5. _Medicine Dance._—The Medicine Dance, looked upon in its entirety, is composed of a long course of preparation (now discontinued), the Four Nights’ Preparation, the sweat-bath ceremony, the night and the day divisions of the general ceremony, and the secret brush ceremony. These ceremonies have all become amalgamated into a more or less firm unit, whose individual characteristics we have touched upon before. The society is known in Winnebago as _Mañkaⁿ′ni_, the word _mañkaⁿ′_, meaning “medicine” in its medicinal aspect, as opposed to _wasê′_, meaning “medicine” in its magical aspect. As far as can be seen from a detailed study of the rituals, no prominence seems, however, to be given to the therapeutic or herbalist aspect. There are, it is true, medicines for general therapeutic practice and for hunting, fishing, love, and especially for “bad” purposes. But in the ceremony as given to-day, and as described by those well versed in the ritual of the society, these medicines find no place. There is, however, a very persistent exoteric interpretation of the Medicine Dance, according to which the members are regarded primarily as powerful shamans concerned preferably with the practice of “bad” magic. In this practice they are greatly aided by the fact that their membership in the society increases their magical powers, especially that connected with the ability to transform themselves into all kinds of animate and inanimate objects for the furtherance of their evil designs. The most feared shamans—those who are distinguished from all others by the possession of the iron moccasins (_maⁿzua′gudjê_)—belonged to this society. This exoteric interpretation does not, however, seem to tally with the designation _mankaⁿ′ni_. Personally I think this term is a popular one, and has no real significance as a characterization of the functions of the society, at least to-day. This exoteric interpretation is in all probability true to a certain extent. It would, however, be essential to determine whether these shamanistic powers are characteristic of members as individuals, and only secondarily connected with them as members of the society, before we can properly understand their significance. That membership was connected in any way with an increase of shamanistic powers, is certainly improbable. These powers are unquestionably identical with the general shamanistic and magical practices mentioned previously in the Shell and Pebble Societies. In other words, the general shamanistic and magical beliefs of the tribe are found present in this society, as they are found in other societies. What would tend to minimize our considering these features as in any way significant of the Medicine Dance, is the fact that there has been no tendency to develop or emphasize any specific aspect of magic, and that shamanistic practices are absent and appear entirely disassociated from the society.