Their method of imploring the favor or appeasing the anger of their deities is by offering sacrifices to them in the following order: When an Indian meets with ill-luck in hunting, or when afflictions come across his path, he fancies that by the neglect of some duty he has incurred the displeasure of his munedoo, for which he is angry with him; and in order to appease his wrath, he devotes the first game he takes to making a religious feast, to which he invites a number of the principal men and women from the other wigwams. A young man is generally sent as a messenger to invite the guests, who carries with him a bunch of colored quills or sticks, about 4 inches long. On entering the wigwam he shouts out “Keweekomegoo;” that is, “You are bidden to a feast.” He then distributes the quills to such as are invited; these answer to the white people’s invitation cards. When the guests arrive at the feast-maker’s wigwam the quills are returned to him; they are of three colors, red, green, and white; the red for the aged, or those versed in the wahbuhnoo order; the green for the media order, and the white for the common people.
Mr. David Boyle (b) refers to the above custom, and quotes Rev. Peter Jones, also giving as illustrations copies of the quills and sticks presented by Dr. P. E. Jones which had been brought by his father, the author above mentioned, from the Northwest fifty years ago. These are reproduced in Fig. 473.
Fig. 473.—Ojibwa invitations.
When the ceremony of the Grand Medicine Society of the Ojibwa is to be performed, the chief midē' priest sends out a courier to deliver to each member an invitation to attend. These invitations consist of sticks of cedar, or other wood when that can not be found, measuring from 4 to 6 inches in length and of the thickness of an ordinary lead pencil. They may be plain, though the former custom of having one end painted red or green is sometimes continued. The colored band is about the width of one-fifth of the length of the stick. It is stated that in old times these invitation sticks were ornamented with colored porcupine quills, or strands of beads, instead of with paint.
The courier detailed to deliver invitations is also obliged to state the day, and locality of the place of meeting. It is necessary for the invited member to present himself and to deposit the invitation stick upon the floor of the inclosure in which the meeting is held; should he be deprived of the privilege of attending, he must return the stick with an explanation accounting for his absence.
Fig. 474.—Ojibwa invitation sticks.
Fig. 474 exhibits the sticks without coloration.