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
“In the course of time this town was again deserted, and our
forefathers, still proceeding westward, lit not their fires till they
reached the shores of Lake Huron, where again the rites of the
Me-da-we were practiced.
“Again these rites were forgotten, and the Me-da-we lodge was not
built till the Ojibways found themselves congregated at Bow-e-ting
(outlet of Lake Superior), where it remained for many winters. Still
the Ojibways moved westward, and for the last time the Me-da-we lodge
was erected on the island of La Pointe, and here, long before the pale
face appeared among them, it was practiced in its purest and most
original form. Many of our fathers lived the full term of life granted
to mankind by the Great Spirit, and the forms of many old people were
mingled with each rising generation. This, my grandson, is the meaning
of the words you did not understand; they have been repeated to us by
our fathers for many generations.”
[Footnote 12: Op. cit., p. 78 et seq.]
In the explanation of the chart obtained at Red Lake, together with the
tradition, reference to the otter, as being the most sacred emblem of
society, is also verified in a brief notice of a tradition by Mr.
Warren,[13] as follows:
There is another tradition told by the old men of the Ojibway village
of Fond du Lac, Lake Superior, which tells of their former residence
on the shores of the great salt water. It is, however, so similar in
character to the one I have related that its introduction here would
only occupy unnecessary space. The only difference between the two
traditions is that the otter, which is emblematical of one of the four
Medicine Spirits who are believed to preside over the Midawe rites, is
used in one in the same figurative manner as the seashell is used in
the other, first appearing to the ancient An-ish-in-aub-ag from the
depths of the great salt water, again on the river St. Lawrence, then
on Lake Huron at Sault Ste. Marie, again at La Pointe, but lastly at
Fond du Lac, or end of Lake Superior, where it is said to have forced
the sand bank at the mouth of the St. Louis River. The place is still
pointed out by the Indians where they believe the great otter broke
through.
[Footnote 13: Op. cit., p. 81.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on 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 143-300 — John Shaqi
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