MEDICINE MEN AMONG THE INDIANS
early all tribes have their medicine men. These men choose this work, frequently because of some deformity which unfits them for the warpath, and they fit themselves for it, sometimes from boyhood. They have great power over all their people. They are called into the council when the tribe goes to war. They are called upon when any one is sick. They believe and teach that sickness is caused by an evil spirit. Their medicine is to contrive some way to drive out the evil spirit of sickness.
The medicine man usually works himself into a frenzy or even into a fit, and while in this state his mutterings are taken for advice and followed. The patient must then get well. If he does not, it is because the evil spirit cannot be conquered.
Big Medicine Man
From a Photograph
Many tribes believe that the soul leaves the body when the evil spirit of sickness enters. The Portage Indians of British America hold this belief. Their medicine men try to bring back the wandering soul by [[30]]many curious performances. For one thing, the sick man’s friends are ordered to hang up his buckskin moccasins stuffed with soft feathery down. If the feathers become warm to the touch, they will know that the wandering soul has touched them and perhaps is hiding in them. The moccasins are quickly put upon the feet of the patient that his soul may not escape. If he does not get well, it is because his friends were not quick enough in their work.
The medicine men of many tribes dress themselves in hideous fashion to excite the fear and compel the respect of their people. They do not have to go on the warpath, but will do it sometimes. It seems to be a good chance for the deformed to win respect from the physically perfect. [[31]]