The female Midē' of the Ojibwa frequently tattoo the temples, forehead, or cheeks of sufferers from headache or toothache, which varieties of pain are believed to be caused by some malevolent manido or spirit. By this operation such demons are expelled, the ceremony being also accompanied by songs and gesticulations of exorcism. Relief is sometimes actually obtained through the counterirritant action of the tattooing, which is effected by using a small bunch of needles, though formerly several spicules of bone were tied together or used singly.
One old Ojibwa woman who was observed in 1887 had a round spot over each temple, made there to cure headache. The spots were of a bluish-black color, and about five-eighths of an inch in diameter. Another had a similar spot upon the nasal eminence, and a line of small dots running from the nostrils, horizontally outward over either cheek, two-thirds of the distance to the ears.
The men of the Wichita wore tattoo lines from the lips downward, and it is a significant fact that their tribal sign means “tattooed people,” the same expression being used to designate them in the language of several neighboring tribes. This would imply that tattooing was not common in that region. The Kaiowa women, however, frequently had small circles tattooed on their foreheads, and the Sixtown Choctaws still are distinguished by perpendicular lines tatooed on the chin.
Mr. John Murdoch (b) reports of the Eskimo:
The custom of tattooing is almost universal among the women, but the marks are confined almost exclusively to the chin, and form a very simple pattern. This consists of one, three, five, or perhaps as many as seven vertical lines from the under lip to the tip of the chin, slightly radiating when there are more than one. When there is a single line, which is rather rare, it is generally broad, and the middle line is sometimes broader than the others. The women, as a rule, are not tattooed until they reach a marriageable age, though there were a few little girls in the two villages who had a single line on the chin. I remember seeing but one married woman in either village who was not tattooed, and she had come from a distant settlement, from Point Hope, as well as we could understand.
Tattooing on a man is a mark of distinction. Those men who are, or have been, captains of whaling umiaks that have taken whales have marks to indicate this tattooed somewhere on their persons, sometimes forming a definite tally. For instance, An̄oru had a broad band across each cheek from the corners of the mouth, made up of many indistinct lines, which was said to indicate “many whales.” Amaiyuna had the “flukes” of seven whales in a line across his chest, and Mû'n̄ialu had a couple of small marks on one forearm. Niăksára, the wife of An̄oru, also had a little mark tattooed in each corner of her mouth, which she said were “whale marks,” indicating that she was the wife of a successful whaleman. Such marks, according to Petitot (Monographie, etc., p. 15), are a part of the usual pattern in the Mackenzie district—“deux traits aux commissures de la bouche.” One or two men at Nuwŭk had each a narrow line across the face over the bridge of the nose, which were probably also “whale marks,” though we never could get a definite answer concerning them.
The tattooing is done with a needle and thread, smeared with soot or gunpowder, giving a peculiar pitted appearance to the lines. It is rather a painful operation, producing considerable inflammation and swelling, which lasts several days. The practice of tattooing the women is almost universal among the Eskimo from Greenland to Kadiak, including the Eskimo of Siberia, the only exception being the natives of Smith sound, though the custom is falling into disuse among the Eskimo who have much intercourse with the whites.
The simple pattern of straight, slightly diverging lines on the chin seems to prevail from the Mackenzie district to Kadiak, and similar chin lines appear always to form part of the more elaborate patterns, sometimes extending to the arms and other parts of the body, in fashion among the eastern Eskimo and those of Siberia, St. Lawrence island, and the Diomedes.
TATTOO ON THE PACIFIC COAST.
During the summer of 1884 Dr. Hoffman met, at Port Townsend, Washington, a party of Haida Indians from Queen Charlottes island, who were encamped there for a short time. Most of them were tattooed after the manner of the Haidas, the breast, back, forearm, and legs bearing partial or complete designs of animate forms relating to totems or myths. Some of the persons had been tattooed only in part, the figures upon the forearms, for instance, being incomplete, because the operation at a previous “potlatch” or festival had to be suspended on account of the great length of time required, or on account of an extra inflammatory condition of the affected parts.