(2.) THE MEDICINE MAN AT WORK.
(See [page 1309].)
This completed the first part of the ceremony. In the next act, a pile of boughs covered with a cloth lay in front of the evil stone, and the chief Midé summoned all the initiated. They formed a procession of men, women, and children, and walked round the lodge, each stooping over the cloth as he passed, and looking at it. The second time they stooped closer, and the third time they were seized with convulsive movements as they approached the cloth, and each ejected from the mouth a little yellow shell upon the cloth. By the ejection of the shell (which typifies the sinful nature of man) the convulsions are healed, and, after going once more round the lodge, each performer takes one of the shells and places it in the medicine bag.
The last scene was a general feast, and gifts of amulets and charms presented by the chief Midés to the child.
One of the most pleasing traits in the character of these tribes is the strong religious feeling which pervades the general tenor of their lives, and which has raised them above the rank of mere savages. However imperfect may be their ideas on this subject, they are not idolaters, and give all their worship, either directly or indirectly, to one Great Spirit, whose aid and protection they continually invoke.
They believe in future existence and a future recompense according to their character in this life. Whatever their superstitions and ignorance, the mysteries enveloping their belief, there is running clearly through them all, these great doctrines accepted by the civilized Christian races.
To the Great Spirit they ascribe the possession of all the necessaries and pleasures of life, and to him they offer their prayers and return their thanks on almost every occasion. For example, the bisons, on which many of the tribes depend for food, clothing, and lodging, are held to be direct gifts of the Great Spirit to the red men, and asked for accordingly. The same is the case with the maize, or Indian corn, and religious ceremonies are held both at the planting and at the harvest time.
Tobacco is placed in the same category, and the smoke of the plant is considered to be a sort of incense, which is offered to the Great Spirit whenever a pipe is lighted, one wreath of smoke being blown silently to each quarter of the heavens, and to the sun, as an acknowledgment that the tobacco is a gift of the Great Spirit. Indeed, to the Indian mind there is something peculiarly sacred about tobacco smoke, probably on account of the soothing, and at the same time exhilarating, properties which have caused its use to extend to every portion of the globe.
Every religious ceremony is begun and ended with the pipe; war is declared, volunteers enlisted, negotiations conducted, and peace concluded, by its means. The character of the pipe varies with the occasion, the most valued being the sacred calumet, or medicine pipe, by which are settled the great questions of war and peace.
Among the Cree Indians the calumet is borne by a man who is solemnly elected to the office, and who has to pay rather dearly for the honor, from fifteen to twenty horses being the usual fee which each pipe bearer presents to his predecessor on receiving the insignia of office. These, however, are of considerable intrinsic value. They include a bear skin, on which he lays the pipe-stem when uncovered, a beautifully painted skin tent, in which he is expected to reside, a medicine rattle of singular virtue, a food bowl, and other articles so numerous that two horses are needed to carry them.
During his term of office, the pipe bearer is as sacred as the calumet itself. He always sits on the right side of the lodge, and no one may pass between him and the fire. He is not even allowed to cut his own food, but this is done by his wives, and the food placed in the official bowl which has just been mentioned. The pipe, with its innumerable wrappers, hangs outside the lodge, and is finally enclosed in a large bag, embroidered with the most brilliant colors which native art can furnish.