of course, a modern makeshift for the old leather form.
The symbolism is interesting. The fen discs of graded size that form the pendants are called “ wapanana oso,” or, “ morningstar’s tail,” and signify that day (joy and brightness) shall follow night (sorrow, crime). The ten brooches that form the right half of the collar signify the goodness and purity of Mate Hawathk, the supreme overhead god, and his justice towards the wronged party. They look into the heart in the center as Mate Hawathk looks into the hearts of men. Those to the left refer to the sympathy of the Evil God, the great underground bear, for the murderer, and these look into the heart as the Evil God sees into the soul of the murderer. The large round brooch at the end of the morningstar’s tail series also refers to the intercession of the sacred white bear for the criminal The red ribbons at the end of the pendant signify the shedding of blood and so does the red color of the stem of the peace pipe. This is the most elaborate symbolism I have ever obtained from the Menomini.
1913.]
Skinner, Menomini Social Life and Ceremonial Bundles.
23
a be <1
Fig 1 (50.1-5853. 6622, 6621, 4695; 50-5777). War and Peace Paraphernalia a, d. War Pipes; b Peace Pipe accompanying e; Peace-maker’s Insignia; e, Badge oi bun Dreamer. Length of a, 92 cm.
m
24
Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,
One of the important duties devolving upon the home administration of the chiefs was the prevention of internecine brawls, especially those occa¬ sioned by murder. As it is the duty of the uncle or nephew of a slain man to destroy the murderer, unless some action was immediately taken by the authorities, reciprocal killing was likely to proceed indefinitely. In one instance, eight men are said to have been slain to satisfy the demands of the Menomini code of honor before the proper authorities could be found to interpose. These proper authorities were the Sakanahowao or Nanawetau Okemau (warrior chief) and his attendant, or Minisino Okemau (red chief) and these officers were, as stated above, the chiefs of the totems whose heads came from the underworld (i. e., the three bear gentes), who held the pipe and office of peace maker.
Immediately after a murder had been committed, the criminal would flee to the heart of his family. Seeking out his father or nearest relative, he would explain his predicament. The father at once called upon his relations to collect various presents, always including a pony, as a blood offering to the family of the victim. While these were being gathered, word was sent to the nearest Sakanahowao or pipe holder who would immediately get out his sacred regalia. Attended by a Nanawetau and accompanied by the entire family of the criminal, including the culprit himself held as a semi-prisoner, they would proceed to the lodge of the deceased, where the aggrieved party were already drawn up in waiting with another Nanawetau as their representative. The victim’s family sat in a rowT about the side of the wigwam farthest from the door, with the father of the dead man, his nephews, or uncles, at the head of the line, the four nearest relatives a little apart from the rest. When the party of the offender had come to the lodge, some of them might enter and sit near the door, if there were room, but as a rule they squatted outside before the wigwam. The murderer, stripped and with his face painted black, stood in the center of the lodge. (The black color denoted that the murderer was in the shadow of death, according to one informant, John Iveshena, whose father was the last Sakan¬ ahowao.) The brother of the murderer took his place beside him and was also liable to the death penalty if the pipe were refused.
The Sakanahowao and his attendants came directly in and placed the presents, with the pony’s bridle conspicuously displayed, in the center of the floor. The peace pipe was laid on top of the pile. Then the Nanawetau, or uncle, or nephew of the pipe bearer, stepped forward, filled the pipe and lighted it with a flint and steel. If the first spark he struck ignited the punk, the omen was auspicious for the pleaders, if not, trouble was foreseen.1
» Cf. Copway, 46. statement about lighting pipe at peace council, Missisauga.
1913.]
Skinner, Menomini Social Life and Ceremonial Bandies.
25
For this reason the eyes of all those present were riveted on the performance of this rite. When it was lighted, the punk was placed in the bowl of the pipe on the tobacco, but the attendant did not blow upon it, or place the pipe in his mouth. Swinging the stem of the pipe through the air with a circular motion, he allowed the fire to take hold of itself. He then handed it to the Sakanahowao who turned to his clients, and addressed them as follows : —
Now, my relatives, we all know what we have done; we have murdered, and we have come here with the pipe of peace to ask the injured party to accept it ac¬ cording to the old rule. This is our ancient practice and so we pursue it to see if we can make friendship between us again and prevent further bloodshed. Now I am going to begin.
The hearers ejaculated “Eh!” in approval and then the Sakanahowao reversed the pipe and carrying it over his arm offered the mouthpiece to the father or closest relative of the dead man, afterwards passing it from east to west, following the sun’s course. If the man accepted, he took the pipe, weeping as a sign of sorrowful acquiescence. The pipe bearer then took off the badge of his authority and placed it on the acceptor’s neck, with a speech of congratulation and condolence. The pipe holder then addressed himself to the culprit telling him his crime had been pardoned by means of the badge and that he and the relatives of his victim were now brothers. The relative wore the badge four days at the end of which time the servant of the pipe holder went and brought it back to the pipe holder. He next washed the black from the murderer’s face and freed him with advice. The relative now had control over the murderer’s soul, should he die, and could have it to care for his soul on the death journey.1 2
On the contrary, the aggrieved party might reject the pipe by turning away his head, in which he wTas followed by all his adherents, as the pipe was offered to them. In case of a refusal, the Sakanahowao returned to the center of the lodge and turning his back on the opposite side, said to his constituents, “You see what has happened. They have refused the pipe! Our overtures are not accepted. That is too bad.
He laid the pipe across the presents once more. “What shall we do now to make this good?” asked the Brave of the Nanawetau on the other side, and the two men argue the matter over, each speaking in behalf of the side he represented, trying to decide upon whom the blame of the murder was to be laid. At last, they came to a decision. Then the N anawetau represent¬ ing the offended party made a speech:
1 See p. 65, under Burial Customs.
2 Compare Perrot’s experience among the Fox, in attempting to release a captive Sauteur
girl, narrated by La Potherie, 358 et. seq., especially, 359.
26
Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [V ol. XIII ,
Now my people, this is justice, this is right. We will not demand the life of the murderer, he is justified. We find the quarrel was started by our friend. He had a bad record anyway. Let us agree without further bloodshed.
If acceptance followed, the peace maker washed the charcoal from the culprit’s face and the incident was over, but sometimes the murderer was adjudged culpable. The witnesses and other persons interested were privi¬ leged to state their testimony or opinions. In case the verdict went against the murderer, he was slain then and there by the uncle or nephew' of his victim and the episode was closed.
At the time of the rice harvest the Indians congregate at the rice fields somewhat too early for the gathering, in order to pitch their lodges and prepare for the harvest. The police take charge and members of that body are set to guard the rice beds and no one is allowed to trespass on them before the arrival of the appointed day. From time to time they go out and examine the rice. When it is ripe enough, they inform the chief who in¬ structs them to go from lodge to lodge, crying, “ Tomorrow we will commence the harvest.” The next day, after the proper ceremonies have been held, the people go out on the beds, but the police restrain persons in wdiose fami¬ lies there has been a death within a year and all women undergoing their menstrual periods.
Apparently other Central Algonkin tribes made use of police but not in altogether the same manner.1
This use of the braves as police is fairly like the Menomini custom and the penalties inflicted are strongly reminiscent of the “soldier killing” of the Sioux and other Plains tribes with whose police customs the Menomini present many analogies, yet their bearing on war customs seems quite different.
The placing of the Menomini police in charge of the rice harvest to allow no one to trespass upon the fields until the appointed time, resembles the custom among the Plains tribes, where the police restrained the people from promiscuous hunting of the buffalo.
1 Marston remarks: — The only instances wherein I have ever known any laws enforced or penalties exacted for disobedience of them by the Sauks and Foxes, are when they are returning in the spring from their hunting grounds to their village. The village chiefs then advise the war chiefs to declare the martial law to be in force, which is soon proclaimed and the whole authority placed in the hands of the war chiefs. Their principal object in so doing appears to be, to prevent one family from returning before another, whereby it might be exposed to any enemy; or by arriving at the village before the others, to dig up its neighbor’s corn. It is the business of the war chiefs in these cases to keep all the canoes together; and on land to regulate the march of those who are mounted or on foot. One of the chiefs goes ahead to pitch upon the encampment ground each night, where he will set up a painted pole or stick as a signal for them to halt; any Indian going beyond this is punished, by having his canoe and whatever else he may have with him destroyed. On their arrival at their villages, sentinels are posted, no one is allowed to leave his village until everything is put in order; when this is accomplished the martial law ceases to be in force. — p. 163, et. seq.
1913.]
Skinner, Menomini Social Life and Ceremonial 3undles.
27
Comparative Notes.
The most distinctive features of Menomini culture are found in their social organization. The indications are that the Menomini and the other Central tribes came into the region which they at present occupy with their social system already completely formed, and as the condition of their en¬ vironment did not require any modification for convenience’ sake, they have remained unchanged, so that at the present date the social organization of the Menomini, Sauk and Fox, Winnebago, Kickapoo, and Potawatomi seems to be completely unlike.
The Sauk, Fox, and perhaps the Kickapoo and Potawatomi, have two social divisions into which members of the tribe enter at birth which play a more or less important part in the selection of opposing parties for social and religious purposes. The Winnebago are divided into two groups, but the fundamental concepts underlying the phenomenon are quite different.1 Nothing of the sort is found among the Menomini although there may have been such a division at one time, at least during lacrosse games.
The functions and rites of the subgentes and gentes, save that there is one “royal” or leading gens in the head phratry from which the tribal chiefs are selected, are vague and not developed to the extent that they are among the Winnebago. The office, by the way, tends to be hereditary. The joking-relationship occurs, as it also does among the Ojibway and Pota¬ watomi. The mother-in-law taboo and traces of a similar restriction with regard to the father-in-law are found. There are no age-societies like those of the Plains.
For administering affairs there is a council of chiefs and tribesmen. The braves, men who have achieved distinction in war, are the camp police, as is the case among the Sauk and Fox, somewhat after the manner of various Plains tribes. There are hereditary officers in certain gentes who make peace in internecine brawls, and conduct trials, especially of murderers, with set formality. A remarkable feature of these trials is that testimony is taken, and, though the officials have the final word, the families of the culprit and the injured are allowed to influence the decision, so that the function becomes practically a trial by jury. The murderer is executed by one of the officials if found guilty, or rather, worthy of death, for guilt may be excused or compounded by a finev
1 fnms coinSicm it should be noted that Mr. Satterlee has obtained two formulae for oaths. They are very similar: (a) You contradict me. I do not lie, but tell the truth only as the great spirit hears me telling you the truth, and this earth hears me. (b) Tins is the solemn truth. At this time all the powered gods hear me tell the truth and tlus earth
hears me tell the truth.
28
Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,
This seems to have been a less uncommon feature in North American ethnology than is usually supposed. Wissler 1 notes a similar custom among the Blackfoot, but still more interesting is the following excerpt concerning the New England Algonkin: — -
A malefactor having deserved death, being apprehended, is brought before the King, and some other of the wisest men, where they inquire out the original of the thing; after proceeding by aggrevation of circumstances, he is found guilty, and being cast by the Jury of their strict inquisition, he is condemned and executed in this manner. The Executioner comes in, who blindfolds the party, sets him in the public view, and brains him with a Tomahawk or club; which done, his friends bury him.2
As might be expected, the Sauk and Fox 3 have a similar method of settling their disputes. There is an officer, known as the pipe-bearer, in every band, and it is his duty to make peace for murderers if possible. He has the additional function, which is lacking among the Menomini, of ceremonially tattooing the daughters of chiefs.
Among the Ponca 4 there was a pipe among each of the bands which was used “for the keeping of peace within the tribe” if one man should kill another. In such a case the chiefs were to take a pipe to the aggrieved relatives and offer it to them. If they refused, the pipe was to be offered to them again ; if the pipe was offered and refused four successive times, then the chiefs said to them, “You must now take the consequences; we will do nothing, and you cannot ask to see the pipes,” meaning that if trouble should come to any of them because of their acts taken in revenge they could not appeal for help or mercy.
Here the trial element seems to have dropped out, and the ceremony becomes more of the ordinary calumet or pipe of peace variety. This was apparently the same as the Osage custom.5 “The Washazhe kinship group had seven pipes. These were used to make peace within the tribe. If a quarrel occurred, one of the pipes was sent by the band of the sho'ka, and the difficulty was settled peaceably.”
These pipes seem to have been used to make peace with other tribes, which may also have been the case among the Menomini, though data are now lacking on the subject. Among the Omaha 6 the custom has become still more attenuated and the pipe bearers apparently did not go through the elaborate trial rites. They seem to have been a sentencing body who afterwards also announced the punishment inflicted and tried to prevent the offended party from taking further action.
1 Wissler, (a), 24; Forsyth recounts something very similar among the Sauk.
2 Wood, 85.
3 Mrs. Lasley, 171.
4 Fletcher and La Flesche,r48.
3 Ibid, 62.
» Ibid, 215.
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Skinner , Menomini Social Life and Ceremonial Bundles.
29
MARRIAGE CUSTOMS.
The marriage customs of the Menomini are derived directly from Ma'na- bus who instructed their forefathers. To begin with, love matches are exceedingly rare, since the young men are supposed to be too bashful to seek out the women and almost all unions are decided upon by the old people. However, the following account was obtained from Judge Perrote and several other old men. After everyone had retired, a youth, generally accompanied by his chum, would go to his sweetheart’s lodge. The com¬ panion would wait outside, while the lover entered, and finding the girl’s bed would wake her. If repulsed, he would go out and the chum would try. If accepted, the youth would spend the night with his sweetheart, and, when the girl’s parents awoke they would find him there, seated by their daughter, who would announce her engagement to him. \ouths who succeeded in having connection with a virgin would make up songs about her, mentioning her name, saying: —
“So-and-so, I made her cry!”
This song was sung boastingly before other young men. W hen a youth has reached the age of eighteen or twenty, his parents or his oldest sister 01 oldest niece think it is high time he was married. Occasionally, they speak of it to their son who generally laughs his assent, but often they do not inform him at all. When they have decided upon their course, they pick out some suitable girl and visit her parents, the mother is spokesman.
“ We have come to see if we cannot be related to you. May we have your daughter for our son?” they ask. If the girl’s parents are pleased with the proposition, and they usually are, they assent. I or, it they refuse, the youth’s parents are sure to hire a witch to proceed against them. Then the young man’s parents provide suitable clothing tor the girl and collect from their own stores, or, with the help of their relatives, rich presents for the girl’s parents. These consist of maple sugar, wild rice, mats, and otliei goods. When the presents have been delivered, that night ‘the girl comes over to live with the young man. The young couple are lectured by theii parents as to their duties. After ten days the groom’s father gets up a
i Sometimes, but not always, this is done among the Sauk and Fox (Marston 165). The method of serving the girl's parents for her, which he says was in vogue among the Sauv ISSTi Ottawa. and p— * ™ apparently not .mown to the
Menomini.
30
Anthropological Papers American M useurn of Natural History. [Vol. XIII r
feast for the bride’s relatives and the young couple are again lectured, then within a year, the girl’s parents, either alone or aided by their relatives,, make return presents of equal value to the youth s parents. Occasionally, the proposition is reversed and the parents of the girl ask the youth s parents for him. If the couple do not agree, they separate at will.
Formerly, plurality of wives was allowed,1 but the custom observed by some peoples, where a man marrying the eldest of several sisters had the first right to the others as they reached marriageable age, was not observed.2 Should a man be married to one of a family of sisters and his wife die, her parents would be apt to say to one of the others when the period of mourning was over, “ We do not wish to lose that man from among our relatives, go over and take your sister’s place.” In fact, if this were not done it was considered that the young man’s parents-in-law did not think very much of him.
Adultery on the part of a woman was formerly punished by the loss of her life at the hands of her husband. Her paramour might also be killed if caught in the act. Sometimes, however, the man would spare her life but cut off her nose.3 Adultery was often condoned until it was a public scandal. In such a case, a man often divorced his wife. He might leave her, taking only his gun and later the children were divided, the man taking the boys, the woman the girls and all the household property. A rarer method of divorce was through the dream dance. During the dance, at the request of the man, a certain song w’ould be sung, when he wTonld rise, clad in a new blanket, and dance, singing. At the conclusion of the song he wTould publicly cast away the blanket symbolizing the throwing away of his wife. Should he ever take her back, it would be a great offence to the drum, and he w'ould surely die.
A curious phase of early Menomini married life wxas the use of “ Ma'na- bus blanket.” It is said that there wras formerly a taboo against the contact of the skin of males and females. To obviate this difficulty Ma'nabus pre¬ pared a large buckskin, with a single perforation, to cover the woman. This robe was handed down to mankind and to comparatively recent times the custom wras still in vogue among the Menomini.
Certain persons in every band were granted, through their dreams, the right to possess these robes. The skins wrere beautifully painted and orna¬ mented and kept as sacred articles, to be rented out to those who wished to use them. Anyone who wished to hire a blanket first approached the owner
1 Sauk and Fox, Marston, 16.
2 This was not so among the Ojibway, (Kohl, 11) and Cree, (Skinner, (a), 57).
2 The Sauk and Fox cut off the ears and cut or bite off the nose of the woman, Forsyth,.
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Skinner, Menomini Social Life and, Ceremonial Bundles.
31
with a present of tobacco as a preface to his request and on its return another present had to be made in payment. If the users soiled the robe, an in¬ demnity was demanded by the owner. According to personal information, the late Dr. William Jones discovered the same practice among the neighbor¬ ing Ojibway. Mr. M. R. Harrington reports it among the Shawnee.
32
Anthropological Papers American Museum, of Natural History. [Vol. XIII
TERMS OF RELATIONSHIP.
As the ordinary terms of relationship often have some significance in the interpretation of social regulations, we append here a list of relationship terms.
Male
nona
neta
nemut
nemutwatc
niko 1
niina j
nikosemau
nfise or nigosimau
nise |
nitawis j
ne'tas
(abbreviation of nitawis)
nitawis
nimaso
nowaso
nimasomasesa
nimatcnimaso, ninapium nitaninon ninakwune nisene
my father, my paternal uncle also is used for the latter
my older brother, father’s brother’s son, mother’s sister’s son — used also in the sense of friend my older brother once removed is often used in the latter sense my older brother (man speaking)
my younger brother (woman speaking) my cousin
my paternal or maternal uncle, the abstract term for uncle is otason
mother’s brother’s son
also means father’s sister’s son
my grandfather (mother’s father or father’s father)
my grandmother’s brother
my mother’s mother’s sister’s son
my mother’s father’s brother’s son
my father’s mother’s sister’s son
my father’s father’s brother’s son
(literally my distant grandfather)
my grandfather’s father — not an old term.
my husband (literally, my male)
my sister’s son my wife’s father my husband’s father
1913.] Skinner,
Menomini Social Life and Ceremonial Bundles 33
ne'tau
my father’s sister’s husband
my own or my brother’s brother-in-law
nosesa
my grandchild (masculine or feminine)
onakupitcikun
a humorous term for grandchild — “another string spliced on”
kopita
an endearing term for babies
n'danikopitcikin
my great grandson
noliau
son-in-law (literally, “a staff to my hand”)
nikis
my son
nipueneme
my brother’s son
nitatawau
(Relationship of parents-in-law to each other.)
F EMALE
nigia
•• n nae
my mother
na
nini
aunt (mother’s sister)
nikiyu
father’s brother’s daughter, mother’s brother’s
daughter, father’s sister’s daughter, father’s brother’s wife
nieagi
my mother’s brother’s wife 1
nime
my older sister
nigo'simau
my sister’s daughter, my father’s brother’s
daughter, my mother’s sister’s daughter, my younger sister
nokoma
my grandmother (father’s mother or mother’s
noko'
(abb.) J
mother)
nan'ema
my sister’s daughter
neu
nimatimosun niwe'wun (slang)
my wife
nicagise
my wife’s mother
my husband’s mother
nohaukuniukiu
daughter-in-law
netcnoha
my wife’s sister’s husband or husband’s sister’s
1
\
husband
nenim
very own or my brother’s sister-in-law
neka
J
nitan
1
my brother’s daughter (nitan also means my son)
ounime j
i “So called because Ma'nabus called all women his aunts.”
34
Anthropological Papers American M useuni of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,
n'ta my mother’s sister’s husband
witciwuk my sister’s husband’s sister
wenemun my sister’s brother-in-law
n'dosimicmaginuk my parents-in-law
It is said that relationship terms formerly extended no farther than grandfather.
To call a man “brother” or “comrade,” at the same time asking a great favor of him, is, if he accepts, to bind the speaker to assist him, in case the other, after fulfilling his part of the obligation, should fall into any difficulty, however serious, or long after the pact. Such reciprocal pacts are very com¬ mon among both Menomini and Potawatomi and are second only in impor¬ tance to the mutual obligation felt by young warriors who have grown up as chums or partners.
Berdaches have not existed among the Menomini for a long time.
Parents nearing death often give their children to some relative along with all their worldly goods in order that they may be adopted. Orphans, illegitimate or legitimate, are otherwise adopted by their grandparents. Often people would ask the privilege of adopting a child from another family. Adopted children had the same rights as actual children.
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Skinner, Menomini Social Life and, Ceremonial Bundles.
35
CHILDREN, BIRTH AND NAMING CUSTOMS.
When the birth of a child is expected, the parents prepare a cradle- board for its reception. The uses of this aboriginal bed are manifold: it furnishes a convenient method of carrying the little one and since the child is firmly bound to it, helps the baby’s back to grow straight and gives the rear of the soft skull a flat appearance that was formerly much admired. With these things in mind, the prospective parents labor happily over their work, the father carving the woodwork of the cradle and the mother orna¬ menting it with choice beadwork and hanging toys and charms from the bow.1
While the mother is pregnant she is careful not to eat certain kinds of food lest her child have some monstrous affliction. Her husband, for the same reason, is equally careful about his diet, for his condition is also re¬ flected upon the child.2 Indian women, no less then their white sisters, avoid seeing anything unusual or grotesque, for fear of its effect on the un¬ born child. When at last the hour of birth is near, the woman withdraws from her home to a shelter built for the purpose where the child is born, far away from her husband, or any sacred object that might be polluted by the noxious flow of blood. Soon after birth the infant is bathed and put on the cradleboard, where it is destined to remain most of the time for two or three years, or until it is well able to walk.3 The cradle and bands are stuffed with bulrush-down to make the bed soft. In the meantime the mother carries the cradle on her back (Fig. 2), or, as is more commonly done, now that the use of the cradleboard is dying out, the child, unbound, is placed astride her thighs and is held on her back by means of a shawl. The most curious sight imaginable is that of an Indian woman sitting on the grass holding the cradle on her extended feet and rocking tire baby to sleep by alternately lifting her feet.
A woman who is the mother of a large family of girls, or a barren woman, desiring a son, will catch a live metiknitcian (“wooden baby,” or “walking stick” insect) and permit it to crawl down over her bare skin toward her pubes, at the same time praying for a boy. This charm is often used. It is firmly believed that persons who discover a “walking stick” on their clothes will shortly have a child.
1 Cf. Ojibway, Kohl, 8.
2 See Harrington (a) in regard to the occurrence of this mild form of the couvade among the Delaware.
3 Immediately after the birth of a boy his penis is pinched to prevent it from growing to abnormal size and to cause him to be master of his passions.
36 Anthropological Papers American M aseum of N atural History [V ol. XIII,
Shortly after the birth of their child, the parents decide upon a name for it. This is all very well if the child is a common one, but many children are bom under the special protection of the Powers Above or Below; in¬ deed, some babies are actually manitous in human shape, as in the case of thunder boys, who are nothing less than these powerful god beings come to earth for a while; or girls who personify one of the sacred sisters of the
Pig. 2. Menomini Woman, showing Method of carrying Child.
eastern sky. Of course, in such cases as these, the child is already the pos¬ sessor of a name by which it was known in its heavenly abode and the use of any other title is offensive to it. Occasionally, the parents are inspired by the gods to christen their child by its proper name, but more usually they fail in this respect and trouble is the inevitable result. Among the Ojibway 1
i Ivohl, 273.
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Skinner, Menomini Social Life and Ceremonial Bundles.
37
the father usually dreamed the child’s name, but, if he could not, he hired a seer for the purpose.
If the child weeps ceaselessly, or is listless or sickly, obviously something is wrong and the worried parents send to the local doctor. Although the physician may try all his cures, they are in vain, the trouble is more deep seated, the doctor diagnoses the case as beyond his power and it is given to some old seer, preferably one of those gifted with the power to understand the languages of babies,1 which, while Menomini, is a peculiar dialect unin¬ telligible except to the initiated.
Invited with the inevitable tobacco and a gift, the seer comes to the lodge and examines the child, speaks to it, and soon learns the secret of its troubles. “Why have you not called your baby by the name the gods intended for it?” asks the seer of the parents. “It has been inspired to act so by the Powers Above!” Now that the cause of the trouble is patent, the old person goes home to inquire further into the matter. An offering of tobacco is made to the gods with prayer and that night a revelation is made. During the dark hours the baby appears to the seer and from a long way off repeats its complaint of the day before. Now the old fellow is sure of his ground and the following day he reports to the parents. “Your child is indeed under the protection of the powers above. It wept because you did not know its proper name. It must be called so-and-so.’
If the child is a boy, he must be under the protection of the thunderers -
1 Seers who understand the language of babies are found among the Omaha (Fletcher and La Flesche, 27) and somewhat similar naming customs in which older persons are called in are found among the Kickapoo, Ottawa, Ojibway, and Potawatomi (Marston. 168).
2 Boys having the thunder as their guardians are often called thunder children, or it is said of such an one, “ He is in league with the thunder.” Such people address the thunder when it is heard and act in all respects like those who have dreamed it for their guardian. They often go out in the rain to commune with the thunderers. Similar ideas are rife amongst
the Potawatomi.
Father Andre, Jesuit missionary to the Menomini at Green Bay in 1673 (Jesuit Relations, vol. 58, 279) writes of one Indian, “ This man had an exceedingly great confidence in thunder as a powerful divinity; and, far from hiding when he heard it rumble, he did all that he could to meet it. One day, when it rained, I had an opportunity of witnessing his madness; he ran about in the woods, entirely naked, crying aloud and invoking the thunder by his songs. On seeing him, one would have taken him for a demoniac so strange were the movements of his body. It is true, he acted thus in order to lead to the belief that he was seized with an extraordinary enthusiasm, of which the thunder-god was the author. He also wished it to be believed that he had a familiar demon, who imparted to him a great power for curing the sick. I reproved him for his folly, and making use of a homely comparison, I told him that he had reason to fear lest God. who used lightning as a hunter does his gun, should discharge it at him, and make him die instantly. He promised me that he would no longer invoke the thunder ; and in fact, a few days afterward, although it rained and thundered, I did not hear him crv out or sing as he was wont to do.
Great is the conservatism of the Menomini. nevertheless, for in June, 1911, a Menomini was my guest at New Brighton, Staten Island, New York City, when a terrible thunder storm came up. Tt was late at night; yet, scantily clad as he was, my friend got out of bed went out on the roof and offered tobacco to the thunderers, begging them to pass to one side and
not to trouble him. They did! . , „„„ „„„ _H11
At the time of the present writing the beliefs chronicled by Father Andre in 1673 are still
in full blast among the tribe.
38
Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,
and in addition to having his name changed he must have a ball stick or a tiny war club made as a memento of the occasion and as a charm against disaster, especially in war. This he must keep and carry with him always. If a girl, the babe is under the protection of the sky sisters and must have a shinney stick and double ball, or a bowl and dice game.1 A\ ith these amu¬ lets go the obligation to play at least one sacred lacrosse,2 shinney, or dice game a year, during life in honor of the heavenly patrons of the owner. Should this be neglected, misfortune, particularly sickness, will be the inevitable result. Hence the occasional prescription of one of these games for a sick person is the only means of mollifying the powers who sent the disease.
Many years ago there was a family of four girls. They remained virgins whose lives were so pure and holy that when the time came for them to die, they were permitted to live forever in the eastern sky just below the morn- ingstar. With them lived some powerful men beings, but just who they were no one seems to know. The sacred sisters have influence over the destiny of women and among them the youngest is the most powerfid and the eldest, the least. Sometimes, as they look down upon mankind from where they sit invisible in their homes, a great longing to be on earth once more comes over them, and one of them will drop down and enter a woman. When the child is born to the earthly couple, they at first believe that they are its parents, but as it grows apace they will observe that it is different from other children. Perhaps, as a baby, it cries at an age when an ordinary baby should not, and the parents send for an old person to come and inter¬ pret its desires. Again, when the gifted child has reached the age of a few years it may exhibit strange traits, such as stopping suddenly when at joyful play and sitting alone and silent with a sad heart; or the little girl may prophesy the changes of the weather correctly, a sure sign that she came from the region above, the inhabitants of which know all these things. Last of all, when the child has reached the age of speech and understanding she may inform her parents who she is. When the parents of the girl learn she is under the protection of the sisters of the eastern sky, they hasten to make for her the female shinney game for this is the property of the four sisters and is their emblem.3
1 I have frequently seen poles stuck up near Menomini lodges with offerings fastened to them, consisting of tobacco, etc. These are, I believe, usually offerings to the personal guardian of the owners though they are sometimes offerings to other powers. I have never seen a sacrificed dog tied to one, as among the Sauk and Fox. Such poles were also seen among the Eastern Cree, Saulteaux, Ojibway, and Potawatomi.
2 Considered as equivalent to war as it is such a violent game. It is the particular delight of the thunderers who play it among themselves as the sacred sisters play shinney.
3 Kohl, 90, says that he saw a miniature set of girl’s hockey stick and balls hanging from a baby board. Among the Ojibway the reason was probably the same.
1913]
Skinner , Menomini Social Life and Ceremonial Bundles.
39
It is the delight of the sisters that the child under their protection should cause this game to he played once a year, in the spring time, for the merry shouts of the players are pleasing to them. It is not well that the players should ever quarrel, for this would anger the sisters. Now, should the gifted girl fail to remember to have a game played, the sisters would become very angry, and would cause her to fall sick. Then she would realize that she had neglected her guardians and in order to appease them the only thing she could do would he to order a game to be played.
Related to these sisters, endowed with very similar powers and possessed of the same love for mankind, are four other sisters who live in the southern sky. They are not confined to that area, however, but are permitted to roam about the four points of the compass. The eldest of these sisters, who controls the four winds, is named Tiaiyasin, the next is called Getciya- cinumki. She is dressed in red and is permitted to travel to the east. It is her presence there that causes the red morning glow in the eastern sky.1 The third sister is named Nawagwakitcigakiu, and the last, Otcikakiu. Her color is black and she is permitted to go north. The colors of the other two are white or yellowish gray, and blue, but my informants did not seem to know which was which, or which of the directions, west or south, they stood for. These sisters may animate human girls, like the others, and for them women ornament their broadcloth dresses with silk in their respective colors, a prayer for protection. They are the possessors of the bowl and dice game, either as an alternative for the shinney game, or alone.
Not infrequently the seer discovers that the reason for the weeping of a
new born child is not so serious as an offense to the gods. Perhaps the
infant tells him that it desires a new dress, or a pair of earrings, or a toy.
Sometimes again the seer finds that the child is the reincarnation of some
person long dead, but moi'e satisfied wTith a terrestrial than a hea\enl
existence and so returned to earth. The signs by which this is learned aie
unmistakable physical resemblance to the deceased, traces of paint on the
cheeks, or, as it sometimes happens, the infant is born with ears aheadj
pierced for earrings. Then the way is clear: “Why this is old So-and-So.
That is the way she pierced her ears and painted. You must call the
child by her name, for it is really she come back among us.”
Within the immediate family circle the children are known by certain “ lucky names” totally different from those by which they are called by outsiders, although occasionally one of these familiar titles sticks to a person throughout life, and supplants the proper name entirely, even with the
general public.
These titles are always fixed and are as follows
i Cf. Fox, Jones, (e), 151.
40
Anthropological Papers American Museum of N atural History. [A ol. XIII,
Male
Eldest son
Second son
Third son Fourth son Last son
Mudjikiwis, called for the oldest of the thunderers, especially, but not always, if the boy is a thunder child. It means “brother to the thunderers.” This name is always used by younger brothers in addressing him, as a term of respect.
Osememau, “one that is next to the oldest ” or Tapaniuwematon, mean¬ ing, “next to him.”
Akotcosem emau, “next to this one.”
Nanaweo “middle one,” or Nanaweo Waiawit, “that middle one. '
Ptipakidjise, “little pot belly.”
Female
Eldest daughter Mudjikikwawic, the female form of Mudjikiwis.
Second daughter Widitcinun, “middle sister.”
Last daughter Iskidjiakun, “last one.”
Another important procedure, never omitted in early infancy, is the wearing of moccasins in whose soles perforations have been made. The reason for this is that a child’s soul is fresh from the land of spirits, and may be enticed to go back by its old comrades. This it cannot do, however, unless its moccasins are in fit condition for the long journey over the Spirit Road.1 It is also necessary for the same reason to take every means of preventing the child from becoming homesick in its new surroundings.
Children under the protection of the gods must not be scolded until they are well grown, for they may become offended and go back to then- friends or relations. If the child falls ill from this cause, the seer whom its parents consult soon finds the reason. He accepts the tobacco sent by his petitioners, hears their story and asks a night to sleep over the matter. The next day the parents learn what he has discovered. “Your child has been abused by some one. It thought itself so much disgraced that its guardians have decided to call it back to them. They don’t like to see their ward mistreated. The only remedy for this fault is a feast of game for the old people. When they come you must explain to them that the feast is given for your child.”
At this function, the inevitable sacrificial tobacco is placed either on the west or east side of the lodge in accordance with the quarter in which the child’s guardians dwell. The feast must always be held in the baby’s
i The milky way. This belief concerning the perforation of infants’ moccasins is also held by the Iroquois, Ojibway, Delaware, and Winnebago, and Plains-Cree to my personal knowledge. Miss Fletcher and La Flesche are responsible for the statement that it is found among the Omaha and Oto, 117. I have seen holes in the soles of babies’ moccasins collected from the Cherokee.
- j
Skinner, Menomini Social Life and Ceremonial Bundles.
41
presence. It is one of the few ceremonial repasts at which it is not necessary to consume all the food set before the guests. One of the most notable persons present is asked to make the speech, explaining who the child is, and that the company is gathered to “rub out” the injury done it, to which the guests answer “eh”, in unison.
As the child matures, careful attention is given to its training. It is taught especially to respect the aged and to reverence the powers of nature. “Never speak ill of anything you see, it may be a manitou,” 1 is an old proverb.2 When a lad has reached the age of six, his physical training begins in earnest. In the fall, when the weather is sharp, the little fellow is sent down to bathe in the icy water before eating. Sometimes in the win¬ ter he has to run down naked to the river and plunge in through a hole in the ice, returning bare so that his parents may see that he has obeyed their instructions, when, as likely as not they order him to run around briskly for a while to toughen him. After they think he has had enough, they call him in before the fire and tell him why he was made to suffer in this way. In a less violent way girls receive the same treatment.
These tests are kept up until just before the children are fifteen, when they receive their severest trials. About this age they are taught to go without food for two or three days at a time in preparation for the crisis of their lives, the dream fast.. They are denied soup or salt at all times, as it is firmly believed that broth is a food only for old or sick persons and will therefore weaken a healthy one, and that salt shrivels the tendons and dries up the juices of the body. Children are required to sleep doubled up so that their tendons will not be stretched because if this happens they are likely to be doubled up in old age.
Children are never struck until they are eight years of age. After that they are whipped with a pack strap when naughty. Pulling a child’s ears makes it scrofulous and striking it about the head makes it deaf and foolish. “Only white men are capable of such barbarities.” Small children are scolded or a little water is thrown in their faces to wash away their trouble. Babies who cry at night are ducked and older little ones are frightened by being told that the owl will steal them or are shown an image to frighten them and make them stop their noise.
1 The word manitou is not Menomini but Hiiwatuk is best so translated.
2 Marston, 164-5. gives a very similar account of the training of Sauk and Fox children. Old people among the Seneca and other eastern tribes have told me much the same thing. Presumably the mode of training was well nigh universal in the Woodlands. Copway (b, 12> relates the same of the Ojibway (Missisauga).
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [V ol. XIII,
DREAM FASTING OF YOUTHS AND MAIDENS.
In olden times, when a youth or maiden had reached the age of fifteen, he or she withdrew to a secluded spot, built a tiny wigwam, only big enough to accommodate one person, and fasted for a period of from eight to ten days according to their strength and endurance. During this time no drop of water and no food was taken and the face of the faster was blackened to denote the sadness which filled his heart, and he constantly prayed and wished for a supernatural vision, keeping his mind on things above the earth, in the heavens, the abode of all the powers of good.1
In order to prevent his mouth from becoming too dry the faster placed a couple of pebbles or bullets under his tongue to stimulate the flow of saliva.
During this time the faster saw and spoke to no one save his parents who daily visited his lonely lodge to encpiire anxiously whether the youth had had a vision. If the youth or maiden had had none up to the eighth day, the parents appeared with two bowls, one containing charcoal, the other food. The bowls were extended toward the faster with the cry, “Eat, and cease fasting, or take the charcoal and fast.” 2 Should the young person take the food, it was well. The fast ceased and he returned to his home where he remained until he felt able to try again. If he accepted the char¬ coal, it was a noble deed. He painted his face with it and fasted longer, with the hope that his bravery in refusing the proferred food would not pass unnoticed by the manitous. At length the parents were delighted to learn that their child had indeed had a vision. They gave him food and when he had eaten, they asked: “Tell us what it "was, was it of things on high, or of things on the earth or below it?”
If the answer was that it was of something on high, of the sun, moon, stars, thunder birds, or the powerful heavenly birds, it was an omen of good. The young man would be a great hunter, he would succeed in killing game near his lodge. Usually the vision would promise the lad certain specified boons, and in addition would agree to watch over him. In extraordinary cases the guardian would give some living thing, a little sturgeon, or a minnow, or a mud-turtle, or some animal which he would place in the body of the dreamer. This was the great guardian power who had made itself
1 For the Iroquois, cf. Converse, 107, many of the Iroquoian ideas on the subject show a variation from the Central Algonkin concepts.
2 Also a Potawatomi custom.
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small in order to enter the faster, to live there and with its enchanted power make him strong. Sometimes objects were given the faster to keep in his medicine bag. The medicine bag itself was given him at another time by the elders on his initiation into the Mitawin whose badge it wTas.
For a girl to dream of things on high meant long life, happiness, virtue, and perhaps social elevation. In one instance a girl dreamt of a large fat man, who appeared and told her that she would have a long life, that she had power over the winds, and that she might hear what people said of her, no matter how far away they were when they spoke. She dreamt also of the sun, who said she would have a long life and promised protection. Should she desire anything and pray to the sun for it, it would be granted her. The sun commanded her always to wear a red waist as a sign of the eight virgins who lived in the east. They too would hear her prayers. All these things were a reward for her suffering, for she had fasted ten days. Animals, excepting supernatural monsters, rarely appeared as guardians. Girls usually fasted during their first monthly terms and I once found a lodge containing two girls fasting under these circumstances, in the forest on the Menomini Reserve.
Sometimes the faster dreamed of something below the skies, on or under the earth. When the parents heard this they commanded the dreamer to break his fast. “Eat! You have dreamed what is useless, if not evil,” they cried. Then the faster rested for a time and later tried again. Some¬ times, however, the evil dream would persist in coming and on the third recurrence it had to be accepted.
Among the noteworthy facts that may be pointed out in connection with the Menomini puberty customs is that of the fasting of girls. This has been recorded elsewhere among the Central Algonkin. The Woodland Potawa- tomi are said to have this practice. Again, it will be seen that the children repeat their dreams to their parents, whereas among some other tribes, such as the Eastern Cree, a dream obtained through fasting must never be repeated lest the spirits be offended and withdraw their aid.
One man assured the writer that his four children all having died before they reached maturity, the old people told him it was permissible loi him to fast again, although he was of middle age, since his early dream had not been complete. He did so and was rewarded by a fuithei \ision.
The Menomini formerly had the custom of preparing a feast and sa( i lfice to the gods when a youth slew his first big game. This has apparently long been out of use, but may be kept up among the more conservative families. This was called oskinanitawin, “youth’s feast, or dance.” The custom is
found among the Northern Algonkin.
A careful study leads us to believe that all Menomini puberty dreams
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [\ ol. XIII ,
conform to certain unformulated rules. That is to say, a boy or a girl who is fasting is bound to have a dream the subject of which will be confined to one of four sets of “strong powers”: (a) one of the gods above; (b) one of the gods below; (c) one of the manitou 1 animals; (d) the sacred metal cylinder.
The form of the dream in the first three cases is more or less fixed. After having fasted for an indefinite period, not longer than ten days, the suppli¬ cant is approached by a being who addresses him and promises its aid and patronage for life, exacting a pledge that the dreamer will remember to make certain sacrifices from time to time in its honor and keep about his person some token of the meeting. If it is one of the powers above, that is, the sun, the moon, the morningstar, or one of the thunderers, it is a good vision. Most dreamers who see the moon break their fast and try to dream again of something else, as a man with the moon for his patron will only be strong when it is full and will die a lingering death. The sun is the greatest power of all and grants war honors particularly, although the morningstar and the thunderers can, and do, do the same. The sun never appears in his own guise but in the shape of a man; the morningstar appears as a homely man with a big red mouth; and the thunderers as men or as birds. The thunder¬ ers, when in human shape, are recognized by their thickset bodies, heavy muscles, and hooked, beak-like noses. They usually carry clubs.
A typical dream is the following, related by an old Menomini. It is considered, if not taboo, at least cle trop to mention the name of the power who appeared; but those versed in Menomini mythology at once recognize that in this case the power was the morningstar : —
After I had fasted eight days a tall man with a big red mouth appeared from the east. The solid earth bent under his steps as though it was a marsh. He said, “I have pity on you. You shall live to see your own gray hairs, and those of your children. You shall never be in danger if you make yourself a war club, such as I have and always carry it with you w-herever you go. When you are in trouble, pray to me and offer me tobacco. Tobacco is what pleases me.” When he had said this he vanished.
Occasionally a strong power, in order to test the dreamer, would appear as a very ordinary person without the usual attributes of magic, to see whether the supplicant would accept its proffered aid.
When one of the powers below appears to a dreamer, he immediately ceases fasting and after a brief interval tries again, for all these powers are evil. They include the homed hairy snakes and the underground bears and panthers. Few people really wish to become sorcerers, but the acceptance
1 I use the word advisedly.
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of such a dream leaves no other alternative. However, as mentioned above, such a dream must be accepted if it occur three times. Occasionally, the evil power did not really appear at all, only a mystical voice was heard by the dreamer, promising great things if the faster should accept. Usually, an evil power demanded a second rendezvous at some secluded spot and I have collected a story in which the faster was seen and pitied by a good power, a thunderer, who intercepted the dreamer going to keep the tryst and bribed him by larger offers not to go. The thunderer then kept the appointment and slew the evil one. A few informants declared that there were rare occasions on which a snake dream was not altogether evil. All such dreams are irksome because they require constant and large sacrifices, of dogs, tobacco, and other things. I note, however, that the great majority of my informants condemn all horned snake dreams.
Evil attributes were not conferred for a long time upon those who ac¬ cepted such a dream, often not until the dreamer had become middle-aged. The acquiring of these required a long course of training and offerings, sometimes human sacrifice, before they were delivered. The power might demand the first living thing the dreamer met when he started home, or perhaps, the life of the faster’s first born. Death would follow a refusal to comply. The evil power usually gave the dreamer a part of its body as a medicine.
The third class of ordinary dreams concerned animals. These were rare among the Menomini, though I have reason to believe them usual among the Eastern Cree and Saulteaux. The bear and the buffalo were most com¬ mon. The buffalo gave war and healing powers ; the bear hunting and heal¬ ing powers; the weasel courage and success in hunting and war. Oshkosh, the famous chief of the Menomini was a buffalo dreamer. Lice were some¬ times appointed by the actual dream guardian to remain with and care for the dreamer. Such a person was therefore never to catch or destroy his parasites. In a pinch, the dreamer might become a louse and escape, for no one could find a louse in the grass. Ants also had protective power. Three women were once chased through a swamp by the enemy. One cried, “ Comrades, what shall we do?” Another answered “Oh, I can escape.” « So can I,” cried the third. “ How? ” asked the first. “ Through my dream power, I will become an ant.” “Oh, so can we,” said the others. So they all fell on a log, became ants, and crawled into an ant hill, so the enemy passed them.
Certain persons were thought to possess small animals, usually turtles or fish, which dwelt inside their bodies where they were placed by one of the great powers of whom the faster had dreamed. These animals remained there for life, but if the possessor ate food out of a dish which had been
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,
touched by a menstruating woman and did not immediately learn of it and purify himself, his medicine was likely to die and be vomited forth, thus killing the owner.
The last type of dreams are those concerning the sacred metal cylinder which is thought by some to stand in the center of the heavens. A dreamer sometimes had a vision in which he ascended through this tube. If he reached the top, he received gifts from one of a group of gods there who conferred regular powers for war, long life, and hunting.
There were occasional aberrant dreams. I know of one man who dreamed that the spirits of the dead pitied him. If he was in danger, a ghost always came and stood between him and the source of his trouble to ward off any attack. A few have dreamed of Ma/nabus.
These are the regulation puberty dreams of the Menomini and closely resemble those that I have heard from the Potawatomi although I have not yet collected the cylinder type from that tribe. There is another very im¬ portant class of dreams which give the faster the right to own a sacred bundle. They concern some of the powers above or below and usually involve a journey on the part of the dreamer during his vision to the home of the thunderers, the morningstar, or one of the evil powers. Inasmuch as a number of these are published in another part of the paper (p. 13) they need not be discussed here.
While among the Menomini all of the above dreams, even those con¬ cerning war bundles, are common to girls, at least one class of dreams is peculiar to them. These are dreams of social preferment, of brave sons, or many children, rather than of war honors or luck in hunting. One may dream of a tall pole with a flag at the top. This is a sign that she will marry a chief’s son. She may also dream of one of the sacred families of sky sisters.
No one, male or female, is eligible to dream who is long past puberty, or, who has ever had sexual intercourse.
There is a tendency among the Menomini and apparently also among the Woodland Potawatomi, according to some recent information, for those who have had similar visions to associate in very loose bands or cults. This phenomenon occurs among the Eastern Sioux and is very noticeable among the Iroquois, where the requirement for admission to most secret societies is based on similar supernatural revelations. Among the Meno¬ mini, we find a group of those who have dreamed of the buffalo performing annual ceremonies together and wearing similar paraphernalia. These people do not consider themselves as members of a society, nor has the group any name.
I have discovered a similar association of buffalo worshippers among the
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47
Potawatomi women (the Menomini group is all men), performing the same rites. I have not yet ascertained whether men take part nor have I many details.
Some years ago a number of those Menomini who had dreamed of the thunderers, “pooled” their rites, procured a drum, and began to worship together. Lightning struck the drum before they had long kept up the ceremony and broke up the association. This group or cult was short¬ lived, but it shows how such things start. A witch society having similar supernatural revelations as its requirement for entrance, has a really definite name and organization among the Menomini, but the other associations are very vague.
Among both Menomini and Potawatomi, regular “night dreams” have much importance. For instance, a man may dream of drowning, or of being saved from drowning, in which case he makes and always carries about with him a small canoe as a talisman. I am not quite clear as to whether these canoes are ever made in accord with the injunctions received in a puberty dream, but I think not. They are found among the Iroquois also and the following notes were made in 1830 on the Seneca, then in Ohio, by Samuel Crowell: —
Hard Hickory told me, among other things, that it was owing chiefly to him, that this feast was now celebrated; that it was in part to appease the anger of the Good Spirit, in consequence of a dream he lately had; and as an explanation he gave me the following narration:
He dreamed he was fleeing from an enemy, it was, he supposed, something super¬ natural, perhaps, an evil spirit; that, after it had pursued him a long time, and for a great distance, and every effort to escape from it seemed impossible as it was just at his heels, and he almost exhausted; at this perilous juncture, he saw a large water, towards which he made with all his remaining strength, and at the very instant when he expected each bound to be his last, he beheld, to his joy, a canoe near the shore; this appeared as his last hope; breathless and faint, he threw himself into it, and, of its own accord, quick as an arrow from the bow, it shot from the shore leaving his pursuer on the beach!
While relating this circumstance to me, which he did with earnestness, trepida¬ tion and alarm, strongly expressed in his countenance, he took from his bosom some¬ thing neatly and very carefully enclosed in several distinct folds of buckskin. This he began to unroll, laying each piece by itself, and on opening the last, there was enclosed therein, a canoe in miniature! On handing it to me to look at, he remarked, that no other person save himself and me, had ever seen it, and that, as a memento, he would wear it, as “long as he lived.” It was a piece of light wood, resembling cork, about six inches long, and, as intended, so it was, a perfect model of a canoe.1
However important, “night dreams” may be, they are not in the same class with the puberty dreams, for each person’s puberty dream is his or her
i Crowell, 328.
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,
personal property, to be cherished as the most sacred and significant thing in the individual’s career, to be pondered over and its behests obeyed. It may be discussed seriously, with tobacco offerings, but it is no more to be laughed at than any of our most intimate experiences.
I append a few examples of Menomini and Potawatomi 1 dreams collected by Capt. John V. Satterlee of Keshena and myself. Part of the orthog¬ raphy is Satterlee’s. After reading these accounts of dreams it can readily be seen what an important part they play in the career of the Indian, and what a burden of expense he must bear in order to keep up the sacrifices to his personal guardian, in addition to other religious obligations. It will also be observed that while certain classes of implements such as clubs and bows are peculiar to these experiences, any object may be designated, and so become sacred to its owner. The thunder-staves of the Potawatomi do not seem to occur among the Menomini.
(a)
The grandfather of George Pamoh lived to be very old and was successful. From early boyhood, when he was pure and free from knowledge of women, he went out to fast. When he had reached puberty he blackened his face with charcoal so all the powerful ones might see and be pleased at the steadfastness of this innocent boy. He fasted four days at a time so many times that at last his suffering was satisfactory to the gods and they took pity on him and rewarded him. A shade appeared and handed him a rattlesnake skin to use as a belt,2 telling him to use it as a protector and a guard for his life. He did so, and saw the promise carried out. He used it in the Black Hawk War, and afterwards when he found it really true he decided to make it into a medicine bag which was therefore so much the stronger.
(b)
Wapeka, a Potawatomi, when a youth one day was offered a dish of charcoal and a dish of food by his father.3 He accepted the charcoal and blackening his face he went out to fast. He starved until there was no dirty stuff in his entrails, and soon the “day sun” admired him, and appeared to him over and over in a dream, teaching
1 The Woodland Potawatomi are the remnant of a large part of the tribe who lived in the neighborhood of Milwaukee and northward into Wisconsin as far as Suamico at least, where Allouez found them in 1666-8. They have always been distinct from the Prairie band who hobnobbed with the Illinois and were more in touch with the Ojibway, Ottawa, and Meno¬ mini. Most of these Indians are homesteaders in the dense hardwood forest north of the Menomini Reserve and are scattered all along the Michigan border, having their headquarters at Carter’s Siding, Wabeno, Marshfield, and other places. They are only a few hundred in number. A few of the Prairie band may be among them, but most of them are of old Wisconsin Woodland stock. They are quite different physically from the Menomini, being larger and more robust. Linguistically related, their languages are mutually unintelligible, though the Potawatomi, Ojibway, and Ottawa can converse freely. There are many members of the two latter tribes intermarried among the Potawatomi.
2 Of course, when the dreamer awoke he had no belt in his hands, he had to go out, find and kill a snake, and make one. This was the regular way.
3 The regular Potawatomi and Menomini invitation to fast.
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him to make and use certain things, for which he was to receive in return prolonged life and the power to know and see things (clairvoyance). These things were a sacred shield 1 and war costume, four articles in all. First the protector (shield), then a fur headdress, a woven sash to go over the naked body across the shoulders and a breechclout. If he wore these no arrow would hurt him and if a bullet or missile hit his body it would only flatten and fall to one side without leaving a mark. In return, he was instructed to make sacrifices annually to the sun. He was obliged to kill a bear and he was ordered to employ a brave warrior as his servant.
He did this and when he had brought the bear into camp it was turned over to his assistant who cut it up and cooked it. In cutting the bear the warrior first had to give four loud whoops that all the powers might hear, before he severed the ani¬ mal’s head and paws. The head and feet were then singed and put into the kettle with the brisket and ribs. When this was done the servant went with tobacco and bade all the elders to attend the feast.
When they had arrived Wapeka first made a speech, offering tobacco to his sacred regalia, which were displayed for the occasion, relating to his sacred dream and telling of his pact with the sun, while the guests smoked and listened. When this ceremony was over the host had to dish out the head and each of the four feet into a separate bowl and call four of the most prominent men to partake with him, each responding with four whoops. It was necessary to consume the entire feast and it was inexcusable to let the dogs get any particle of it, for this would affront the sacred articles and the sun. This is one of the “eat all” type of feasts so abhorred by the Jesuits.
(c)
Apparently the Potawatomi could fast and dream several times, for this story is also told of Wapeka.
A young boy fasted for six days, when a special thunderbird of the “kind who goes alone ahead of the others” gaw him and had pity on him. “If I give him my sacred staff (a crooked stick, shorter, but otherwise not unlike a Plains officer’s standard in shape, carried by war leaders among the Potawatomi) he may sacrifice tobacco in my behalf. Besides, his prayers to me to ward off misfortune would be granted.”
So the bird chose to show his staff to the dreamer in his sleep, promising to add to it the gift of old, old, age, the power of curing himself and his family of all afflictions, and that when he was older he should go to war and lead a band of warriors without loss. He was instructed to sacrifice tobacco and food to the staff from time to time. He was ordered not to throw it in the fire for the fire alone would benefit. It must be laid on the ground outside the lodge.
Charlie Kizik, present chief of the Woodland band of Potawatomi, living in the hardwood at Pekwagendip’s camp on the Muskrat River in Northern Wisconsin sold me a catlinite pipe and a tobacco bag oi fisher skin.
These were given him by some unnamed power in a vision. He was instructed to keep them always as talismans against all sorts of ills. No sacrifice was connected with them.
1 This shield is merely a small circular pendant of leather about ten inches in diameter, worn about the neck.
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,
I have collected these also among the Menomini. Both peoples keep the tiny canoes mentioned above as charms against drowning and small or large bows to ward off attacks of the enemy.
A second thunder staff obtained with a bow and arrows from the Pota- watomi bears the following information.
(d)
Old Sakahnos when a young boy fasted to see if he could gain any favor from the great powers. At length, the “day sun” took pity on the lad and appeared to him in a dream several times. The lad continued to fast making it twofold since he re¬ ceived a staff and a bow and arrows. In connection with the sun a thunderbird assisted as it wanted to help and receive sacrifices of tobacco in return. The thunder- bird told him: “Make a crooked staff with my head carved on it, so that everything will assist you to have power. I shall be with you every time you grasp or carry this sacred staff. You shall be helped out of your difficulties and I shall aid you pro¬ vided you carry out the sacred part I have shown you. Anything will be easy for you to do. When you want to make a sacrifice in our behalf just take down the bow and arrows and carry them outside your door and at a very short distance away the game will be offered to you. You shall sacrifice to each at separate times. Take care of these holy implements and never exhibit them until before a sacrifice.”
(e)
Kitci Cawano, the great south, who died aged ninety-two, in his young boyhood when he was clean, free from impurities of all kinds, fasted till at the end of six days a special thunderbird showed itself in human shape and invited him to go along with it. When the dreamer’s shade was taken along he saw an old, very gray¬ headed homely man, wearing a strip of feathers under each arm and down on one leg also. He then showed the dreamer this extraordinary tiny war club and told him to make one, trimmed with deer claws in order to make a rattling sound representing the sacred power belonging to the bird. This was given him to use when praying for his wants and to aid in warding off afflictions, troubles, and diseases, and to reach long life. The thunderbird showed the dreamer some little seeds which were his tobacco. He gave him some and told him to plant them down here on earth to raise thunder tobacco and when it grew to narrow striped leaves to dry it for use when making his sacrifice of game. This tobacco was to be consumed by the guests, or the dreamer could do it alone. There were words and a song to call the power of this bird to give what was asked of him, and as soon as the war club was shaken with the sound of the deer hoof rattles and the sacred tobacco was consumed by the dreamer, the thunder¬ bird heard it and came with his promised relief . Rain fell right off from the west.
A tiny sacred bow and arrows and a war club were obtained which had been in use for a number of generations, as the various descendants of the original faster had all had the same dream, something which occurs also among the Menomini. The small size of these objects is for their more secure keeping, as their magic power is not diminished. The articles
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represent all the thunderers together, different though they are in power. They were given to the original dreamer by the thunderers “to loan their power for his protection. ’ When trouble overtook him he was instructed to offer a feast and tobacco and to supplicate the thunderers with songs begging for relief.
An aberrant Potawatomi dream concerns the wandering man, a mytholo¬ gical being known also to the Menomini, who is supposed, like the wandering Jew, to ramble forever through the forest in punishment for some offence against the gods.
(0
Old Kauasot. dreamed of Petcikunau Naiota (“ sacred bundle on his back,” the Menomini name) whose abode is among the greatest rock ledges. He promised Kauasot the power of clairvoyance and safety by both day and night. The dreamer was obliged to make and keep a crooked knife with the handle carved to represent the wandering man and to sacrifice tobacco and liquor to him at intervals.
With the exception of the last dream any of the Potawatomi visions recorded above might well be Menomini. The thunder staff is a peculiarly Potawatomi property among whom it is frequently seen, but it is never found among the Menomini. The form of the dream, however, closely resembles those of the Menomini. I will therefore, give only one more Menomini dream: —
(g)
Shanapow, when a young boy commenced fasting for his fortune. He lived with his parents on the side hill opposite Keshena Falls or Kakapakato. He fasted eight days without eating, till he got very weak. On the eighth night he dreamed that one of the sacred monsters who lived in the falls appeared and told him, “Look yonder and you will see something laced there as your reward for fasting,” indicating a rock in the center of the falls. The whole earth looked transparent and he went to the rock island, going over ice. When he got there he discovered a sacred kettle which was as bright as fire. It was a bear kettle from the underneath god to feed from when a sacrifice feast was given. “Now,” said the god, “go a short distance and you will find there what is granted you. You will then break your fast and eat.” So Shanapow went and found a large bear which he killed and made a sacrifice of, and then ate with others whom he invited.
The sacred kettle was to be hidden at first, for it was too great and sacred to be seen. When maple sugar is made it is the first thing to place in the sacred kettle, and it should be in it till a feast is made in its honor. I hen the feasters eat it in honor of the monster below the falls. A song is then sung which is: “All of the chiefs have given me to know this song.” This kettle is called a bear god kettle and is sacred. Every spring, maple sugar is put in it because all bears like sweet sugar, especially the king bear beneath this great falls. The dreamer Shanapow was told that he must keep a tiny bear to fulfil his dream. He always kept a bear cubskin to set up on a stick during the sacrifices.
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,
MENSTRUAL CUSTOMS.
When a girl first goes through her monthly term she is compelled to camp by herself ten days 1 although during her subsequent periods she is only segregated for two or three days or as long as they last. This camp is not far from the lodge in which her family lives and may be a little bough house or a full-sized wigwam, or merely a kettle stake in the open. She must not touch a tree, dog, or child, or it will die. It is tabooed for her to look up, since that will offend the powers above. She must dress as though in mourning and wear her hair disheveled. If she must scratch her head, she must use a stick and not touch herself. She has her own culinary utensils and does all her own cooking. These utensils are never used by anyone else to cook in or to hold food for any other purpose, for they are permanently defiled even by her touch. If any other persons eat from such a vessel, no matter how elaborately it has been washed and cleansed, they will sicken and perhaps even die. Of course, people have been known to do this by accident occasionally, but there is a certain special medicine or remedy for this as for any disease.
If, however, a man, fitted by his supernatural guardian with a tiny turtle, fish, or other small animal living in his vitals 2 should eat food in such a dish, or one that had been touched by a menstruating woman, the tiny animal upon whose presence his good fortune depends will surely die and he will vomit it forth. The man may live after this; but his power is forever destroyed. However, should he learn of his mistake in time he may take an emetic and vomit the offending food before it is too late and the little beast is killed.
Curiously enough, some of the Indians say that although a menstruating woman has no right in any house during her periods, should she enter one, even if there were shrines or objects of great sacredness present, no harm would be done. On the other hand, the Kickapoo, and probably other Central Algonkin tribes, are very particular about this, requiring heavy .sacrifices in atonement. Most Indians declare that this is also true of the Menomini. To this day, many pagan Menomini positively refuse to eat in Christian homes for fear of losing their powers through partaking of food prepared by a woman undergoing her monthly terms.
1 Cf. O .jibway (Skinner, 152); Ottawa (Blackbird, 104). The Sauk and Fox, Kickapoo, Winnebago, and probably all the Central Algonkin and their neighbors practised this custom.
s See notes on dream fasting of youths and maidens, p. 42.
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GAMES.
The following list of Menomini games is as perfect as is now possible to obtain. All, or nearly all, have dual motives for their performance, that is, for pleasure and for religious purposes. In most cases, the latter use is as a cure for illness and all are accompanied by betting. In all Menomini' games and contests, bets are laid by the individuals on one side against the opposing individuals on the other side, rather than by outsiders. Meno¬ mini games may be divided into athletic sports and games of skill and chance. Of the former sort we have the hockey and lacrosse games and several less; well known sports, some of which may have been derived in rather recent times from the European games which they resemble.
Ball Game.
In this game there are two leaders with equal sides of varying numbers, averaging ten men each. Two stakes are set up about 100 yards apart as goals. The first play is determined by tossing up a stick and grasping it in the hand-over-hand method common among white boys. The leader for side a catches the stick in one hand; the leader for side b places one hand on the bat over and touching the hand of the a leader. Then the other leader puts his other hand on the bat over and touching b’s; b places his other hand over cl’s, a removes his bottom hand and puts it o*v ei b s, etc. The side having a hand so near the top that there is no room for the opponent to grasp the stick, wins first play.
The first man now steps up to his stake and with a wooden club or bat tries to drive a yarn ball, covered with deerskin, toward his opponents, who are lined up near the opposite stake. If the ball is not caught on the fly or first bounce, he turns to run for the stake on the opposite side while they throw the ball at him to put him out; but if the ball is caught on the fly or on the first bounce, he is out. A batter is allowed four strikes, if he strikes out he may run for the opposite goal, and is safe when he has once reached it, or, he may try to run home. Ten home 'runs win the game. Again, if the batter knocks a foul straight up into the air and catches it himself he wins the game for his side.
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,
Sand or Earth Game.
This game (Okenosnanate, in getting earth) closely resembles our “ pris¬ oner’s base.” Two lines or “homes” are drawn one hundred yards or less apart and behind these stand the parties which are of equal number. First play is decided by tossing up a knife and betting on whether the shield or blank side will fall uppermost. When all is in readiness, one man takes a handful of dirt or sand and stands toeing the line with his handful of earth outstretched. A player from the opposing side comes over and talks and jokes with the party to put them off their guard until he can slap the out¬ stretched hand of the dirt holder and knock his burden away. This action at once releases all ten men behind the line who pursue their opponent while he scurries for his home, his own men running out to protect him. If he is caught, he becomes a prisoner, though he can be released if touched by one of his men. The number of points for captures, which have previ¬ ously been agreed upon between the sides, are marked with sticks, the party getting all their opponents’ sticks wins the game.
Flying Stick Game.
This game (Titiskakinitsikanuk, sliding sticks) is played by two sides of equal number and sometimes between two single men. Each bears a bundle of sticks, about a yard long, straight, and tapering at the butt. These are hardened with fire and ornamented by wrapping them with spiral twists of bark and holding them in the smoke. They are grasped by the butt with the fingers and thrown over the ground with the heavy point forward. They go for a considerable distance, often bounding high in the air. Each oppo¬ nent has a certain number of sticks to throw. The farthest stick wins a point, which counts whatever was agreed on by the two sides before the game. For every point the loser has to give up one of his throwing sticks to his opponent. This game, which is a sort of summer “snow snake,” was formerly a great favorite and there were noted champions on whose throws large bets were waged. I have seen it played by little boys only.
Snow Snake.
Papuenanatc is played by opposing sides with heavy wagers. These are long straight rods carved to resemble snakes and are thrown over the
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snow and ice for distance as described by Hoffman.1 They were formerly of two types, one straight and plain, the other with a raised and snake-like head. (Fig. 3.)
Ice Game.
A throwing-stick with a tapering shaft and heavy knob or head is grasped by the smaller end and hurled over the ice so that it writhes, bounces, and whirls, going to a great distance.
Lacrosse.
As has been previously stated, the game of lacrosse is rarely or never played for amusement alone; but for a religious motive. It is generally given once a year by a man who has thunder power. Several days before the game, bits of tobacco are sent out to those whom he desires as guests. The messengers who carry the tobacco to them state the day and hour of the game, departing at once without further ceremony.
In the meanwhile, the person giving the game prepares a feast, the in¬ gredients of which are carried to the nearest lacrosse ground. On the morn¬ ing appointed, the host and his relatives arrive first, carrying goods of all sorts, usually mats, calicoes, and beaded belts, as presents to the winners among the guests. These are hung on cross bars upheld by two upright poles which are a permanent fixture at one side of every lacrosse ground. The host then spreads out a mat and lays his sacred war club, pipe, and thunder charms on it. He never takes part in his own game.
The guests next arrive. There are often a great many, but number is of no consequence as long as there are enough to make two equal parties. The sides are chosen by the men delegated as leaders, who collect all the lacrosse bats from the players, shuffle them together and then spread them out in two parallel rows of equal number, the men going on which ever side the thunderers have decreed that their bats shall fall.
At a given signal they pick up their clubs and gather around an old man or chief who has been fed to address them. He speaks to them for a few minutes, telling them why and for whom the game is being played, and exhorting them to play roughly or gently, as dictated in the host s oiiginal dream. Then the men on one side usually mark one cheek with red paint, so that they may be distinguished from their opponents. They now gather in the center of the field, the ball is tossed among them and the struggle is on. The object of each is to get the ball to their opponent’s goal, high
i Hoffman, 244-245.
56
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Fig. 3 (50-9754 ab, 9758. 9763, 9759 b, 9761). Games, a, g, Types of lacrosse rackets; b, Shinney stick for female game, c, Double ball for female game; d, Snow snake; e, Cup-and- ball game; /, Ice game.
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poles stuck at the opposite ends of the field.1 In order to do this the great¬ est speed and skill in dodging is required. The ball is usually thrown against the post from a short distance, so part of each party, usually stays behind the rest as a goal guard. The side scoring the first four goals wins the game.
Usually two men combine and have their games played off on the same day by the same set of men, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The host never takes part in his own game, but sits idly by. At the con¬ clusion of the game, the prizes brought by the host are distributed among the winners.
There are special medicines for success in lacrosse and most champions attribute their skill to the use of these. In some cases, games are given for the sake of a person who has recently died, if the deceased was a thunder man. It is said that anciently the players wore “tails” presumably those of the deer, tied to their backs during the game. If true, this may be a link with the Southeast where this custom is found.
Shinney.
The shinney game is played annually by girls in honor of the sacred sisters of the eastern sky, as lacrosse is played by men.2 Should a girl decide that she ought to play the shinney game, she sends out tobacco to two women, not necessarily gifted like herself with the sisters for guardians, with the request that they each gather a team and come to her home to play. When the women receive the tobacco they send some to other women of their choice inviting them to join their team. When the appointed time arrives the two leaders or captains appear at the place designated.
W hen they have come together and equal sides have been agreed upon, the prizes, eight in number, offered by the girl, are brought out by an attend¬ ant and hung over a cross bar near one of the goal posts. Beside them is laid the sacred shinney stick belonging to the gifted girl, and with it is placed tobacco. The sacred shinney stick is one that was made by the parents of the girl when they learned that she was supernaturally endowed; it is more ornate than the ordinary stick and is carved and daubed with red paint. On ordinary occasions it is kept wrapped up in a seciet place and is never actually used to play with.
'When everything has been arranged the tobacco is given the girls who smoke and the hostess addresses them. If she is giving the game to appease
1 In former times it is said the goals were sometimes a mile or more apart.
2 This game is found with nearly the same rites and beliefs among the Woodland Pota-
watomi.
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,
the gods for some laxity in their worship which they have punished by mak¬ ing her ill, she says, “ I will give you this tobacco and ask you to play this game because I have neglected my guardians, the sacred sisters of the eastern sky, and they are angry. By having this game performed I hope to soften their hearts so that they will forgive my transgressions and make me well once more.” She then takes her position on the east side of the field in the quarter where her guardians dwell. She never plays in a game that she gives herself, although she is not prevented from playing in games given by others.
When the sides have assembled the signal is given to commence. The double shinney ball is thrown up in the air midway between the posts and the players each strive to catch it with their sticks and get it to the opposite goal. The side scoring the first four goals wins and receives the prizes given by the hostess. The attendants take them down from the bar where they hang and distribute them. If a girl is under the guardianship of the sacred sisters of the southern sky she is under much the same obligations, except that these sisters more usually are credited with the bowl and dice game, although, as in the first case, either game may be given in their honor.
Bowl and Dice Game.
When the players have arrived and the preliminary ceremonies have been held the hostess takes her seat to the south of the contestants and the game 1 (koatciswun) begins. To decide who shall have the first toss, some bystander, often a man, will take a knife and toss it up as a coin is flipped, the two captains calling their choice of sides. When the first throw is decided upon, the captain who has won the right takes the bowl and throws the contents into the air, but not so violently as to cast the dice out of the bowl. If she throws a blank, the bowl goes across to the captain of the other side. If a count is made she continues to play until she fails, when the bowl goes across once more. While the players throw, the captains keep count for their side. For this purpose ten sticks are used, five to count tens and five to count units, fifty being the game. The five tens are stood on end, one being knocked down whenever the opposing side has made a count of ten. When all are down on one side the game is over. Owing to the difficulty and awkwardness of counting such throws as above five and under ten, with the five sticks, many Menomini now prefer to use an un¬ limited number of buttons or seeds to count with.
1 Found also among the Woodland Potawatomi, where it is only used as an alternative for shinney when required by a seer.
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There are eight dice, corresponding in number to the sisters of the south¬ ern sky. Six of them are round, but in order to aid in the count two are shaped otherwise, usually one like a crescent, called the “moon,” and one like a mud-turtle. These two shapes are chosen since the Menomini feel that if dice have to be different from the rest, the moon and the mud-turtle, being powerful manitous, are worthy of being chosen as models. The counts in the game are: (1) moon and turtle red, rest white, or reverse, 15; (2) moon red and rest white, or reverse, 10; (3) all red, or reverse, 8; (4) one turtle red and rest white or reverse, 5;1 (5) one round die red and rest white, or reverse, 3 ; 2 (6) two red, rest white, or reverse, 1 . All other combinations count nothing.
The dice are made of wood or bone and colored red, or some other color, on one side and remain white on the other. Sometimes two moons or two turtles are used instead of one of each. I have seen two dice carved to represent the thunderers.
Cup and Pin Game.
This game (Pepetcigonakikunuk) was formerly played a good deal, but like other native pastimes it has gone out of date, especially since the Menomini believe that to keep one about the lodge will bring starvation, as it once had a use as a hunting charm.3 There are a number of bone units surmounted by a perforated buckskin tail and the counts are made by strik¬ ing and catching the units or one of the holes in the tail with a bone pin. Each catch had its number of points, which are sometimes marked on the bone. It could be played by one or two persons for fun, or by a number for wagers. It was one of the games often prescribed for ailing children by seers, and when so ordered had to be made and occasionally played by the patient to secure good health and happiness.
Moccasin Game.
This is considered the most amusing of all Menomini games and is played on certain occasions near the grave of a deceased person in oidei to keep his spirit or ghost amused and contented with its lot so that it will not become restless and disturb the living with its prowlings. In playing this game
1 in this throw the turtle is said to be “ belly up."
2 This throw is called a “ blind eye.”
3 Skinner, (a), 36.
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,.
tobacco invitations are sent out in memory of a dead person to the players, who come to the appointed place near the cemetery. Sides are chosen to the number of four, eight, or ten on each side. Then the players line up opposite each other with two pairs of moccasins laid on the ground between them. Each side is accompanied by its musician who stands with his drum at one end of the line.
Each player wagers goods against his opposite corresponding player. The game starts by one of the leaders, who is chosen for first play by one of the methods previously described in connection with the other games, pretending to hide a bullet in a moccasin. Bending over, he makes elaborate and deceptive movements, singing and grimacing with grotesque gestures to keep his opponent’s attention from what he is doing while he hides the bullet. In the meantime the drummer for his party keeps time with his tambourine drum. If there is a crowd present, the women usually come forward and dance to the song and there is great laughter and hilarity. The songs are often made up on the spur of the moment. They are fre¬ quently obscene, or deal with various funny little animals whose cries are imitated; two known to my informants are as follows: —
Kokoho kitci pikoma!
The barred owl the big nose!
Haweya Haw aye !
I am going to win ! I am going to win ! (Defiance song of the guesser).
While the singing is going on the bystanders shout, dance and add to the confusion.
When the bullet is actually hidden the player ceases his song. The toes of the moccasins are pointed toward the party whose turn it is to play and his opponent tries to guess the one where it is hidden. The guesser may turn over the moccasin where he thinks the bullet may be. If he fails the first time he may try once more and turn over another. If he wins, it counts a point for his side; if he fails, for the other side. Should he win, the toes of the moccasins are reversed and the winner’s side commences to con¬ ceal the bullet.
Should the guesser be convinced that he knows exactly where the bullet was put, he may cry out, “Tos,” or “Tosaha” pointing at the shoe before turning it over. If he is correct he wins the game, but if not, he loses it. However, if he knows the guesser is correct in his supposition, the bullet hider can cry out, “ Kup! ” and the guesser will only win a number of points and not the whole game, but the cry of “Kup!” must immediately follow that of “Tos” to be effective.
For holding the sticks that count the points, two stakes are driven into the ground close together, and the point-pegs or counters are piled between
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them. The number of counters is arbitrated upon before the game by the captains of the two sides; the object of the game is to win all the points away from one side to the other.1
Cat’s Cradle.
This is known to the Menomini in various forms, some of which have names. There are a large number of these, of which one variety represents a creek and another a partridge foot.
Traditionally, all games were forbidden to the Menomini in the earliest days because it was thought they made the people lazy and worthless; but this idea has long since been abandoned.
Draw Stick Game.
In the card catalogue of the Museum, Dr. William Jones rather ob¬ scurely describes a “draw stick game.” He says that “twelve sticks of even length and two longer ones are used. The side getting the two long sticks wins the game. If each side retains one of the long sticks, the game is a draw. Taking out one long stick makes the game a pool. The person drawing the long stick wins the stake. There must always be as many sticks as there are players.”
Racing.
Pony and foot races have long been favorite contests and ha\ e furnished means for gambling.
i This game is also described at length by Hoffman, 242-244. It is now well nigh obso-
I ete.
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [\ ol. XIII,
MONTHS AND SEASONS.
Since the Menomini had no calendar sticks or painted year counts, all their historical reckoning was done mentally, the winter being the unit used to correspond with our year. Each lunar year, as we know it, was divided into five seasons : —
Pipon or Piponowik, winter Sikwon, or Sikwonowik, spring Nepin, summer
Tukwuok or Tukwogowik, autumn Sawan, Indian summer.
Twelve lunar months were recognized although there is no proof that this custom was not introduced by Europeans.
January
F ebruary
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
Matchawatuk keso Nomapin keso Mwunao keso Sopomakwin keso Pakuen keso Otahamin keso Men keso Matcmen keso Onawipimek keso Pinipimek keso
Great god moon Sucker moon Snow crust moon Sugar-making moon Loose bark moon Strawberry moon Blueberry moon Great ripening moon Turning leaves moon
Falling leaves moon
Pokiwakomi or wemonoso Frozen ground or deer rutting keso moon
December Hawatuk keso God moon 1
Their directions are six in number, for up and down are added to the points of the compass. Curiously enough, there is a dual terminology for most of the directions, which are given in the accustomed Memomini order:
East, Psomokoho or Wamokoha, also called Wabau. South, Osnawakik or Sawano West, Osnik or Ohanik North, Utcikasiu
Up, or, heavenward, Icpamiu, or Kesikoieka Beneath, Tcikakiu.
An eclipse was thought to presage calamity and the warriors would fire at it to ward off the danger. Le Jeune2 says the same custom was known to the Huron.
1 Very different from the Sauk months, Forsyth, 220.
2 Jesuit Relations, X, 59.
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BURIAL CUSTOMS.
The last great event in the career of a Menomini is his death. During his lifetime he prepares the choicest garments, the most beautiful ornaments, for the occasion of his funeral which to the native mind signifies merely his departure from the earth to the abode of the spirits. Although memories of ancient burial customs that have long since been forgotten by the rising generation still linger among the old people, the present rites are much modi¬ fied. While force of circumstances still compels the natives to continue the practice of a number of forms which they know to be incorrect, on the other hand, many of these discrepancies have been sanctioned.
When a “pagan” dies, his relatives move him from the spot where he breathed his last, dress him in his most cherished finery, and carry all his other effects outside. His face is painted with vermilion; a circle is drawn around each eye, or a ring is made about one eye and a series of spots round the other. In the case of a woman, a round spot is made on each cheek and a little paint is laid in the parting of the hair over the forehead. Red is the color chosen, because it signifies happiness — joy at the long expected depar¬ ture for the Elysian Fields of Menomini legend.1
When these duties have been accomplished and the body lies in state, word is sent to all the old people, seers, prophets, and medicine persons in the vicinity, inviting them to be present at the wake, a function which formerly ended the same day at sun down, but which now lasts for two days and two nights.2 During the day the guests gather with all their families, pitching their tents, or erecting bough shelters, just outside the lodge of the deceased. At evening they enter the house where the body lies and spend the night singing the death songs. If the dead person is an adult the songs are accompanied by the rattle and the drum, but for a child, only one of the instruments is used, for the combined noise would disturb the spirit of the little one.
On the second night the singing is repeated and on the third day the final rites commence. The body is dressed in good clothes, though not the best and the female relatives of the deceased bring calico, tobacco, and other goods, which they put near the head of the corpse, with the medicine bag
1 Cf. Winnebago, Radin and Lamere, 438.
2 Before the death of Naxpatao, brother of Ma'nabus, men and animals came to life on the fourth day. ]\j.a'nabus’ refusal to receive his slain brother caused death to be unending.
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,
of the departed. When all the guests have assembled, the body is taken out of the lodge through the window, not through the door, because the spirit of the dead person is thought to be lingering about, and would soon find its way back to the house, where it woidd not only suffer itself, but would frighten the living inmates. However, when the body is taken through the window, or, as was the custom in former times, through a hole made in the side of the wigwam 1 the ghost becomes confused, is unable to find its way back and so is obliged to follow the funeral procession to the grave.
When the company arrives at the cemetery, the corpse is placed on the ground, and the mourners and guests partake of the feast of the dead, the soul of the deceased being supposed to join in the meal unseen. All the food set before the guests must be consumed, and none of the bones may be
Fig. 4. Pagan Menomini Cemetery.
given to dogs or cats, as this is considered irreverent. At the conclusion of the feast the warriors smoke in honor of the dead and then the body is carried over to the grave and placed beside it. At this point the widow comes forward with a suit of new clothes which are referred to ceremonially as the garments worn by the corpse. She lays these beside the grave, stand¬ ing there until one of the attendants snips a lock of hair from the dead man’s head and gives it to her.2 She wraps this in the garments which she carries home after the obsequies. They are placed in her bed, where they remain for a year, or until the period of her mourning is over.3 During this time the widow refers to them as her husband and talks to the dummy, offering it food, drink, and tobacco, from time to time.
1 Cf. Ojibway, (Kohl, 106-107); Crow, (Lowie, 226); Montagnais (Le Jeime, Jesuit Relations, V. 129). In addition I have recorded this custom among the Plains-Cree and Plains-Ojibway.
2 Cf. Montagnais, Le Jeune, Jesuit Relations, VI, 211.
Ojibway, Barrett, 338, 346; Kohl, 107.
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When the corpse has been lowered into the grave, the husband, wife, father, mother, or other nearest relative of the deceased walks hurriedly up to the grave, steps over it and sneaks rapidly away home through the woods, where he remains until the funeral is over.1 This custom is enacted so that the spirit may become confused until it cannot leave the grave and follow the chief mourner back to his lodge. The further details of the burial are directed by friends.
While coffins are now in general use,2 in earlier days the grave was lined with dry birchbark and the corpse wrapped in the same material. Bodies were buried at full length, and no implements were placed in the grave. One old medicineman was buried sitting upright, at his dying request, for he had had a vision in wffiich it was commanded that he be buried with his head pointing skyward. The modern Menomini do not believe that it was customary to use the flexed position in olden times.
Next the earth is thrown in. The goods brought to the funeral by the women of the family are piled at the head of the grave and the medicine bag of the deceased with an offering of tobacco is placed nearby. Now, several men of tested bravery, who have been invited for the purpose, come forward. One of them advances to the head of the grave, where a stake, about two and a half or three feet high, has been erected. Drawing himself up to his full height, he recites his bravest deeds aloud, so that all the people may hear. “ At such a time and such a place I courageously killed one of the enemy. You all know that I speak the truth. Let his spirit accompany the soul of the deceased over the spirit road (the milky way) to the hereafter.” 3
As the warrior boasts of his heroism, the bystanders ejaculate “Eh” in chorus. The more pleased they are, the longer they draw out the sonorous response. As the warrior pronounces his words, he hacks a nick in the stick with his knife and a waiting attendant reaches out and paints one red X on it. In this way the brave recites his victories and for every coup the at¬ tendant marks an X.4 In some cases the speaker has a stick with shavings
1 Cf. Winnebago, Radin and Lamere, 441.
2 Marston, speaking of the Sauk and Fox (173) says a piece of canoe or bark was used for a coffin among them. These tribes also sometimes used the scaffold form of burial.
a The Sauk, according to Forsyth (173) and Marston (206) have the identical ceremony and so have the Winnebago, according to Radin.
The Omaha (Fletcher, 590, et seq.) believe that the milky way is the road of the dead and have a variation of the custom of sending the souls of slain enemies as guardians for the wayfarers. In this case a father carries the moccasins of Ills dead child on the warpath and leaves them behind the body of the first foe he kills thinking the dead man's spirit will care for that of his child on the journey to the after world.
4 Marston, Sauk and Fox, 173. A similar custom seems to have prevailed among the Ojibway (Kohl 159). The modern Winnebago custom (Radin and Lamere, 442, et. seq.) is somewhat different, although the warrior tells his experiences and appoints spirit guardians for the dead he does it at the wake before the burial. Probably the ancient form was closer to the Menomini. I have found a similar custom to that recorded among the Menomini ob¬ tains among the Plains-Ojibway.
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,
rolled back at intervals according to the number of his deeds and he shows one at the recital of each act.
When the first man has made his speech another comes up and so on, until all have finished. This part of the ceremony is very essential, because the soul of the deceased must travel for four days to 'reach the hereafter, and, not having been long in the spirit world, is as yet unable to build the necessary fires for itself on the nights of its journey; whereas the spirits of the slain warriors, who are controlled by their slayers are able to do this, since they have been long dead and know the usages of the other world. In case only one brave warrior can be obtained to speak at the funeral, his services are sufficient if he has killed at least four of the enemy. The number is imperative, for there must be a different servant to build the fire each night, and guide the feet of the departed.
When the warriors have made their speeches, the attendant who marked their victories on the head board apportions the pile of goods left at the grave among the speakers. These men, however, are not allowed to retain the gifts, but must present them to their nearest female relatives, who in their turn, after suitable time has elapsed, must make presents of equal value to the original donor.
A board house, with long low sides and a pent roof is erected over the grave.1 2 (Fig. 5.) The totem animal of the deceased is painted on the head board where the coups are marked. It is drawn upside down to show that it is dead. At the head of the grave house, a tiny door is made for the use of the spirit, although there is no hole made in the coffin for this purpose. From time to time food is placed before the door by relatives, who cry, “I bring you food,” then put it down and depart. x41though this repast is consumed in spirit by the corpse, the actual substance remains, so relatives often eat the food, for if it rots it is offensive to the ghost. It is not necessary for the mourners to actually carry the food to the grave, it may be offered at home. Should the relatives of the deceased be so fortunate as to have an unusually luxurious meal," or, in the sugar season, when there is an abundance of sweets, some tid-bits aie placed m a tiny wooden bowl which is hung up in memory of the dead relative who is supposed to come and eat it. Since this is only a spn ltual repast, the spirit of the food alone is taken and the earthly substance remains unconsumed. For several days the offering is permitted to hang, but at the end of this time, should a visitor of the same sex and of nearly the same age as the deceased, come in, the food is offered to the newcomer. In former times the period of mourning was four years,3 but recently the time has been considerably reduced.
1 Sauk and Fox, Winnebago, Ojibway.
2 Cf. Missisauga, Copway, (b), 31.
3 Cf. Winnebago, Radin and Lamere, 443.
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When in mourning, a widow does not dress well, she blackens her face and leaves her hair uncombed. It is taboo for her to look upward, or the clouds will gather and rain will fall. Her husband’s relatives keep watch to see that she observes the rules of mourning. After the period is nearly over, the widow approaches them with presents to redeem herself, for according to the native idea the eyes of her dead spouse have now rotted, and as he can no longer take pleasure in seeing her himself, the relatives permit her to go.
Fig. 5. Menomini Graves, showing Head Boards and Sticks with Marks for Coups counted by Warriors at the Funeral.
They comb her hair and tell her to wash and dress; she gives them the lock of her husband’s hair which she has kept in a bundle of clothes and her mourning is ended.
If a widow has not observed the rules of mourning, her husband’s rela¬ tives, particularly her brothers and sisters-in-law, may punish her by slashing her cheeks, cutting off her nose or an ear,1 or the hair from one half of her head. Even if she has kept all the rules, if her parents-in-law are so dis¬ posed, they have the right to force her to take back her bundle, throwing it at her, and compelling her to care for it four years longer. Infidelity on the part of the widow is said to be very rare and dreadful stories are told of the fate of those who have been unfaithful. All these rules formerly held good
i Tills was the old punishment for adultery inflicted on women. Men who disobeyed the mourning laws were also mutilated.
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,
for men as well as women. A man is considered unclean for one year after a death has occurred in his family and until this time has elapsed he is unable to handle medicine. He may take up his gun after ten days. Dead twigs carried in the hand during mourning, ward off trouble. He must not touch a horse or child without insulating himself with dead sticks, otherwise the horse or baby would be stunted through sorrow. Persons in mourning may not touch their heads, and, in consequence, use a stick to scratch.
Occasionally, parents who have lost a child of whom they were very fond perform an unusual rite to express the depth of their affliction. A bundle of new dry goods is wrapped in a sack, which is placed under the suspended dish containing food for the deceased, and there the package is allowed to remain for a year. During this time the parents refer to the bundle as their child, calling it by name and speaking to it as though it were the lost little one. Food is continually kept in the dish for it. After a year has elapsed, a dance is given by the mourners, preferably in the springtime, and an agent distributes the contents of the bundle among the guests. After another year, or sooner, the recipients must make return presents of equal value. When this cycle is completed the sorrow of the bereaved parents is appeased and they are happy once more. On rare occasions this ceremony is per¬ formed for beloved adults.
Shortly after a death, the living members of the family are cut and bled. Gashes are made on the wrists, the knees near the joints, and on the calves by a flint. This is to draw all sorrow from the blood of the mourners and to prevent them from falling ill. It is a regular part of the mourning rites. Should the dead person have been a member of the medicine lodge, a near relative takes it upon himself to see that the place of the deceased is filled. One year after the funeral, and, if possible, in the spring, when all life be¬ gins anew, a medicine dance is given which closely resembles the regular ceremony of initiation elsewhere described. The ceremony, which usually lasts a day and a night, is not necessarily held near the grave, although it is better to have it close at hand. When it is finished the members file down to the grave with their medicine bags in their hands, shouting to each other to drive the lingering spirit back to its home among the shades. There is laughter and merrymaking to erase the memory of death from the hearts of the performers. During this action they go out from the W'est door of the lodge, the only time when this is permitted. The new person raised up to fill the ceremonial place of the departed, is referred to by the mourner as “ my husband” or “my wife” or by whatever term of relationship existed between the mourner and the deceased. In the case of a husband and wife this does not mean that the mourner takes the novice in marriage _ rela¬
tionship is only assumed for ceremonial purposes. The newly elected mem-
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69
ber must in the course of time make a return gift to the sponsor, which must equal in value that given by the former to the elders. In gathering goods for this present, the novice is usually aided by relatives.
To the rules in regard to burial, there was formerly one exception; the bodies of persons suffering from scrofula or kindred diseases were burned, so that the worms supposed to have caused the disease might be consumed, for there was danger that they would attack other people.
Some Menomini beliefs concerning ghosts are of interest. When an Indian’s ear rings, or if he hears a sound in his head, when he is perfectly still, it is the souls of the dead calling to him to hurry up and join them. The person thus invited, at once cries out, “ I will not come until I am unable to eat blackberries!”
This is a specious excuse, since ripe blackberries are so tender that any person, however feeble, can devour them, and the reply is merely a euphe¬ mistic statement that the person does not intend to die until his time is up.
Relatives of the dead are sometimes visited by a shade of the departed which comes and whispers in the survivor’s ear, begging for food or drink. This causes a ringing in the ear and the person to whom the petition is addressed immediately mentions the name of the deceased, saying that such and such a one is hungry, and at once orders food to be prepared; or, if there is none at hand, he goes out to hunt. The game is immediately cooked and the host invites one or two families to assist at the feast. W hen the food is served, the host makes the usual sacrifice and speaks a few words recalling the memory of the deceased, after which he carries a mouthful of each of the viands over to the graveyard, if that is near, and deposits them in the grave box through the door left at one end for the passage of the spirit. If the cemetery is not accessible, the food is put into a tiny wooden bowl and put away where the ravenous shade can find it. No dogs or other ani¬ mals are allowed to touch this repast, and if the ghost is unable to find the victuals, it must cry unheard. The food is left a few days until its spiritual substance has been eaten and then it is set before a relative or visitor. If the ghost appeals to its relatives in vain, a calamity is certain to befall them.
Of course, as has been stated, the modern funeral rites of the Menomini are much degenerated. The following account of such a ceremony given during March, 1912, is adapted from one of Mr. Satterlee s letters to the writer : —
The dead man was a member of the society of dreamers and just before he died, he requested his fellow members to take charge of his funeral in order that the per¬ formance of the proper rites might assure his soul of a safe passage to the hereaftei . In compliance with his last wishes, Shuneinesa (the present head of the society) and the other members gathered at the house and sang and danced quietly to the muffled beating of the drum. At intervals speeches were made in an undertone, and this was
70 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,
kept up with little variation until the fourth day when the final rites were held. At three o’clock in the afternoon the feast of the dead was held. Old Wisawnokwut made an oration concerning the established customs in regard to the burial of the dead and the beliefs of the ancestors of the Menomini. He called by name the braves of the tribe and mentioned their achievements on the warpath, and also told of two heroes of the long ago, called Amasamaka (bravest power) and Pawekone (moulting feathers). A prayer was made that no evil creeping thing should prevent the soul of the dead man from arriving at his destination. It was also petitioned that no reptile or insect might disturb the grave or corpse, and Mate Hawatuk was besought to make the ghost happy during its four days’ journey until he came within sight of the great dream drum above, where the souls of the dead were dancing and waiting for him. The petitioner begged that the deceased might never look back at the world with longing eyes, or cause his survivors to be forlorn.
At the close of the speech two warriors came out to strike the grave post and count their coups. The first was James Black-cloud (Apisanukwut) , who first re¬ peated what his parents had taught him and told of his power derived from the sun which helped him come through the Civil War alive after killing six of the enemy. Accordingly six marks were made on the grave board that bore the inverted totem of the deceased and a present of calico was made him w'hich he handed over to a relative. Next came Charles Apatakesik, who told of his deeds in the late war. He had slain four of the enemy, one of whom was an officer; he had also killed a private with a shovel.
After these speeches, the dream drum was beaten and the corpse was lifted up, pushed through an open window in the cabin and was carried to the cemetery. A short speech was made to erase the memory of the new made grave from the minds of the living. As soon as this was over, the dead man’s brother members of the dreamers started up the drum, beating a lively measure in behalf of the deceased, as if he was already dancing and enjoying himself in his celestial home.
For those who are drowned or die in the forest and whose bodies are never recovered, there is a special ceremony held in the medicine lodge a year later, but the funeral rites mentioned in this paper are not employed. The precise nature of this ceremony has not yet been learned.
The evidence gathered on the rites of the Sauk and Fox is conflicting, according to A\ illiam Jones, but the accounts of Marston 1 and Forysth 2 are exceedingly close to those of the Menomini in every detail. Presumably, the two latter writers had their information from the Sauk, who were more intimate with the Menomini than were the Fox. Mourning customs are unlike those of the Menomini. Although both tribes take no care of the person and assume a forlorn appearance, the resemblance ceases there. The Menomini have no adoption ceremony to end the period; but there is a parallelism in the raising of a new member to the position held by the deceased in the Mitawin, the novice becoming a nominal relative to the relations of the deceased. We find this feature more highly developed
1 Marston, 172, et. seq.
2 Forsyth, 206, et. seq.
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71
among a small esoteric religious society, mentioned by Jones as existing in the remnants of the Old Black Hawk band, who incidentally, had much to do w ith the Menomini during the Black Hawk war. Still, even in this case, the resemblance is not absolute. The F ox who is adopted, is taken in more as a relative than as member of the society; the Menomini rather as a member of the society than as a relative.
In addition many of the beliefs of the Fox 1 concerning the hereafter and the journey of the soul to the Elysian Fields are very different from those of the Menomini. Further data on the subject would be of great interest. The Sauk,2 however, have a conception of the future in no way differing from that of the Menomini. The Woodland Potawatomi share some of these concepts.
Externally, the funeral rites of the Winnebago3 are very close to those of the Menomini, excepting of course, that the Menomini have no reciprocal clan burial functions.
It is the opinion of the writer that the outward features of the ceremonial have probably been borrowed by the Winnebago from their Algonkin neigh¬ bors, particularly the Menomini, with whom they were in constant close contact. The arrangement of the body is the same and the use of red paint on the face of the corpse to signify happiness in exchanging life on this sphere for that of another, is explained in the same way by both tribes and both tribes have the custom of stepping over the grave after the corpse has been lowered into it. Among the Menomini, this is done only by the chief mourner, but among the Winnebago all those present perform the rite. The Menomini give a logical explanation for their performances by stating that it is to confuse the ghost so that it may not return home; the Winne¬ bago give a less coherent reason. The taking of the corpse through the rear of the lodge is noted by Kohl among the Ojibway; by Lowie among the Crow; and Le Jeune among the Montagnais.
The Menomini lack the four days’ wake of their Siouan neighbors and immediately subsequent to the departure of the chief mourner after step¬ ping over the grave, the warriors begin to count their coups. A misstate¬ ment by one of them would be recognized by his auditors and would redound to his discredit, but would not hurt the sold of the deceased, as among the Winnebago. The warriors also count coup on the grave post for each brave deed as is also true of the other tribe. The mourning period among both tribes is the same; but the customs and taboos seem to be different. A fuller account of the Winnebago rites is desirable before more definite comparisons can be made.
1 Forsyth, 208.
2 Marston, 184, et. seq.
2 Lamere and Radin, 437.
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,
It is interesting to note that most of these customs extend as far west¬ ward as Manitoba and Saskatchewan, where there are many parallels to be found among the Plains-Ojibway and Plains-Cree.
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73
COSMOLOGY AND MEDICINE BUNDLES.
General Concepts of the Universe.
According to one of the oldest beliefs of the Menomini, the universe is divided into two portions which are separated from each other by the earth which lies between. These are the regions above, inhabited by the good gods, and the regions below, the lair of the evil gods; each of the two regions is again subdivided into four tiers and in these strata dwell various strong powers. The powers above are under a supreme God, Mate Hawatuk, who resides in the topmost stratum. He is the nominal head of the universe, although he rarely figures in actual worship, for more attention is paid to his underlings who come in direct contact with mankind. In some later cere¬ monies, such as the dream dance, he is of much more importance, no doubt owing to the influence of missionary teachings. Mate Hawatuk is the creator of the world and all its inhabitants.
The basic principle of Menomini religion is, and apparently always has been, the struggle between two opposing forces: the good and the bad. Sometimes the balance falls in favor of one, sometimes of the other. The Indian, as a rule, desires the good to prevail, and so, with sacrifice and prayer, he aids the benign forces to overthrow the evil. In consideration of this assistance the good spirits have, in times gone by, made and turned over to mankind different tokens of their good will in the shape of sundry medicine bundles of various sorts to help them succeed in living on this earth, and in addition have given them, through Ma'nabus, a certain amount of dominion over disease, provided they render proper ceremonies and sacii- fices to their benefactors in return.
Beneath the tier in which Mate Hawatuk resides comes another, still in the ether above the air, in which his servants, the thunderbirds, dwell. The thunderers existed long before the Menomini themselves, for several of the original animals who became men to form the tribe were thunderbirds. They are friendly to mankind and the Indians feel ill at ease when then- voices are not heard for a long time, for the thunderers biing rain to the earth. When the rumbling of thunder finally comes, the Indians are de¬ lighted and say: —
“Ilai! Mudje'kiwis tanitum!”
“Hai! Mudje'kiwis is heard!”
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,
The eldest son is always nicknamed Mudje'kiwis in their honor and it is well known that thunderers often come to earth and are born as men.1 The real name of Mudje'kiwis, the thunderer, is Wickano, according to some informants.
Long ago, two minor thunderers, Kewuta'wapeo (Rolling Eyes, or “Look Around ”) and Pawe'kone (Moulting Feathers) were sent down to earth by their chief to obtain tobacco which the thunderbirds crave, but cannot get in their heavenly home. The only way in which it could be obtained was for some of their number to come down and be born of women in human shape. The two thunders traveled all over the world looking for a tribe of men sufficiently brave and honorable, and women of great virtue, to honor, and at last they came to the Menomini. Just then, the lesser of the two, Pawe'kone, discovered that he had left some valuable behind and asked his comrade to wait while he went to fetch it. Kewuta'wapeo promised, but soon grew tired and began to look over the Menomini people. He was immensely pleased with them, and, forgetting his promise, entered the body of a woman and made her pregnant.2
When Pawe'kone returned, he was sad to find himself deserted, and when he could not find his comrade he flew away and entered some woman of a distant tribe. When these thunderers grew up it was discovered by degrees, through signs who they were. They cured the sick, and helped the people in all manner of ways, asking only a fee of tobacco, though they sometimes accepted other gifts. When one of them had received his wages, he would cast the tobacco in the fire crying to his relatives above, “Haul Take this tobacco. I transfer it to you. This is what you sent us on earth for.” 3
Such thunder men are born today and still often bear the names, “ Look Around,” or, “ Moulting Feathers.” Though they are in reality thunderers, they do not necessarily belong to that totem, but, like ordinary children, to the totem of their supposed earthly father.
[When the story of the thunderers was told by one old man, it was custom¬ ary for him to exhibit some birchbark records, reminders of their visit, said to have been made and kept by them. They were obtained from this old man who had inherited them from his father and they could be traced back as far as his father’s grandfather, beyond 'which there was no record.
In Fig. 6n, we have a representation of the village of the thunderers in the sky. Continuing from right to left we find in b, Wickano, the leader of the thunderers, c, his powerful wind which he controls, and d his clouds. e shows \ ickano at his resting place on a great rock. / is one of Wickano’s associates, and g is the water (rain) which belongs to them, h is again Wickano; i is a tornado or whirlwind; j is the fog or clouds behind which the
1 Mr. Harrington tells me that the Delaware have simliar beliefs concerning people who are in league with the thunders or who are their children.
2 A similar story is found among the Iowa.
3 Haul kitanasin amnine'muon aiom na'nemau Ini kai'yis pico anoseya! Compare with the myth of the origin of the clans (p. 8).
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Skinner, Menomini Social Life and Ceremonial Bundles.
75
thunderers stalk their prey; while k represents their quarry, a thunderer in the act of pouncing upon one of the evil serpents which the thunderers eat.
A song accompanies this bark. It had to be sung when the bark was exhibited and tobacco had to be sacrificed: — -
Anakwut usiiwatukeau usmonatowean.
Oh cloud! you that are god animal like.
The second bark (Fig. 7) is read as follows: — a-b is an anthropomorphic thunderer at its resting place; c is Wickano exhibiting his power over the lightning, scattering it through the heavens; d, e, f, g, h, represent the power of the thunderers over terrible winds and rain. The large bird at / leads the storms forth, but his assistants follow to rake and wash the earth and afterwards wipe away the mist, g and h are hail and rain descending at the will of the thunderers. i is the thunderer ordering the terrible whirl¬ wind (j) to cease; a rainbow appears above him. k is a great tree, a resting place for the thunderers to sit and peer from to see if any evil monster lies in their path. 1 to p show the thunderers traveling in company, and q is their leader.
The song for this bark is: — -
Awau uspemoneyun usmanatuwean
Vapour I do walk with animal like (with thunder power)
Fig. 8 shows Wickano as a man on earth, hearing instructions from the gods and receiving the power of the lightning and rain in a vision. He is shown holding rain, lightning, and wind in his hands. The dividing lines are rain falling in torrents. A wigwam where all destructive forces are kept until needed by the thunderers is shown near the end. The song for this bark is : —
Takame'sao usawatukean
Takame'sao 1 he is a god
It is said that these barks were kept by their owner in one of the war ceremonies. They were also used to instruct people in the lore of the thunderers. Hoffman (p. 106) mentions his belief that the barks found among the Menomini reflect Ojibway influence, and he is probably right. The chief thunderers are arranged in the western heavens in a row. In the center is their leader Mudje'kiwis or Wickano; to the south of him are Wapina/makiu (White Thunder) and Sawina/ma/kiu (Red or 5 ellow Thunder); to the north are Mukomais “The inventor of hail,” and Wflsi-
i A personal name among the thunderers.
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,
Pigs. 6-8. Three Birchbark Strips containing Records of the Thunderbirds.
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Skinner, Menomini Social Life and Ceremonial Bundles.
77
kapeo, “ the stationary bird.” The last two are seldom seen, but when they come they bring cold and storms. Wl'sikapeo particularly, brings trouble and danger. These are the five great thunderers, the others are all of lesser rank. Mitcinf/ski Ina'ni" is the father of the thunderers.
The thunderbirds are not often seen, especially since the advent of the white man, who would be so irreverent as to try to catch them and exhibit them in cages; but when visible, they are particularly good omens to those who glimpse them. As has been said, their nests are built on masses of rock which float tier upon tier in the western sky. Their eggs hatch in July and the thunderstorms so prone to occur at that season are due to the activity of the young birds in learning to fly. When it is known that the thunderers are out hunting, the pious Menomini offers up tobacco, scattering it outdoors for them.
As the elder brothers of the Indians, the thunderers are always active in their behalf, slaying the evil snakes from the underworld whenever they dare to appear on the surface. If they did not do this these snakes would overrun the earth, devouring mankind. There are some good snakes, but woe to them if they are seen by the thunderers, for, in their zeal for the wel¬ fare of the Indians, they never spare any serpent. Whenever dark clouds gather and pass low over the earth, the thunderers hide behind them, peeping through for their enemies. Anon a roll of thunder caused by their hoarse screams is heard; and the accompanying flash of lightning is the gleam shot from the piercing eyes of the hunting birds. In their claws they bear stone balls which they discharge with unerring aim at the evil snakes.1
As has been noted above, sometimes one of the birds will invisibly enter the womb of a woman, and cause her to become pregnant. At length she gives birth to a boy. The woman and her husband usually believe them¬ selves the actual parents of this child until they learn through some sign of his supernatural origin. The child usually shows this by his actions. He does not care to play with other boys.; instead he soon tires of their sports, and, slipping off by himself, is seen to gaze thoughtfully at the western sky, his ancient home. Often he is able to prophesy rain with accuracy, because coming from above, he has inherited the knowledge of overhead affairs.
When his earthly parents learn these things they make haste to consult the local seer who confirms their suspicions. Following his instructions, they prepare a war club 2 for the child to keep by him always. This club
1 Although the Iroquois seem to have conceived of the thunder as a man rather than a bird, many of their concomitant beliefs, especially those concerning the war against the snakes, were identical. Cf. Converse, 39, et seq.
2 The writer has collected war clubs with similar data from the Potawatomi and suspects that similar specimens seen among the Ojibway are kept for this reason.
78
Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII
may be either of practical size or very tiny, the supernatural power animat¬ ing it always being the same. Again, they may make a lacrosse bat (or both the club and the bat) for him, for lacrosse is the special property and delight of the thunderers, for whom their protege must cause a game to be played at least once a year. Such a spirit child must never be harshly spoken to by anyone lest the thunderer who animates him be offended and leave the body of the little one for its home in the western sky. When the child has grown to a man’s estate less care need be used, for his earthly mind will then have more sense and will prevail over his thunder spirit.
The thunderbirds have control over war, and it was through them that the war bundle was given by the sun and the morningstar to the Menomini. Because of their friendliness, figures of the thunderbirds themselves, or rather their relations, the eagles, are placed on the woven bags owned by the women as a sign of respect and as a prayer for their protection.
The next tier in descending order is in the highest heavens, but the inhabitants breathe actual air. Here dwell Ma'nuseu, the sacred swan, and the golden eagles, birds of the loftiest flight. These are servants of the thunderbirds and their earthly representatives. Since it is impossible to ob¬ tain the plumes of thunderers, the feathers of the golden or bald eagle are worn, by warriors who have won the right to do so through their brave deeds, because of the connection of these birds with the thunder war gods. Below the golden eagles come the more ordinary birds of the air. The chief of these are the bald eagles, and they are in turn servants of the golden eagles and the thunderers.
So too, is the vulture (Opiiskwusiu) though his head was made bare and foul-smelling by Ma'nabus as punishment. The great hero was hunting one day when he caught the vulture in the very act of thrusting his head in the bowels of a dead horse. “Disgusting creature,” he cried, “may your head remain in the place you have chosen to put it until the carcass rots away.” As Ma’nabus had commanded, so it fell about. The vulture’s head was caught in the bowels of the horse, and he was unable to withdraw it until the flesh had decayed. The feathers were rotted from the vulture’s head by the same process and it has remained bald and ill-smelling to this day.1
Side by side with the belief in the four tiers of heaven and their occupants occurs another which is possibly not so old, but which may be a fragment of a less definite and formal popular religion which was once in vogue. The
1 There is another and more common version of this myth in which Ma'nabus turns himself into a dead elk in order to entrap the buzzard who has injured him. The myth is also found among the Ojibway of Wisconsin and Manitoba.
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79
belief is as follows: A huge metallic cylinder stretches from the center of heaven to the earth. At the top of this cylinder are four dignitaries who grant wishes to such extraordinarily fortunate dreamers as are able to ascend through the cylinder to them during the course of their vision. The success of the dreamer who does not reach them may be gauged by the height that he succeeded in attaining.
ihe four gods are: Minisifiio-hawatuk, the red war god, who sits in the east, and three ordinary deities called Inan-hawatukuk, who are judges of the dead. When a woman is pregnant the spirit of her unborn child will often leave her body and entering the tube ascend until it reaches the four gods. Minisi-no'hawatuk seizes the spirit, looks at it, and prophesies its career, its victories in war, and its age at death, granting it a fixed number of years of life. He then assigns to one of the Inan-hawatukuk the duty of watching for the fulfillment of the prophecy, and to avenge the child should it be slain before the time appointed. This belief may be derived from one of the neighboring tribes, but information is lacking.1
Among the Powers Above are the sun and moon. The sun is the great patron of war. He it was who commanded morningstar and the thunder- birds to give the war bundles to mankind and his power also makes these strong. In his honor battles are fought and scalps taken. He grants long¬ life to those so successful as to win his patronage. Those who dreamt of the sun used to roach the hair and wore a brass collar, or a beaded rope about the neck to symbolize its rays,2 or a figure of the sun suspended over the chest.3 Probably the sun was originally the head of the Powers Above and Mate Hawatuk is but a modern development of the old idea, through mis¬ sionary influence.4
Among other instances lending support to my theory, I cite only the testimony of Father Andre, Jesuit Missionary to the Menomini: —
When I arrived among them at the end of April, 1673, I gathered all the most notable persons, to inform them of my intention in visiting them. I also asked them what was meant by a picture of the sun that one of them had painted on a piece of board. This picture was tied to the end of a pole, which was also painted in the brightest colors; and on this pole, at the height of a man, was suspended a sheaf of
1 A somewhat similar belief which seems less definite and formal than that of the Meno¬ mini, seems to have prevailed among the Ojibway (Kohl, 139-140, et. seq.) but the reference is in this instance to a single dream and may not indicate a universal concept among the tribe. Since penning the above I am inclined to believe that the concept is an old one among the Menomini and not incompatible with the other beliefs.
Mr. Harrington says the tube idea corresponds with some features of the mescal cult doctrine.
2 Fig. 24.
2 Fig. 1.
4 The sun was looked upon as the supreme God or a powerful deity by the Ojibway (Copway, (a), 30), Potawatomi (Blair, 291), and Ottawa (Perrot, 48, footnote 163).
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,
small cedar sticks, cut so as to serve as floats for the nets that are used in catching sturgeon, like the pieces of cork that are fastened to all kinds of nets in France. I therefore asked for what purpose they had set up this sort of votive offering. They replied that it was a sacrifice — or rather, to use the proper expression in their language, “an exhortation” — • which they had made to the sun, to entreat it to have pity upon them. As they believed that the sun was the master of life and of fishing, the dispenser of all things,1 they begged it to send the sturgeon into their river, and to make their fishing prosperous. They added that they had long been expecting the sturgeon in their river and feared that they would not come to it. In fact, they had reason to apprehend this, for the sturgeon had already entered the Pechetik 2 river and that of Oukatoum,3 which are farther from the lake than is the river of the Maloumines.4 After disabusing them of the idea which they had of the sun, and explaining to them in a few words the principal points of our Faith, I asked them whether they would consent to my removing the picture of the sun, and replacing it by the image of Jesus crucified. They replied, all together and repeatedly, that they consented; and that they believed that God was the master of all things. It was already late when they gave me this assurance of their good will; this did not prevent me from taking advantage of their favorable state of mind, and I put my crucifix in the place of the picture of the sun. On the following morning, sturgeon entered the river, in such great abundance that these poor people were delighted, and all said to me: “Now we see very well that the Spirit who has made all is the one who feeds us. Take courage; teach us to pray, so that we may never feel hunger.5
Of the Potawatomi, long neighbors and friends of the Menomini, the Rev. Wm. Metzdorf states:
They believe in a Supreme Being, Kitchi Manito, the creator and benefactor of all mankind; they honor and adore him in the sun, and therefore they call him Kisis, which means “the sun” or “month.”6
When the Potawatomi were located at Green Bay (1665) Perrot smoked the calumet with their chiefs, who said to him: “Thou art one of the chief spirits since thou usest iron; it is for thee to rule and protect all men. Praised be the sun, who has instructed thee and sent thee to our country.” 7
The moon is less powerful than the sun. It is a poor thing to dream of, though it is not evil. Dreamers who see it try to break their fast and dream again. If the moon persists in appearing, as it often does, it must be ac¬ cepted. It brings long life, but life that will end in misery. People having the moon for a patron are strong when it is full, and weak and sickly when it is on the wane.
1 The italics are mine.
2 Peshtigo.
3 Oconto (Oka’to’, place of pike)
4 Menominee River.
6 Jesuit Relations, 58, 274.
» Blair, 2, 291.
2 Perrot, 1, 309.
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In the eastern sky dwells morningstar, often personified as a man of large stature, with an enormous mouth. Morningstar frequently appears to young men in their dreams with promises of strength and success. He, too, has influence in martial affairs, and with the sun, was one of the joint donors of the war bundle through the thunderbirds. In the east also dwells a family of virtuous sisters, four in number. These were mortal females upon whom immortality was conferred by the overhead beings as a reward for their good and virtuous lives. They are the especial patrons of women and girls, as the thunderbirds are patrons of men and boys. They too sometimes enter the bodies of women and suffer themselves to be reborn in memory of their earthly existence. As has been described in another place (p. 57) they are the possessors of the female shinney game which must be played at least once a year for those who are animated by them. Red is their favorite color and when a red sunrise illumines the eastern horizon it is known that they are enjoying their favorite game.1 To the south there is another set of four sisters who have charge of the bowl and dice. These too, are very influential, and often animate women, who are obliged to give the dice game in their honor. Each of these sisters is dressed in a color peculiar to herself, and women have these colors in mind when they orna¬ ment their garments with colored ribbon applique work.
The Powers Below reside in four tiers under the earth, in the lowest of which lies Waia/bskinit Awa/se, the white bear, who is the supreme leader of the Underneath Gods, and whose servant is a naked bear. Next comes the underground panther who lives nearer the earth. His servant is a white beaver. Then there is a white deer whose servant is a black cat, and last, the horned snake whose servant is a dog.
The horned snake is the best known of these evil animals 2 because he is nearest to, and consequently most frequently seen on, the earth. The great horned serpents, or as they are more often called, MlsikinuTikuk, “hairy snakes,” are gigantic reptiles with bodies of the usual form, but cov¬ ered with black or golden scales, while on their hairy heads grow stag-like horns. They seek to destroy man, and come above the ground to search for him whenever they dare, but in this effort they are rarely successful, owing to their relentless enemies, the thunderbirds. For a Menomini to see one of these snakes in his waking hours is a bad sign, perhaps foretelling death in his family; to see one in a dream is an evil omen and the dreamer, if he has been fasting for a vision, should at once break his fast and start
1 This belief is also found among the Potawatomi from whom the writer has collected a shinney stick with similar information.
2 Cf. Iroquois (Converse, 41-43) for very similar beliefs. The native drawing shown on p. 43, closely resembles Menomini pictures of the monster.
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [V ol. XIII,
it a second time. Should he accept the vision, he becomes possessed of the malign powers of sorcery and witchcraft .
A sorcerer often claims to possess a scale or a portion of the flesh of one of these serpents which he keeps carefully hidden in one of his medicine bags to use in practising witchcraft. It is well known to the Menomini that iso¬ lated and lonely hills, ponds, swamps, or sloughs, are apt to be the homes of these monsters. The sorcerer is enabled to have interviews with the Mlsi- kinu'bikuk through certain medicines revealed in dreams. He seeks out a likely spot, makes an offering of tobacco, and sings a prayer, which is carried by the incense of the burning tobacco to the object of his supplication. Presently the serpent appears and allows the sorcerer to remove portions of his flesh, but the only kind of knife that will prove effective in cutting out the flesh to be used by the sorcerer is one made of cedar; iron or steel knives having no effect on the flesh of Mlsikinu'bikuk. The cedar knife has great magic powers, for Ma'nabus used such a knife in his warlike exploits. The snake feels no pain at having portions cut from his body and is amply re¬ warded by the offering of tobacco.
Some of the horned snakes possess wings and can fly through the air. They can also move about underground. Some are benevolent to mankind; but the thunderbirds destroy alike the good and the bad, pouncing upon all they find and bearing them away to their nests to devour. This is a fact known to the Menomini because in former times one of their tribe was borne away to a nest of the thunderbirds in the western heavens, from whence he managed to escape and bring back tales of what he had seen.
Objects used for necromancy are often marked with a crude outline drawing of the horned snake. Thus horned serpents are scratched, carved, or painted on the rattles and other paraphernalia of sorcerers, or woven in fabric bags used to hold their medicine. The horned snakes play an im¬ portant part in Menomini folklore. Two stories collected by the writer refer to the kidnaping of human beings to whom the snakes had taken a fancy. Persons so kidnaped eventually turned into horned snakes, an inci¬ dent likewise observed by the writer among the myths of the Mohawk Iroquois.1 Among the Menomini the fact that these serpents are invulner¬ able to ordinary weapons is also brought out in the myths. In one of the myths four horned snakes are mentioned who act as guardians of a sacred beneficient medicine existing beneath the water.
Sacrifice to the Underneath Powers is accomplished by burning tobacco and then burying some more of the weed with, perhaps, some food and goods.
1 Harrington adds the Shawnee and Delaware. I have since heard similar stories from the Ojibway.
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Usually just a small hole is made in the ground with a pointed stick and tobacco is placed in it with the words: “You down there, I send tobacco and food for your acceptance.”
Besides the great powers that have been mentioned there are a host of genii, goblins, giants, and “strong powered beings” in the sky and on the earth itself. Some of these have already been mentioned, but I shall refer to them once more.
In the north, whence the cold winds blow, there dwells at the end of the eaith a lace of malevolent giants (manupawuk, singular, manupao) driven there by Ma'nabus because of their desire to destroy mankind. That thej ma\ not return during his absence Ma/nabus has made an ocean sepa¬ rating their country from the rest of the earth and mankind. When the south w inds blow, the odor of human flesh is borne to their nostrils and they attempt to wade the watery barrier. But it is too deep even for their mag¬ nificent size, and they soon give it up. That they may never swim to the other shore, Ma nabus has thoughtfully created gigantic bloodsuckers or leeches which attack the giants and drive them back. The Mowakiu is another mythical cannibal giant who dwelt on earth in the olden days. In the south there is a race of cannibals who too would only be too glad to devour the human beings who inhabit our earth, but their country is so warm that should they venture up north where the human’s dwell, they would die of the cold.
The “wandering man” (Petcikunau naiota, “Bundle Carrier,”) is an individual bearing a burden ceaselessly over the face of the earth. He sometimes lingers in one locality for a long time, and then he may not be heard of again for years. He rarely appears to anyone save to foretell mis¬ fortune; but he is not infrequently heard by travelers as he rustles along through the leaves or bushes at night. A gift of tobacco or liquor will cause him to go away. If he is angered, he will pursue the person who has offended him, and even throw sticks at the fugitive. To be hit with a stick thrown by the “wandering man” means death. To defeat him in a wrestling match is most propitious and means long life and happiness. Paxkax is a flying skeleton of like omen, corresponding to the western Ojibway Paguk.
To hear a fox bark at night foretells a death in the family,1 as does the singing of a whip-poor-will close to the lodge. Both are messengers from the evil powers. Foxes, turkeys, and owls may be witches in disguise.
The “little god boys” are pygmies who dwell particularly at “Death’s
1 Marston, 175, speaks of the belief in omens, bark of fox, etc., among the Sauk and Fox. Cf. Copway, (a), 38 (Missisauga). Among the Menomini many of these superstitions are strongly brought out in folklore.
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Door” on Lake Michigan. They are friendly to men. One of their most remarkable qualities is the power to pass through stone as though it did not exist.1 Ghosts often appear to people in human or animal shape, often as birds, the turkey being not infrequent.
Many curiously shaped boulders and stones, called J e kob aiasen or “spirit rocks” 2 are supposed to possess spirits who are able to help or hurt mankind and these are always respectfully addressed and offered tobacco by passersby. Small “ spirit rocks ” are often carried home as household charms. Round stones, supposed to be thunderbolts, are treated in the same way. Some spirit rocks are thought to have the power of speech. Reverence for these things is impressed on all Menomini children at a very early age. One old Indian said to me: “When I was a child, my parents and the old people instructed me to treat everything, even the rocks, the stones, and the little creeping things, with reverence, for they are all ‘manitous.’”
Among the spirit rocks, copper may be included. This is one of the strongest of strong powers, and is much desired to ward off evil spirits, for which purpose it is often kept in bundles of the sacred sort. During the winter of 1911-1912 two Indians on the Menomini reservation were taken ill and a local shaman declared, after going into a trance, that they could only be cured by the use of some fragments of copper to exorcise the bad spirits, and that one cause of their sickness was that the writer had bought up most of the medicine bundles which contained the antidote. They begged for some of it, through Mr. Satterlee, and it was furnished them.3
Besides the homage paid to the spirit rocks, the Menomini frequently make sacrifices at hills and boiling springs in which spirits (usually white bears, panthers, or other Powers Below) are thought to dwell. I have again and again seen Indians stop to throw tobacco in the water at some spirit spring, with a muttered prayer. In times of trouble or sickness, dogs are killed and cast into these fountains to appease the powers inhabiting them.4
One famous bubbling spring, between Keshena and South Branch, on the Reservation, is said to contain a white bear. Many years ago, when the Menomini first came on the reserve, an epidemic was diagnosed by a seer as having been sent by the spring god, who could only be appeased by the gift of the chief’s medal, given him by the President of the United States,
1 I have heard this statement from both the Woods and Plains-Cree.
2 There is a well-known Algonkin legend of a man who became a spirit rock, localized among the Menomini.
3 The Ojibway (Warren, 98) used copper for similar purposes.
4 Cf. Copway, (a), 31 in regard to Missisauga sacrifice to the evil spirit under the water.
- have seen western Ojibway tobacco sacrifices floating in the Assiniboine River at Long Plains, Manitoba.
1913.] Skinner, Menomini Social Life and Ceremonial Bundles. 85
which was accordingly dropped into the water with good results. To poke a stick down into one of these springs and cause it to spout up, is to anger the god within, a very rash act indeed. At other places, especially under hills, white panthers, bears, or horned snakes live. On the Wolf River, at Smokey Falls, giant pigs reside in caves under the water, and may be seen from time to time running over the surface of the river. At another place mysterious horses appear. To this day the Indians sacrifice tobacco at all these places.
Of recent years, at least, Ma/nabus has become deified in the minds of the Indians, doubtless because of missionary teachings, and they now con¬ stantly compare him with Christ. At an earlier date his place as culture hero was important, but presumably not to the magnificent degree that it is now. Ma/nabus interceded with the Powers Above and Below for most of the benefits which mankind possesses, and these he transferred to the people through his brother Onaxpatao. He also righted many abuses on earth. Ma/nabus has left his people, but he still lives and will some day return to emancipate them from the white man’s yoke.
Ma/nabus received the medicine lodge or mitawin from the Powers Above and gave it to the people as a form of worship and as a means of destroying disease. The beliefs which I have just recounted are older than the incep¬ tion of the lodge, which, indeed, is founded on them.
Future Life.
According to Naia’to' wapikineu, and several other informants, every human being is possessed of two souls. One, called usually agawetatciuk (“a shade across”) resides in the head. This is the intellect, and after death it wanders about aimlessly, lingering about the graveyard. It is for these spirits that sacrifices of food are offered. They are ghosts as differ¬ entiated from souls. They give sharp whistling cries after dark.
The soul, or tcebai, dwells in the heart and is the one which travels to the hereafter. It is the tcebai for which all funeral services are held. I have heard similar statements regarding the existence of two souls from the Plains-Cree in Saskatchewan, but not as yet from the Ojibway.
The Menomini have a firm belief in a future existence. When the soul has left the body it travels westward toward the home of Ma/nabus 1 and Naxpatiio for four days and nights. There is only one trail, the milky way, and it is so broad and plainly marked that it cannot be missed. Over it travel the good and bad alike. As it journeys along, at length the spirit
1 Ojibway, Kohl, 213; Warren, 73.
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comes to a great strawberry1 growing in the trail, next the journeying soul comes to a fountain of pure and beautiful water. The object of these is to tempt the wayfaring soul to break the fast of purification, in which case it is not worthy to enter the world of the dead.
At last a swift river is reached, where on the other side of the stream is the great village of the dead, ruled over by Naxpatao, brother of Ma'nabus. The only bridge over this stream is a slippery log 2 which, though not resting on the water, sways with the current. A huge dog guards the log, he is the great chief of all earthly dogs and with him rests the final decision as to whether the soul may attempt to cross over or not. He never permits a person of evil life to venture on the bridge nor will he pass those who in their lifetime have abused or maltreated dogs or wolves.3 If, how¬ ever, he is friendly, and permits the soul to attempt the last passage, there is still the danger of slipping off the precarious bridge, and woe betide the unfortunate soul that loses its balance, for if it falls in the water it will be carried on downstream forever by the swift current.4 The last barrier being successfully passed and the soul once safely arrived on the other shore, all the old inhabitants seem to know of its arrival and pour out of the village of the dead with shouts of welcome, and words of congratulation on its safe arrival. The sold is escorted up to the village where all is happiness and eternal feasting and lacrosse playing. Everyone is radiantly clad and the faces of all are brilliantly painted with Vermillion. There is neither war, nor pestilence, nor want, nor sorrow- in that land.
Another account has it that when, on the fourth day after death, the soul reaches the hereafter, or Naxpatao’s country, Naxpatao is informed, and sends his servant (skaupawis) to meet the newcomer and escort him in. The servant obeys, and delivers the stranger to his master, who leads it to the center of the place, where there is an immense w-ooden bowl. Here the shade is washed, in order to cure the disease or wound which caused its death. At the same time its earthly sense and know-ledge is largely purged away and it is re-endowed w-ith heavenly lore, so that a soul is never quite as intelli¬ gent as a human being in some ways, yet supernaturally endowed in others.
In conclusion, so far as our information goes, w-e find the Menomini in general accord w-ith their neighbors, save that it appears that the Menomini have reduced their scheme of the universe to a more definite system. They divide it into two main sections: the upper and low-er worlds. These in turn
1 Ojibway, Kohl, 214; Warren, 72-73.
2 The Ojibway, Kohl. 218, say this log is really a large serpent. Probably this is also the Menomini conception.
3 Harrington says this belief is found among the Shawnee where it is more developed.
4 Some of the Indians declare that the fate of stillborn children is the same as that of' offenders; others say that the child never had a soul and hence is as nothing.
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are divided into four parts or tiers each, and are separated by the earth. Each world has its presiding deity. The upper world, peopled by beneficient powers, is ruled by Mate Hawatuk, who dwells in the fourth tier of heaven. Beneath him come the thunderers, mythical birds inhabiting the ether above the air, the golden eagles, and the lesser birds of the air, commanded by the bald eagles, in descending order. These are his- servants, and, since they come into actual contact with mankind, and Mate Hawatuk does not, they receive more actual homage than their master, who really appears only as a figurehead. The powers below are governed by a white bear who resides in the fourth tier of the underworld. He has a “naked bear” as his especial attendant. The other tiers in ascending order towards the earth contain his servants. The first is a white panther with its attendant, a white beaver, then a white deer with its attendant, a black wildcat, and, next the earth, the horned hairy snakes. Unlike Mate Hawatuk, the supreme god beneath, because of his power for evil, which renders him an object of dread, receives many direct sacrifices.
In spite of the usual lack of data from other tribes of the Central region, it seems safe to assume that the religious beliefs of the Menomini are in general accord with those of their neighbors, but the details are different. For instance, the Menomini have reduced their scheme of the universe to a more definite plan than is usually found. On the other hand, Dr. J. R. Walker has noted a somewhat similar system among the Teton-Dakota 1 while the Delaware have a twelve-fold division of the universe.2 From the posthumous notes on the Fox 3 by the late Dr. William Jones we are unable to learn whether that tribe has developed the idea of the stratified universe, but the inference is that they have not. However, Kohl presents an Ojib- way drawing 4 in which heaven seems to be shown in four strata. Those bands of Ojibway living in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Southern Ontario have many religious ideas in common with the Menomini, especially those concerning the passage of the soul to the hereafter in which the concepts seem to be precisely similar, although I doubt if the definite system of ar¬ rangement of the four tiers of heaven and hell will be found among them. On the other hand, among the Saulteaux Ojibway living just north of the Rainy River District in Canada, we find some significant ideas concerning the control of animals, particularly bears, by chiefs, presumably located underground, which have to be placated by sacrifices paid to the spirits
1 Unpublished manuscripts in the American Museum.
2 Harrington, (a), 60.
3 Jones, (c), 209.
4 Kohl, 400. Since writing the above, I have received data from Plains-Ojibway which seem corroboratory.
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII
of slain animals, lest they become offended and withhold the supply of game. Farther to the north this superstition apparently disappears, to be found again in a much more complex state of development among the Cree, espe¬ cially those of Eastmain and Labrador, where it is best seen in the elaborate precautions taken to prevent the spirits of slain bears from being angered. But here another complicating element enters, may we not have encountered a southern extension of the well-known customs of the Eskimo wdth whom the Cree have long been in actual contact, rather than a northern progres¬ sion of the Central Algonkin beliefs apparently so highly developed among the Menomini?
With regard to the various inhabitants of the tiers themselves, the con¬ ception of Mate Hawatuk as a nominal supreme head seems but a logical phase of Menomini development and due in no way to the teachings of white missionaries. Mate Hawatuk, as the chief of the Powers Above, is nothing more than the essence of good opposed to the essence of evil, as personified in the white underground bear. As a beneficient powrer, Mate Hawatuk wras naturally not feared, and his remoteness made him less familiar to the people than his servants, who supposedly came in contact with him in carry¬ ing out his will. Hence Mate Hawatuk became a vague figure, a nominal head of the good gods, wdiile his servants received sacrifices to persuade them to intercede for or aid mankind ; hence they became practically of greater im¬ portance than their master, until it may be, the teachings of the missionaries pointed out to the Menomini that their greatest god was neglected. In later ceremonies, such as the dream dance, we very naturally find that Mate Hawatuk is the patron deity. On the other hand, there is some reason for believing that Mate Hawatuk and the sun were formerly the same and that it was through missionary teachings that the former came to be regarded as a separate being. From old accounts it would appear that the sun was formerly regarded as the supreme power throughout the Central region.
On the contrary, the reverse has been the case with the white bear, chief of the under world. As the greatest malevolent power, though weaker than Mate Hawatuk, he was consequently feared proportionately and as evil is usually more impressive than good, the Indians sought to quiet him by sacrifices and attention, so that the white bear plays a more important part in their religious life.
Concerning the relation which Mate Hawatuk bears to the Great Spirit of other tribes, the writer is inclined to think that when other Indian reli¬ gions are better known there will be in most cases a tendency to react from the classical idea that the Great Spirit is entirely a product of ideas engen¬ dered after white contact.
There is more information available about the lesser deities, the servants
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of Mate Hawatuk. The Fox 1 associate the thunderers with the four direc¬ tions instead of with the west alone, and place them in the lodge of Sawano, the manitou of the south. Like the Menomini, they believe that the thun¬ derers are the friends of the Indians and offer them tobacco when they are heard. The sun and an unidentified star are also considered as manitous.
Among the Missisauga Ojibway 2 we find similar veneration paid the thunderers who are also thought to subsist on snakes.3 Among the Northern Saulteaux this theory dies out, and among the Eastern Cree there seems, at present at least, to be no association of the thunder with a bird, although the hostility of the thunder toward water monsters appears in several myths.4 Similar ideas of the thunder are found among the Delaware together with the traditional antipathy for the horned snakes.5 Here we have an inter¬ esting development concerning rain-making by medicinemen who expose on stones supposed scales of the horned snake.
There is enmity between the thunder and the great horned serpent who cannot show his head above the waters without provoking their wrath. Therefore, when the scales taken from the back of the serpent were ex¬ posed on a rock, beside the sea, or on the shore of a lake or stream, thunder clouds would immediately gather and the cornfields would presently be re¬ freshed by the rain. The owner of the charm must remove it before the first raindrops fell or he wras in danger of being struck by lightning.
A similar belief seems to be shared by the Dakota, although it is obscure.6
The belief in the thunderers as birds is probably found among all Cen¬ tral and some of the Plains tribes, and usually occurs together with the idea of antipathy toward malign underneath monsters. In the east it was proba¬ bly common to the Algonkin tribes, at least those west of New England, but the Iroquois' conceive the thunderer as an old man. Of the Powers Below, the horned snakes are perhaps better known than any of the others, although the Fox had a series of underneath manitous. The distribution of the horned snake concept is even wider than that of the thunderbird and is found among the Iroquois and the Seminole of Florida. It also occuis in the
Southwest.
Of the lesser powers the sun is very important throughout the Cential , region and we find traces of the veneration of the sun, especially as a war god,
1 Jones, (c), 213.
2 Jones, Peter, 85.
s Ibid, 86.
- Skinner, (a), 93.
6 Harrington, (a), 58.
e See Riggs, 142.
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among the Iroquois to the east. Little concerning it could be obtained among the Northern Saulteaux or Eastern Cree.
On earth, the innumerable lesser gods, genii, and goblins of Menomini tradition probably have their parallel in popular tradition all over North America. The “skeleton man,” all skin and bone, finds a parallel among the Missisauga,1 the Plains-0 jibway, and perhaps the Fox.2 The custom of venerating sacred rocks and springs as genii, or as the mere homes of spirits is almost universal.
As to the belief in the journey of the soul to the after world, this is widely spread throughout the east. The typical form comprises a journey across a log bridge, guarded by a dog who forces transgressors into the river. The idea of a final Elysian Field in the west occurs among the Sauk and Fox,3 the Seneca,4 the Ojibway,5 the Missisauga,6 and the Seminole 7 of Florida.
In Wood’s “New England’s Prospect,” written 1629-34 (chapter 19), we find the following concerning the Massachusetts Algonkin:—
Of their deaths and c., These are the Mourners without hope, yet doe they hold the immortality of the never-dying soule, that it shall passe to the South-West Elysium concerning which their Indian faith jumps much with the Turkish Alchoran, holding it to be a kinde of Paradise, wherein they shall everlastingly abide, solacing themselves in oderiferous Gardens, fruitfull Corne-fields, greene Medows, bathing their tawny hides in the cool streames of pleasant Rivers, and shelter themselves from heate and cold in the sumptuous Pallaces framed by the skill of Natures curious contrivement; concluding that neither care nore paine shall molest them, but that Natures bounty will administer all things with a voluntary contribution from the over-flowing store¬ house of their Elysian Hospitall, at the portall whereof they say lies a great Dogge whose churlish snarlings deny a Pax intrantibus to unworthy intruders: Wherefore it is their custome, to bury with them their Bows and Arrows, and good store of their Wampompeage and Mowhackies; the one to affright that affronting Cerberus, the other to purchase more immense prerogatiues in their Paradise. For their enemies and loose livers, who they account unworthy of this imaginary happiness, they say, that they passe to the infernall dwellings of abamocho, to be tortured according to the fictions of the ancient Heathen.
According to Penicaut, as quoted by Swanton, the Natchez seem to have had a somewhat similar concept.8
In conclusion, I cannot forbear quoting from Roger Williams’ “Key” a short excerpt on the religion of the Narragansett, showing how much the
1 Peter Jones, 65.
2 Jones, (e), 157.
3 Forysth, 209.
4 Information from Mr. A. C. Parker.
3 Kohl, 216.
3 Copway, (a), 47.
7 Skinner, (d), 25.
8 Swanton, 94.
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91
beliefs of these people diverged from those of the Central tribes in some points. Nevertheless, besides the journey to the after world, the New Eng¬ land and Long Island Indians certainly held certain minor concepts in com¬ mon with the Menomini, including the supremacy of the sun and the idea of the southern or southwestern Elvsian fields.
The sun (whom they worship for a God) Kauta' ntowwit the great Southwest God, to whose House all soules goe, and from whom came their Corne, Beanes, as they say.
Wompanand
Chekesuwand
Wunnanamea'nit
Souwwanand
Wetuo'manit
The Easterne God The Western God The Northerne God The Southerne God The house God
Even as the Papists have their He and Shee Saint Protectors as St. George, St. Patrick, St. Denis, Virgin Mary &c.
Squa'uanit The Woman’s God
Muckquachuckquand The Children’s God.
Obs. I was once with a Native dying of a wound, given him by some murderous English (who rob’d him and run him through with a Rapier, from whom in the heat of his wound, he at present escaped from them, but dying of his wound, they suffered death at New Plymouth in New England, this Native dying called upon Muckquachuck¬ quand, which other Natives I understood (as they believed) had appeared to the dying man many yeares before and bid him whenever he was in distress to call him.1
Secondly, as they have many of these fained Deities: So worship they the Creature in whom they conceive dothe rest some Deitie.
Keesuckqu'and
Nanepaushat
Paump'agussit
Yota'anit
The Sun God The Moon God The Sea The Fire God 2
Medicine Bundles and their Relation to War and Hunting.
The medicine bundles of the Menomini form a class by themselves, known collectively as Petcikunau, but bearing individual titles such as, “ white mat,” “ fawn medicine,” and the like. They are collections of medi¬ cines for the same or kindred purposes and quite distinct from the hetero¬ geneous masses of charms and cures kept in the woven sacks of the old people or in the Mitiiwin bags. Of these sacred bundles there are four fundamental types : — -
1 This seems to show that the New England Algonkin practised the puberty fast.
2 Williams, 116, et seq.
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,
a. The war bundle (wapanakian, or, white mat).
b. The hunting bundle (misasakiwis). Of this bundle there are num¬
erous lesser varieties, including special bundles for hunting beaver and bear.
c. The witch bundle, with many lesser offshoots.1
d. The good luck bundle.
From the data at hand, two theories of the origin of the sacred bundles of the Menomini seem admissible. The first of these is, as the traditions concerning the objects themselves relate, that they were originally made complete as the result of instruction supposed to have been received from supernatural sources. The other is that they are the gradual outgrowth, by accretion, of a series of minor charms.
Tradition to the contrary notwithstanding, the latter hypothesis seems the most plausible. Among many of the tribes east of the Central Algonkin, as well as among the Central x41gonkin themselves, small personal charms or fetishes are carried by individuals. Among the Menomini, a man often starts out in early childhood with a small ball bat or war club made for him by his parents under the belief that he is a thunder child.2 When he reaches the age of puberty and undergoes his youthful dream fast, other charms may be prescribed by his personal guardian, and he may acquire still others through visions, during his later career. What is to hinder these various charms, when they become too numerous for convenience in carry¬ ing, from being made into one large package or bundle combining the power of all?
That this is exactly what has happened in many instances, is proven by the examination of bundles and the questioning of their owners. Inquiry elicits the fact that theoretically this should not occur. Actually, it has, for we find as the component parts of the sacred war bundles, for instance, the same charms that other men, not bundle owners, possess alone. The question naturally arises, is not the reverse of our hypothesis the case? Are not these individual medicines simply fragments of disintegrated bundles which began their career intact? The fact, that similar and often identical small charms are very widely distributed among tribes who possess nothing corresponding to the sacred bundle, militates against this theory.
Again, although we know that the official legend of the origin of the war bundle tells only of the beginning of the medicine as a whole, the story of the personal dream of a bundle owner sometimes tells of the receipt of a single
1 The witch bundle, being identified with the activities of a certain cult, will be described at length in another paper.
2 See p. 36.
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medicine to which others were added.1 Moreover, among some of the neighboring tribes, particularly the Sauk and Fox, bundles are made up of objects received during the course of a series of dreams, and sometimes others are added which the owner feels should be included.2
On one occasion I purchased from an old man the mingled remains of a war bundle, a witch bundle, and a hunting bundle, all under the same cover. They had once been separate, but the contents had become mixed through an accident. The medicines not being easily assortable in all cases, the whole was kept and used as one. If the bundle had been handed down for several generations more, until the accident of the confusion had been for¬ gotten, who can doubt but that its final owner would have looked upon it as a universal bundle of great power? And what more natural than to ascribe its origin, as a whole, to one of the great beneficient powers, Ma'na- bus, for instance?
The so-called good luck bundles throw some light on this question. They contain medicines for hunting, love, witchcraft, and what not. There are few exigencies of Indian life which they do not cover. It must also be noted that hunting medicines often occur in the war bundles, and homicidal medi¬ cines in the hunting bundles, and “bad medicines” for witchcraft in nearly all, except the war bundle. Certain medicines, such as the crow or rattle¬ snake skin, looked upon as protection against thieving witches, are abso¬ lutely interchangeable, and may be found in any bundle of any sort. It is my opinion that among the Menomini, the several sacred bundles have taken their rise in the gradual accumulation of similar medicines, and that the good luck bundle is the most recent of these, showing a tendency to unify all medicines in one bundle of increased and universal power. Mr. M. R. Harrington, on the contrary, tells me that he believes these general bundles are among the oldest. Among those I have collected the material objects are more recent than in the specialized forms.
With the Menomini, as among the Blackfoot, all medicines originate in dreams, and “ the material part of each is after all but an objective part of a ritual.” 3 Thus, theoretically, there would be no objection to parting with any medicine or charm, provided the songs accompanying it, and tlnough which alone it can be made effective, were retained, except for the fact that
1 The following is a typical personal dream story, related by Tuskiwa: An old man, having had a sacred dream, set out to go west for an eight day journey. His sons begged him not to go, saying it was useless. But he said the time was ripe; he must go and get a tlnm- derer’s egg The egg which was secured was the size of a teacup and green in color. It was covered with clean down which he obtained from the birds. It was not opened until a lot of pure young men opened it in a clean pure place. From the egg as a nucleus, a war bundle
was made.
2 Personal information from M. R. Harrington.
2 Wissler, (a), 100.
94 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,
through its use with its ritual and by its contact with the animating power of the supernatural donors which it represents, the object itself acquires a degree of sanctity in proportion with its antiquity and the services which it has performed.
In other words, any medicine bundle or charm has three distinct quali¬ ties - — first, the object itself, powerful, as we have explained above, through use and contact with the beings who gave it; second, an additional power given by the dream; and, third and greatest, the animating force of the songs.1 To possess the songs is enough to permit the owner to use the power of the bundle. The dream is valuable only to the first possessor who himself received the vision and the right to make the charm; the object can be made or copied at any time by anyone who knows the songs.
An educated Menomini said, “Your electric cars are useless, although they seem to be perfect; they cannot move until the electric current is switched on. The power of the current corresponds to the songs in one of our bundles. Without them the bundle cannot work.” This idea of the power of the songs is apparently also present among the Blackfoot.
1 do not believe that rituals of any length are made up by the Menomini with any such facility as among the Blackfoot, at least not now'. The old people say that owing to the fact that there are no living Indians sufficiently pure in life (by which they mean not so much men that are pure morally, but men who eat the old food, live in the old style, keep up the old customs) to obtain the great bundles, and very few able to get the personal charms. There are a few of the smaller charms that have more than one song, a very few have none at all but this last is due to the decadence of old ideas. The bundles proper have many songs, but nowadays many of these have been forgotten, and wffiereas there was formerly a song for each object or group of objects in the bundle, in most cases there are now but a few referring to the entire contents of the sacred pack. These are, however, deemed suffi¬ cient to render the bundle efficacious.
The members of that class of medicine persons known as seers, inter¬ pret dreams, but I have never heard of their inventing a ritual or bundle for anyone else, though they certainly prescribe charms, especially for children who are thought to be descended from supernatural beings.
Bundles, with their rituals entire or in part, may be purchased ; but the idea of a bundle owner forcing another to buy his pack when he is tired of it does not occur. The objective part of the bundle is transferred with the songs, but, as I have said, the dream need not necessarily be passed on. In some cases it is considered distinctly a violation of the pact between the
1 The songs are considered less powerful among the Sauk.
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bundle owner and its supernatural donor to tell of their meeting at all, or only in the vaguest and most round-about terms.
There seems to be a difference between the bundles of the Menomini and presumably, those of the Winnebago, Sauk, Fox, Iowa, Omaha, and Oto on the one hand, and those of the Osage, Kansa, Blackfoot and other Plains tribes on the other. All are founded on the same primary concepts,1 but the manipulation of the rituals is different. Among the Menomini, and probably all the central and southern village tribes, the transfer idea is by far less highly developed than among the Blackfoot. Although a person may purchase a bundle from its owner, together with the right to use it, he is never able to get the full powers of the original possessor, as the first owner had the non-transferable dream. Moreover a man who owns a bundle hates to part with it, though if requested four times to sell superstition makes it a serious matter for him to refuse.
55 hile the whole bundle concept is perhaps most strongly developed in the Mississippi Valley region, including the Ohio and Missouri, traces of the beginning of the sacred bundle may be found among the Seneca, where the secret medicine of the tribe made as the result of a revelation, is supposed to be composed of portions of the brains of all animals of the world, which was given with its accompanying rituals to certain young men by the powers. This simple medicine powder thus partakes of the nature of a bundle, but is the property of a definitely organized society.
The sacred bundles of the Alenomini, whether for war, hunting, witch¬ craft, or some other purpose, have certain features in common. In the first place, all are the private property of individuals who have derived them from the gods by means of dreams. 5Vhile, of course, there are bundles in the hands of persons who have acquired them through inheritance, these people have no right to use them unless divinely empowered. No Menomini bundles are the property of any clan, as is the case among the Winnebago. In the second place, all Menomini bundles purport to be an aggregation of charms presented all at the same time by the deity, with whom the owner was in communication and not piecemeal, ever and anon, as is the case with those of the Sauk and Fox.
Again, few of the true bundles, with the exception of some war bundles thought to have been given by the morningstar, are supposed to have come directly from the gods who made them. They are supposed to have come through the intermediation of some minor power. The ordinary war bundles came via the thunderers, though made by the sun, the morningstar, and the animals, while the hunting bundles came to men through Ma/nabus who got them from the greater powers.
1 Wissler, (a), 279.
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The contents of all bundles of the same class is more or less similar. All war bundles should have certain ingredients and charms, and the same is true of each separate order of the hunting bundles. Certain things such as medicines to guard against witches, incense, etc., are common to all.
The rituals for the opening of the war and hunting bundles differ. So far as I can find out, the myth recounting the origin of the war bundle is not recited when it is opened, but that of the hunting bundle is. Neither may be opened unless it is to be used. In the case of both bundles, the burning of incense precedes the opening, and in both cases the passing of the pipe, a prayer, and a feast begin the proceedings. These functions are uniform for all bundles.
As soon as the bundle is opened, tobacco must be placed with the con¬ tents and some of the old tobacco taken out and smoked, or otherwise sacrificed to the powers that gave the charm. In smoking, the pipe is lighted by a servant, held by the bowl, and the stem twirled about so that all the gods may partake. The mouthpiece is also pointed up and down by the servant before passing it to the participators in the ceremony.
Certain other analogies are also to be found in the rituals. The discov¬ ery and war dance for the war bundle preceding the actual conflict with the enemy is certainly homologous with the dance and ceremony before the hunt with one of the great hunting bundles, when the performers simulated the hunting of the deer. Both are good examples of the application of sympa¬ thetic magic. Likewise, if the contents of the war bundles are war clubs, other implements of war, and war helpers and guardians, so likewise the hunting bundles contain miniature implements of the chase and the skins of animal helpers. In fine, all these bundles seem founded on the same fundamental concepts.
War Bundles.
In their native state the Menomini recognized, roughly, four professions: prophecy, medicine, jugglery, and sorcery. Hunting, fishing, and agricul¬ ture were universal occupations, for although such gifted persons as prophets, doctors, jugglers, and sorcerers were often able to eke out their existence through the fees which they extorted from their patients or clients, men of fame or ability great enough to gain them a living in this way alone, were rare.
W ar was the one calling open to every one, all others required not only specialized skill and training, but a certain acquaintance with the super¬ natural which was not vouchsafed to ordinary mortals. These miraculous gifts also played their part in warfare, but to a more limited extent. Any
1913.] Skinner, Menomini Social Life and Ceremonial Bundles. 97
man could be a warrior, but as a general thing, only those who received divine inspiration could be leaders.
Like most of the Indian tribes of North America, the Menomini did not carry on their campaigns after the manner of the nations of the Old World. A standing army was unknown, but a sort of militia existed, for every man above the age of puberty was a potential warrior. From his earliest youth every male looked forward to the day when he could take his place among the fighting men, and devoted much of his spare time to acquiring dexterity in the use of weapons, and endurance on the warpath. The actual combats were never battles fought in the open between large bodies of soldiers; flying raids by small parties, ambuscades, and particularly night attacks were the rule.
Their neighbors were the Siouan Dakota, Winnebago, and the Algonkin Ojibway, Potawatomi, Ottawa, and Sauk and Fox. Toward the Dakota,1 W innebago, and Potawatomi the Menomini were very friendly. The Win¬ nebago especially were known as a friendly nation. Between the Menomini and the Ojibway relations were more uncertain and while there is no tradi¬ tion of any actual warfare, brawls, murders, and reprisals have occurred with sufficient frequency to cause them to look upon each other with suspicion, although they have united against their common enemy, the Sauk.
Of all the tribes with whom the Menomini have had any dealing, the Sauk have incurred their undying hatred, until at the present day, unless some particular nation is mentioned, the word “enemy” at once connotes “Sauk” to the mind of one of the Wild Rice People. Between the Sauk and their allies, the Fox, the Menomini rarely pause to distinguish. In fact, there are only a few of the older men who recognize that the “ Sakewuk” and “Otakamiuk” are separate peoples. One other traditional enemy was the Osage, against whom the Menomini often sent raiding parties. Their most frequent ally on forays of this sort against the Sauk and Osage were the Winnebago. They were friendly with the Dakota, probably the Santee division, whom they called Wikwonaskiwuk and they often accompanied them on the warpath. The Menomini claim to have been the only Central Algonkin tribe whom the Sioux allowed to visit their pipestone quarries to obtain catlinite for their calumets.
According to tradition, the fundamental principles upon which their strategic tactics were founded and the sacred palladiums which they relied upon for success, were derived from the Powers Above. In that mythical early period in which all Menomini legends take their origin, the sun and
1 See, Mrs. Baird, 324.
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the morningstar looked down upon their grandchildren, the children of men, and found them constantly embroiled in wars, and filled with pity for their suffering, they called a council to decide what could be done to bring about a better order of things. They sent for the “ swift-flying-birds ” 1, the buffalo, the weasel, and the pine snake, all of whom came to the council out of pity for their neighbors, the children of men.
The “swift-flying-birds” promised to endow the warriors with the ability to travel as fast as they can fly, and, if the braves were defeated, they were empowered to put on bird skins and escape by flight. The buffalo gave them his strength and courage, and the weasel agreed to help them stalk their foes even as he pursued his game. He said that they should be as successful in taking scalps as he is in capturing his prey. The pine snake promised that they should have his skill to hide away in the undergrowth to spy upon the enemy, or to escape if they should be hard pressed.
When the animals had completed their donations, the sun and the morn¬ ingstar gathered the presents into a bundle, sent for the thunderbirds and gave it to them to transmit to the children of men.
A young man named Watakwuna 2 sorrowed because of the reverses his people were suffering at the hands of their more powerful enemies. So sad was he that he blackened his face with charcoal and retired to an isolated spot to fast and pray. His entreaties reached the ears of the sun and his lieutenant the morningstar. According to their instructions, the Tnamaki- wuk, or thunderers, took pity on him, and sent him word to come to them. He was told to take a straight course westward across the ocean until he came to an island of rock projecting high above the surrounding waters. Here the vision told him he would find the thunderers. When Watakwuna awoke from his vision he was overjoyed, but yet afraid. He made a sacri¬ fice to the Powers Above and to the offering he invited seven pure young men who had never used tobacco or known women. When these youths were gathered in his medicine lodge Watakwuna offered tobacco to the thunderers as a preliminary service and then explained the purpose of the ceremony to his guests, relating his dream and his subsequent fears. The revelation made a profound impression upon the young men, who believed his words, and after some discussion, they resolved to accompany Watak¬ wuna on his westward journey to the home of the Ina/makiwuk.
Accordingly, the little party, headed by Watakwuna, set forth for the west. The journey was toilsome and the way beset with perils. Often the adventurers were tempted to turn back, but always, when it seemed as
1 The hawks, the swallows, and the hummingbirds.
2 Watakwuna, Club-in-his-hand, a “brave name,” one of the type bestowed on valiant warriors.
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though human strength and courage could hold out no longer, spirits would appear to them and lure them on, until at length they reached the shore of the Western Ocean. Here they paused, unable to proceed, for they did not know how to go across the water. At this point the thunderers appeared again to Watakwuna in a vision and instructed him to build an elm bark canoe, the first one ever known to man, and the prototype from which all subsequent canoes were modeled.
When the boat was built by Wratakwuna and his seven helpers, they launched it and paddled out to sea. They soon passed beyond sight of land, and lor days they were frightened because they could see nothing. Yet invisible spirits accompanied and encouraged them until at last they reached their goal. Here were gathered a great number of thunderbirds in human form, waiting for them. As soon as Watakwuna had landed, accompanied by his followers, the chief of the thunderers who was greater and handsomer than all the others, came forward and addressed him as follows: —
No'se ("grandchild) you have come to me according to my command, for I was troubled in heart when I saw you fasting and suffering, growing light in flesh and thin in body. Now you have gained great honor, for I have taken pity on you. I am going to give you this war bundle to use upon the earth. You shall feed it, and give sacrifices to it for my sake and in my behalf. You shall be empowered to use this thing at your desire. It shall protect you, and your children and grandchildren, so that you and they shall live to see your gray hairs. I command you to use it in the way which I shall make clear to you, and if you obey me, it shall obey you.
Tobacco shall be the chief thing to please it, and when you give it tobacco you will delight us, its masters. You shall take these things which I have here back to the earth again, and when you reach your home, you shall make some others accord¬ ing to my instructions.
Here is an egg, put that in the bundle. Here is a powder, put that in the bundle. These two articles shall enable you to set fire to the earth at your desire. Here is a little bow, the image of an arrow, and a scabbard to carry. Here are all the birds of the air, that are after my kind. They will lend their assistance when trouble overtakes you. Take this red paint along, that you may apply it to your men who accompany you when you go to war, and the sight of it will please me. It will put new life into you and your men. Through my magical power I gave you the dream that called you here to see me, through it you shall be able to destroy the enemies that intend to kill you. You shall conquer, and victory will always be yours. The enemies that you shall slay will be food for me and for the war bundle.
When you return you shall carve my image upon a board and place it in the bundle, in order to please me. You must take two plain square blocks, and upon each of these outline my figure in sacred red paint, one shall represent me as a Great Powered Bird, and one shall represent me as a man with a flint-lock gun in my hand. I am of dual nature. I can change myself into either a bird or a man at will.1
1 See Fig. 9 for anthropomorphic thunderbird outlined on wood, taken from a war bundle.
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,
(And indeed the Thunder-bird-beings have been known to come to earth in human form. They have appeared as homely men, short and thick-set, with heavy muscles in their arms and legs, and bearing a bow and arrows in their hands. Ordi¬ nary persons can scarcely recognize them as thunderers, but those who have received power from them in their dreams, know them at once for what they are).
I give you the power to know and see me in your night sleeps. You shall be forewarned of your enemies’ plans. You shall know beforehand whether you shall win or lose your battles. You shall do all your fighting at night, and you shall destroy your enemies during their sweet sleep.
Before you go out to war you shall first prepare and give feasts to the war bundle. You shall sacrifice to it in behalf of the thunderbirds. You shall receive that for which you ask us, for I shall assist you. Call on me through those sacred things which I have given you, and you shall have the thick fog settle down and hide you from the enemy so that you may escape under its cover. You shall have the lightning and hail to cripple the wicked foe when he troubles you.
You shall seek your enemy in the night through this bundle. You shall approach him with the stealth of the snake in pursuit of its prey, and encircle his village. Let each warrior carry the image of one of the medicine birds with him, with a single quill feather fastened in his hair, and as the humming bird is so small in flight that none can hit it with a rifle ball, so shall each warrior be. As it is impossible to strike the edge of a knife blade ground sharp and held off edgewise from the body, so shall you and your warriors be.1 These things I say to you that you may understand the power of the medicines that I have placed in the war bundle.
You shall make incense of a portion of each of the sacred roots that I have in¬ cluded, and you shall purify yourselves with the fumes. You shall carry a little of each in your mouth, and you shall chew some of them and spray yourselves and your warriors with your saliva, that they may elude the keen vision of the enemy, for the eyesight of the enemy shall be destroyed when they approach.
When you have drawn near and surrounded the village, you shall signal on the war whistle, and you and your warriors shall rush to the attack. You shall destroy the sleeping enemy with tomahawks and war clubs that have been kept in the power¬ ful medicine until they are saturated. Those who awake shall try to escape, but cannot, for the medicines which I have given shall sap their strength and benumb their minds. When a warrior takes a scalp he shall lick the fresh blood from it, this he must do as a sign that the enemy are devoured in behalf of us, the thunderers.
When the fighting is over, then you shall make a great ceremony with dancing, for the war bundle and for us, the Ianama'kiwuk, or thunderers. You shall thank us for the assistance which we have rendered you. Then you shall sing songs for the scalps that have been taken with valor.
“ Always respect the war bundle which we have given you,” commanded the Thunderbird-being. “Be careful to keep it tied with a string, and keep it hung in a place by itself, outside of the house, away from the women, and the maidens who are just arrived at the threshold of womanhood. Especially keep it concealed from those women who are having their monthly courses. The bundle must never be opened for nothing, as that would be a serious offense to it, and to us, the Ianama'kiwuk. It may only be opened in time of peril, or when you sacrifice to it in the spring or in the
1 Cf. Peter Jones, 91, Ojibway (Missisauga). The same figure of speech is used under somewhat similar circumstances.
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fall of the year for our sake. Yet this I say, in case of an accident, even in peace it may be opened and the roots it contains may be used to stop the bleeding, but you shall not forget to pay us in tobacco for our help.
_ “And this is not yet all that I have to say,” said the chief of the Thunderbird- beings to Watakwuna. “One thing that you must make when you get home, or which the women may make for you, is a pack strap (or belt), Ape'kon.1 This you shall make of coarse long beads (pese'me'kuk). It shall be put in the bundle to be kept as a reward for the brave warrior who kills a chief or leader among the enemy. It shall be given to him as a great honor.2
When the thunderer had finished speaking, he called to his servants to fetch food, prepare it, and place it before Watakwuna and his followers. The servants departed immediately and soon returned bringing a quantity of sturgeon which they cooked and set before their guests.
“Now, eat and depart,” said the chief of the thunderers. “This is the only food we can offer you. For ourselves, we may not touch it, for we feed upon the horned snakes and evil monsters of the under world, which in their turn cannot be food for you.”
So Watakwuna and his followers obeyed and when they were filled they took their leave of the islet and its enchanted inhabitants. As they entered their canoe the water lay still as glass, the sun shone brightly, and they soon reached the shore from whence they started. The overland journey from that point was equally devoid of its former perils. Food was abundant and they had never need to draw their bows, for game they met fell dead before them so powerful was the spell cast by their war bundles.3 So at length they arrived among their own people again and imparted to them the story of their successful venture and from that day to this, the war bundle has been on earth among men and its powers are granted to the worthy in their dreams.4
As I have previously stated, the Museum collection contains eight of these sacred bundles, and their rituals.5 In certain fundamental features these palladiums are alike. All of them contain the skins of the sacred birds
1 Wampum belt, the pese'me'kuk are wampum.
2 Radin has told me in regard to the Winnebago. It was the custom in the olden times that he who returned with a scalp should be given a wampum belt as a prize. This he had to give to one of his sisters.
s Though this use in hunting is frequently mentioned, I only know of one war bundle so utilized, p. 153.
4 Actual objects were never given an Indian in his dreams, only descriptions of them and the right to make them. Compare, Ojibway, Ivohl, 207-8.
s In the Peabody Museum there is a war bundle from the Omaha, collected by Miss Alice Fletcher and Mr. Francis La Flesche. There are several Pawnee and Osage bundles in the Field Museum of Chicago ; a number of Winnebago, Iowa, Potawatomi, Saule and Fox, Osage and Kansa bundles in the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania, and a series of similar palladiums from the Menomini in the American Museum in New York. In spite of the existence of these specimens, there is not, up to date, a detailed account of their con¬ tents or use in the literature of anthropology, except in Perrot, 50, where the tribe is not given. J. O. Dorsey, it is true, in his monograph on Omaha Sociology, (312-333) reports the presence of such charms among the Omaha, but does not describe them fully nor does it appear that he was able to gather complete data, as the Indians seemed most reluctant to impart their secrets. Hoffman, in his monograph on the Menomini, neglects the subject entirely.
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Nat ural History. [Vol. XIII
Fig. 9 (50.1-5855 a-u). War bundle opened and spread out to show contents which are as follows: outer mat wrapping, inner white skin wrapping, thunder whistles, deer hoof rattles, offerings of tobacco, quilled charms, food bowls of cocoanut shell, images of anthropomorphic thunderers carved on wood, birdskins carried in battle by women, buffalo tail with quilled arm band, crow head guardian of birds, feathers worn in hair by warriors, and miscellaneous medicines.
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of war, the “swift-flying-birds,” snake, and weasel skins. Other invariable features are the reed whistles for signaling to the braves, deer hoof rattles for accompanying the sacred songs, and the paint given by the thunderers to cure the wounded. In two of the bundles buffalo tails were found, for according to some versions of the tradition the bison was among the animals who agreed to help mankind. (Fig. 9.)
i he rest of the contents of the bundles vary in accordance with the in¬ structions given in the dream of the owner. One may contain small medi¬ cine war clubs, charms for the warriors to carry into battle; another a quill-worked bow, a scabbard, or some other valued trinket. Although tradition states that a wampum belt or its equivalent should be present,
Fig. 10 (50.1-5854b). Painted Robe from a War Bundle. See Figs. 11-20.
kept as a gift to that warrior who slays a chief of the enemy, none of these were found in the bundles which I have collected, but in two cases it was asserted that the belts had been given out to warriors who had earned them. The inner wrapping of the medicines should always be a white tanned deerskin, whence they get their popular name, Wapana'kian, or “white-mat.” The external wrapping is usually a reed mat, but as a second choice a woven bag of Indian make will do.
In one very extraordinary specimen the “ wapikin ” or sacred internal skin wrapper, was elaborately painted in devices representing the thunderers
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,
and the manner in which they aid mankind (Fig. 10). The robe is in itself a unique specimen possessing in the use of painted figures a feature in common with the painted robes of the Plains, but the style is that of the bark writings of the Central Algonkin. The figures represent the powers that appeared to the owner in his war dream and portray their promises of success. No song goes with the robe, but on the occasion of the opening of the bundle the skin was spread out on the ground, and, after a prayer to the thunderers and an offering of tobacco, the owner would recite his dream, following its course on the diagram, proceeding from the top of the skin downward to the inner square, and then about this sacred field from east to west “ as the wind blows,” or, more correctly, following the course of the sun from horizon to horizon; at the end of his narrative each of the assembled warriors would lay tobacco on any figure which happened to represent his totem or his guardian, with a prayer for the special patronage of that power during the ensuing campaign. In the figures given here the numbers should be read in sequence.
Fig. 11. Thunderers in the Third Tier of Heaven, bestowing Strength on Mike'wuk (war leaders), a, Chief of thunderers; b, True thunderers; c, Thunder chief in human guise; d, Eagles; e, Mike'wuk. Thunder power is displayed in the figure on the right by lightning lines from the eyes and the beak-like nose.
On the death of the owner the bundle goes to that one of the owner’s sons who has displayed most interest in it. Often one member of the family wTill pay his father in goods and tobacco from time to time for instruc¬ tion in the bundle ritual, until he has learned it all, after which the father usually transfers it to his son before his death. However, the son may not use it without a divine revelation. If one should descend to a woman, she generally instructs her nearest male relative in its rites, but he cannot use it unless he has been given permission by the thunderers, although nowadays some say that he may buy instruction from an accredited mikao and then he has the right to use it. A man who has the right to own the war bundle may buy one from another man at a great price rather than go to the trouble of manufacturing it himself. \ omen are occasionally empowered by the
1913.]
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Fig 12 In the Middle of the Illustration is shown the Chief Thunderer and his Ser¬ vants. Above, are Nasewuk, mythic sky birds. Below are eagles and other birds of lofty flight belonging to the second tier of heaven and like the thunderers possessing lightning.
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thunderers to possess the bundle 1 and tradition tells of several of these Amazons who are successful partisans.2
The bi-annual sacrifices occur in the fall, and early in the spring when the
Fig. 13. Lesser Birds of High Flight, inhabiting the first Tier of Heaven; servants of the Thunderers, shown surrounded by the root medicines they possess.
voices of the Thunderers are first heard. The bundle is opened and the leader says to his company
“Oho’! kasa’kamon nimaso!”
“Oho! my grandfather, I make you this sacrifice.”
A feast of meat is prepared meanwhile, not a great deal, but enough for two or three mouthfuls, and this is placed in the little wooden bowls which usually accompany the bundle for this purpose. When the food is put in the dishes these songs are sung. Twice is enough, but they may be repeated indefinitely. Each one represents a stage of action at the feasts.
“Nina natoTn ina/niu, aioweyu oskatonanon Notowi katine awatuk.”
“I am the first brave man to kill you,
I am truly the God.”
“ Kisiha'kwa kawe'tomon ’Yum ake kawetomon.”
“All day I tell you This earth I tell you.
“Awa'no ospamoneyon.”
“In fog where I walk.”
rhe mikao is fed by an attendant who takes the food from his dish -with a wooden skewer and places it in the leader’s mouth with these words.
1 Cf. Kohl’s notes on the war dreams of Ojibway women, 125-126.
2 According to Mr. M. R. Harrington this is unusual among the Central Algonkin, but among the 1 lains-Ojibway of Manitoba, several women are still living who were renowned because of their exploits in war.
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Fig. 14. The healing Herbs given Men by the Thunderers. Warriors disguised as birds while seeking the enemy. Warriors in combat.
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“KYna Ina'maki11 kaiespaketinamon ayum Wapana/kian. N’ha'u You thunderbird who have given this war bundle. Now ine'ta os sigasatama ka/ion osa'u me'tion yum
then it is sacrificed to that is to be he to eat it that pagitanamakaion of this that is offered to you.
“Now then, we sacrifice to you thunderbird wdio have given this war bundle. This man shall eat what is offered to you (in your stead.)” 1
At the conclusion of the feast, tobacco of tvvo kinds, both plug and smoking is given to the bundle with these words: —
“N’ha/u! nasakasaton ayum Wapana/kian mislkta Ina'makiwuk kayaispakitinokuwa, yds okihi.”
“Now I sacrifice tobacco to you, white mat, and to the great thunderbirds that made this and gave it to man and this earth.”
The mikao now passes out to the people the stale tobacco of former offerings saying, “Oh war bundle, handed down to us poor Indians to use when we are in trouble, we now sacrifice to thee in behalf of the people.” (Turning to those assembled) “ Take part now.”
Should the mikao be alone at the sacrifice he must attend to the renovat¬ ing of the tobacco and the other details himself. Casting the weed on the flames he says : “ Here is the tobacco that was offered to you, but I now give it to our grandfather, the fire.” (He throws the tobacco and addresses the fire) “You consume it in behalf of the thunderers and I pray that they may grant me long life, and, in addition, happiness for my family.”
The tobacco is placed in the bundle, and it is consumed spiritually by the thunderers, although in substance it remains unchanged. It is well to remove this old sacrificial tobacco from time to time, putting back some that is fresh. The old tobacco may either be used at the place where the bundle is stored, or it may be taken home by the owner and his friends and consumed at their leisure. It may be smoked in their pipes, or cast on a dish of coals, or on the fire. In the latter case, the sacrifice should be accom¬ panied by the words: “I give a general smoke to all the manitous and it shall be consumed according to the way of the olden times.”
In the old days, when the head men of the Menomini villages decided to declare a general war for any reason, runners were sent to the other cantons, or in more ancient times, when the totems lived apart, to the territories of the various gentes. Each messenger carried tobacco and a string of
1 This would be a terrible outrage among the Sauk, where the leader should never eat the sacrificed food.
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Fig. 15
The defeated Enemy hiding in
Pits. Thunderers giving aid to the Menomini.
110 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History . [Vol. XIII,
wampum, “as long as a man is high” 1 painted red as a symbol that blood was to be shed. Wherever these tokens were delivered they were instantly recognized by the recipients as an invitation to war, and the people either refused them, or gathered at some designated spot.2
General wars were infrequent, and were only called in extreme cases to retaliate for tribal injuries. Small war parties were organized to settle some old score, or to furnish excitement for the young men. Sometimes the sun would appear in a vision to a bundle owner, saying: “I am going to feed you. You shall eat.” (Literally, “Take your war bundle and attack such a tribe.”) “ I shall feed you and this war bundle. Go and eat up (destroy) the enemy.”
Word was sent among the young men who prepared to set forth.3 It was customary to pluck out all the hair except the scalp lock which de¬ pended in a thin braid from the crown, and a large round patch covering the top of the head, save for a wide margin from nape to forehead, something like the roach of the Sauk and Fox, but much broader. This was to render the taking of the scalp more easy should an enemy be brave enough to slay the wearer. The removal of the hair at the back of the neck and particu¬ larly the base of the skull is said to have been the most painful part of the process. Two long thin braids dangled from the crown. The mikao, or leader, preceded the party with the war bundle slung over his back.4 He was not allowed to deviate from his path or to turn back while he bore the bundle. As he marched along he sang : “ The warrior of the sacred bundle now starts. As he walks he is seeking for the enemy.”
After they had gone forward for some distance they halted and the mikao caused a long lodge of boughs to be built. He entered the structure, opened the bundle, and spread out its contents. Then the pipe was passed. It was filled and lighted by an attendant who handed it to the mikao who held the bowl in his hand and revolved it slowly so that the mouthpiece described an arc through the air. This was done so that the spirits might partake. After this he made the following speech; “Now, thunderbirds, you have created this war bundle for us yourselves. You have given us
1 Perhaps this was really a wampum belt painted red, as was the case among the Sauk and most Woodland tribes.
2 According to Marston, (158) there was considerable similarity in many ways in the Sauk, Fox, and Kickapoo customs, but among the Ottawa, Ojibway, and Potawatomi another form was followed. Purity of life was demanded of the prospective fighter, and this was also probably true of the Menomini.
s Commonly those who wished to join the war party would make a present to the mikao in return for the privilege.
1 Marston refers to this among the Ottawa (162). A Menomini might appoint his nephew to carry the bundle for him. Marston mentions a similar appointment of a discreet person to carry the bundle among the Ottawa, Chippewa, and Potawatomi. Among the Shawnee, Harrington says it was carried by a member of the turtle clan.
Skinner, Menomini Social Life and Ceremonial Bundles.
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Fig 16. A Thunderer (out of its proper order); warriors in the scalp dance; warriors entering place of sacrifice with a thanks offering; war chief possessed by thunder.
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [\ ol. XIII,
this power to use with these birds and roots. A ou have told us to use them in this way, and we now place our tobacco upon these tokens, praying that you will now give us power to defeat the enemy.” \ hereupon the pipe was handed to his followers and passed from left to right. Then a dog was slain and eaten.1 Some of its flesh was offered to the bundle with tobacco and a war song was sung in praise of the contents of the palladium. It was as follows: —
“ An'om aweya katineu awa/tukwuton Tatakesemakatun ineko ai'oya A/watuk oskeisetuk tatakesemakatun.”
“ These things we use are truly of god power,
Powerful are the things that we use God said to us they shall be powerful.”
The war dance was next enacted. It was a spirited spectacle. The warriors threw their bodies into dramatic postures, giving the war cry and singing the war song to the thumping of the tambourine or small water drum. With this dance went the following three songs which were sung before the party proceeded.2
I
“ Aneos nawataponeyun Aioanoneyun.”
“Where I volunteer to fight.
As I am walking along.”
II
“Nesayanisim Osowatokeyon . ’ ’
“ Savage I am As god I am.”
III
“Wabano nata/kgam.”
“ Brave I am called.”
When the country of the tribe to be attacked was reached, scouts were sent out to report the whereabouts of the enemy. As soon as the village of the foe was located, the war party approached during the night according to the instructions of the thunderers. Just before daybreak, at the hour when sleep is soundest and man’s vitality is said to be at its lowest ebb, was
1 The Sauk also had a dog feast before starting out to war. Marston, 158.
2 For the second song the deer hoof rattles are preferred to the drum. Fig. 21. All these songs are probably repeated many times.
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Fig. 17. Below are the Birds of War, the white Porcupine, the twin God Boys, and four Fairies (see Fig. 18) are to be placated, not beseeched for aid. Above is probably shown the sun in red and black representing day and night. It was said to represent a thunderer.
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,
the favorite time for the assault,1 from which circumstance war parties are often referred to as “night warriors.” When the marauders had drawn near, the mikao opened the bundle and sang this sacred war song to the accompaniment of the deer hoof rattles:
“Nina'ne alata potcneu Awa/tuk afaweyon.”
“ I myself, I am surely,
Over and over, God, I am.”
This song stupefied the enemy and caused them to sleep more soundly.
Pig. 18. a. The four fairies belonging with Fig. 17; b, the thunder who with the person shown in upper Fig. 17 is attending the sacrifice; c, underground spider as a war power; d. probably the last personified; e, Menoniini in ambuscade awaiting the enemy.
Then the leader distributed the sacred medicines among his warriors, accord¬ ing to the instructions given by the tlmnderers, giving to one the skin of a bird or weasel, to another a tiny carved war club, or a feather, until each one had some charm. The men bound these on their heads or bodies and slipped out to surround the village. When the camp was encircled the mikao gave the signal on his whistle and the warriors began the combat.
i In the Museum catalogue is a specimen collected by Dr. William Jones with the follow¬ ing note: “Pipe with lead bowl and feathered stem. It was used in time of war. Warriors smoked from it before making an attack. The smoke was after the scouts came in and re¬ ported the position of the enemy. An attack was usually made at daybreak.” (See Fig. 1)
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Fig. 19. Sacred Bird War Helpers. At the upper left hand corner is a bird war helper. To the right are three little green herons, assistants to the thunderers. Below is a warrior in the character of a thunderer. To the right is a mink, or a weasel, who through the war bundle gives the warrior power to assume his form. The other drawings are unexplained.
The fighting was done principally with bows and arrows, but men who had received promises of protection from the thunderers often carried clubs alone. Some of the old men say that small round shields of buffalo or
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [\ ol. XII I,
other ruminant hide were carried.1 2 Many wore arm bands to which were attached metal jinglers called “ niinihanen. The sound of these was thought to be efficacious to lull the slumbering enemy. There were songs for dealing the death blow, of which the following is an example.
“ I grasp you now.”
While the members of the party were fighting the mikao stayed behind with the bundle and took no part in the fray. Indeed he was often un¬ armed. As fast as scalps were taken, they were brought to him by the successful warriors who received some present from the bundle as a reward. If a brave found and scalped the body of a man he had not killed, it was not considered such a feat as though he had slain the foe himself. He announced the fact and received praise, but no compensation. -
The Menomini endeavored to take the entire scalp, including the skin over the forehead, but if there was not time enough for this, a small piece, including the place where the hair radiates from the crown, was sufficient. While the scalp was fresh the warrior licked the blood from it, to symbolize the devouring of the enemy by the sun.3 The old men say that all men who are killed in battle are devoured by the sun.
Small war parties marauding through the enemy’s country were accus¬ tomed to resort to various devices for hiring the unwary foe into their clutches. Sometimes they made images of birds or stuffed bird skins and set them up in some place suitable for an ambush. The warrior or warriors would make the dummy go through life-like actions by pulling cords attached to it and would imitate the cries of the bird to attract attention. It is related that a war party of the enemy once imitated a crane by sticking up a deer’s leg above the grass. They had loosened the sinews and by working these they made it appear as though the crane was lifting its head and opening its beak, while they counterfeited its calls. They were dis¬ covered by some Menomini scouts, however. Men on war parties often signalled to each other by giving the call of the whip-poor-will or howling like wolves. Prisoners being lead away would break twigs or leave other
1 Mr. Harrington, says that most Sauk and Pox and Ivickapoo claim they had no shields but some Kickapoo say they had. Catlin in his paintings shows them as carried by the Sauk and Fox.
2 Marston, 162, says, “Among the Ottawa the partizan leads when they march out, but the warrior who first delivers him a scalp or prisoner leads the party homeward and receives the belt of wampum.” He later remarks that on their return the prisoners are distributed among such of the tribesmen who have lost relatives by the enemy. “Among the Potawatto- mies it is different; all prisoners belong to the partizan, and he disposes of them, as he thinks proper.” Radin says that the Winnebago warriors received a wampum belt when they took a scalp.
2 Bits of flesh from the scalp were eaten by the Winnebago and by the Ute. For the latter tribe see Goddard, 245.
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117
signs for their own people to follow. It was a point of honor among the Menomini to drag their own slain from the battlefield that they might not be scalped by the enemy.
When the fighting was over, the party returned. On the way hack the k warriors spent their leisure time stretching the scalps on hoops and drying them in the sun. The bundle contains a noxious medicine which was rubbed on the inner surface of the scalps, so that if any one had been scalped and still lived, he would die, no matter how far away he might be. As the party drew near their village, the people came out and met them with great re¬ joicing.
When they reached the place where the ceremonies had been held on the outward journey, the scalp dance was given to proclaim the miraculous power of the war bundle. In the bough lodge, the mikao announced the tidings of victory, reciting the brave deeds done and the names of the heroes. Some of these men were entitled to have their names changed by the act of the council,1 as an honorary distinction 2 and others were given the right to wear the eagle feather on their heads. Only those who had killed an enemy were allowed this appropriate insignia of bravery, and the feathers of no other bird had any meaning except for ornament.3 Sometimes at this juncture a brave man was given a new suit of clothes by some well wisher. The donor usually addressed the crowd as follows: “This man must now wear these clothes forever. He shall always be brave since he is dressed in clothes of thunder power.”
With this ceremony w'ent the following nanawetau or brave song:—
“Heniheniwe pitawi tii/wahigun '
“How does rny drum sound to you, my comrade.''
At the close of the song came four whoops, “ Hoi! Hoi! Hoi! Hoi!’
1 A similar ceremony in which the braves were given the eagle feather by the chief of
their gens occurs among the Sauk, Jones, (e), 114-115. 910
2 Thf. sauk were allowed to change their names after they had been to w ar, Fors> th,
» For Ojibway, cf. Kohl, 22.
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,
When this rite was over the men came forward to “dance their scalps,” and there was then enacted the most spectacular of all Menomini cere¬ monies, the scalp dance. For the purposes of this ceremony, the trophies
Fig. 21 (50.1-5854 e, f, g). Deer Hoof Rattles from War Bundle. Sticks carved to represent the thunderers.
were suspended from short sticks. Seizing the scalp wand, the warrior sang his victory song, relating the incidents of his achievement, as he re¬ enacted the scene. A typical scalp dance song is this : — ■
“Neo osonega/wit uskota/o!”
“My life, my power, is as fire!” (Given me from the bundle.)
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At first he stamped slowly about the circle to the beat of the drum. Then faster and faster, twisting his half-naked body into a kaleidoscopic series of dramatic postures, his paint-daubed face ablaze with emotion, his song now and again interrupted by the spasmodic war whoops that burst from his lips. As he leaped about the lodge, his hearers followed every motion with intensity, giving half conscious guttural ejaculations of sur¬ prise and approval. At last, when the warrior had worked himself almost into a frenzy, his sister or nearest female relative came forward and took the scalp from him, whooping as she received it, making him a present of fine cloth or other goods in return, “ to wash the blood from his hands.”
The scalp now became the property of the woman, who ornamented it v and kept it forever, as a trophy of her brother’s valor. If a man had no female relatives to “wash his hands,” the scalp reverted to the bundle.--' These left over scalps were put inside the bundle and kept there until the following spring or fall when the semi-annual ceremony was held. All the war bundle owners in the tribe repaired to a secluded spot, where they offered tobacco and prayers to their patron deities. Then all the bundles were opened and a feast given, at the close of which the owner of each bundle called on several warriors of renown to dance for the unredeemed scalps.1
Each man responded and taking a scalp in his hand he danced to the rhythm of a great drum, recounting the circumstances of the scalp’s capture.
All the onlookers, even the women, joined in the dancing and singing. At length the sister of the warrior washed his hands with presents and took the scalp from him, so that in the end all the trophies accrued to the women. This ceremony was thought to add greatly to the glory and strength of the ^ war bundles.2
The semi-annual ceremonies are still held in the form of feasts, but in these degenerate days there is no attendant scalp dance. Game is preferred for the feasting, but when it cannot be obtained, a dog serves the purpose. This modern ceremony, and the rites of feeding and giving tobacco to the bundles is to please the thunderers so that they will continue to sweep the earth with the winds and scour it with rain, that it may be clean and habit¬ able for mankind. The ceremony may also be done with prayers for the recovery of a sick person. In any case it is proper to burn incense made of herbs known as minitcinowin, at such a time.
The foregoing description concerns only the typical war bundles of the regular sort, but there are variations, some of which have probably arisen
1 According to Harrington, there was no such ceremony among the Sauk where more than one bundle was opened. They opened one bundle each day for several days.
2 According to Harrington, Kansa and Osage bundles are full of scalps and some are tied on the outside of the bundles.
120 Anthropological Papers American Museum of N atural History. [V ol. XIII,
in recent years, through the lack of knowledge of the old traditions on the part of the younger Menomini. For instance, no old-time Menomini would think of including any of the Powers Below, the deadly enemies of the thunderers in a bundle from Above where thunder power predominates; yet modern Indians sometimes add inani-namao, the underground man- sturgeon being, or other evil or semi-evil powers, to their helpers in the bundle, expecting to increase its strength. There is an ancient precedent for this in a way, for the old Indians frequently included their own personal dream guardians in their bundle, but they wyould never have thought of adding a powder from belowr to the lot. I have collected one w ar bundle, which, owing to the fact that there has been so little war of late years, has
Pig. 22 Menomini Rain Ceremony in the Open showing War Bundles hung from a Horizontal Bar. Photographed by Miss Zora Marble.
become a powerful lacrosse charm. The owner armed the players on his side with its medicines but failed to recite the formulae as that was only permissible before battle. Its contents are similar to those of the other bundles except that it has a little netted hoop supposed to represent the sun.
Nakuti (Sun-fish), a Menomini eighty -four years of age in 1911, told me that his grandfather’s bundle, which he inherited in his youth only to cast it aside when he became a catholic, contained a medicine from the north giant, mowakiu, as well as the others. Its whole history was different from the average medicines of its class and we may perhaps be permitted to di¬ gress long enough to discuss this phase of our subject. It is notable also that this bundle was one also used for hunting (p. 153).
The Menomini claim that there is a large cylinder of brass or copper extending from earth to the fourth and highest heaven. At the top of this
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cylinder sit four gods.1 It was of these gods, and of Wabano, the morning- star, that Nakuti’s great grandfather dreamed. In his dream he went to them, walking through the sky until their leader approached him singing,
“Nanakehesiko tana'nimikam”
“This is given to me and you are given this in the midst” (of heaven).
When the leader came up he placed a Thunderer’s egg in the warrior’s hand, and instructed him how to make a war bundle. The man returned to earth, awoke, and sent his nephew out to collect bird skins to go in the package, The enveloping mats were woven by his wife, since there is no harm in hav¬ ing these made by a woman.2
In the semi-annual ceremonies for this bundle, four little war clubs, two of the ball-headed type, and two of the flat form, were stuck up in the ground, one in each quarter of the compass, and tobacco was burned between them, while the rest of the rites were performed.
It is worth while to consider the songs, since this bundle is one of a num¬ ber in which the morningstar is venerated more than the thunderers. The songs are, as follows, the first two songs being to the powerful sacred birds of the south: —
“ Sa/wano maniwuk taha/wewuk
“ Those who go to the south are southern men.
“ Sa/wano ina/niwuk kl'sikun isl'wuk”
“ South men going to the north.”
A song in honor of the crow, entitled “What Crow Said.” 3
“Ka'kakiu kona/weta/kune ”
“ Crow, he is going to take care.” (of the medicine)
Songs for the thunderbirds.
“ Supimlwak inl'ta asapipim tanl'tamun.”
“The sound will pass and I will join it.”
Literally, “My thundering shall join the wind as it passes by.
“Nipa/pim akdTcinem newawiyakwetum upipiakotciniaa yum Kesik.
As I am soaring in the air I turn in the Heavens.
1 See section on Religion, p. 78.
2 Among the Winnebago women may not touch the sacred bundle. Dorsey, J. O.,
426, sec. 80. , _ .
3 The crow is frequently included in war bundles, or bundles of any description as a
guard against thieves, as the rattlesnake may be included as a protection from witches.
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Then comes a song for the personal guardian of the owner, the Mowakiu, or north giant, which is given in full.
“ Mowa'ki' wehe, mowa'ki' waha Mowa'ki' wehe, mowa'ki', waha Moatcim wl'na kaiekitotawit mowa'kiu.
“Even he, he speaks to me, North giant!”
Then comes a song to the morningstar, repeated four times.
“Wa/bano ina/niwukiu “Eastern men too.”
Last, and most important of all is a song to the red war god of the brass cylinder, Minisino-hawatuk. It is called “Yo asaiupean,” “Right up here I sit.”
“Nanake'siko yo asaiupean.”
“ Between earth and heaven as I am seated.”
“Yo asian, yo asaiupean akihi satcenapatcikaian.”
“I am here seated looking down toward earth (watching it).”
There is no arbitrary limit to the number of war bundles in the tribe. Anyone who has had the proper dream may make and use one. There are no clan regulations concerning them nor have the clans special sacred war houses. Whole war bundles are rarely sold back and forth, though medicines and dismembered parts of them are. It will be observed from the fore¬ going paper that the war bundles are, strictly speaking, personal, rather than clan or tribal property, in which respect the Menomini differ from the neighboring Winnebago.1 The songs used pertain to the bundle and its makers as a whole, rather than to the separate medicines.
When a man went to wrar it was obligatory for his nephew to follow and attend him as his servant. In case the uncle was slain the nephew was obliged to bring home an enemy’s scalp or die in the attempt, or at least, the dishonor of coming home without revenge was so great, that one feared to return empty handed.
Prisoners were usually treated in the same manner as their tribe treated Menomini captives. Thus the Sauk, who were noted for their cruelty, were usually burned alive when they fell in the hands of the Menomini. Sauk children were often tied to trees and shot at as targets, for so it was said they treated Menomini babies. The Menomini were accustomed to taunt the Sauk with cowardice :2 “We are better men than you, and braver, for
1 Raclin, (a), 213.
2 Warren (106) states that the Ojibway learned from the Fox to torture their prisoners.
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you never wring so much as a groan from us in the fire, but your warriors erv like women.”
During the early part of the present century Indian captives were held as slaves. Augustin Grignon is responsible for the following statement: —
During the constant wars of the Indians, several of the Wisconsin tribes were in the habit of making captives of the Pawnee, Osages, Missouries, and even of the distant Mandans, and these were consigned to servitude. I know that the Ottawas and Sauks made such captives; but am not certain about the Menomonees, Chippe- was, Pottawottamies, Foxes and Winnebagoes. The Menomomees, with a few individual exceptions, did not engage in these distant forays. The Menomonees, and probably other tribes, had Pawnee slaves, which they obtained by purchase of the Ottawas, Sauks and others who captured them; but I never knew the Meno¬ monees to have any by capture, and but few by purchase. For convenience sake, I suppose, they were all denominated Pawnees, when some of them were certainly of other Missouri tribes, as I have already mentioned, for I have known three Osages, two Missouries, and one Mandan among these Indian slaves. Of the fourteen whom I have personally known, six were males and eight were females, and the most of them were captured while young. I have no recollection as to the pecuniary value of these slaves or servants, but I have known two females sold, at different times, each for one hundred dollars.
Speaking of the treatment of slaves by their owners, Mr. Grignon continues:
When these Pawnee slaves had Indian masters, they were generally treated with great severity. . . .A female slave owned by a Menomonee woman, while sick, was directed by her unfeeling mistress to take off her overdress, and she then deliberately stabbed and killed her; and this without a cause of provocation, and not in the least attributable to liquor. It should also be mentioned, on the other hand, that Mas-caw, a Pawnee among the Menomonees, was not treated or regarded as a slave, and married a chief’s daughter, and lived with them till his death, and has now a gray-headed son living at Lake Shawanaw.1
Ceremonial cannibalism was frequent, from pure bravado. Often the Menomini warriors carried no provisions with them on the warpath. A hen they slew an enemy they would cut long strips of flesh from the body, particu¬ larly from the thighs, and stick them in their belts.2 At night this meat was roasted on a spit before the fire, and any who were improvident enough to have failed to secure flesh from their victims, or w^ere too squeamish to partake of it, were jeered at by their comrades, who told them that they were unmanly. “ I am brave, I can eat anything, was their boast as they devoured the horrible repast. I he Menomini did not eat the hearts of then fallen foes, fike the Ojibw'ay and Sauk and box, but it was customai\ toi a warrior to swallow the still quivering heart of a turtle.3 If he succeeded in
1 Grignon, 256, et seq.
2 Cf. Eastern Cree, Skinner, (a). 78. The Cree practised ceremonial cannibalism. The Sauk and Fox according to Forsyth (225) had a very similar custom.
a An Omaha custom, Fletcher and La Flesche, 332.
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of N atural History. [V ol. XIII,
holding it on his stomach he was thought to be possessed of the courage and longevity of that powerful animal.
Of minor war charms of a more personal nature the number is inexhaust-
Fig. 23 (50, 4805, 9719, 5299, 9829, 9765). War Charms: Medicine bag of otterskin, carried in war; war bundle wrapped up for carrying; antique war club of the ball-headed style; antique war club of the flat type; war headdress, adorned with t wo ^eagle feathers denoting two slain foes.
ible. These range in form from small personal bundles to a single magic feather. The most common are war clubs given to the possessor by some Power. These vary in size from practical weapons to toys a few inches long.1
i The Ojibway, Kohl, 296, also had dream clubs.
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The first type is the actual implement, useful for offense as well as defense, but now that the rifle has made hand to hand fighting impracticable for the most part, tiny clubs are made and carried about the person of their owner who trusts in the efficacy of their power to avert danger from him.
One packet, examined by the writer, was about the size of an ordinary bill wallet, and contained a little cliff), a bow and arrow, and an infinitesimal lacrosse stick, all painted red and black, signifying day and night, and sym¬ bolizing the constant protection of the thunderbirds, from whom they were received. This particular amulet is said to have brought its wearer un¬ scathed through the Civil War. Another very similar packet omitted the lacrosse stick and bow and arrows, but had in their place the model of a tambourine drum.
Another sacred object is a lacrosse and war charm, and was obtained as follows. Eight men who were thunder beings, appeared to a sacred dreamer. They were led by a chief dressed in dark blue or black who approached the dreamer and gave him a little lacrosse bat, a full sized ball covered with woodchuck skin and ornamented with bone beads and feathers, a tiny bow and arrows, and a round stone thought to be “thunderbolt.” 1 All these articles were painted black except the last, w’hich was plain. The thun- derer gave them to the dreamer with these words.
“ Grandson, I give these to you. 5A henever you go to war, carry them with you and you will never be hurt.”
And so it turned out, for the original owner went through the Black Hawk war of 1S32 and returned without scathe. Just before he set out he had the lacrosse game played to delight his patrons. Every year it was his custom to observe the spring and fall feasts in honor of the thunderers. At these feasts a whole deer or bear was prepared and eaten before the open bundle. At this time the following song was used repeatedly.
“Aya/ Ina/makiwa'ki Aya, Ina/makiwa'ki ehehe'
Aya kinanipiti wakit/cimuo ”
“I know you will be heard roaring, you thunderers!”
This song was also sung as prayer for aid when in a hard place in battle.
Some men are possessed of sacred “war hats,” usually otterskin head bands or turbans or wrist bands adorned with jinglers; all these trinkets are thought to be magic safeguards. Warriors used to wear a necklace of bear claws which had the power of rendering them invisible when they were scouting, and ordinary men, who had no other possible means of protecting
i Just a plain round pebble, not a stone celt or implement.
126
Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII
themselves, save by their own prowess, often carried their mitawin medicine bags with them into battle as a last resort, and these have saved many lives. A figure of a panther was often embroidered on a warrior’s moccasins, as the
Fig. 24 (50.1-4364). Buffalo skin Headdress once the Property of Chief Oshkosh. 1 lie beaded ornaments about the neck of the bust are the. property of one who has dreamed of the sun, and represent its rays.
pantht i is a i ulei among beasts and one of the fiercest. The design, worked in its appropriate color, black, symbolized that the warrior was possessed of the ferocity of the panther and was a prayer to the panther for power.
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An exceptionally fine headdress made of the skin of the head of a buffalo with the horns attached was obtained for the Museum. It was once the property of the famous chief Oshkosh, from one of whose descendants it was purchased. A buffalo fur head band and an arm band of the same material were also collected.
Quite a near approach to a war bundle is a packet composed of a woven bag containing a number of wrappings in the innermost depths of which reposes a cedar knife given its possessor by the bald eagle. It was opened by its owner before going on the warpath, or even before hunting, and its donor was called up by means of this song: —
“ Apai/sakanakwut kesik.”
“ The clouds shall come peeping in the heaven.”
The reference is, of course, to the thunderers, who often hide behind the clouds in order to stalk and kill their enemies, the snakes. When the eagle had appeared it gave its invoker advice which was always sufficient to win the day.
Of course, of recent years the war bundle has ceased to be such an object of reverence as it once was. It is true that a number of these palladiums were carried in the Civil War by Menomini volunteers in the Wisconsin regiments, but it is so long since any of the Indians have seen any fighting that the younger generation has all but discarded them and the faith of the old people is also tottering. Most of the actual war ceremonies are forgotten or very much modified from lack of practice.
Mr. John V. Satterlee, well remembers the preparations made by the Menomini volunteers just before they left for the civil war in 1861. They journeyed from lodge to lodge, with their finery on, and their faces painted red or black. Before each door they danced a circular dance to the music of the tambourine drum. Before the dance their chief addressed the audi¬ ence: “The enemy is going to attack us. We have volunteered to die fighting. We perform this dance today in memory of those who gave it to us.” He recited a list of the Powers Above, — especially the thunderers and other gods directly concerned in the gift of the bundle to mankind, and prayed for their help. At the close of the prayer he started to beat the drum and the warriors danced what was called the “Pukit'cimin or “ Last Words” dance The song was
“ Wata/sawa ne'awe', honayawa, nayawa!” '
“Brave warriors we are, truly we are.”
At the conclusion of the dance the leader and his men whooped four times. Another song was merely “Hawaiyo, hawaiyo” repeated many
128 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,
times. Afterwards the bystanders gave presents to the performers and wished them success. This seems to be a degenerate form of the old war dance, and lacks the secrecy and solemnity of the archaic performance.
Defensive warfare is not well remembered by the Menomini of today, and little information concerning it was gathered. In case of an attack, if there was time, the commonplace members of a settlement fled to the lodges of the nearest bundle owner, bearing the tidings. The bundle was at once taken down and opened without ceremony, and the mikao prepared a num¬ ber of small v-shaped pieces of red, or less preferably, of white cloth. A tiny piece of some important medicine was sewn between each two of these, and as fast as he completed these amulets the mikao handed them over to the warriors without further ado, and they bound them on their hair as protec¬ tion against death. Sometimes a bundle owner kept a supply of these or of medicine feathers in order to save the delay in making them at a criti¬ cal moment. After the fight was over, the men would return their charms to the bundle owner. When repeated tests of this sort combined with suc¬ cess on offensive expeditions had proved a certain bundle to be uncom¬ monly efficacious, warriors would often try, during times of peace, to buy a right to one of the medicines. On paying a set price, usually a good dog or a gun, one particular charm or feather would be set apart for the purchaser, and thenceforward he was a “comrade of the bundle,” and had the sole right to wear that amulet and might depend upon the mikao in question to aid him in any warlike crisis. If, in a raid by the Osage or Sauk, the enemy were repulsed, the Menomini made it a cast iron rule never to pursue the fugitive beyond the Mississippi, although they often raided beyond that boundary in offensive warfare. When attacked, the Menomini always con¬ cealed their women and children in caves under overhanging banks, or in pits dug for the purpose. It is still remembered that the utmost difficulty was encountered in hiding the fresh earth thrown up in making these hasty excavations. The Ojibway also made use of this practice.
Very little could be gathered in regard to customs and rules for making peace. The Menomini declare that other nations, notably the Sauk, some¬ times brought great presents to them and asked for peace, but that they had never made overtures to any tribe and had no formulae for so doing. This bears out their statement that warfare was usually carried on by private enterprise and not by the tribe. In this connection, Forsyth, speaking of the Sauk, Fox, and other Central Algonkin, remarks: —
“ I never heard of any peace having been made between two nations of Indians when war had properly commenced except when the government of the United States interfered, and the Indians were within reach of the power of the United States to compel them to keep quiet, for when war once com-
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menced, it always led to the final extermination of one or the other of the parties.1”
In concluding this study of Menomini war customs it seems only proper to refer to a few typical war stories which will some time be published along with a mass of Menomini folklore. These tales belong to the category called ■“true stories” by the natives and are told principally by the elders for the purpose of inculcating the virtue of patriotism and bravery in the young men. Probably only one story, that of the origin of the Sauk war, is purely historic, although the others also purport to be so. As these tales relate principally to personal exploits, they may be told, unlike the sacred myths, during the summer months, or at any time which suits the narrator’s con¬ venience. Typically Indian and brimful of ethnology, they belong to a class of narratives which has been too much neglected by students.
Diffusion of War Bundles.
How widespread the custom of using the war bundle was, we are at present unable to determine. Mr. A. C. Parker assures me that traces of something of the sort, in the way of war medicines, are still extant among the Seneca. Loskiel 2 says of the Delaware,
The Captains and others procure a beson, (medicine) to preserve themselves from stabs and shots. In the year 1774, the Shawanose carried their war-beson upon a pole, among the ranks, in the battle they fought with the white people, but the beson-bearer himself was shot, the whole Indian army routed and the beson became a prey to the conquerors.
These statements bring the fundamental idea of the war medicine well to the east, but whether actual war bundles of the Menomini type were used, is doubtful.
Among the Winnebago 3 there are quite a number of parallels to Meno¬ mini war customs, but the legend of the origin of their sacred bundle is different, although the thunderers are credited with having given it to mankind. In this case the thunderers gave the bundles themselves, and did not act as intermediaries for stronger powers. The contents of the bundle as related by Dr. Radin, does not, however, differ to any extent from the more simple forms found among the Menomini.
We find that Dorsey,4 quoting Rev. Wm. Hamilton says of the Iowa:—
1 Forsyth, 205.
2 Loskiel, 145.
s See Radin, (b), 288-367.
- Dorsey, 428, sec. 85.
130 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,
One or two days before a war party started from the village of the Iowa, the man who was to carry the sacred bag hid it while the others busied themselves with preparing sacred articles (probably their personal fetiches). The hunters often brought in deer, after eating which, the warriors painted themselves as they would do if they expected to see an enemy. Next, one of their number measured a certain number of steps in front, when each man took his place and knelt down. As soon as the word was given, each one pulled away the grass and sticks, moving backwards till he came to the poles, when he arose. Then each placed his own sacred objects (personal fetiches) 1 before him and began his own song. While singing, they opened their sacred objects asking for good luck. They sang one song on opening them (as among Kansa) and another while putting them back into their places, a song being supposed necessary for every ceremony in which they engaged. In the con¬ versations which ensued, they were at liberty to jest, provided they avoided common or vulgar terms.
An examination of the data available shows that in the Central group of tribes we have apparently a well defined type of war bundle as exempli¬ fied by that of the Menomini, Sauk, Fox, Iowa, Oto, and Winnebago. To the west we find it among the Omaha, but here it blends with several Plains concepts and ceremonies and we may expect to discover gradually differen¬ tiating types among the Osage and southern Sioux. The Teton-Dakota have certain beliefs that incline towards those of the Menomini. If a man dreams of a thunderbird, he must go on the warpath. To the north, the Ojibway and the Ottawa, to the south the Kickapoo and the Potawatomi, together with the tribes of the Ohio Valley and the Illinois confederacy may be expected to yield further data. In the east we have a gradual dying out of these ideas, with vestiges only among the Iroquois 2 and Delaware.
In conclusion, I think it may be stated that ceremonial cannibalism of a type similar to that noted among the Menomini was far commoner in North America than is generally admitted. The Iroquois, according to the Jesuits, ate the hearts of their enemies and often their flesh, and so did the Sauk and Fox. The Eastern Cree were guilty of eating part of the flesh of their slain foes.3
1 More probably, objects taken from the war bundles.
2 See Parker, 473-478, and Converse, 40.
3 With regard to medicine bundles of all sorts, Mr. M. R. Harrington has collected at least one hundred from the Sauk, Fox, Kickapoo, Potawatomi, Shawnee, Iowa, Kansa,. and Osage. From his splendid accumulation of notes, as yet unpublished, on these bundles- and their rituals, he has very kindly pointed the following features in comparison with those of the Menomini.
The war bundles of the Sauk are not, like those of the Menomini, derived from a single source, but from a number, the Buffalo among others, having given a separate pack to man¬ kind. There is a total difference in the Sauk origin myths for the war bundle. In each type, the Beings who were responsible for its origin only gave a small part at a time, the owner was obliged to fast again and again, gathering the contents bit by bit through alternate starvation and revelation. In the case of the Menomini bundles the whole thing was given at once, ready prepared.
In the Sauk bundle ceremony an eating race occurs between members of two phratries,.
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131
Hunting Customs.
Besides the use of such practical devices as traps and snares, the Meno¬ mini resort to every possible form of sympathetic and contagious magic in order to overpower and secure the game with which their country abounds. The means employed vary from simple charms and powders with their mystic formulae, to complicated medicine bundles. These may readily be grouped into private and public medicines. The former are used only by the fortunate possessor for his own personal benefit; the latter, while privately owned, can only be used for the benefit of the public and require an elaborate ritual at which others than the owner must attend.
The small private medicines are derived from various sources, chiefly, however, from dreams, and although some have an actual value as scents and lures, their chief efficacy is thought to be in the songs and formulae which accompany them. They intergrade inextricably with other small charms, used to procure luck in gambling, begging, and the like, and in the cases of the minor charms present a mass of muddled mysticism which it is hard to unravel. The present state of our knowledge of these things from other tribes being so meager, I shall forbear from going into any detailed study of Menomini hunting and other personal medicines in comparison with those of other tribes. Suffice it to say that the underlying concepts of all these charms are probably exceedingly widespread in North America.
As for the large true medicine bundles used in hunting, these are of two sorts. First, and most important, the three great bundles of purely magical
which has no parallel in the Menomini rites. The bundle owner, at the commencement of the feast tells the story of the palladium’s origin; this may occur among the Menomini, but I have no evidence for it. While no Menomini woman can come into the place where the bundle is kept, the Sauk have one, the “Bloody Leg Bundle,” which can be opened and used even in the presence of menstruating females. The Sauk bundle owner was strictly forbidden to eat at the bundle feast, the Menomini mikao, on the contrary, was fed by his attendants. Unlike the Menomini and the Iowa, the Sauk had no one ceremony for all the war bundles, but a separate ceremony was held for each one in the tribe. The Sauk bundle was kept in the house, and this is now done by the Menomini, although their origin myth distinctly stated that it should be kept out doors. The Iowa obey the latter custom.
Among the Menomini, it will be remembered, the mikao’s nephew could be appointed to carry the war bundle, among the Shawnee a man was appointed for this task from the turtle totem. The Osage and Iowa partizans never carried the bundle, and the Iowa, like the Menomini, never placed their bundle on the ground. The Iowa had their spring ceremony for the bundle when the first thunder was heard, just as do the Menomini.
The contents of the Potawatomi Wabano war bundle is quite different from those of the Menomini, as, indeed, are those of the Sauk, Fox, Iowa, and others. It is kept by the Bear totem, and is the gift of the Underneath Gods, who do not figure at all in the Menomini type. Oddly enough, the Thunder Power, deadly antagonistic to the Underneath Gods as a rule, is the greatest power in this Potawatomi form. Dogs are not eaten in any feast for this sacred packet.
The Osage and Kansa bundles have not been investigated but seem to differ in contents, legends, and rituals, falling into a distinct class by themselves in contradistinction to those of the Menomini, Winnebago, Sauk, Fox, Kickapoo. Potawatomi, Oto, and Iowa.
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composition, handed down from the gods to man through Ma'nabus 1 and his brother Naxpatao; and those whose nucleus is an actual lure or scent of real value, about which has accumulated a variety of accessory charms.2 Medicines are known to all trappers who use them to draw the various animals to their snares. The Menomini believe that animals of all kinds are endowed with intelligence almost equal to that of human beings and that the only reason why men are able to take them is because they are more fortunate than the beasts.
Every effort was made by the Menomini to keep the supernatural powers appeased in order that they might continue their friendly aid. The actual skill of the hunter amounted to nothing if he received no assistance from above. Without such help his mere ability to approach the game, his knowledge of their haunts and his accuracy with weapons were useless. Moreover, he was at the mercy of wicked people, sorcerers and witches. The unsuccessful hunt was explained easily. The hunter had hitherto been so lucky that he had aroused the envy of a covetous Saxkanao, or sorcerer, who, in the shape of an owl, had flown softly by night and stolen away his hunting medicine, or had learned the secret source of his super¬ natural aid and diverted it to himself. An easy shot missed through over confidence was not “blamed on the gun” or the bow as white men do, but responsibility for the miss was put on some enemy among the professionals of the “ Black Art.”
Owing to these ideas the Menomini resort to all manner of magical methods to capture their game. The means which they use are suscepti¬ ble of being split into two groups which we may call “public” and “private” medicines. By public medicines, I mean the larger medicine bundles for communal use, in contradiction to the small charms earned by the indi¬ viduals when hunting.
The first group is composed of a very few medicine bundles, the greatest of which is called Misasakiwis. (Fig. 25.)
In the beginning 3 Ma'nabus was troubled on behalf of his uncle and aunts, the men and women of the world, because they were subject to starva¬ tion. There were wicked medicinemen called saxkanaowuk who were be¬ friended by the horned owl and who were ever abroad plaguing the people. These evil old men would circle about in the bushes in the guise of their guardian owls watching the Indians. If any man had good luck in hunting.
1 Tanner states that Nanabush is particularly the hunter’s god and from him the medi¬ cines of the Ojibway and Ottawa are derived. Tanner, 365.
2 See Tanner, 341, for an extended description of Ojibway and Ottawa hunting bundles, writings, medicines and their uses, which are exceedingly close to those of the Menomini.
s Narrated by Antoine Shipikau and his wife, from whom the bundle was obtained.
191 4.] Skinner, Menomini Social IAfe and Ceremonial Bundles. 133
a Sa kanao would steal it away for himself. Just out of spite he would drive away the deer, bewitch the traps and drawing the leaden pellets from the hunter’s rifles he would substitute shadowy spirit bullets of his own so that no matter how truly they were aimed the hunter’s shot had no more effect than if he had really missed. Ma/nabus was downcast in his heart, for he
Fig. 25 (50.1-4367 a-p. Misasakiws, the Great Hunting Medicine, Bag and Part of the Medicine shown, (tapping sticks; Magic wolf skin turban; Weasel skins, aids to the hunter; Bow and arrows, steeped in bag of medicine; Bag of basswood fiber string with designs in buffalo hair yarn; Mink skin to hold tiny bow and arrow.
did not seem to have the power to destroy the saxkaniiowuk. And since he was so sorrowful in behalf of the people, the powers above, the grand¬ fathers and grandmothers of the Indians, took council and decided to give him a mighty charm that he might pass on to the people to help and save them.
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,
When the grandfathers prepared to give the bag to Ma'nabus, a little beaver, a young one, was at the far side of the great water and though he was so far away he knew by telepathy what was happening. Then he thought, “ I too will help Ma'nabus and his uncles and aunts.” So he swam quickly along the shore toward where the grandfathers were giving the bundle to Ma'nabus and he came so smoothly and so quietly that he left neither wave, nor ripple. As he approached where Ma'nabus stood, he began to sing: —
Ninahop nitas
Ninahop nitas
Sopat'awit ninahop
Sopat'awit ninahop
Me too, nephew, now I am here.
Me too, nephew, now I am here.
If you obey me.
If you obey me.
“ Now,” said he, “ though I am not a hunting animal to have a right to be in the bundle, yet to show my good will to the people, your uncles and aunts, I will give my skin to be in the bundle to hold medicines.” “All right, my little brother you can come in the bundle and help the people when they perform this ceremony,” cried Ma'nabus. So he took in the little beaver to hold medicine.
The weasels, who are mighty hunters, who run softly like snakes through the grass in summer, and in winter under the snow, they who are always sure of game when they go hunting; they too came to show their good will towards the people, the aunts and uncles of Ma'nabus.
The weasel came to Ma'nabus and said, “I shall enter by the deer’s mouth and pass out of his rectum, I shall kill him as I pass through his vitals,” and this is the song he sang.
“Ha nisabute'
Ha nisabute'
Nenausapitum mo'natuo Nenausapitum mo'natuo.”
“ All right my little brother, you too shall be in the medicine bundle to help my aunts and uncles, the people, to hunt.” So Ma'nabus put the weasel in the bundle, and weasel’s skin may still be found there.
The mink is a mighty hunter, he is always successful in getting game, he always returns quickly from the hunt with food. He asked to come in the bundle too that he might hold the tiny bow and arrows and their medicine,
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that the grandfathers and grandmothers had put there. As he came he sang this song to Ma'nabus.
“ Awisanigo'da AwisanigS'da Nmahop ninaupape'sim Nfnahop ninaupape'sim Nmahop ninaupape'sim Napi'na mona'tu Napl'na mona'tu Hawisanigoda Hawisanigo'da Nmahop ninaupape'sim Nmahop ninaupape'sim.”
“I’ll fetch the game too I’ll do it too.”
That is the song Mink sang as he approached.
“All right my little brother,” said Ma'nabus, “you too shall come in the bundle, even as you have asked, to hold the little bow and arrows and their medicine.”
Then the bird begged to come in too, and Ma'nabus permitted him to enter that he might give the people the power to fly from place to place when they hunted as swiftly as he.
Now there were many medicines in the bag that the grandfathers gave Ma'nabus, and each one had its own song, and the chief of these medicines were : one for the deer, one for the wolf, one for the bear, and one for the skunk. And there was one to prevent saxkanao from harming whosoever was the possessor of the bundle, and there was one medicine to destroy the ordinary human enemies of the bundle owner.
So Ma'nabus took the bundle and learned its uses from the grandfathers. Then he passed it on to his uncles and aunts, the Indian people, that they might outwit the saxkanaowuk and have food to keep them alive. And it can only be possessed by a few; not any common man may have it, only such as receive it as a reward for their fasting and suffering, or to whom it is given in a vision. Only men of great power may have it, and it may not be used or even opened without reason. Women must never use or touch the bag, it is only given to men. A woman who inherits one may learn its songs, but she must pass them on with the bundle to her husband or other male rela¬ tive. .
Now when a saxkaniio is plaguing the people, absorbing their luck, tam¬ pering with their guns and traps, and driving away the game so that the people starve; then they know it is time to call upon the owner of the bundle. So a delegation of men approaches him with great gifts and tobacco. He
136 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,
accepts these gifts, and though he knows why the men have come he asks them their errand.
“ Well, we have come because we are starving, a saxkanao is tormenting us. Now we want you to open the bundle for us so that we may eat. That is why it was given you and you cannot refuse.”
“Very well,” says the bundle owner, “it shall be as you say! Tomorrow we will journey far off in the clean woods where we may not be disturbed, and there we will open it.”
The time and place having been thus decided upon, the party breaks up, to be on hand at the time appointed. Then the owner takes the bundle from the place where it is sacredly and carefully kept and brings it to the spot that they have decided upon, far away in the clean woods.
When they have all gathered in the evening, they make a feast of meat, if they have it, or of corn and bean soup, but if they have nothing, then tobacco must serve. They must eat all that is set before them and a cupful of maple sugar. Then the bundle is opened and before they feast, its con¬ tents are spread about. When they have feasted, the pipe is passed and the bundle owner makes a speech in which he explains how Ma'nabus got the bundle and its use to mankind. He explains that the feast is eaten in memory of the bundle. Then he opens the mink skin and takes out the little bow and the little arrows which are always fastened point foremost in a bag of red colored medicine. He removes the arrows and strings the bow. His assistant, for he has chosen one to help him, draws the figure of a deer on the ground and the bundle owner shoots it with the little bow and arrow. This symbolizes the slaying of the game on the morrow, for which the young men have already built a scaffold as soon as they encamped, so fully do they believe that they will have game to hang there on the morrow.
Having shot the figure of the deer, the bundle owner takes two of the clappers (Fig. 25) and his assistant another pair, and they begin. The first song is called, “Watapukwun ninahapiya,” that is, “a bag of leaves,” and refers in an esoteric way to the bundle and its contents as they lie spread out before him. Then he sings: —
“ Watasa'pukgone kosatotanao Watasa'piikgone kostotanao E, niwiki'tun asepanenfik E, niwiki'tun asepiinenuk.”
“ Leaves are applied to the animals as medicine,
Yes, and I am the one who is unable to do it.”
The song is sung in this way for several reasons. One is to deceive the enemy who may be lurking about to hear, and make him believe that the
1913.] Skinner, Menomini Social Life and Ceremonial Bundles. 137
shaman has only some old leaves. By denying, in a way, that the bundle can actually assist him, the owner is daring it to help him, or, rather, trying to arouse its pride.
This song and the second song are not so important as the two following. The song runs : —
“ Kapenafmpeyan Kapenahapeyan Nepewisikakonik Nepewisikakonik.”
“ At that time when I was able to sit up My parents’ fire was in full blaze.”
That is, “When I was in my childhood, my parents were in the power and prime of life.” It refers to Ma'nabus, who was as weak as a child, and unable to assist his aunts and uncles, until his parents, the great powers above and below, who were so much more powerful than he and full of ma¬ ture vigor, lent their aid.
The next song, which like all the others, is many times repeated : —
“Ninau mfgitcim wapa11 Ninau mfgitcim wapa11.
Potcganfu ninau mfgitcim wapa'1 Potcganfu ninau mfgitcim wapa'1.”
“I will eat meat tomorrow.
I will surely eat meat tomorrow.”
After the third song comes the fourth and last of the chants. It will be noticed that the numbers two and four are of significance in the ceremony, four being the sacred number of the Menomini.
“ Wasawiyatat mawao Wasawiyatat mawao Apa’sos neman'ahiminao Apa’sos neman'ahiminao Manoy'ane Manoy'ane Manoy'ane
Apa’sos nimanohum haiyapiiwao
Niwenanhau
Niwenanhau
In'aniwun, in'aniwun.”
“I will see him, Red Legs,1 tomorrow.
i The deer.
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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [V ol. XIII,
The deer is killed.
A deer I am well pleased with
I am dressing the carcass of a deer
The man, the man (i. e., the buck deer, the male deer).” 1
During the singing of the last song all the company except the bundle owner and his assistant dance and during the dance they imitate the chase to take place the following day, that it may all fall about as they act it. One man will hold his two hands with fingers outspread close to his head to signify a big buck with horns. Another will hold up his two hands near his ears with the fingers closed to represent the big ears of a fat doe; another will hold out both hands with the index and second fingers open and spread out and the rest clenched to signify the cloven hoofs of a buck. Another will go through the motions of shooting one of the animals, who falls and another Indian pretends to draw, skin, and quarter him.
Then there are songs sung for each of the medicines. At the end of the ceremony a young man of clean life and who has not yet known woman, is instructed by the bundle owner to carry the bundle a short distance from the camp to a clean spot, and hang it on the limb of a tree. Then all retire. Then the bundle owner throws a powder from the bundle in the fire so that saxkanao cannot approach, for should he attempt to do so he would be stricken blind. So he is unable to steal game from the bundle users and he has no power whatever over the owner.
During the night the bundle hunts, that is, the magic powers in the bundle go forth and pass about through the nearby forest, causing the deer and other game to become tame and sluggish. It attacks their heads and makes them stupid, it affects their lungs so that they have great difficulty in breathing, it gets into their legs so that they can neither run nor jump.
On the following morning, when the hunters arise, they eat a heavy breakfast. Ordinarily hunters never eat any breakfast for fear of ill luck, but the bundle party is protected from any such catastrophe. After breakfast, the bundle is opened again and a smudge is made with one of the medicines contained in the bundle and the men hold their bows or their rifle muzzles downward in the smoke to let the virtue of the medicine impregnate them and give them power.2 As they do this they joke, laugh and cry out, “seven deer,” or “eight deer,” or whatever number they desire to kill for the entire party, and individuals will cry “I desire to shoot a doe with two fawns,” “ I want a big buck,” “ I want a fat doe,” and so on. They imitate at the same time the report of firearms, and all the things they say and wish
1 The Sauk also call the deer a man in the bundle ceremony.
2 Sauk bundle customs are similar.
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Skinner , Menomini Social Life and. Cerejnonial Bundles.
139
for will come to pass through the aid of the medicine. They also paint small red spots on each cheek to fascinate the deer.
The owner of the bundle now distributes its contents. He puts on the wolfskin head band himself, and gives a medicine to each of his men. The mink, weasel, and other skins, are very powerful medicines because they grant to the man carrying them the ability to hunt like, and be as successful as, these animals.
This entire ceremony is repeated every night and morning for four nights. Each evening when the game is brought in and butchered, the head, lungs, and legs may not be eaten without ceremony at that time, because these parts are still filled with the medicine which attacked them there, and he who is so thoughtless as to partake of them will be punished, for the medicine will pass into his body and turn his skin black, and he will pine awTay and die. So the tabooed parts are skinned and put awray until the four days are over. Should any of the party desire to partake of them before the time is up, they are obliged to make a little smudge of cedar leaves and a leaf (called nami- panam in Menomini) mixed together. By throwing some of this on some hot coals held in a frying pan, they obtain a portable fumigant which they carry beneath the infected parts and thus drive out the medicine and render them clean and fit to eat. This medicine is called apisetcikun (“ the reviver back”)-
On the fourth and last day of the ceremony, the bundle owner has the party bring all the carcasses together. The meat is all held in common up to this time, but now the men agree upon its division among themselves. The briskets, necks, and breasts with part of the foreribs cut off all in one piece, are given to the bundle owner as his share, for it is only right that he should get the choice bits since the success of the hunt was due to his good¬ ness in using the bundle.1
When the bundle owner arrives at his home he gets a large kettle and pre¬ pares a feast by boiling all the meat he has received. He invites all his family and relatives to partake of the bounty of the sack. Then, as a thanksgiving ceremony he explains to the guests why the feast is made and tells them the origin and the success of the bundle, and offers it tobacco, begging that it may continue to assist them.
There is one medicine in the packet, the red medicine in which the heads of the tiny arrows are kept, which has one very importat special use. Should an enemy pass the camp during the ceremony, or should the track of any enemy be seen, the bundle owner has merely to shoot it with his little bow and arrow and the man will die.
i The Sauk have nearly the same custom.
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It is not always necessary to take the whole bundle out. Sometimes some of the contents only are taken. Even the smudge has had great effect when used alone. Men who have merely thought or dreamed of the bundle, either before or during a hunt, have been known to have had great success.
For a time after Ma/nabus received misasak'iwis things went well. Unfortunately however, there were so few men worthy to receive the bundle that there were not enough in the tribe to prevent the sa'kanao from thieving as before. So it came to pass that Ma/nabus was sick at heart for his uncles and aunts because they were continually bothered by saxkanao. There were really not enough men who were worthy to own the great bundle, so the people suffered. Because Ma'nabus was sick at heart the great powers above and below took pity on him, and they, the grand¬ fathers and grandmothers of the people, made up a bag and gave it to him. In it there was a deer medicine, given by the deer themselves. There was an¬ other gift from the wolf, the enemy of the deer people who preys upon fawms, because they are easiest for him to catch, he too went into partnership with the fawn for this once, to help the people, for he was master of all deer kind.
When Ma'nabus took the bundle from the grandfathers and grand¬ mothers, he peeped into it, and when he saw how few were the medicines it contained, he was disappointed in heart, for he did not believe that the medicines w^ere strong enough to work. The grandfathers and the grand¬ mothers read the thoughts of Ma'nabus, and they knew that he did not believe in the medicine, so they said to him, “ Let us go out in the center of the ocean w'here there is an island.”
So they went out there where there was no other land to be seen. Then the grandfathers opened the bag before Ma/nabus, and they began tapping upon two sticks and they sang a song.
Yum mi'nas yosintb'noka
GanS'tum nikonau
Yum mi'nas yosintb'noka
Gano'tum nikona'u
Yum minas ni spiutuu mana'touk
In'e Ma/nabus snawatcimi manatowin
Uspiutu inis minasi
Hanum noma'u ni is'namau
Kinigihe'kuk sowa'we pukftinu mu'ekumune kihe'kuk.1
“On this island where our drumsticks are sounding On this island we called and Ma/nabus came He denied this great medicine
Let the animals come out so that he can see them.”
1 Said to be old Menomini. The words are also purposely mispronounced.
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All day long the grandparents sang, and towards night Ma'nabus with his own eyes began to see the animals appearing.
Then Ma'nabus said, “Yes, it is the truth. I have seen its power with my own eyes, I will accept it. Now I am ready to go back to the land to
Fi„ 20 f50 1-9717 a-i). Ivitagasa Muskiki, the Fawnskin Medicine and its Contents. Bag; dolls representing gods; small medicine pouch; wolf tail medicine; wooden figure man; fawnskin medicine in wrappers of fawn fur.
tell my uncles and aunts that this really is a strong bundle, so that from now on the cause of their having good food will be this.”
Then Ma'nabus came back to the earth and said, medicine. I have found it out.
‘ This is truly a strong
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So he gave it to mankind, and they possess it to this day. Ma/nabus also taught them the songs he had heard their grandparents sing and these must be repeated whenever they open the bundle. It is only given to worthy men as in the case of the great bundle.
The contents of this bundle (Fig. 26) which is called Kitagasa Muskiki or “Spotted Fawn Medicine” are: — -
a Muh'waiwus — the wolf medicine (a wolf tail).
b Kitagasa muskiki — the fawn medicine (These two animals went into partnership to help the people procure deer and are always kept to¬ gether in the bundle.
c Male figure — representing the great powers the grandfathers and grand¬ mothers who gave the bundle to Mii/nabus to transfer to the people, d Female figure.
e Medicine consisting of a fawn skin containing a human figure, human hair, and some powdered medicine to smudge the food, f Medicine to blind saxkanao, in a skin of fawn wrapper, g Small woven bag of medicine, h Small packet of medicine.
The enveloping bag is decorated with panthers on one side, purely as a decorative motif, and with no significance save that panthers were chosen as being worthy to be there because they are great animals. The fact that they live on deer and are good hunters has nothing to do with it.
On the reverse side of the bag is a row of women joining hands at the top, this is to show that the bag was made by women, though they have nothing to do with the medicine. Beneath are eagles, put there for the same reason as the panthers. (Fig. 27.)
4 he reasons for opening the bundle are precisely the same as those for opening the great hunting bundle, and the method of approaching the bundle is the same. The party retires to some distant spot in the woods and there they make camp. They also erect a scaffold to hold the game. This is generally done by splicing two poles together near the end and erecting them near a tree, a third pole resting in a crotch on the tree and in the crotch formed above the splicing of the poles. They always do this at first to show their faith in the powers of the bag.
In the evening the bag is opened wdth tobacco and a feast and speaking. Then the songs commence. During the songs the fawn medicine is held m the hand of the bundle owner and shaken up and down as though it wras a rattle. The others hold the other medicines. At the conclusion of the songs, the singers tap the medicines on the ground and cry out, “ Let us kill a buck! ” or anything else according to their desires.
On either side of the open bundle and its outspread contents the male and
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female figures (Fig. 26) representing those great powers, the grandparents of the Indians, are set up on sticks to be present and take part in the cere¬ mony. They throw a powder in the fire to blind the saxkanao as is done in the other ceremony.
On the following day, the hunters set forth, each one carrying one of the
Fi0- 27 (50 i— 9717a). Reverse Side of Basswood Bark Twine Bag containing the Fawnskin Medicine, with Designs representing Women and Eagles. The other side shows
the Underground Panthers.
medicines, including the wooden figures. The bundle owner carries the wolf tail in a bag at his belt, and it is powerful to cause the deer to give up to him just as they do to the wolf.1
After the hunt they bring back the bag and its contents. The heads, legs and lungs of the deer are smudged with the ingredients contained in the largest fawnskin bag and are then fit to eat.2 All the other parts may be
144 Anthropological Payers American Museum of Natural History . [Vol. XIII,
used with impunity. The briskets become the property of the bundle owner.
When the bundle owner has come back to his home he has the briskets boiled and invites his relatives to a feast. The bag is opened and its con¬ tents are spread out. Then tobacco is smoked and speeches are made. This smoking and feasting is in order to give food and tobacco to the bundle to show that the people are grateful and are returning in kind to the bundle.
When the feast is over, the bundle is carefully put away and a speech is made. This ceremony is continued for the first three nights after the return. “We are now through wath our last feast and thanksgiving for the gifts of this bag, yet we pray it may continue its bounty toward us, as was promised to Ma/nabus by our grandfathers and grandmothers and we shall always think of this bundle whenever we kill and eat game.”
It is very necessary that this feast shall be observed since the bundle may not keep off the saxkanaouk unless it is well treated. Should the bundle owner suspect that worthy of being about, it is only necessary for him to throw the proper medicine in the fire and it will go forth and blind him wher¬ ever he is. Tobacco must always be kept with the bundle.
Although Ma'nabus had secured some relief for the people, his aunts and uncles, yet he was not satisfied, for the saxkanao continued to trouble them. The great bundle and the fawmskin medicine which he had doubted, were very powerful, but they wrere too limited in their distribution to be available for ordinary use. So Ma/nabus decided to make a small bundle himself, one that would be a great power to help the people to hunt, yet not so wonderful in its properties as the other two. This class of hunting bundle he would distribute again so that there would be still more success and less starvation among the people.
Ma/nabus got the wrnlf and deer to go in partnership, and thus he made a small but powerful medicine which he gave to the wolf and to Mianiuv, the great horned owl, to turn over to old and prominent men among the Indians, men who were worthy to use it, and would obey his instructions and never abuse their charge. It was to be kept by them until starvation threatened, then it might be opened.
Now when the owner of such a bundle resides in any neighborhood and the lack of food becomes pinching, the neighbors get together. “ So and so has such a bundle,” they say, “let us take tobacco to him and beg him to use it.” When the men approach the bundle owner, although he knows their desire even before he accepts the tobacco, he always inquires what they wish. When he has learned what it is, he tells them to meet him at such a place, and such a time. When they gather together they set out and journey far off into the wmods, the owner going ahead with the bundle and never allow-
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ing anyone to precede him. When they decide to camp the bundle owner takes his bundle off to a clean place in the woods where he hangs it up somewhere nearby, off toward the direction they intend to hunt in. Then he returns and helps the men pitch camp. When this has been done he goes back and gets his bundle and opens it with an offering of tobacco. W hen the contents have been spread out, he makes a speech explaining the reason for the ceremony, and shaking a deer hoof rattle he begins to sing.
1st song
Muhwao nitaVao
kokeusesegit
I use the wolf
because he is most powerful
2nd song
Mianiuv nita/wao koke'u asesegit kot'giigo uskinawapata Owl 1 use because he is most powerful he sees all things.
Song for a buck
Aiapao os'nanuk Enis mamutc Wio'skusitcin I desire a buck when he is very fat in the fall of the year.
Song for a doe
Okwd'os wi'oskisit osnanuk I am going for a fat doe
During the songs the commonplace members of the party join in a dance acting the slaying of the deer. The ceremony is now over and the bundle owner takes it back to the spot where it was just hung up, and leaves it there until the following morning, when he takes it down again. He takes some of it and wraps a small portion carefully in a rag for each of the
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hunters. Then taking some medicine he mixes it with the smudging medi¬ cine and burns it in a skillet, which he carries about the camp causing the incense to blow in the direction the party intends to hunt. Before this has taken place the men have erected two scaffolds, one to hold the edible part of the venison, the other to hold the head, lungs, legs, and neck, the parts most affected by the medicine. Before setting out he next incenses or smudges the rifles for shooting, a pack strap for carrying, and the knives for butchering, in fact all the utensils that will be used in any way in con¬ nection with the deer. During the hunt the bundle owner sings the songs of the evening before in order to please the animals concerned so that they will grant him power.
On the first evening a feast is made of the untabooed meat and eaten ceremonially in honor of the wolf and the owl. At the end of the ritual, which is repeated (excepting the feast), for four days, the owner fumigates the meat by putting some of the incense on the fire and causing the flames to be wafted over it. Then he divides the meat, hitherto held in common, equally among his followers. The same ritual can be made to apply to bear and other game as well as deer.
The smudge medicine is also thrown in the fire to blind any Saxkaniio who may approach. He can, however, if very bold, steal this medicine and take the risk of losing his sight. One can see that a good many have tried it, because there are so many blind men among the old Mitaouk. There is nothing evil about this medicine bundle. So far as we could learn it is never used on men.
These are the great “public” hunting medicines of the Menomini. The last two are no doubt an offshoot of the first. They all possess many similar features, and all of them are manipulated through the same forms of sym¬ pathetic magic. The rituals are very similar; the last of the three resembles the “private” medicines to a considerable extent. Of “private” medicines we have first, several bundles, which are perhaps really intermediate be¬ tween the two classes.
One night a lad who dreamed he had been given a powerful medicine by the underground panther told his father about it and the old man ordered him to fast and sleep again to see if the dream was repeated. It fell about that the youth saw the same vision, whereupon his father commanded him to abstain for one day more. The following morning, his dream now being complete in every detail, the young man rose, still fasting, and went to the shore of a secluded lake, where the panther promised to meet him. The sky was blue and calm, for the underground god had so desired it when the boy arrived at the trysting place and sacrificed tobacco. As he offered this gift, he observed something white lying on a sand bar that jutted out into
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the water. The boy hastened to the place, where he found the great panther.1 As soon as he came up the god enquired if the lad saw him and on being answered in the affirmative, cried : “ I have sent for you in order to give you a reward for your fasting and suffering. I have pity on you and I give you plenty to eat in the future. Bear, deer, and all the food that Indians like shall be yours.”
The youth stood there gaping at these words and the panther, observing his puzzled expression, said: “I shall show you! You shall understand!” And raising his foreleg he let something fall from his armpit. It was a tiny stone. “With this,” he growled, “you shall be able to obtain your heart’s desire.”
The lad stole forward and laid a gift of tobacco at the panther’s head and when he had finished, the beast said, “Take up what I have just given you and put it with the tobacco.”
The boy picked up the soft, glistening object and laid it where he was bidden. “ This is my gift to you,” said the god, “ here is pewisitcupa (black root) which I give you to accompany the stone. Scrape a little from the stone and pulverize it with the root, add some manik (Colorado root) and the three will make a powerful medicine. That is enough, you may go, and on your return you shall find that which you wish to eat, take it and break your fast.”
On his return, the lad slew a bear upon which he feasted. The medicine has ever since been known among the Menomini as one of the most powerful.
Another origin myth for a hunting medicine is quite at variance with the usual Menomini form, and resembles more some of the myths found among the Plains tribes accounting for supernatural origins of medicines. This myth was obtained from Sophia Pecore: —
Some Menomini Indian people, long ago, were moving about on the fall hunt. The woman of the family had a child, a little girl five years old. The child was continually fretting and crying because it was lonely, as it had neither brothers nor sisters. In order to quiet it, its mother was in the habit of telling it that she would be thrown outside for the owls.
Now all the Great Birds Above heard this said by the mother, and they spoke to the owl. “Why don’t you take the child given you, it has been offered you many times.”
To this the owl replied: “I heard all that, but it was only said to the child to scare it, because I look so ugly. That’s why I don’t go and take it, for all patents say that to their children to frighten them.”
But the little girl kept on crying at night, and so, one night, to punish her, her mother said, “Child, I will throw you out doors for the owls to come and take you away.”
i According to Barbeau, (8), the Huron had a shamanistlc society which drew aid from the white panther and which the writer thinks was introduced through some of the Lake Algonkin.
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Then she opened the mat door and threw her daughter out, saying, “Now Owl, come and get her, she is yours.”
The child stayed outside for some time crying, and then she ceased and was not heard any more. Her mother went, out to see what was the matter, but she could not find her. She looked all around the lodge, but the child was not there. She went to every wigwam to enquire for her, but she could not learn anything of her, for it had come to pass that the owl had come and taken the child away secretly. Then the mother ran into her own wigwam and told her husband about the matter, what she had said and done in giving the child to the owl. Her husband was very angry at her, and they quarrelled and fought over their child.
When the little girl was taken away to the owl’s den in the wilderness, she found that one was her grandmother, and she was placed in a fancy wigwam and kept there in comfort all winter. Every once in a while the owl, her grandmother, would say “My grandchild, tomorrow I will take you home, for your parents live nearby. I will dress you up to look beautiful. I will give you some of my medicine and I will take you back where I got you. The medicine I shall give you is called Kitag'asa Musk'ikiu (Spotted fawn medicine), and is intended to charm deer and other game so that they may be killed. Medicine of this kind must be kept wrapped in a spotted fawnskin, and is named on that account. It is very powerful, this medicine I shall give you, grandchild, for you and your parents and great grandparents to use in the future among all your people as long as the world shall last.”
When it drew near spring the parents of the lost girl were making maple sugar at their sugar bush. Only a little snow remained here and there, and in the evenings the owls begin to whoop and sing to show that they are at last awake, for the Indians know that winter is but a short night to all the Sacred Powers.
In the meantime the parents of the little girl had given her up as lost, but the owl said to her grandchild, “Now I will take you home, and land you at the limits of your parents’ work on the trees they have tapped, surrounding their sugar camp. Stand there silently until your mother comes and finds you. Don’t allow her to touch you at all for four days. Then you must tell her to go and prepare a tiny wigwam for you to remain in for four days. This must be away from the sugar camp in a clean place where no one has done any trampling on the ground, and you shall remain there, silent.
So owl did leave her grandchild where her mother could find her, and her mother did come. When the woman first caught sight of her daughter, she cried out:
“Oh my! Is it my lost daughter or am I imagining or dreaming? Oh yes it is my daughter! Come my dear daughter, to me!’
But the girl said: “Do not grasp me, for I am forbidden to allow you to touch me for four days.”
The mother then ran back to the sugar camp to tell her husband and they both went back and met the girl. Their daughter said to them:
“ Make a tiny wigwam here and place me in it to remain for four days by myself, to be clean and pure as I was instructed by my grandmother owl . In the course of the four days my father must come to me frequently and I will instruct him how to use the medicine given me by my grandmother.”
So the wigwam was made according to her instructions and the girl showed her father how to use the fawnskin medicine, for it had sacred songs which had to be repeated as the owl had ordered.
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This medicine was and is always prepared by a pure young girl. It is made up when a number of hunters wish to use it. The girl who has it has to build a tiny wigwam, and the men have to have sticks made in the shape of deer’s legs with their hooves to beat upon in the lodge.
The men, clad only in their shirts, enter the lodge and sit in a circle, in the center of which is strewed a number of cedar boughs. Stones, heated in a fire outside are rolled in, in front of the hunters, and medicine which has been prepared is poured over the stones to make a medicated vapor. While the steam saturates each hunter, the songs are sung, and the sacred power of the owl is invoked. The other Sacred Powers hear it too, and send the aid to the hunters. Several tiny boys and girls are called into the lodge in memory of the little girl and their purity attracts the aid of the Sacred ones.
All wild animals are called by the spell and approach the wigwam. The hunters meet the game coming to them. The medicine must always be kept and guarded by a pure young girl. The rules for purifying the heads, briskets, hearts, lungs, kidneys and legs of the slaughtered game are the same as in the case of the other medicines.
Another small hunting charm called Nimokwetcikun, which was obtained from an old man named Pit'waskum, is said to have come to its first owner as a gift from the underneath bear and panther. It consists of several roots and herbs, wrapped in an old moth-eaten squirrel skin with quill-bound feet. The skin is used as a mortar to grind medicines.
The chief ingredient is a powder, composed of bear’s urine and a root called sakamiu, wrapped up in a birchbark case. The hunter carries the medicine with him and when he comes across the trail of a bear he puts some of the powder on the end of his ramrod and touches it to the animal’s track, singing: “ Pomotasomoka.” He continues to sing this song as he trails the bear, and is always successful.
In taking beaver, when the hunter arrives at the place where his quarry is likely to be, he pronounces the name of the white underground panther: “ Wia'bskinit Mate Pis'eu,” and sings the sacred song two or four times.
When any game has been taken through its power it cannot be eaten by women or children until the hunter fumigates it by burning opaseteikun root to draw out the power. If this is not observed the transgressors will turn black and die.
As in the case of many other medicines, the owner may boast of the ritual of this charm during certain parts of the performance of the rites of the mitawin. During this ceremony, as 1 understand it, there are times when each member proclaims all his “strong powers,” dances, and sings in their honor. The dancing song for the beaver power of this charm refers to the search of the hunter for the game.
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“ Kowatohona wanahaha o'taha In search of all ready to strike at its heart.
For comparison’s sake I insert the following remarks on the Wisconsin Ojibway : —
The Chippewas have a singular custom about hunting the bear in winter. Jour¬ neying from place to place, whenever they camp after dark, the hunters all assemble in a wigwam by themselves, excluding the squaws and children. They generally assemble at the lodge of the chief Medicine Man of the camp, who presides over the ceremonies, which are commenced by beating on the medicine-drum, and singing a certain number of songs, which are sung only on these occasions. The chief Medicine Man sits in the middle of the lodge, with some broad cloth and calico spread before him, together with a stuffed cub bear-skin, while his pipe or calumet, already filled, is placed before him on two crotched sticks. He then addresses the bear in this wise : “O, my brother! we are very hungry; we are on the point of starving, and I wish you to have pity on us, and to-morrow when the young men go out to hunt you, I want you to show yourself. I know very well that you are concealed somewhere close by my camp here. I give you my pipe to smoke out of, and I wish you would have pity on us, and give us your body that we may eat and not starve.” Having thus spoken, he takes the medicine-drum and beats on it, accompanying it with some songs that he recites from two small boards, on which they are written in hieroglyph¬ ics. When he gets through, he passes the drum and boards to the next Indian, and so on around, till all have sung and beaten the same thing. The performance generally lasts about four hours, when they return to their several lodges. In the morning, the hunters all go to the medicine bag of the chief Medicine Man, which is generally suspended from a small tree, and take from it some Vermillion with which they paint themselves, and the noses of their dogs. Thus prepared, they start on the hunt in different directions and being inspired with faith and goaded on by hunger, they are almost sure of success before night.1
I have collected a bear cub skin which was set upon a painted stick and addressed by the Menomini in this very manner. It was part of a bear bundle containing roots, herbs, and other medicines. Inscribed boards are used by the Menomini in this connection. I do not know of the custom of supporting the pipe in two crotched sticks among them.
The Big Bear and Little Beaver Medicines, a Dual Bundle.
The original owner of this bundle was an Ojibway, Wamekwayanamit, about 90 years old. This Indian sold the fetish to Kawikit, his brother-in- law, a Menomini, and from him it descended to Antoine Shipikau, from whom it was obtained for the Museum.
Unfortunately, but a small part of the data concerning the bundle and its use could be obtained, as its last owner was not fully informed on the subject.
i Calkins, 125-126.
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His knowledge was obtained through observation and not through instruc¬ tion.
The name “bundle” is to designate this medicine, although the contents are actually kept in a little old trunk, of European manufacture, which takes the place, in this instance, of the usual Indian-made covering. The con¬ tents are divided into two parts, one, called “The Big Bear Bundle,” em¬ ployed to keep its owner shielded from witches, and as a guardian for the other medicines, and the other, a charm designed to assist its possessor in taking game, particularly beaver.
The Big Bear Medicine.
This Big Bear Medicine consists of a buffalo tail, the claw of a grizzly bear, and three small packages of roots and herbs. The claw, besides being endowed with strong protective power, is also valued as an antidote for disease, on the ground that sicknesses are sent by rivals possessing super¬ natural aids. A minute portion of the horny covering of the claw is scraped off and taken in water as a draught. The formula to make this potion effective consists of two songs only one of which was collected:—
Oskakotawesa Osmanatoweyaon Supplied with everything As an animal and as powerful.
The Little Beaver Medicine.
This medicine is employed to capture animals of all sorts, particularly beaver. It is composed of the dried head of a beaver and five small bundles of powder and roots used as lures for different species of game. In order to scent the traps, a quantity of the contents of one of these packages is mixed with water, a small twig is saturated in the solution, and the liquid is applied to the snares; of these, the odor lure is no doubt actually potent in itse without the other, further efficiency is assured by the magical attraction of formulae, sung to call the game to the trap. Only one of these was gathered
as the others are forgotten.
Osokemawesa
Anamokiu
Anipata kayaisananamok Ano Ma/nabus, osayomiacisitwa Noma mokomesik, apa sos.
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As he lies like a chief Underneath the ground Then after I beset him
Then Ma'nabus may eat with his generation, male kind of beaver.
I will stand him up, beaver and deer.
Among the medicines are several which are said to hold evil properties and are associated with sorcery, and some which have the power to oppose and destroy the effects of these nefarious articles. It is related of the bad medicines that their very odor is fatal to a snake. The knowledge of the manipulation of these medicines, both good and bad, is now lost in obscurity.
From Jim Wisu, a notorious sorcerer, the following data, apparently relating to the same bundle, was collected.
According to Wisu, the bundle was of Utagami (Fox) origin. It was a powerful hunting and fishing medicine that was given to a fasting youth by a spirit that appeared many times. The youth did not believe at first, but the dream was repeated until he was convinced. When at last he was certain of the truth of his revelation, he invited twenty grayheaded men to his home. When they arrived he offered them tobacco and said as he sat in their midst, “We are now going to make a beaver bundle.”
He recited his instructions, and then pulled forth a trap. “This is nothing small that I am going to tell you,” he said. The old men lit their pipes.
“The chief of the beavers who lives in the middle of the ocean gave me this that I am about to perform before you.” He called to an attendant, “Now lift up the trap and set it where we draw water.” The attendant departed and the old men smoked again. When they had finished, he sent the attendant out and there was a beaver in the trap. “ It goes to show the friendship of the above and beneath gods, who have given me this power. This will bring success easily. The medicine has a beautiful odor which will lure game to you even in day time.” A necklace with a suspended bottle of medicine is worn by the user. Further information about the Beaver Hunting Bundle shows that while primarily designed to assist the owner in hunting and trapping beaver and other game, it also has a secondary use in sorcery and witchcraft, if placed in the hands of the evil minded.
The medicines for beaver hunting are three in number. The contents are : the dried body of a beaver and a tin box containing 7 kinds of medicine pow¬ der. Each of these medicines has its song to invoke supernatural aid, and is efficacious in luring beaver and other fur bearing animals to the hunter’s traps. The evening before using the medicine, the bundle owner makes a feast of dried blueberries and dried sweet corn.
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Lastly there is a small metal box containing two packages of very strong medicine to overpower the medicine of the beaver. They are used with the following song: —
Nahmahos kachatot 1
Mowwahnay, Muskikiwun saw oway yoint Osokaymow wasanohyou Osokaymow wasanohyou Nenahnop anaanau namaynon Osawohmahno mechesetwa Naseasawsock Iyananayohpewok.
For general witchcraft there are fifteen medicines made of powdered roots, etc. each in a separate package. These are all in a small trunk of European manufacture.
There are also five deadly medicines used by sorcerers to kill an enemy. These are a buffalo tail, together with a grizzly bear’s claw, and four packages of powdered medicine.
The sorcerer places a hair of the person he wishes to destroy in this packet, and the person will slowly bleed to death. The cause of the bleed¬ ing cannot be found out unless the sufferer employs another powerful medicineman, to define the trouble and frustrate the plans of the sorcerer.
This bundle can also be used to destroy the Misikinubikuk or great hairy snakes. For this purpose the sorcerer takes a little tree or sapling about six feet long and an inch thick; he removes the branches, leaving a little bunch of leaves at the tip. He wets this bunch of leaves and then sprinkles some of the contents of the medicine powder packet on it. He then seeks out the serpent and thrusts the end of the stick in its mouth or nostrils. The medicine kills the snake and the sorcerer skins its body half-way down and takes part of its flesh, vitals, and skin which he dries and powders to make medicine to destroy his enemies. These are applied in powder which is inhaled or drunk in liquid by the victim.
Additional data concerning the bear bundle were obtained from Nakuti who had inherited one from his grandfather. Although the old man has been a Christian for over fifty years, he nevertheless remembers much of the ritual. The bundle was the gift of the combined powers of the sun, moon, stars, and Mowakiwuk, or northern giants, the thunderers, the crow and his associates, the humming bird and the chickadee, and was primarily a
war bundle (see p. 121).
When a bear was killed, a feast and ceremony was given for the bundle.
In Satterlee’s orthography.
154 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,
The bear was skinned except the feet. The stomach, head, and paws of the bear were boiled together in a large kettle. The hair was only singed from the feet and they were cooked with the skin on them. When the meat was ready, the bundle was opened, and the miniature bow and arrows and tiny war clubs which it contained were stuck up in the ground near by. The owner then chanted the following songs to the music of the water drum, repeating each one once. The songs are practically the same as those used when utilizing the same bundle for going to war.
I
Songs given by the Four Powers.
Nama'kesiku ta/nanimekam
II
Song to the thunderers.
Upi'miwao initasapepitamun Imimaki11 A passing sound, I’ll be sounding there too, the thunderers.
(I, the thunderer will accompany this passing sound).
III
Song to the Northern God.
Mowiiki11 moateim wena keikito'tawit Mowiiki11 wehe. Mowiiki'1 wall a’
Muatcim apetcikatc inanitawheo Mowiiki11 wehe! Mowiiki11 wiihii!
Muiitcim apeteikatcinanitawheo.
The north giant spoke to me with the others.1
The crow also lent his aid to the bear medicine, along with his associates, humming bird, swallow, and chickadee. He guards the medicines : —
IV
Song of the Crow.
Kakaki11 ehe nina akanawituuminiki muskikium Crow said I will take care of your medicine.
Private Medicines.
Among other hunting medicines one portable amulet composed of three weasel skins was collected. These weasel skins each contain certain root medicines which are of unknown composition, since the knowledge of the in-
i As actually sung. The other songs given here are written as they are transferred to the buyer.
1913.]
Skinner, Menomini Social Life and Ceremonial Bundles.
155
gradients was a secret of which only the original owner was cognizant. They were obtained by a Potawatomi 1 from whom they came into the possession of their Menomini owner by inheritance through intermarriage.
To use this medicine the owner outlines the figures of a deer, bear, or other game, (or if he is evilly inclined, a man) on the ground with the head to the south. The manipulator next takes the tiny bow and arrow from the bundle, dips the arrow point into the red medicine, faces south and shoots the deer in the heart singing over and over
Ohd'ho tanin'oha yake weseseweyan I see the deer at noon when I am painted.
His success in the chase is now assured. Should he wish to destroy an enemy he repeats the same words with a similar performance, naming the hour at which he wishes his enemy to succumb. Sure enough the person is found dead at the time indicated.
In this connection, it is interesting to note some remarks by Tanner 2 with reference to the Ojibway.
Shortly after this, we were so reduced by hunger, that it was thought necessary to have recourse to a medicine hunt. Nah-gitch-e-gum-me sent to me and 0-ge- mah-we-ninne, the two best hunters of the band, each a little leather sack of medicine, consisting of certain roots, pounded fine and mixed with red paint, to be applied to the little images or figures of the animals we wished to kill. Precisely the same method is practised in this kind of hunting, at least as far as the use of medicine is concerned, as in those instances where one Indian attempts to inflict disease or suffer¬ ing on another. A drawing, or a little image, is made to represent the man, the woman, or the animal, on which the power of the medicine is to be tried; then the part representing the heart is punctured with a sharp instrument, if the design be to cause death, a little of the medicine is applied. The drawing or image of an animal used in this case is called muzzi-ne-neen, muzzi-ne-neen-ug (pi.) 3 and the same name is applicable to the little figure of a man or woman, and is sometimes rudely traced on birch bark, in other instances more carefully carved of wood. We started with much confidence of success, but Wah-ka-zhe followed, and overtaking us at some distance, cautioned us against using the medicine Nah-gitch-e-gum-me had given us, as he said it would be the means of mischief and misery to us, not at present, but when we came to die. We therefore did not make use of it, but, nevertheless, hap¬ pening to kill some game, Nah-gitch-e-gum-me thought himself, on account of the supposed efficacy of his medicine, entitled to a handsome share of it.
Perhaps the following medicines should come under the caption of pic¬ ture writing, but they are introduced here because of their relation to hunting. The first is a flat stick, eight or ten inches long by one and a half inches broad,
The same man who obtained the Good Fortune bundle described on p. 160, which see
for other particulars.
2 Tanner’s Narrative, 174.
3 Menomini muzininis, muz'ininisuk.
156
Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,.
on which are incised a series of figures which hold the story of the supernatural experiences of its owner (Fig. 28). It is read during the Mitawin ceremonies when the various members of the society testify to their relations with the mysterious powrers. This is also repeated just prior to going hunting, or recited with testimonials of the efficacy at ceremonies of the Mitawin as proof of the owner’s relations with the supernatural.
Opening Song.
Anakinawonun Ospiskitehentaiyun Do you see me As I now come out?
In my youth I blackened my face and fasted, trusting that the Powers Above and Below might hear my prayer and have pity on me. I prayed for success in the pursuit and capture of all four-legged things (Fig. 28a) and of all fish (Fig. 28b). I addressed my supplications to Wabiskinitapasos
Fig. 28 (50.1-5869). Flat Board containing Hunting Dream Formulae.
(Fig. 28c), the sacred white deer and his assistant, Wabiskuitnama, the sacred white beaver who have charge over all things on earth and in the water (Fig. 28 d).
These things they heard me ask, and having pity on me, who had suffered so long, they granted me my desires.
Opening Song
Usketcetanukwuk mawaneomon'atowuk
Nikonatowanimukwuoh
Do you see me
As I now come out
To call out all the animals
That I wish to have?
Grant, oh powers even as you have promised me, that I shall slay deer (Fig. 28e, f, g) and all other animals. May my medicine enter the heart of a bear (Fig. 28h); may I have success (Fig. 28i) I pray thee; may I dream a prophetic dream (Fig. 2Sj) tonight that I may see where the bears”
1913.]
Skinner, Menomini Social Life and Ceremonial Bundles.
157
den may be found. 1 pray thee that it may be found at the place I desire it to be. Oh chief of all the bears (Fig. 281) .
Buffalo Medicine.
One of the most interesting medicines collected among the Menomini was a charm to call the buffalo. Objectively this consists of a red dyed deer hair headdress (Fig. 29), a gourd rattle and three buffalo tail arm bands
L_
a
b
c
d
Fig 29 (50.1-7017 a-d). Buffalo Calling Medicine, a Arm Band, with quilled design representing the thunderers; Dyed Deer’s Hair Headdress.
Gourd Rattle; b, Buffalo- tail c. Buffalo-tail Arm Band; d.
158 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII r
beautifully ornamented with porcupine quill work, the figures representing thunderbirds. A fourth arm band made of the tail of a white horse, could not be secured.
Before setting out on a buffalo hunt, the owner of this charm would sum¬ mon companions and they would prepare a small feast. The leader would then pray for success, chanting his appeal to the swish of the rattle. At the conclusion of this act he would sacrifice tobacco to all the gods with these words:
“Now I have brought tobacco to you to give you in return for your pro¬ tection, and I beg for success in this hunt.”
The party then donned the arm bands and set out, secure in the knowl¬ edge that the buffalo would come to them and surrender themselves, and that they would be safe from the attacks of any enemy or wild beast.
The Guardian Doll and its Ritual.
Among the lares and penates of most Woodland tribes, idols or images representing the god of good luck have been observed,1 and the Menomini are by no means an exception to the rule. A number of the older people possess small wooden figures which are carefully guarded in their sacred packs except when they are exhibited at the Mitawin meetings as proof of intimacy with the supernatural. They differ from most charms in not being made as the result of instructions in dreams. Propitiated by frequent sacrifices of tobacco they are entreated to procure for their owners every blessing from long life to abundant food and clothing. To wish for visitors, for money, for health, and merely desire them through the intermediation of the doll as the representative of the guardian spirit in whose form it is made is to secure the boon craved.
From an old mitao of my acquaintance one of these dolls was secured to¬ gether with the birchbark record setting forth the ritual which must accom¬ pany its appearance in public at the Mitawin, and the formulae for its private use. The scroll has been partly destroyed by mice, and certain parts of it were not translated by its owner, although a very good idea of its use may be gathered from these notes. The doll is set up in the lodge, and standing before it the Mitao opens the scroll and reads its writings or explains, them. The explanation as given me is as follows.
The first figures show the mitawikomik, or medicine lodge, and its attend¬ ant priests, and are symbolic merely of the place in which the scroll is to be used. Above come several dividing lines, then, a series of figures represent-
1 See Harrington, (c), 417-418. Nahneetis, the guardian of health.
1913.]
Skinner, Menomini Social Life and Ceremonial Bundles.
159
I I | I , M ||| I'M1
Fig. 30 (50.1 -5848b). Birchbark Record accompanying a Medicine Doll.
160 Anthropological Papers American Museum Natural History. [Vol. XIII,
ing the Mitawuk in session. Above this is an enclosure representing a cross section of the lodge, and symbolizing the speeches of the Mitawuk. Of the human figures, some are unexplained, but the female spirit of good fortune which the guardian doll controls is shown. As this figure is exhibited the Mitao chants :
LVniwikup'oit Hawatuk ota/tune pisomoketut wehe wehe
Sasawe nase maukehe, wehe, wehe.
We beg for power from her
(as) She comes from her place (on the scaffold circular platform in
the wigwam.)
He repeats the lines many times amid an impressive silence, while his hearers cover their mouths with their hands in veneration and awe. After this song he proceeds to figure/, which he explains as the same spirit in her conjuring lodge, prepared to assist him against his enemies by shooting the dread arrows of disease and misfortune at them.1
The song for inciting the spirit to vengeance is not sung in public, but only when the mitao is alone.
Figure g, on the right is also evil, but not so powerful as the central image; its song is
Ayom usnik'amit usakita yom atciman.
This one singing went through this writing.
From the consideration of the hunting medicines we come to the good luck bundle.2 This bundle is one which brings all kinds of good fortune: money, clothes, food, visitors, death to enemies and the like. It was the gift of the powers below, who, since they are the authors of bad luck have gradually come to be considered, if not the author’s of good fortune, at least able to cause it by withholding their malevolence. I will give the story of one collected for the Museum.
A Potawatomi youth received a promise in his sacred dream that he should have assistance from the powers below. He was told that this present would be given him later on, at a place which he should know when he came to it. Some time later, when returning across Lake Michigan from a trading trip to the whites with his friends, he came to a rock in the midst
1 Most Mitaowfik do not use their privilege of attacking their rivals by this or any other means, preferring to hire some sorcerer to do it for them, rather than become familiar with the Black Art.
2 It is noticeable that the majority of these minor bundles seem to have originated among the Potawatomi.
1913.]
Skinner , Menomini Social Life and Ceremonial Bundles.
161
of the water which he recognized at once as the place of his dream’s fulfill¬ ment. He begged his friends to stop and leave him there, which they did. Here he received his reward, in the shape of the bundle of good luck, and the injunction not to open it until he grew a little older. He was miraculously transported to his home, no one knows how, and was already there when his companions arrived. Later on, he received several other medicines and further instruction from the Anamikiwuk, or powers below, at a high buff on Lake Winnebago, near Oshkosh. He approached this bluff and sprayed some of his medicine out of his mouth on the surface. The rock opened and he entered and found himself in the storehouse of the underground powers who asked him to take his choice of anything he saw. He chose several powerful medicines which were explained to him and handed him with their songs and formulae. He later made sacrifice to the powers below by pour¬ ing whiskey into the earth and burying goods and was further rewarded by being privileged to visit another rock horde.
The bundle itself is peculiar. It contains a chief, a wooden doll dressed in costume with a string of real and imitation wampum beads, of the long Dutch variety, around its neck. This chief represents the underground white bear, a power of the second tier, in human shape. Under the dress the doll bears a small box containing the most powerful of the medicines. The doll may be carried next the heart as a protector and will bring good luck when appealed to with the proper votive offering of tobacco. The wrapping containing the doll and the other medicines is of white cloth. A large red sun is outlined upon it signifying that, while the bundle may be a gift from below, it is manipulated here on earth under the auspices of the sun. One medicine for the obtaining of blankets or cloth is wrapped in a strip cut
from a red blanket. . . „ .
In working the bundle, the figure of the object desired, money, food,
game, goods, is outlined on a stick or paper which is set up before the doll which is standing and touched with a stick dipped in one of the two red (paper wrapped) medicines with this song.
Nanawakomikta asapesese misik inonecut manoto asosawese. .
The bear covering the whole earth, being black, and all other animals
of a brown color.1
1 Deer, beaver, otter.
162
A nthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIII,
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New England’s Prospect, etc. 1629-34.
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