To assert dogmatically that these two powers do not come within the scope of the individual mide, may perhaps be unwarranted; but at present the evidence among the Ojibwa is certainly negative. However, the Midewiwin is considered to be intimately associated with these specific functions. They are not associated with the specific powers of the mide. In reality, they are the general religio-magical possessions of the tribe, that have been secondarily associated with the Midewiwin.
2. Menominee.—Practically all that has been said of the Ojibwa applies in equal degree to the Menominee Midewiwin. But two important differences are noticeable,—first, a member is always succeeded by a near relative; and, secondly, not only is the Midewiwin connected with the function of insuring the safe passage to the future world, but the ceremony itself begins at the grave of the deceased member as soon as the mortuary rites are over. They may even be regarded as a continuation of the same.
3. Shell Society.—In the Shell Society the organization, in contradistinction to the Ojibwa-Menominee Midewiwin, is not based on individuals as such, but on definite ceremonial group units. There are five to-day, but there seem to have been more formerly.
We find a fourfold designation for the lodges. They are known to-day as those of the eldest son or sun, second son or stars, daughter or moon, and youngest son or earth. Sometimes, however, these same are known in order as Black-Bear, Elk, Buffalo, and Deer Lodge. The first “old man’s lodge” (uju) is also known as that of the Eagle.
The general ceremony has been described before, and we will therefore proceed to discuss what appears to be the purpose of the society, what powers its members possessed, and with what functions it was associated.
The definite purpose of the society seems to be the performance of a certain ritual. That in addition there is likewise the desire to increase or at least strengthen the powers received at purchase, is extremely probable, but this cannot be definitely stated. What can be definitely stated, however, is the fact that an absolutely essential condition for efficacy of the powers obtained is the performance of the ritual; and in this it is radically distinct from the Midewiwin, for there the powers obtained from the shaman have no relation to the ritual. The efficacy then, of the powers, remains always what it was when taught to the new member.
In discussing what the powers of the members are, it is again essential to distinguish what they possess by virtue of membership, and what they possess as individuals. We should most naturally expect that certain conceptions, certain cultural possessions, belong to a large body of Omaha. If, then, we find them in a certain society, it is most natural to assume that they have not been obtained by reason of membership therein, but that this society will reflect general Omaha ideas. This or that society may emphasize certain ideas, and may develop them along certain lines, but it certainly does not originate them. They have no relation of cause and effect to any particular society. This has sometimes been assumed to be the case, and such a view comes out clearly in Miss Fletcher’s[24] statement that all secret societies among the Omaha dealt more or less with magic as well as with healing by means of herbs and roots. It is palpably not because they are secret societies that their members have developed any such tendencies, but because, as secret societies, they reflected Omaha customs and modes of thought. For the same reason Miss Fletcher’s conclusion, that because in both the Shell and Pebble Societies shamanistic tricks are performed, they may possibly be historically connected, is unwarranted. The observance of shamanistic tricks is so general a phenomenon, that all that can be said, when two societies are found emphasizing them, is that two societies emphasized or developed one or many Omaha customs. There is no need of assuming any historical connection unless this has been shown to be the case.
Let us now return to what is distinctive in the powers of a member of the Shell Society.
The name of the society is “Those-who-have-the-Shell.” It is the possession of the shell that separates them from other societies. In the ideas clustering around the powers of this object we are most likely to find one of the important specific advantages of membership. As far as can be gathered from Miss Fletcher’s account, the shell is connected with certain magical qualities. It is difficult to say what specific magical qualities are meant. However, to judge from the nature of the general ceremony and the songs, we are really dealing with magic in its most general sense, but connected in this case with a specific object, a shell; that is, we might imagine hypothetically that the society originated in connection with the vision of an individual, in which the magical power was associated with a shell. The same power might, in the case of another individual, be associated with a drum, a flute, a gourd, a stone, or what not. Apart from difference in ritualistic detail, and in the nature of some of the elements that go to make up the general ritualistic complex, it is this association of magical powers with one object in one case, and with another in another case, that constitutes the difference between the various Omaha societies.
To illustrate how general is the magical power of the shell in the Shell Society, and how essential is the specific object possessing the magic, we will give the following instances. In the origin myth, shooting is supposed to kill the “children;” in the general ceremony it probably serves to strengthen powers already acquired; in the ceremony for punishing offenders, of which we shall speak later, it is merely an example of sympathetic magic.