The Mide'wiwin or "Grand Medicine Society" of the Ojibwa: Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1885-1886, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1891, pages 143-300 — John Shaqi
The Mide'wiwin or "Grand Medicine Society" of the Ojibwa: Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1885-1886, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1891, pages 143-300Hoffman, Walter James
Religion
The Mide'wiwin or "Grand Medicine Society" of the Ojibwa: Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1885-1886, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1891, pages 143-300
Hoffman, Walter James
Midéwiwin; Ojibwa Indians -- Religion; Ojibwa Indians -- Rites and ceremonies; Ojibwa Indians -- Societies, etc.; Secret societies -- North America
The power with which it is possible to become endowed after passing
through the fourth degree is expressed by the outline of a human figure
(No. 98), upon which are a number of spots indicating that the body is
covered with the mī´gis or sacred shells, symbolical of the Midē´wiwin.
These spots designate the places where the Midē´ priests, during the
initiation, shot into his body the mī´gis and the lines connecting them
in order that all the functions of the several corresponding parts or
organs of the body may be exercised.
The ideal fourth degree Midē´ is presumed to be in a position to
accomplish the greatest feats in necromancy and magic. He is not only
endowed with the power of reading the thoughts and intentions of others,
as is pictorially indicated by the mī´gis spot upon the top of the head,
but to call forth the shadow (soul) and retain it within his grasp at
pleasure. At this stage of his pretensions, he is encroaching upon the
prerogatives of the Jĕs´sakkīd´, and is then recognized as one, as he
usually performs within the Jĕs´sakkân or Jĕs´sakkīd´ lodge, commonly
designated “the Jugglery.”
The ten small circular objects upon the upper part of the record may
have been some personal marks of the original owner; their import was
not known to my informants and they do not refer to any portion of the
history or ceremonies or the Midē´wiwin.
Extending toward the left from the end of the fourth degree inclosure is
an angular pathway (No. 99), which represents the course to be followed
by the Midē´ after he has attained this high distinction. On account of
his position his path is often beset with dangers, as indicated by the
right angles, and temptations which may lead him astray; the points at
which he may possibly deviate from the true course of propriety are
designated by projections branching off obliquely toward the right and
left (No. 100). The ovoid figure (No. 101) at the end of this path is
termed Wai-ĕk´-ma-yŏk´--End of the road--and is alluded to in the
ritual, as will be observed hereafter, as the end of the world, i.e.,
the end of the individual’s existence. The number of vertical strokes
(No. 102) within the ovoid figure signify the original owner to have
been a fourth degree Midē´ for a period of 14 years.
The outline of the Midē´wigân (No. 103) not only denotes that the same
individual was a member of the Midē´wiwin, but the thirteen vertical
strokes shown in Nos. 104 and 105 indicate that he was chief Midē´
priest of the society for that number of years.
[Illustration: Plate IV.
Sikas´sige’s Record.]
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