direction as to information desired, success, etc.; that it is to be employed at the side of the sick to assist in the expulsion or exorcism of evil man´idōs who may possess the body of the sufferer; and that it is to be used in the. Midē´wigân during the initiation of new members or the advancement of a Midē´ from a degree to a higher one.
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Fig. 13.— Midē´ rattle. |
Fig. 14.— Midē´ rattle. |
The properties of the rattle are next enumerated and recounted, its origin is related, and its uses explained. It is used at the side of a patient and has even more power in the expulsion of evil demons than the drum. The rattle is also employed in some of the sacred songs as an accompaniment, to accentuate certain notes and words. There are two forms used, one consisting of a cylindrical tin box filled with grains of corn or other seeds ([Fig. 13]), the other being a hollow gourd also filled with seed ([Fig. 14]). In both of these the handle passes entirely through the rattle case.
In a similar manner the remaining gifts of Mi´nabō´zho are instanced and their properties extolled.
The mī´gis, a small white shell (Cypræa moneta L.) is next extracted from the Midē´ sack, or pinji´gusân´. This is explained as being the sacred emblem of the Midē´wiwin, the reason therefor being given in the account of the several traditions presented in connection with Pls. III, IV, and VIII. This information is submitted in parts, so that the narrative of the history connected with either of the records is extended over a period of time to suit the preceptor’s plans and purposes. The ceremony of shooting the mī´gis (see [Fig. 15]) is explained on page 215.
Fig. 15.—Shooting the mī´gis.
As time progresses the preceptor instructs his pupil in Midē´ songs, i.e., he sings to him songs which form a part of his stock in trade, and which are alleged to be of service on special occasions, as when searching for medicinal plants, hunting, etc. The pupil thus acquires a comprehension of the method of preparing and reciting songs, which information is by him subsequently put to practical use in the composition and preparation of his own songs, the mnemonic characters employed being often rude copies of those observed upon the charts of his preceptor, but the arrangement thereof being original.
It is for this reason that a Midē´ is seldom, if ever, able to recite correctly any songs but his own, although he may be fully aware of the character of the record and the particular class of service in which it may be employed. In support of this assertion several songs obtained at Red Lake and imperfectly explained by “Little Frenchman” and “Leading Feather,” are reproduced in [Pl. XXII, A] [B], page 292.