I Red Lake. II White Earth. III Winnibigoshish. IV Cass Lake. V Leech Lake. VI Deer Creek. VII Bois Forte. VIII Vermillion Lake. IX Fond du Lac. X Mille Lacs. XI Lac Court Oreílle. XII La Pointe. XIII Lac de Flanibeau. XIV Red Cliff. XV Grand Portage.] From recent investigations among a number of tribes of the Algonkian linguistic division it is found that the traditions and practices pertaining to the Midē´wiwin, Society of the Midē´ or Shamans, popularly designated as the “Grand Medicine Society,” prevailed generally, and the rites are still practiced at irregular intervals, though in slightly different forms in various localities. In the reports of early travelers and missionaries no special mention is made of the Midē´, the Jes´sakkīd´, or the Wâbĕnō´, but the term sorcerer or juggler is generally employed to designate that class of persons who professed the power of prophecy, and who practiced incantation and administered medicinal preparations. Constant reference is made to the opposition of these personages to the introduction of Christianity. In the light of recent investigation the cause of this antagonism is seen to lie in the fact that the traditions of Indian genesis and cosmogony and the ritual of initiation into the Society of the Midē´ constitute what is to them a religion, even more powerful and impressive than the Christian religion is to the average civilized man. This opposition still exists among the leading classes of a number of the Algonkian tribes, and especially among the Ojibwa, many bands of whom have been more or less isolated and beyond convenient reach of the Church. The purposes of the society are twofold; first, to preserve the traditions just mentioned, and second, to give a certain class of ambitious men and women sufficient influence through their acknowledged power of exorcism and necromancy to lead a comfortable life at the expense of the credulous. The persons admitted into the society are firmly believed to possess the power of communing with various supernatural beings--manidos--and in order that certain desires may be realized they are sought after and consulted. The purpose of the present paper is to give an account of this society and of the ceremony of initiation as studied and observed at White Earth, Minnesota, in 1889. Before proceeding to this, however, it may be of interest to consider a few statements made by early travelers respecting the “sorcerers or jugglers” and the methods of medication. In referring to the practices of the Algonkian tribes of the Northwest, La Hontan[3] says: