I hear the spirit speaking to us.
The Midē'-singer is of superior power, as designated by the horns and pointer upon his head. The lines from the ears indicate hearing.
I am going into the medicine lodge.
The Midē'wigân is shown with a line through it, to signify that the preceptor is going through it in imagination, as in the initiation.
I am taking (gathering) medicine to make me live.
The disks indicate the sacred objects sought for, which are successively obtained by the speaker, who represents the officiating shaman.
I give you medicine, and a lodge, also.
The Midē', as the personator of Makwá Man'idō, is empowered to offer this privilege to the candidate.
I am flying into my lodge.
Represents the thunder-bird, a deity flying into the arch of the sky, the abode of spirits or Man'idōs. The short lines cutting the curve are spirit lines.
The spirit has dropped medicine from the sky where we can get it.
The line from the sky, diverging to various points, indicates that the sacred objects fall in scattered places.
I have the medicine in my heart.
The singer’s heart is filled with knowledge relating to sacred objects from the earth.
The song depicted in Pl. XVIII C, was drawn by “Little Frenchman,” an Ojibwa Midē' of the first degree, who reproduced it from a bark record belonging to his preceptor. “Little Frenchman” had not yet received instruction in these characters, and consequently could not sing the songs, but from his familiarity with mnemonic delineations of the order of the Grand Medicine of ideas he was able to give an outline of the signification of the figures and the phraseology which they suggested to his mind. In the following description the first line pertaining to a character is the objective description, the second being the explanation.
It is furthermore to be remarked that in this chart and the one following the interpretation of characters begins at the right hand instead of the left, contrary to rule. The song is reproduced from. Pl. XXII, A, of the Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology:
From the place where I sit.
A man, seated and talking or singing.
The big tree in the middle of the earth.
Tree; inclosure represents the world as visible from a given spot of observation—horizon.
I will float down the fast running stream.
Stream of water; the spots indicate progress of traveler, and may be rude indications of canoes or equally rude foot tracks, the usual pictograph for traveling.
The place that is feared I inhabit; the swift running stream.
A spirit surrounded by a line indicating the shore.
You who speak to me.
Two spirits communing.
I have long horns.
Horned water monster.
Rest; dancing begins with next character.
I, observing, follow your example.
Man listening to water monster (spirit).
You are my body; you see anybody; you see my nails are worn off in grasping the stone (from which medicine is taken).
Bear, with claws, scratching; depression shown by line under claws, where scratching has been done.
You (i. e., the spirits who are there), to whom I am speaking.
Spirit panther.
I am floating down smoothly.
Spirit otter, swimming; outer lines are river banks.
Rest.
I have finished my drum.
Spirit holding drum; sound ascending.
My body is like unto you.
This is the mī'gis shell—the special symbol of the Midē' wiwin.
Hear me, thou, who art talking to me.
Listening, and wanting others (spirits) to hear.
See what I am taking.
Spirit (Midē') taking “medicine root.”
See me whose head is out of the water.
Otters, two spirits, the left-hand one being the “speaker.”
The Midē' song, Pl. XVIII, D, was also copied by “Little Frenchman” upon birchbark, from one in the possession of his preceptor, but upon which he had not yet received careful instruction; hence the incompleteness of some of his interpretations. It is reproduced from Pl. XXII, B, of the Seventh Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology.
I am sitting down with my pipe.
Man sitting, holding a pipe. He has been called upon to “make medicine.” The short lines beneath the body represent that he is seated. He holds a filled pipe which he is not yet smoking.
I, me the spirit, the spirit of the owl.
Owl, held by Midē'; arm above bird. This character appears upon the Grand Medicine chart from Red Lake, as passing from the midē' lodge to the ghost lodge.
It stands, that which I am going after.
Tree; showing tracks made by bear spirit. The speaker terms himself equal with this spirit and represents himself seeking remedies.
I, who fly.
Medicine bag, flying. The figure is that of the thunder bird (eagle) whose skin was used for a bag. The trees beneath show the bird to have ascended beyond their tops.
Kibinan is what I use—the magic arrow.
An arrow, held by hand.
I am coming to the earth.
Otter spirit. Circle denotes the surrounding sky in which is the spirit. The earth is shown by the horizontal line above which is the Indian hut. The speaker likens himself to the otter spirit who first received the rites of the Midē' initiation.
I am feeling for it.
Man (spirit) seeking for hidden medicine. The circle represents a hole in the earth.
I am talking to it.
Medicine bag made of an owl skin is held by shaman; latter is talking to the magic elements contained therein.
They are sitting in a circle (“around in a row”).
Midē' lodge; Midē' sitting around. The crosses represent the persons present.
You who are newly hung, and you who have reached half, and you who are now full.
Full moon, one half, and quarter moon.
I am going for my dish.
Footprints leading to dish (ghost society dish). The circular objects here each denotes a “feast,” usually represented by a “dish.”
I go through the medicine lodge.
Grand medicine lodge; tracks leading through it. The speaker, after having prepared a feast, is entitled to enter for initiation.
Let us commune with one another.
Two men conversing; two Midē'.
The mnemonic order of song, Pl. XIX a, is another example from Red Lake, prepared by the Ojibwa last mentioned:
“Carved images.”
Carved images. These represent the speaker to say that he prepares fetishes for hunting, love, etc.
I am holding my grand medicine sack.
Man holding “medicine bag.”
“Wants a woman.” [No interpretation was ventured by “Little Frenchman.”]
Hear me, great spirit.
Lines from the ears, to denote hearing.
I am about to climb.
Medicine tree at grand lodge. The marks on either side are bear tracks, the footprints of the bear spirit—the speaker representing him.
I am entering the grand medicine lodge.
The Midē'wigân, showing footprints of the bear Man'idō which are simulated by the boastful shaman.
I am making my tracks on the road.
Footprints on the path.
I am resting at my home.
Human figure, with “voice” issuing—singing.
Pl. XIX b is a similar song, also made by “Little Frenchman,” and relates to magic remedies and his powers of incantation:
The stars.
Stars, preceded by a mark of rest or beginning. It may be noticed that one star has eight and the other six rays, showing that their number is not significant.
The wolf that runs.
Wolf; the banded tail distinguishes it from the otter.
See me what I have; what I have (goods given in the midē' wigwân).
Man holding bow.
See what I am about to do.
Arm, holding a gun.
The house of the beaver.
Beaver, in his house.
I, who make a noise.
A frog, croaking, shown by “voice” lines.
My white hair.
Head with hair. The signification of white hair is great age, though there is no way to ascertain this without oral statement by the singer.
The house of the otter.
Otter in his burrow.
Hear me, you, to whom I am talking.
Mī'gis, spoken to by man, lines showing hearing. The sacred emblem of the Midē'wiwin is implored for aid in carrying out a desired scheme.
I stoop as I walk.
An old man. Age is denoted by the act of walking with a staff.
I stand by the tree.
Standing near medicine tree. The speaker knows of valued remedies which he desires to dispose of for payment.
I am raising a rock.
Man with stone for Midē' lodge. Carrying stone to Midē' lodge, against which to place a patient.
I am holding my pail.
Vessel of medicine; arm reaching down to it.
My arrow point is of iron, and about to kill a male bear.
Bear, above arrow. Bow—lower character.
I am about to speak to the sky.
Speaking to the “sky.” Power of communing with the Great Spirit, Ki'tshi Man'idō'.
I am about to depart; I will liken myself to a bear.
Bear, tracks and path.
I am walking on the hard sand beach.
Body of water, and lynx. The ellipse denotes a lake.
Another song of a similar character, reproduced from birchbark on Pl. XIX c, is explained below. It was also made by “Little Frenchman,” and relates to the searching for and preparation of objects used in sorcery.
It is fiery, that which I give you.
Vessel, with flames on top. Contains strong water wi-bīn', a magical decoction.
It is growing, the tree.
Midē'wigân, with trees growing around it at four corners.
I cover the earth with my length.
Snakes; guardians of the first degree.
The bear is contained within me.
Bear spirit within the man—i. e., the speaker. This indicates that he possesses the power of the Bear Man'idō, one of the most powerful of the guardians of the Midē' society.
He has Man'idō (spirit) in his mouth.
Possessing the power of curing by “sucking” bad spirits from patient’s body. This is the practice of the lower shamans, known as Jēs'sakkīd'.
The hawk genus et sp.
Ki-ni-en', the hawk from which “medicine” is obtained.
I, who am about to talk.
Head of man; lines from mouth denote speech.
The interpretation now again proceeds from right to left.
I am about to walk.
Bear spirit, talking. The lines upon the back indicate his spirit character.
I am crawling away.
Mī'gis shell. The sacred emblem of the Midē' society.
Rest.
From this, I wish to be able to walk.
Taking “medicine” trail (behind man). The speaker is addressing a Man'idō which he holds.
I am being called to go there.
Sacred lodges, with spirits within.
I am going.
Footprints, leading toward a wigwam.
Rest.
The Ojibwa chart, used in the “Song for the Metai, or for Medicine Hunting,” is taken from Tanner’s (a) Narrative and reproduced in Fig. 165. It should be noted that the Metai of Tanner’s interpretation, which follows, is the same as the Midē' in the foregoing interpretations:
a. Now I hear it, my friends of the Metai, who are sitting about me.
This and the three following are sung by the principal chief of the Metai, to the beat of his bwoin ah-keek, or drum. The line from the sides of the head of the figure indicate hearing.
b. Who makes this river flow? The Spirit, he makes this river flow.
The second figure is intended to represent a river, and a beaver swimming down it.
c. Look at me well, my friends; examine me, and let us understand that we are all companions.
This translation is by no means literal. The words express the boastful claims of a man who sets himself up for the best and most skillful in the fraternity.
d. Who maketh to walk about, the social people? A bird maketh to walk about the social people.
By the bird the medicine man means himself; he says that his voice has called the people together. Weej-huh nish-a-nauba, or weeja-nish-a-nau-ba seems to have the first syllable from the verb which means to accompany. The two lines drawn across, between this figure and the next, indicate that here the dancing is to commence.
e. I fly about and if anywhere I see an animal, I can shoot him.
This figure of a bird (probably an eagle or hawk) seems intended to indicate the wakefulness of the senses and the activity required to insure success in hunting. The figure of the moose which immediately follows, reminding the singer of the cunning and extreme shyness of that animal, the most difficult of all to kill.
f. I shoot your heart; I hit your heart, oh, animal—your heart—I hit your heart.
This apostrophe is mere boasting and is sung with much gesticulation and grimace.
g. I make myself look like fire.
This is a medicine man disguised in the skin of a bear. The small parallelogram under the bear signifies fire, and the shamans, by some composition of gunpowder, or other means, contrive to give the appearance of fire to the mouth and eyes of the bear skin, in which they go about the village late at night, bent on deeds of mischief, oftentimes of blood. We learn how mischievous are these superstitions when we are informed that they are the principal men of the Metai, who thus wander about the villages in the disguise of a bear, to wreak their hatred on a sleeping rival or their malice on an unsuspecting adversary. But the customs of the Indians require of anyone who may see a medicine man on one of these excursions to take his life immediately, and whoever does so is accounted guiltless.
h. I am able to call water from above, from beneath, and from around.
Here the medicine man boasts of his power over the elements, and his ability to do injury or benefit. The segment of a circle with dots in it represents water and the two short lines touching the head of the figure indicate that he can draw it to him.
i. I cause to look like the dead, a man I did.
I cause to look like the dead, a woman I did.
I cause to look like the dead, a child I did.
The lines drawn across the face of this figure indicate poverty, distress, and sickness; the person is supposed to have suffered from the displeasure of the medicine man. Such is the religion of the Indians. Its boast is to put into the hands of the devout supernatural means by which he may wreak vengeance on his enemies whether weak or powerful, whether they be found among the foes of his tribe or the people of his own village. This Metai, so much valued and revered by them, seems to be only the instrument in the hands of the crafty for keeping in subjection the weak and the credulous, which may readily be supposed to be the greater part of the people.
k. I am such, I am such, my friends; any animal, any animal, my friends, I hit him right, my friends.
This boast of certain success in hunting is another method by which he hopes to elevate himself in the estimation of his hearers. Having told them he has the power to put them all to death, he goes on to speak of his infallible success in hunting, which will always enable him to be a valuable friend to such as are careful to secure his good will.
The following chart for the “Song for beaver hunting and the Metai,” is taken from the same author, loc. cit., and reproduced in Fig. 166, with interpretations as follows:
a. I sit down in the lodge of the Metai, the lodge of the Spirit.
This figure is intended to represent the area of the Metai-we-gaun, or medicine lodge, which is called also the lodge of the Man'idō, and two men have taken their seats in it. The matter of the song seems to be merely introductory.
b. Two days must you sit fast, my friend; four days must you sit fast, my friend.
The two perpendicular lines on the breast of this figure are read ne-o-gone (two days), but are understood to mean two years; so of the four lines drawn obliquely across the legs, these are four years. The heart must be given to this business for two years, and the constrained attitude of the legs indicates the rigid attention and serious consideration which the subject requires.
c. Throw off, woman, thy garments, throw off.
The power of their medicines and the incantations of the Metai are not confined in their effect to animals of the chase, to the lives and health of men; they control also the minds of all and overcome the modesty as well as the antipathies of women. The Indians firmly believe that many a woman who has been unsuccessfully solicited by a man is not only by the power of the Metai made to yield, but even in a state of madness to tear off her garments and pursue after the man she before despised. These charms have greater power than those in the times of superstition among the English, ascribed to the fairies, and they need not, like the plant used by Puck, be applied to the person of the unfortunate being who is to be transformed; they operate at a distance through the medium of the Miz-zin-ne-neens.
d. Who makes the people walk about? It is I that calls you.
This is in praise of the virtue of hospitality, that man being most esteemed among them who most frequently calls his neighbors to his feast.
e. Anything I can shoot with it (this medicine) even a dog, I can kill with it.
f. I shoot thy heart, man, thy heart.
He means, perhaps, a buck moose by the word e-nah-ne-wah, or man.
g. I can kill a white loon, I can kill.
The white loon (rara avis nigroque similimo cygno) is certainly a rare and most difficult bird to kill; so we may infer that this boaster can kill anything, which is the amount of the meaning intended in that part of his song recorded by the five last figures. Success in hunting they look upon as a virtue of a higher character, if we may judge from this song, than the patience under suffering or the rakishness among women, or even the hospitality recommended in the former part.
h. My friends——
There seems to be an attempt to delineate a man sitting with his hands raised to address his friends; but the remainder of his speech is not remembered. This is sufficient to show that the meaning of the characters in this kind of picture writing is not well settled and requires a traditional interpretation to render it intelligible.
i. I open my wolf skin and the death struggle must follow.
This is a wolf skin used as a medicine bag and he boasts that whenever he opens it something must die in consequence.
Tanner’s Narrative (b) says of musical notation drawn on bark by Ojibwas:
Many of these songs are noted down by a method probably peculiar to the Indians, on birch bark, or small flat pieces of wood: the ideas being conveyed by emblematic figures, somewhat like those * * * used in communicating ordinary information.
Rev. P. J. De Smet (a) gives an account of the mnemonic order of songs among the Kickapoo and Pottawatomi. He describes a stick 1½ inches broad and 8 or 10 long, upon which are arbitrary characters which they follow with the finger in singing the prayers, etc. There are five classes of these characters. The first represents the heart, the second heart and flesh (chair), the third life, the fourth their names, and the fifth their families.
A. W. Howitt (b) says:
The makers of the Australian songs, or of the combined songs and dances are the poets or bards of the tribe and are held in great esteem. Their names are known to the neighboring peoples, and their songs are carried from tribe to tribe until the very meaning of the words is lost as well as the original source of the song.
Such an instance is a song which was accompanied by a carved stick painted red, which was held by the chief singer. This traveled down the Murray river from some unknown source. The same song, accompanied by such a stick, also came into Gippsland many years ago from Melbourne and may even have been the above mentioned one on its return.
Even since the Columbian discovery some tribes have employed devices yet ruder than the rudest pictorial attempt as markers for the memory. An account of one of these is given in E. Winslow’s Relation (A. D. 1624), Col. Mass. Hist. Soc., 2d series, IX, 1822, p. 99, as follows:
Instead of records and chronicles they take this course: Where any remarkable act is done, in memory of it, either in the place or by some pathway near adjoining, they make a round hole in the ground about a foot deep and as much over, which, when others passing by behold, they inquire the cause and occasion of the same, which, being once known, they are careful to acquaint all men as occasion serveth therewith. And lest such holes should be filled or grown over by any accident, as men pass by they will often renew the same, by which means many things of great antiquity are fresh in memory. So that as a man traveleth, if he can understand his guide, his journey will be the less tedious by reason of the many historical discourses which will be related unto him.
In connection with this section students may usefully consult Dr. Brinton’s (f) Lenâpé and their Legends.
As an example of a chart used in the exact repetition of traditions, Fig. 167 is presented with the following explanation by Rev. J. Owen Dorsey:
The chart accompanies a tradition chanted by members of a secret society of the Osage tribe. It was drawn by an Osage, Red Corn.
The tree at the top represents the tree of life. By this flows a river. The tree and the river are described later in the degrees. When a woman is initiated she is required by the head of her gens to take four sips of water (symbolizing the river), then he rubs cedar on the palms of his hands, with which he rubs her from head to foot. If she belongs to a gens on the left side of a tribal circle, her chief begins on the left side of her head, making three passes, and pronouncing the sacred name three times. Then he repeats the process from her forehead down; then on the right side of her head; then at the back of her head; four times three times, or twelve passes in all.
Beneath the river are the following objects: The Watse ʇuʞa, male slaying animal (?), or morning star, which is a red star. 2. Six stars called the “Elm rod” by the white people in the Indian territory. 3. The evening star. 4. The little star. Beneath these are the moon, seven stars, and sun. Under the seven stars are the peace pipe and war hatchet; the latter is close to the sun, and the former and the moon are on the same side of the chart. Four parallel lines extending across the chart, represent four heavens or upper worlds through which the ancestors of the Tsiↄu people passed before they came to this earth. The lowest heaven rests on an oak tree; the ends of the others appear to be supported by pillars or ladders. The tradition begins below the lowest heaven, on the left side of the chart, under the peace pipe. Each space on the pillar corresponds with a line of the chant; and each stanza (at the opening of the tradition) contains four lines. The first stanza precedes the arrival of the first heaven, pointing to a time when the children of the “former end” of the race were without human bodies as well as human souls. The bird hovering over the arch denotes an advance in the condition of the people; then they had human souls in the bodies of birds. Then followed the progress from the fourth to the first heaven, followed by the descent to earth. The ascent to four heavens and the descent to three, makes up the number seven.
When they alighted, it was on a beautiful day when the earth was covered with luxuriant vegetation. From that time the paths of the Osages separated; some marched on the right, being the war gentes, while those on the left were peace gentes, including the Tsiↄu, whose chart this is.
Then the Tsiↄu met the black bear, called in the tradition Káxe-wáhü-san' (Crow-bone-white), in the distance. He offered to become their messenger, so they sent him to the different stars for aid. According to the chart he went to them in the following order: Morning star, sun, moon, seven stars, evening star, little star.
Then the black bear went to the Waↄiñʞa-ↄüʇse, a female red bird sitting on her nest. This grandmother granted his request. She gave them human bodies, making them out of her own body.
The earth lodge at the end of the chart denotes the village of the Hañʞa uta¢anʇsi, who were a very warlike people. Buffalo skulls were on the tops of the lodges, and the bones of the animals on which they subsisted whitened on the ground. The very air was rendered offensive by the decaying bodies and offal.
The whole of the chart was used mnemonically. Parts of it, such as the four heavens and ladders, were tattooed on the throat and chest of the old men belonging to the order.
The tradition relating to Minabō'zho and the sacred objects received from Kítshi Man'idō is illustrated in Fig. 168, which, represents a copy (one-third original size) of the record preserved at White Earth. This record is read from left to right and is, briefly, as follows:
a represents Minabō'zho, who says of the adjoining characters representing the members of the Midéwin: “They are the ones, they are the ones who put into my heart the life.” Minabō'zho holds in his left hand the sacred medicine bag.
b and c represent the drummers; at the sound of the drum everybody rises and becomes inspired, because the Great Spirit is then present in the lodge.
d denotes that women also have the privilege of becoming members of the Midéwin. This figure holds a snake-skin “medicine bag” in her left hand.
e represents the tortoise, the good spirit, who was the giver of some of the sacred objects used in the rite.
f the bear, also a benevolent spirit, but not held in so great veneration as the tortoise. His tracks are visible in the lodge.
g the sacred medicine bag, Biń-ji-gú-sân, which contains life and can be used by the Midē' to prolong the life of a sick person.
h represents a dog given by the spirits to Minabō'zho as a companion.
Fig. 169 gives copies, one-third actual size, of two records in possession of different Midē' at Red lake. The characters are almost identical, and one record appears to have been copied from the other. The lower figure, however, contains an additional character. The following is an incomplete interpretation of the characters, the letters applying equally to both:
a, Esh'gibŏ'ga, the great uncle of the Unish'-in-ab'-aig, the receiver of the Midéwin.
b, the drum and drumsticks.
c, a bar or rest, observed while chanting the words pertaining to the records.
d, the bin'-ji-gu'-sân, or sacred medicine bag. It consists of an otter skin, and is the mī'gis, or sacred symbol of the midē'wigân' or grand medicine lodge.
e, a Midē' shaman, the one who holds the mī'gis while chanting the Midē' song in the grand medicine lodge, f. He is inspired, as indicated by the line extending from the heart to the mouth.
f, representation of the grand medicine lodge. This character, with slight addition, is usually employed by the southern division of the Ojibwa to denote the lodge of a jĕssakkī'd, and is ordinarily termed a “jugglery.”
g, a woman, and signifies that women may also be admitted to the midē'wigân', shown in the preceding character.
h, a pause or rest in the chant.
i, the sacred snake-skin bag, having the power of giving life through its skin. This power is indicated by the lines radiating from the head and the back of the snake.
j represents a woman.
k, another illustration of the mī'gis, represented by the sacred otter.
l denotes a woman who is inspired, as shown by the line extending from the heart to the mouth in the lower chart, and simply showing the heart in the upper. In the latter she is also empowered to cure with magic plants.
m represents a Midē' shaman, but no explanation was obtained of the special character delineated.
In Fig. 170 is presented a variant of the characters shown in a of Fig. 169. The fact that this denotes the power to cure by the use of plants would appear to indicate an older and more appropriate form than the delineation of the bow and arrow, as well as being more in keeping with the general rendering of the tradition.
Fig. 171, two-thirds real size, is a reproduction, introduced here for comparison and explanation, of a record illustrating the alleged power of a Midē'.