The medicine man depended largely upon his reputation and often cured fancied diseases by shamanistic suggestions. His peculiar incantations to the patient to inspire confidence and induce the patient to think he was getting well, often worked, as it works in the case of quack doctors and credulous white men. The young man who had the proper dream following the period of fasting in his youth, predicting his predilection towards the medicine man’s profession, was taken through a rigorous course of training. Individual knowledge was handed down through the family. Instruction to boys and girls usually comes from the uncle or aunt, and if they have no natural uncle or aunt, then one is assigned to them. This is considered the closest relationship among Wisconsin Indians, and when one is adopted into the tribe and given a medicine bag, it will be through the sponsorship of an uncle for his nephew. Among the Ojibwe, both at Lac du Flambeau and at Lac Court Oreilles, the writer is known as Shagashkandawe “Flying Squirrel,” which they say was the name of a famous old chief and medicine man.
The Ojibwe still use the songs essential to digging medicine roots. Jack Doud, the old scout captain of the Civil War, of the old Flambeau village, told the writer that Winabojo, their deity, had received the seeds of all plants from Dzhe Manido, the creator of the universe, and that Winabojo had given them to Nokomis, grandmother, the Earth, to keep in her bosom, for the use of the Indians. Jack Doud also said that Winabojo took some of the native foods from his own body. He said that Winabojo pulled out a little pinch of flesh and threw it on the ground telling it to grow there as mandamin or corn for the Indians. Another pinch yielded squash, another beans and so on until Winabojo had very little flesh left on his body. In other words, the Indians did not know the sources of their cultivated crops, and had invented this tradition to attempt to explain their presence.
As with other Algonkians, the Ojibwe place tobacco in the cavity from which they dig the root, as an offering to Grandmother Earth, to Winabojo, and to Dzhe Manido, praying in song to these deities to make their chosen medicine potent. The medicine man or woman is usually distinguished by two long braids of hair over either shoulder. They are usually shrewd diagnosticians, and depend upon their senses for discovering the ailment. They feel the pulse rate, look at the pupils of the eyes, at the condition of the tongue, at the complexion variation, feel the body temperature and inquire where the pain is felt. From these symptoms they diagnose the disease. Usually they want time to dream over the case, and drink a draught of their own dream-inducing medicine before going to sleep. In a vision or dream, they are directed to the proper medicine to use, and concoct it the following day. External afflictions are treated with lotions or poultices, while internal troubles are almost invariably treated with a medicinal tea. The ingredients are steeped in lukewarm water, and copious draughts are prescribed several times a day. The writer has taken such draughts of various medicines and finds them not unpleasant to the taste. Bitter and nauseous ingredients are usually disguised by “seasoners” which they add to make them taste good. The time alloted for a cure is usually four days, their sacred number, and unless there is marked improvement in the patient at the end of that period, the medicine man will change the treatment.
Some of the medicine men have “tattooing outfits”, which are not really tattooing outfits as we understand the term, but rather blood-letting instruments. Sharp fish teeth are mounted at the end of a four or five-inch stick, and with a quick stroke on the upper side of the elbow or near the collar bone the blood is caused to gush out. The patient holds the arm out tensely while lying down and when the artery is tapped the blood spurts out rapidly. A tourniquet is applied to the upper arm when the medicine man thinks enough blood has flowed and the medicine man then sucks out the residue. The wound is then bandaged and the tourniquet removed. It is the thought of the medicine man that it is necessary to let out a certain amount of bad blood, so that the remaining blood in the patient’s body can be more easily purified by his heart and his breathing.
The Ojibwe also believe that the medicine man can make bad medicine as well as good, and can prescribe certain medicines from his medicine bundle that will enable him to get the better of his enemies. They had many hunting charms which were supposed to help them get game. The hunter in using these would often trace the outline of the desired game upon the ground drawing a line to its heart. He would then pierce the heart with the line and put the proper medicine on the heart puncture indicated. A similar procedure might be followed against human enemies. Such practices were always kept a deep secret, becoming valueless should anyone see the perpetrator making the figure. They were likewise deprecated and resented by the tribe and punishment was apt to follow anyone caught in such a practice, which all agreed was a perversion of the grand medicine society teachings. Most of the remedies of the medicine men were kept tied in little bits of cloth, compounded and ready to steep for use. Combinations of nine to twelve herbs are common. These have been ground with a mortar and pestle until it would be difficult to identify the ingredients of the prepared medicines. Even if one knew all of the ingredients, the amounts of each herb would be difficult to ascertain. Often, as in the case of Sweet Flag (Acorus calamus), the amount must be very limited since the medicinal effect is so severe.
The medicine men are taught that their medicines have a great value and will not be efficacious if disposed of cheaply. Since money is not so plentiful they are quite willing to accept pay in valuable goods. This may be a pony, so many blankets, so much wild rice or whatever the patient has of value. The patient usually calls the medicine man for ailments that have not responded to his own individual treatment. When the patient pays what the medicine man thinks is proper, then he may be told what was used to effect the cure, and how and when to gather the ingredients and how to administer the remedy. The recipient is admonished to see that he does not impart the knowledge unless he is well paid for it, as he paid the medicine man. This explains the difficulty one encounters when he tries to get medicinal information. Only by completely securing the confidence of the Indians, can a white man get this information without pay, and then it must be thoroughly understood that the investigator is not copying their medicines to take commercial advantage of this knowledge. The Indian is quick to appreciate favors and to acknowledge the respect that is given to him by the white man, and becomes quite confident when he realizes that his confidence is not abused.
OJIBWE MEDICINAL MATERIALS
While the Ojibwe use a few remedies outside the plant kingdom, they are not of such great importance as among some other tribes. These are here considered first, the plants following under the proper families alphabetically.