This family went away in the autumn to hunt, and during the winter this woman’s son died. The parents were so much distressed that they decided to return to the village and bury the body there; so they made preparations to return, and as they traveled along they would each evening erect several poles upon which the body was placed to prevent the wild beasts from devouring it. When the dead boy was thus hanging upon the poles the adopted child—who was the Sun Spirit—would play about the camp and amuse himself, and finally told his adopted father he pitied him, and his mother, for their sorrow. The adopted son said he could bring his dead brother to life, whereupon the parents expressed great surprise and desired to know how that could be accomplished.
The adopted boy then had the party hasten to the village, when he said, “Get the women to make a wig'iwam of bark (q), put the dead boy in a covering of birch bark and place the body on the ground in the middle of the wig'iwam.” On the next morning, when this had been done, the family and friends went into this lodge and seated themselves around the corpse.
After they had all been sitting quietly for some time they saw, through the doorway, the approach of a bear (r), which gradually came toward the wig'iwam, entered it, and placed itself before the dead body, and said hŭ', hŭ', hŭ', hŭ', when he passed around it toward the left side, with a trembling motion, and as he did so the body began quivering, which increased as the bear continued, until he had passed around four times, when the body came to life and stood up. Then the bear called to the father, who was sitting in the distant right-hand corner of the wig'iwam, and addressed to him the following words:
Nōs | Ka-wi'-na | ni'-shi-nâ'-bi | wis'-si | a-ya'wi-an' | man'-i-do | nin-gi'-sis.
My father | is not | an Indian | not | you are | a spirit | son.
Be-mai'-a-mi'-nik | ni'-dzhi | man'-i-do | mi'-a-zhi'-gwa | tshi-gi'-a-we-an'.
Insomuch | my fellow | spirit | now | as you are.
Nōs | a-zhi'-gwa | a-se'-ma | tshi-a'-to-yek'. | Â'-mi-kun'-dem | mi-e'-ta
My father | now | tobacco | you shall put. | He speaks of | only
a-wi-dink' | dzhi-gŏsh'-kwi-tōt' | wen'-dzhi-bĭ-mâ'-di-zid'-o-ma' | a-ga'-wa
once | to be able to do it | why he shall live here | now
bi-mâ'-di-zid'-mi-o-ma'; | ni'-dzhi | man'-i-do | mi'-a-zhi'-gwa | tshi-gi'-we-an'.
that he scarcely lives; | my fellow | spirit | now I shall go | home.
The little bear boy (r) was the one who did this. He then remained among the Indians (s) and taught them the mysteries of the Grand Medicine (t), and after he had finished he told his adopted father that as his mission had been fulfilled, that he was to return to his kindred spirits, the Indians would have no need to fear sickness, as they now possessed the Grand Medicine which would assist them to live. He also said that his spirit could bring a body to life but once, and he would now return to the sun from which they would feel his influence.
This is called Kwi'-wi-sĕns' wed-di'-shi-tshi' ge'-wi-nĭp'—“Little boy, his work.”
From subsequent information it was learned that the line (w) denotes the earth, and that, being considered as one step in the course of initiation into the Midē'wiwin, three others must be taken before a candidate can be admitted. These steps, or rests, as they are denominated, are typified by four distinct gifts of goods, which must be remitted to the Midē' priests before the ceremony can take place.
The characters s and t are repetitions of the figures alluded to in the tradition (q and r) to signify that the candidate must personate the Makwa' Man'idō—bear spirit—when entering the Midē'wiwin (t); t is the Midē' Man'idō, as Ki'tshi Man'idō is termed by the Midē' priests. The device of horns, attached to the head, is a common symbol of superior power, found in connection with the figures of human and divine forms in many Midē' songs and other mnemonic records; v represents the earth’s surface, similar to that designated as w. w, x, y, and z represent the four degrees of the grand medicine.
SECTION 6.
TREATIES.
Fig. 174 is copy of a birchbark record which was made to commemorate a treaty of peace between the Ojibwa and Assinaboin Indians. The drawing on bark was made by an Ojibwa chief at White Earth, Minnesota.