/
INDIAN NOTES &. MONOGRAPHS
MATERIAL CULTURE OF THE MENOMINI
. ^ ^ . r-^V; g.
SKINNER, ALANS ON
.INDIAN NOTES AND MONOGRAPHS. (Material Culture of the
Menomlnl )
ISSUED TO
SKINTER, ALANSON
INDIAN NOTES AND MONOGRAPHS (Material Culture of the Mencmini )
San Diego Museum of Mart
SCIENTIFIC LIBRARY
Balboa Park San Diego I, California
LIBRARY DISCARD
AUTH.
MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN
AND MONOGRAPHS
DATE
ISSUED TO
Lllrary Bureau Cat. No. 1152.2
INDIAN NOTES AND MONOGRAPHS
EDITED BY F. W. HODGE
A SERIES OF PUBLICA- TIONS RELATING TO THE AMERICAN ABORIGINES
MATERIAL CULTURE OF THE MENOMINI
BY ALAXSOX SKIXXER
NEW YORK
MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN
HEYE FOUNDATION
1921
THIS series of INDIAN NOTES AND MONO- GRAPHS is devoted primarily to the publica- tion of the results of studies by members of the staff of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, and is uniform with HISPANIC NOTES AND MONOGRAPHS, published by the Hispanic Society of America, with which organization this Museum is in cordial cooperation. A list of the publications of the Museum will be sent upon request.
Museum of the American Indian,
Heye Foundation,
Broadway at 155th St.,
New York City.
MATERIAL CULTURE OF THE MENOMINI
BY
ALANSON SKINNER
CONTENTS
PAGE
Preface 19
I. Menomini Culture in General
Introduction 23
Religion 28
The Mita'win Origin Myth 38
The Dreamers 41
Peyote 42
The Hereafter 43
Social Organization 46
Tribal Origin Myth 4'6
Gentes and Phratries 47
Thunder Gens Names 40
Government 51
Birth and Naming Customs 52
Puberty 54
Marriage 54
Games 56
Two Hitherto Unrecorded
Games. 57
Sign Language 58
Warfare 59
Societies 64
The Mita'win 64
Medicines and Bundles 65
The Dreamers 69
The Witches' Society 69
The Wa'bano Cult 71
The Je"sako Cult 71
INDIAN NOTES
M E N O M I X I C U L T U R E
Mitii'wape and Te'pape 72
Thunder Cult 73
Buffalo Dance Cult 73
List of Ceremonies 74
Bear Ceremonies ... 75
Mythology and Folklore 76
Funeral Customs 78
Mourning 81
II. Housing
Origin of the Menomini Types 83
The Winter Lodge 85
The Summer House 86
The Long-house 87
Construction of the House 88
The Winter Lodge 88
The Summer House of Bark — 93
The Long-house 99
The Fireplace 100
Further Details of Construction 103
Situation of the House 105
Vocabulary 107
HI. Dress
Men's Attire 109
Head-dresses -109
Shirts 113
Leggings 114
Breech-cloths 116
Moccasins 117
Beaded Ornaments 118
Tobacco Pouches 120
An Eagle-feather Dance-bustle. 121
Women's Attire 122
Head-dress 122
Costume 124
Leggings 125
W'aists... 125
INDIAN NOTES
CONTENTS
Xecklaces and Belts 126
Articles of Common Use 127
Personal Adornment 130
Modes of Wearing the Hair. . . . 130
Facial Painting 132-
Tattooing 133
Mutilation of the Body 135
Toilet Articles 136
Vocabulary 140
IV. Food and its Preparation
Wild Rice. 142
Traditions of the Rice 142
The Harvest 143
Vocabulary 152
Wild Potatoes and Other Vegetal
Foods 152
Corn and its Preparation 153
Legend of the Origin of Corn. . . 154
Cultivation 156
Preparation 157
Vocabulary 163
Maple Sugar 164
Legend of the Origin of Maple
Sugar 164
Sugar Making 165
Vocabulary ., 172
Hunting, Game, and Meats 173
Magic and Mythology of the
Chase 173
Customs of the Chase 180
The Feast of the First Game. 180
The Division of Game 181
Deer Hunting 182
Bear Hunting 187
Other Game 190
Cannibalism... . 191
AND MONOGRAPHS
MENOMINI CULTURE
Methods of Preparing and Cook- ing Meats 1 93
Paunch Boiling; Bark Kettles 195
Vocabulary 196
Fishing 198
Legend of the Sturgeon 199
Methods of Catching Fish 200
Methods of Preparing and Cook- ing Fish 204
Vocabulary 207
V. Means of Transportation
Signs and Superstitions of the
Trail 209
A Belief in Ghosts 209
Pabokowa'o 210
Equipage 211
Snowshoes 212
Horse Trappings 212
Burden-straps 213
Cradles 214
Canoes 216
Birch-bark Canoes 216
Log Canoes 222
VI. Handicraft
Tanning 224
Preparation of the Skin 224
Tanning Fur 225
Leather Making 226
Vocabulary 229
Weaving 230
Woven Bags 231
Hulling-bags 237
Yarn Sashes 238
Mats : 238
Reed Mats 238
Mats for Covering Houses 244
INDIAN NOTES
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CONTENTS |
9 |
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Bark Mats |
747 |
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String |
748 |
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Varieties of String |
?S1 |
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Woven Beadwork |
?S? |
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Designs |
7S6 |
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Designs on Woven Bags |
?SQ |
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Embroidery |
766 |
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Silk Applique |
768 |
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Description of Specimens Porcupine Quillwork |
269 774 |
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Antiquity of Floral Motives |
776 |
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Metal Working |
770 |
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Pottery |
787 |
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Household Utensils |
?86 |
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Wooden Bowls |
786 |
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Tortoise-shell Dishes |
788 |
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Wooden Spoons |
780 |
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Shell Spoons |
?Q? |
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Baskets and Boxes |
?Q3 |
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Other Receptacles |
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Brooms |
301 |
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Fire-drills |
301 |
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Mortars |
SOS |
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Bone Awls |
304 |
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Bone Needles |
307 |
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An Iron for Quills |
308 |
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Vocabulary |
300 |
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Weapons |
310 |
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War-bundles |
310 |
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Warclubs ' |
314 |
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Shields and Knives |
S1Q |
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Bows and Arrows |
370 |
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Vocabulary |
3 SO |
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Sculpture |
3 SO |
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Carving |
337 |
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Carving in Relief |
337 |
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AND MONOGRAPHS |
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10 |
MENOMINI CULTUR |
E |
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Painting and Etching |
340 |
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Dyes . . . |
343 |
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Musical Instruments |
344 |
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Drums |
344 |
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Rattles and Jinglers |
3S? |
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Whistles and Flutes |
3SS |
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Receptacles for Tobacco |
SS7 |
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Origin of Tobacco |
3S7 |
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Sacrificial Dishes |
3SQ |
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Pipes |
360 |
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Vocabulary |
36S |
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Bags and Pouches for Tobacco . Paraphernalia for Games |
365 367 |
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VII. Archeology Types of Specimens from Meno- min i Sites |
37 S |
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Existing Vocabulary for Ancient Artifacts |
378 |
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VIII. Ethnogeography Geographical Band Names |
37Q |
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Some Menomini Place Names in Wisconsin |
38? |
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Bibliographic Notes |
3Q1 |
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Trifle* ,,.;......... |
W |
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INDIAN NOTES |
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11 |
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ILLUSTRATIONS PLATES PAGE I. Mita'win memorial rites for Chief Ni'opit Oshkosh. Frontispiece n. Carrying the drum from the Medicine Lodge to the grave of Chief Ni'opit Oshkosh 46 in. Members of the Medicine Society assembled about the grave of Chief Ni'opit Oshkosh 47 |
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iv. Semiannual war-bundle ceremony 60 v. Round winter wigwam 61 |
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vi. Details of construction of the square house 92 |
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vn. Square bark house 93 |
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vni. Interior of So'man Jim's bark house 94 |
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ix. Second view of interior of So'man Jim's house 95 |
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x. So'man Jim's house and garden . 98 xi. So'man Jim's war-bundles hung on the sacred pole 99 |
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xn. The long medicine lodge 102 |
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xni. Framework of the long lodge. . . 10-5 xiv. Otter-fur fillet ornamented with medallions of beadwork 108 |
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xv. Otter-fur fillet made of the entire skin 109 |
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AND MONOGRAPHS |
12 ME NO MINI CULTURE
xvi. Men in dance costumes, wearing
fur turbans 110
xvn. Joe Moon in ceremonial costume, with yarn sash forming a tur- ban Ill
xvin. Roach of deer's hair 114
xix. Ancient deerskin leggings 115
xx. Leather legging, elaborately
fringed 118
xxi, A. Beaded broadcloth legging. . . 118 xxi, B. Beaded broadcloth legging. .. 119
xxn. Tribal style of moccasin .... 1 19
xxin. Group of men in costume, show- ing woven bead ornaments. . . 120
xxiv. Eagle-feather dance-bustle 121
xxv. Beaded hair binder, with pen- dants 124
xxvi. Sauk and Fox girl in costume, showing mode of wearing head- dress— side view 124
xxvn. Sauk and Fox girl in costume, showing mode of wearing head- dress— rear view 125
xxviii. Woman in costume, showing
drapery of shawl 125
xxix. Woman in costume, showing slit
skirt 126
xxx. Group of men and women in cos- tume 127
xxxi. Woman's legging, beaded and
appliqued 132
xxxii. Waist, Potawatomi style 133
xxxm. Bead necklaces, and beaded gar- ter with Thunderbird design. 134
xxxiv. Knife sheaths 135
xxxv. Toilet set. . 140
INDIAN NOTES
13
xxxvi. Winnowing tray of bark 141
xxxvii. Squashes cut in strips and hung
to dry 154
xxxvni. Mortar and double-ended pestle. 155 xxxix. Bark sap dish and wooden sap
spout 164
XL. Wooden ladle for stirring sap,
and wooden mortar 165
XLI. Snowshoes 210
XLII. Pack-saddle with carved pommel 211 XLIII. Child's carrying-board or cradle 214
XLIV. Carrying a child in a cradle 215
XLV. Portaging a birch-bark canoe. . . 218
XLVI. Birch-bark canoe 219
XLVII. Log canoe or dugout 222
XLvm. Cutting the hair from deerskin. 223 XLDC. Scraping the deerskin with a
beaming tool 226
L. Wringing the deerskin 227
LI. Stretching the deerskin by hand 228
LII. Smoking the deerskin 229
LIII. Woman weaving a yarn bag .... 230 LIV. Bag of closed twined weave and hulling-bags of open twined
weave 231
LV. Bag of twined and diagonal twined weaving, obverse and
reverse 234
LVI. Woven bags for storage purposes 235
Lvn. Weaving yarn sashes 238
LVIII. Mat in process of weaving 239
LDC. Reed mat of diagonal weave,
with linked diamond design . . 242 LX. Reed mat of over and under ver- tical weave, with floral designs 243
AND MONOGRAPHS
16
ME NO MINI CULTURE
FIGURES
1. Wooden pot-hook 102
2. Roach spreaders of antler 112
3. Back comb of German silver 123
4. Necklace of bear's claws 128
5. Silver bracelets 129
6. Modified hair-cut, showing scalp-lock. . 131
7. Toilet set 137
8. Comb-case carved from the antler of a
moose, obverse 138
9. Comb-case carved from the antler of a
moose, reverse 139
10. Pulling stick for harvesting rice 146
11. Shoulder-yoke used in gathering sap ... 168
12. Wooden deer call 183
13. Hunter using the deer call 184
14. Jacklight used in hunting game 186
15. Typical canoe paddle 222
16. Beaming tool for scraping deerskin. . . . 227
17. Needles made of the ribs of the buffalo 246
18. Hourglass design 260
19. Sacrificial food dishes 260
20. Grave-shed design .' . . 260
2 1 . Diamond design 260
22. Spider-web design 260
23. Indented diamonds 270
24. Stepped triangles and diamonds 270
25. Stepped triangle and floral design 270
26. Elongate diamonds 270
27. Oak-leaf and acorn 271
28. Antennae motive 271
29. Antennae, hearts, and diamonds 272
30. Stepped diamond and elongate figure. . 272
31. Rings of beaten metal 281
INDIAN NOTES
ILLUSTRATIONS
17
32. Metal earring with incised design. . . . 281
33. Pottery jar with pointed base 285
34. Oval wooden bowl 287
35. Round wooden bowl 287
36. Bowl made of tortoise-shell 289
37. Ceremonial ladle 290
38. Long-handled ladle 291
39. Spoon with straight handle 291
40. Spoon with hooked handle 292
41. Spoon made from the scapula of a
young bear 293
42. Sweet-grass basket ornamented with
quillwork 296
43. Sweet-grass basket ornamented with
quillwork 297
44. Bison-hide trunk • 298
45. Wooden box used to hold eagle-feathers 299
46. Rawhide pouch for holding porcupine-
quills 300
47. Rawhide pouch for holding porcupine-
quills 300
48. a, Torch in birch-bark case; b, Rope of
cedar-bark used to transport fire. . . . 302
49. Bone awl now used in basketry 304
50. Awl with bone point in wooden grip. . 305
51. Bone and antler handled awls with
metal points 306
52. Snowshoe needles made of bone 307
53. Quill smoother made of antler 308
54. Ball-headed type of warclub 315
55. Grooved stone axe 318
56. Bow with tally notches 321
57. Hafted arrows 324
58. Glue-stick 325
59. Blunt arrow 327
60. Quilled quiver 328
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18 |
MENOMINI CULTUR |
E |
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61. Wooden bowl carved to represent a porcupine |
336 |
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62. Carved moccasin pitterns |
337 |
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63. Canoe paddle, obverse and reverse .... 64. Grave-post |
339 W |
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65. Sorcerer's stake |
W |
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66. Anthropomorphic concept of thunder. 67. Drumstick for water-drum |
343 346 |
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68. Tortoise charm attached to the Wa'- bano drum |
3 SO |
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69. Shaman's necklace |
3S1 |
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70. Gourd rattle |
3S? |
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71. Gourd rattle in conical case of bark. . . 72. Deer-hoof and dew-claw rattle |
353 .154 |
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73. Flageolet with carved slide |
SS6 |
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74. Sacrificial platter with incised carving . 75. Miniature canoe, a charm against drowning |
360 S60 |
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76. Ordinary lacrosse stick |
367 |
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77. Lacrosse ball |
368 |
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78. Shinny stick |
368 |
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79. Shinny balls |
S6Q |
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INDIAN NOTES |
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19 |
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PREFACE |
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THE data on which this article is based were obtained among the |
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lOHy^l Menomoni Indians of Wisconsin |
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during a series of studies extend- |
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ing over eleven years, conducted in behalf |
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of the Museum of the American Indian, |
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Heye Foundation, and the American Mu- |
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seum of Natural History. Thanks are due |
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to the latter institution for photographs of |
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specimens collected by the writer, and to the |
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Public Museum of the City of Milwaukee |
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for photographs taken in the field by Dr S. |
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A. Barrett and illustrations of articles col- |
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lected by him. |
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Among Indian informants to whom special |
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credit is due for their interest are the fol- |
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lowing, many of whom are deceased. The |
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names of those no longer living are marked |
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with an asterisk: |
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Ni'opit Oshkosh,* Pitwa'skum* and wife,* |
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AND MONOGRAPHS |
20
MENOMINI CULTURE
\Yiu'skasit,* Ke'soa'pomesao* and wife,* Thomas Ko'kosh,* Wa'sikwonat,* Xa'tci- wishko,* John- Keshena* and wife,* Xaiato- wa'pikineu,* Mrs John Perrote,* So'man Jim,* ' Big Jim Pa"monit,* Judge John Perrote,* John Amob, Wa'niskum, James Blackcloud, Dave Wa'pus, \Yi'sanokut, Kse'watosa, Kine'sa, Kime'wun Oke'mas, Jane Ka'kak, Antoine Shi'pikau, Louis Ka'kwatc, Philip Xaku'ti,* Mrs Wiu'skasit, Mrs Kopai'as Weke Hog, Peter and Jim Fish, Matilda Jackson, Joe and Sophie Pecore, Louis Pigeon, Mrs Ni'opit Oshkosh, Nawagi'zikwap, Mrs Xaia'towapomi; last, and most important of all, ex-captain of Indian Police, John V. Satterlee.
Supplementary data have been gathered from time to time at first hand among the Eastern Cree, 1908-09; the Plains Cree, 1913; the Xorthern Saulteaux (Ojibwa), 1909; the Plains Ojibwa, 1913; the Forest Potawatomi, 1912; the Winnebago, 1909; the Eastern Dakota, the Iowa, Oto, Ponca, and Kansa, 1914; the Seminole, 1910; the Seneca, 1904; and the Oneida, 1909. These additional data have been of considerable
INDIAN NOTES
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PREFACE |
21 |
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aid in making a comparative study of the material culture of the Menomini. |
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The pronunciation of native terms is indi- cated by the use of the symbols appended, the letters not included having their conti- nental values. Sounds indicated by our letters f and r do not occur. |
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S as in flat. e as in bet. a as a\v in raw. u as in luck. an as o\v in how. " a whispered terminal u. ai as in aisle. x a whispered aspirant. I as in bit. ' glottal stop. |
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ALANSON SKINNER. |
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AND MONOGRAPHS |
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23 |
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MATERIAL CULTURE OF THE MENOMINI BY ALANSON SKINNER I. MENOMINI CULTURE IN GENERAL INTRODUCTION |
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t]j N ORDER that the reader may ob- L^ tain that insight into Menomini |
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§JP^ life which is essential before the |
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material culture of the tribe can be fully appreciated, a brief digest of the writ- er's previous work will be presented before taking up the principal subject of this mono- graph. As a matter of course, details can- not be given, but for the benefit of those desirous of pursuing the subject further, a bibliography pertaining thereto will be found at the conclusion of the paper. It is regrettable that ethnological writings cannot be made to give an adequate idea of the at- |
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INDIAN NOTES |
24
MENOMINI CULTURE
mosphere of Indian life, nor to bring out sufficiently the personality of the people dealt with; therefore a few words concerning the character of the Menomini as they are today may not be amiss.
The Menomini, who now dwell on their reservation in north-central Wisconsin, are a typical Algonkian people in language, belonging to the same sub-group as the Sauk and Fox, whose dialects resemble Cree rather than Ojibwa. While two-thirds or more of the tribe of some 1750 souls now profess Christianity, the remainder are either frankly "pagan" or are in sympathy with pagan beliefs. The spread of the " Peyote religion" has been very limited among them, and has met with such determined opposition on the part of the adherents of all other beliefs, that only a few outlying families connected with the Winnebago and the Potawatomi by marital ties have been converted. Of these, some have since sought and received rein- statement in the ancient tribal rites.
From a conservative people, among whom old customs and especially religion were in full vigor up to very recently, it has been a
INDIAN NOTES
CHARACTERISTICS
25
difficult task, at best, to acquire informa- tion. An added difficulty has been the psy- chology of even the most willing informants. In the writer's experience the Algonkian is a mystic, a dreamer, whose ideas are often so vague and uncrystalized that it is difficult for him to express them in words. The Siouan and the Iroquoian Indians, with their more practical minds, are always able to present a concrete idea in comprehensible form, something by which an Algonkian is at times completely baffled.
With the Menomini, therefore, the gain- ing of data has been a tedious process. The writer's first visit to their reservation was made in 1909, and in addition to many sub- sequent trips, he has been and still is in con- stant correspondence with several members of the tribe. By patience and persistent questioning, a mass of definite facts has been elicited. Hostile secretiveness has been virtually overcome through years of associa- tion; for when one has taken part in native feasts and sacrifices, or sat in the ceremonies of the secret societies; when one has assisted in the funeral rites of the dead, hunted and
AND MONOGRAPHS
26
MENOMINI CULTURE
fished, eaten and slept, with the living, inti- macy comes at length. Constant cultiva- tion of friendship with the shamans and eld- ers, assistance of the needy (for no Meno- mini who receives a kindness feels entirely free of obligation until some favor has been done in return), and adoption into the fam- ily of a leading priest and shaman, have all played their part. Thus have come the data and specimens needed for illustration, often as free tokens of friendship, to form a record of Menomini life.
Two fine old men have contributed largely to the success of this undertaking, ex-cap- tain of Indian Police, John V. Satterlee, and the late Indian Court Judge John (Sabatis) Perrote. Captain Satterlee in particular has labored incessantly, often without re- muneration, to have the annals of his people made complete.
Ordinary exoteric matters of daily life were less difficult to record, especially as many customs could still be observed at first hand. But, conservative as were the Me- nomini, two events in recent years have acted to make a sudden end of the old-time
INDIAN NOTES
PRESENT STATUS
27
culture. The influenza epidemic of 1919- 20 swept away many members of the Pagan party, especially those elders in whose mem- ories reposed the rituals of the ceremonies. The war with Germany also had a powerful effect on the tribe, though but few of the Menomini, as compared with their Siouan neighbors, the Winnebago, were carried to Europe. The fact that the Government accepted their young men as soldiers, and asked them, on equal terms with their white neighbors, for pecuniary and moral assist- ance, encouraged them to realize their equality with their white compatriots. The Menomini have definitely turned from the old road, and while many will persist in continuing their ancient customs for some years to come, their ranks will lessen with ever-increasing rapidity. The old way is doomed.
To those familiar with some bands of the Ojibwa, the Potawatomi, Sauk, Fox, and Winnebago, all of whom have been inti- mately associated with the Menomini, it will doubtless seem surprising that many customs apparently common to all the Cen-
AND MONOGRAPHS
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28 |
MENOMINI CULTURE |
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tral tribes vary greatly from people to |
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people when intensively observed. The |
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phenomenon is quite general; even tribes |
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of the same linguistic stock, closely related |
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politically and socially, are prone to hold |
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startlingly divergent beliefs, and to main- |
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tain outwardly similar yet inwardly incom- |
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prehensible rites and ceremonies. |
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In concluding, it should be noted that |
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several phases of Menomini life are yet to |
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be fully studied. The language of the |
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people requires further attention; their |
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music has been neglected and their rich |
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ethno-botany furnishes an alluring field for |
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research. |
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RELIGION |
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The present religion of the Menomini is a |
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complex of ancient and modern beliefs. |
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many of which seem confused and contra- |
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dictory. But when examined with attention |
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to the extraneous influences brought to |
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bear on the tribe within historic times, these |
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readily emerge from their obscurity. From |
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the writings of tbe Jesuits and other early |
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French adventurers, and from modern tribal |
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INDIAN NOTES |
29
practices and traditions, in many cases vir- tually identical with those found in vogue by the first white chroniclers, it becomes apparent that the tribe has always pos- sessed a mass of concepts concerning the universe, which may be stated briefly as follows.
The earth is believed to be an island, floating in an illimitable ocean, separating the two halves of the universe into an upper and a lower portion, regarded as the abode of the benevolent and the malevolent pow- ers, respectively. Each portion is divided into four superimposed tiers, inhabited by supernatural beings, the power of whom increases in ratio to their remoteness from the earth. In the highest tier above the earth resides the deity to whom all others are subordinate. The testimony of the early writers is unanimous that this being was the Sun, but he is now, probably through missionary influence, personified as the Great Spirit (Male Haw&'tiik}, leaving the Sun in an anomalous position.
Beneath the supreme being, in descend- ing order, some say clustered about a cylin-
AND MONOGRAPHS
30
MENOMINI CULTURE
drical opening in the heavens, are three tiers of bird-like deities. First, in the empyrean, come the Thunderbirds, gods of war. As- sociated with these, in some manner not apparent, is the Morning Star. Next comes the realm of the Golden or War Eagles, and the White Swan; and last, in the stratum which touches the earth, birds of all species, headed by the Bald Eagles and various hawks, kites, and swallows. All these birds, regardless of stratum, are servants and messengers of the Great Spirit, any existing species named being thought to be earthly representatives of the Thun- derers.
Except for the Sun and the Morning Star, little attention is paid to the heavenly bodies. The Moon is regarded as pos- sessed of power, but is not important. There are also certain minor sacred per- sonages who dwell in the sky-country, among whom are several sisters who preside over the destinies of women, and to whom various colors are appropriate. Their place in the heavenly strata is not fixed.
Beneath the earth, there is, in the lowest
INDIAN NOTES
RELIGION
31
tier, the Great White Bear with a long cop- per tail, who, in addition to being the chief and patron of all earthly bears and the tra- ditional ancestor of the Menomini tribe, is the principal power for evil. He has, as a servant, a mythical hairless bear. Next, in ascending order, is the great Underground Panther, who figures extensively in the demonology of the Central Algonkian and Southern Siouan tribes. He is represented on earth by the panther and the lynx. Next is the White Deer, prominent in the origin myth of the Medicine Dance. Last of all, close to the earth, and often visible to its inhabitants, is the Horned Hairy Serpent, so generally found in North Ameri- can mythology.
The earth itself is peopled by a myriad of fantastic hobgoblins. Cannibal giants dwell in the icy region of the north; a malev- olent living skeleton, with death-dealing eyes, haunts the forests after nightfall. Similar to him, but less terrible, is a mys- terious person bearing a sacred bundle upon his back, who, like the Wandering Jew, is doomed to travel ceaselessly in expiation of
AND MONOGRAPHS
32
MENOMINI CULTURE
some forgotten sin. He wrestles with Indians from time to time, and, if overcome, grants his conqueror long life; if he is the victor, the days of the vanquished are numbered.
A race of pygmies inhabits remote rocky fastnesses. A well-disposed elf smites peo- ple on the head with a soft warclub, causing sleep. Flying heads and skulls, of varying intentions toward the race of men, exist; and there is a mysterious man who follows and molests belated travelers. Rocks, ponds, and hills have their fancied denizens. All species of animals are ruled by supernat- ural chiefs, mostly dwelling underground, and these, with the Powers of the Under- world, show themselves on earth from time to time. In swamp-holes, lakes, and rivers, under waterfalls, and in lonely hills may be found stray horned snakes, bears, panthers, and, in modern times, dogs, hogs, and horses.
Wringing their living from a reluctant earth filled with such marvelous and often dangerous beings, menaced by the imaginary forces of the Underworld, what wonder that
INDIAN NOTES
RELIGION
33
the earliest traceable religious observances among the Menomini and their neighbors are those of propitiation and supplication of the Evil Forces! True, the Good Gods are not forgotten; for instance, it is believed that only the incessant warfare waged by the Thunderers upon the Powers Below pre- vents their constant appearance on earth to the bane of men; but, working on the the- ory that it was wise to placate that which they could in no wise combat, the elders dedicated the greater part of the sacrifices of antiquity to the Nether Gods. At an early date, however, we find that sacred objects and rites, supposed to have been given in dreams to individuals for the bene- fit of the tribe, were known. Chief of these articles were the war-bundles, strong charms for defense and offense.
Certain men who succeeded in getting en rapport with the deities, as for example, members of the Wa'bano cult, who are prophets, seers, and jugglers, through the aid of the Morning Star, or of the Je"sako- wuk, who are doctors and diviners through supernatural visions, came to be recognized,
AND MONOGRAPHS
34
MENOMINI CULTURE
as did sorcerers, who obtained personal benefits from the Powers of Evil in return for harassing their fellowmen.
The matter of getting into communica- tion with the deities, or some of them, was the private concern of every individual of the tribe, male or female, and was accom- plished by fasting, and thus "incubating," or artificially inducing, dream-revelations when at the age of puberty. In this way were the war and hunting bundles obtained, as well as personal charms, fetishes, and the rituals of various loosely organized cults, such as the "Buffalo Dance," and the ex- tinct "Thunder Society."
Sacrifices of food, clothing, dogs, and, especially, tobacco, were and are constantly made to all supernatural powers, accom- panying petitions for various gifts and blessings. Tobacco is supposed to be highly prized by all the deities, and no prayer is complete without it. Such an offering must be made to all medicine-bags or bun- dles on displaying, opening, or disturbing them.
No request for information of the esoteric
INDIAN NOTES
RELIGION
35
sort addressed to the elders is valid without being accompanied with the herb. Tobacco is sacrificed by placing it on or near the ob- ject to which it is offered, by throwing it in the air, if the recipient addressed is one of the Powers Above, or burying it in the earth if he be one of the Underworld Gods. It is often smoked, and the pipe or its fumes proffered, but it is almost never cast on the fire for incense.
Traceable to an early beginning, founded wholly on the foregoing beliefs, and inti- mately associated with the tribal origin and cosmogonic myths, are the religious teach- ings of the important and little-understood society called the Mita'win. In the cosmo- gonic myth we are told that the Great Spirit (Sun) created the earth and caused it to spring up on itself personified as a woman ("our grandmother"), and that she eventu- ally became miraculously pregnant and gave birth to a daughter. The daughter in turn conceived, some say through the agency of the Four Winds, but she was torn asunder in childbirth, having previously borne a be- ing known as the Great Hare (Mate Wa'pus,
AND MONOGRAPHS
36
MENOMINI CULTURE
since corrupted into Ma"nabus), a wolf, also known as Na'xpatao, an anthropomorphic personage, and a flint stone, the latter issuing unnaturally and causing her death. Some versions of the myth make her also the mother of all animal kind.
Of the children, the Great Hare, who rarely appears except in human form, is by far the most important, for he alone is im- bued with the power of the Great Spirit. He proceeded to prepare the world for its coming occupancy by human tenants through a series of tremendous and heroic deeds, including the recreation of the earth after the flood.
Although it seems difficult to reconcile the character of the timorous and foolish hare with that of the great earth-making Culture God, child of the primal forces, if we accept Brinton's hypothesis that among Algonkians the name of the hero was origin- ally compounded not with the word wa'pus, a hare, but with wa'pan, meaning dawn, east, or light (I have here employed the Menomini native terms), and has since be- come confused by oral descent through gen-
INDIAN NOTES
RELIGION
37
erations until it has assumed its present form, we have a worthy native conception of a heroic demigod.1
This encourages further speculation. The Menomini, and indeed the Central Algon- kians in general, may well have possessed in their folklore a Hare trickster, corresponding with the Plains Spider or Coyote, who was responsible for the cycle of comic, senseless, and obscene escapades, which now, through this confusion of identity between wa'pan and wa'pus, are appended to the mighty achievements of the Culture Hero-God though utterly foreign to his original char- acter. In this connection it is interesting to note that the more northerly Ojibwa and Cree have a trickster, whose name, Tcika'pis, may conceivably be derived from 'tci wa'pus, or Great Hare, in addition to the Culture Hero-God.2 This theory would at once make clear one of the hitherto inexplicable puzzles of North American mythology, and the solution is rendered the more probable by the fact that it is principally the foolish and unworthy incidents of the dual cycle which are found generally diffused over the
AND MONOGRAPHS
|
38 |
MENOMINI CULTURE |
|
greater part of the continent; the serious |
|
|
cosmogonic, and especially the sacred ritu- |
|
|
alistic myths, being confined to the Central |
|
|
Algonkians, and perhaps not to all of them. |
|
|
THE MITA'WIN ORIGIN MYTH |
|
|
Be this as it may, in his endeavors to |
|
|
better existing conditions for the benefit of |
|
|
his human successors, Mannabus angered |
|
|
the Evil Gods, who sought to slay him. |
|
|
Failing in this, they did away with his |
|
|
younger brother the Wolf. In revenge, the |
|
|
Great Dawn destroyed some of their num- |
|
|
ber and wounded others, later killing them |
|
|
by substituting himself for their doctor and |
|
|
thus gaining admission to their homes. |
|
|
In order to escape, the remaining Evil Be- |
|
|
ings, in consultation with the Good Powers, |
|
|
decided to offer the Great Dawn their secret |
|
|
knowledge of prolongation of life by the |
|
|
magic and medicinal use of herbs and roots, |
|
|
the hairs of our Earth Grandmother. To |
|
|
this they added the assurance of, if not im- |
|
|
mortality, at least a safe journey and cer- |
|
|
tain admission to the Abode of the Dead, |
|
|
INDIAN NOTES |
RELIGION
39
through the songs and ritual of the Medicine Lodge.
Persuaded to accept, through the un- sought solicitation of Otter, the Great Dawn attended the conference, and was initiated by the Gods in their Celestial Medicine Lodge; the ceremony consisting, in part, of his being attacked in succession by four of the leaders, who "shot" into his body the essence of the power contained in the medi- cine-bags which they carried, these being composed of the animal skins or natures which they had worn, and of which they had divested themselves for the occasion, in order to assume human form. The Great Dawn was slain by this supernatural essence, but was later brought to life, and was then possessed, not only of the power thus in- jected into him, but of more than earthly knowledge. Bidden to carry the rites of the Celestial Lodge to mankind, his "uncles and aunts," he did appear to them, and intro- duced the still existing Medicine Dance, the ritual of which embodies the dramatization of this myth, and in many fundamental con- cepts so closely resembles the rites of the
AND MONOGRAPHS
40
MENOMINI CULTURE
white society known as the Free and Ac- cepted Masons, that only the undoubted pre-European origin of the Indian fraternity makes suspicion of influence by contact un- tenable. Like the Masons, the Mitd'win is a closed organization, which keeps its ritual secret from non-members, even within the tribe. Initiation is by purchase, the candi- date often taking the place of a deceased member, and neither age nor sex bars any- one from membership.
To the members of the society the Great Dawn is more than one of the series of tribal gods; he is the principal deity. He is re- vered as the giver, through the other gods, of life, future existence, curative medicines and formulae; he is patron of the Je"sako doctors ' and seers, master of game, and donor of the hunting-bundles and charms. Members of the society are called familiarly, among themselves, "followers of Ma"na- bus," and the rites of the lodge and the fra- ternal help it extends to its members are "the ways of the Great Dawn." These are facts with which students of North Ameri- can ethnology have not been familiar,
INDIAN NOTES
|
RELIGION |
41 |
|
though many of them were noted by the |
|
|
earliest explorers. |
|
|
THE DREAMERS |
|
|
At a very much later period, probably |
|
|
just before the middle of the last century, a |
|
|
new religious cult was introduced among the |
|
|
Menomini, probably by the Potawatomi |
|
|
of the Prairie. This is a society called |
|
|
"The Dancing Men," or "The Dreamers," |
|
|
whose rites are founded on a ritual supposed |
|
|
to have been given to a little girl in a dream, |
|
|
subsequent to a battle between whites and |
|
|
Indians. A spirit appeared to the little |
|
|
fugitive and promised her protection for her |
|
|
people, provided they worshiped the Great |
|
|
Spirit through the medium of a special |
|
|
drum. To do this, a society was formed, |
|
|
having various chapters, each provided with |
|
|
its quota of officers, on the plan of many of |
|
|
the Southern Siouan societies. The asso- |
|
|
ciation holds periodical public ceremonies |
|
|
outdoors, and private performances, mainly |
|
|
to heal the sick, indoors. It is not secret, |
|
|
nor is admission by purchase. |
|
|
The chief paraphernalia are a huge sacred |
|
|
AND MONOGRAPHS |
|
42 |
MENOMINI CULTURE |
|
drum and its accompanying pipes, which |
|
|
are constantly attended, day and night, by |
|
|
a member appointed as guard; and the |
|
|
eagle-feather bustle worn during certain of |
|
|
the outdoor dances. Membership does not |
|
|
debar one from the Mita'win, and of late |
|
|
years, with the gradual decay of the definite |
|
|
functions and titles of the officers as origin- |
|
|
ally conceived, a- curious confusion of the |
|
|
tenets of this society with those of the |
|
|
Mita'win has been noted. |
|
|
PEYOTF |
|
|
Since 1914, or perhaps a few years earlier, |
|
|
the so-called "Peyote religion" has put in |
|
|
an appearance in certain settlements where |
|
|
members of the tribe are married to Winne- |
|
|
bago or Potawatomi addicts. As the writer |
|
|
has not undertaken the study of this new |
|
|
craze with any of the limited number of its |
|
|
Menomini adherents, he is not in a position |
|
|
to speak with authority on the subject. |
|
|
The dogma of the members is reported to |
|
|
be a mixture of pagan and Christian beliefs, |
|
|
which seem to be entirely of an ennobling |
|
|
and uplifting character, but the accompa- |
|
|
INDIAN NOTES |
|
RELIGION |
43 |
|
nying ceremonies consist largely in the pro- |
|
|
curing of visions by means of the use of the |
|
|
powerful narcotic peyote, which can have |
|
|
only a deleterious effect on its users. The |
|
|
cult is not secret, but membership in the |
|
|
order precludes any in all other societies, |
|
|
and demands the abandonment of all an- |
|
|
cient practices, with the destruction of their |
|
|
paraphernalia. If its converts increase ma- |
|
|
terially in numbers (which at present seems |
|
|
improbable, owing to the opposition of the |
|
|
conservatives among both Christian and |
|
|
pagan parties, coupled with the antagonism |
|
|
of the government officers attached to the |
|
|
reservation) , its success will mean the death- |
|
|
blow to all the ancient customs of the tribe, |
|
|
already decadent, without the compensation |
|
|
of any advantageous or progressive substi- |
|
|
tute. |
|
|
THE HEREAFTER |
|
|
It is believed that each person is pos- |
|
|
sessed of two separate souls. One, really |
|
|
the ghost, is the intellect, which resides in |
|
|
the head. This spirit lingers about the |
|
|
graveyard for an indefinite time after the |
|
|
AND MONOGRAPHS |
44
MENOMINI CULTURE
funeral, and gives sharp whistling cries at night. Offerings of food are made to it. The other is the true soul, which is immor- tal, and travels over the Road of the Dead (The Milky Way) to the Land of Spirits. One of the principal objects of the MitU'win, or Medicine Lodge Society, is to prepare members to make this difficult journey in safety.
The road to the Otherworld is broad and plainly marked, but various obstacles and temptations are found along the way, de- signed to lead the unworthy astray. As the length of the pilgrimage is four days and four nights, at the funeral ceremonies the souls of slain enemies are ordered by the warriors who killed them to accompany, guide, and care for the deceased. These ser- vants light the fires and prepare the camps at night. It was for use on the trip to the Otherworld, and not for service in that land, that weapons and utensils were formerly placed in the grave.
Just before the Land of the Departed is reached, a river is encountered, over which the only passage is by means of a slippery
INDIAN NOTES
RELIGION
45
log. A huge dog guards this bridge, and he never permits evildoers, nor those who have maltreated dogs or wolves in life, to cross. Even if an evil soul is allowed to attempt a crossing, it is likely to be precip- itated into the stream and to be swept on eternally. If, however, a soul succeeds in reaching the other side, it is welcomed by the spirits of those who have gone before, and joins them in feasting and playing lacrosse forever.
The Otherworld is ruled by Na'*palao, or Little Wolf, the brother of Md"nabus, who was slain by the Powers Beneath. After a soul has been in his care for four days, he sends for it, washes it, and cleanses it of all earthly knowledge. It is then endowed with heavenly lore, and becomes oblivious of most of the facts concerning its previous existence on earth.
A year after the death of a member of the Mit&'win, his relatives call a meeting of the society and hold a memorial ceremony at which prayers are" addressed to Na'xpatao, requesting him to release the soul of the deceased, that it may return to earth long
AND MONOGRAPHS
|
46 |
ME NO MINI CULTURE |
|
enough to participate in a feast of the dead. |
|
|
A person of the same age and sex as the |
|
|
departed is selected to wear the latter's best |
|
|
suit of clothes, preserved for this occasion |
|
|
by the mourners, and to impersonate the |
|
|
returned soul. After the feast the imper- |
|
|
sonator is faced to the west, and the soul |
|
|
is dismissed to return to the realm of |
|
|
Na'xpatiio. Often as an alternative a large |
|
|
public ceremony is held (p4. l-m), at which |
|
|
the impersonator is initiated into the society |
|
|
to take the place of the dead member. |
|
|
I |
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION |
|
TRIBAL ORIGIN MYTH |
|
|
According to the tribal origin myth, in |
|
|
the mystical past the Great Underground |
|
|
Bear and its mate came out of the earth |
|
|
near the mouth of the Menominee river, |
|
|
and there assumed human guise, becoming |
|
|
the tribal ancestors. Later they were |
|
|
joined by metamorphosed Thunderers, the |
|
|
beaver, black bear, crane, wolf, bald eagle, |
|
|
and others. As the eagle assisted the bear, |
|
|
and a wave the Wolf, the Bear-Eagle and |
|
|
Wolf-Wave people became partners, and |
|
|
INDIA.N NOTES |
SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE
CARRYING THE DRUM FROM THE MEDICINE LODGE TO THE GRAVE OF CHIEF NI'OPIT OSHKOSH
5 °
S *
2 o o — o z
|
ORGANIZATION |
47 |
|
were the ancestors of two groups of linked |
|
|
gentes, the members of which address each |
|
|
other, in each case, as "nito'tam." Al- |
|
|
though it is thus apparent that the member |
|
|
of each gens are supposedly descended from |
|
|
metamorphosed animals, in ordinary prac- |
|
|
tice the Indians regard actual animals as |
|
|
having been their forefathers. Thus the}7 |
|
|
are related to modern representatives of |
|
|
these animals, and, in consequence, I have |
|
|
heard, for example, an Indian of the Bear |
|
|
gens address a living bear as "brother." |
|
|
GEXTES AND PHRATRIES |
|
|
The phratries of the Menomini with their |
|
|
remembered gentes are seven. The first |
|
|
gens enumerated in each phratry is the |
|
|
leader of that group and gives it its name. |
|
|
They are: |
|
|
fl. Great Ancestral Bear, Sekd'tcokemau |
|
|
I J2. Snapping Turtle, Mika'nd |
|
|
(3. Porcupine, Kita'mi" |
|
|
fl. Big Sand (name of a mythical bear), |
|
|
II 1 Kelcina'kau |
|
|
12. Black Bear, AwO'st \ ,. , , [3. Bald Eagle; Pfrtfw"/ lmked gentes |
|
|
AND MONOGRAPHS |
|
48 |
MENOMINI CULTURE |
|
|
III |
3! Fox, Wa"ko |
|
|
4. Dog, Ana'm 5. Deer, Apa"sos |
||
|
TV /I. Beaver, Nomfi' v \2. Muskrat, Osii's |
||
|
vl |
1. Crane, Ku'fita'tcia 2. Shagpoke, Wapikisu'nien |
|
|
VI |
1. Elk, Oma'skos |
|
|
fl. Thunderbird, Ina'makiu Vn \2. War or Golden Eagle, Kine'u (3. Crow or Raven, Ka'kaki" |
||
|
Each of these phratries and its subordi- |
||
|
nate |
gentes possesses a number of gentile |
|
|
names, both male and female, based on some |
||
|
real |
or supposed characteristic of the an- |
|
|
cestor of the leading gens, which are be- |
||
|
stowed as honorary titles on members of |
||
|
their appropriate group, and which must be |
||
|
kept constantly in use. The phratries have |
||
|
likewise their peculiar rites and functions, |
||
|
but these have largely, if not entirely, fallen |
||
|
in desuetude. There are no gens or phratry |
||
|
properties, such as sacred bundles, nor has |
||
|
any |
gens or phratry any ceremony appro- |
|
|
INDIAN NOTES |
|
THUNDER GENS NAMES |
49 |
|
priate only to itself. There are traces of an |
|
|
ancient dual division of the phratries into |
|
|
the moieties according to the position of the |
|
|
gens and phratry ancestors in the upper or |
|
|
the nether worlds, but this seems to have |
|
|
been unimportant and purely ceremonial. |
|
|
THUNDER GENS NAMES |
|
|
These names, hitherto unrecorded, are |
|
|
supposed to be the titles of the Thunder- |
|
|
birds themselves, by which they are known |
|
|
among the gods. They are used by mortal |
|
|
Indians as personal names in the Thunderer |
|
|
gens. There are, no doubt, more of these |
|
|
titles, but they are forgotten or have fallen |
|
|
into disuse. As given in this list they are |
|
|
supposed to follow the order of importance, |
|
|
and appearance, of their celestial owners. |
|
|
The writer has placed an asterisk before |
|
|
each name borne by an Indian of his |
|
|
acquaintance. As noted above, similar |
|
|
names were apparently once found in all the |
|
|
gentes. |
|
|
*Mudje'kiwis, The eldest brother and leader. |
|
|
Perhaps derived from the Ojibwa, and |
|
|
AND MONOGRAPHS |
50
ME NO MINI CULTURE
meaning 'Bad or Evil Wind.' Not only used as a clan name, but as the ordinal name of the eldest son, or, in its feminine form, of the eldest daughter in every fam- ily. Often used colloquially to mean the firstborn, or the heir, especially in myth- ology and folklore.
Ma"nuseo, 'The Leader,' or 'The Greatest.' Some Indian authorities place this Thun- derer before the preceding, but this has no foundation in lore nor usage.
*Wi'skino, 'Bird.' When he appears the rain freezes.
*Wabinima'ki", 'White Thunderbird.'
Sawinama'kiu, 'Red Thunderbird.'
*Kishkinama'kiu, 'Moderator' (Thunderbird), also known as 'One-half a Thunderer,' and 'Finishes Suddenly.' He comes in black clouds, and the weather then clears.
*Ko"naha', 'Cyclone.'
Keska'na'kahum, 'The Tree Breaker.' Snaps off the tree-trunks half-way up.
Mosa'na'sd, 'Terrible or Destructive One.' Also called 'Man-Thunder,' because he is often seen in anthropomorphic form.
We'se'ka'peo, 'The Firm-seated One.' Always looks on while the others storm. Should he ever leave his place and join them, he would destroy the world.
*Wakajona'pe, 'Crooked Beak.'
*Kewutawa'peo, 'Rolling Eyes.' Generally translated, 'Look Around.'
Ina'maki", 'Thunderbird.'
*Awa'nuhapeo. 'One Seated in Fog.'
Muko'mias, 'Inventor of Hail.'
INDIAN NOTES
|
GOVERNMENT |
51 |
|
*Pepakiji'se, 'Little Pot-belly.' Used not only |
|
|
as a Thunderer gens name, but as a nick- |
|
|
name applied to the youngest son in every |
|
|
family, regardless of gens. |
|
|
GOVERNMENT |
|
|
The office of tribal chief was hereditary in |
|
|
the principal family of the Great Mythical |
|
|
Bear gens, the members of which are the |
|
|
traditional lineal descendants of the Great |
|
|
Bear himself. The head man in each gentile |
|
|
group or phratry had likewise to be a mem- |
|
|
ber of the principal gens of his group. |
|
|
Phratry councils, gens councils, and tribal |
|
|
councils were held to decide important |
|
|
questions. The duties of all chiefs were |
|
|
purely civil, the war power being vested |
|
|
in the owners of the war-bundles, who were |
|
|
dependent on their personal dream revela- |
|
|
tions for office, and whose authority was |
|
|
limited by their reputation and personality. |
|
|
A civil chief was not debarred from being a |
|
|
bundle-owner, and hence a war-leader, |
|
|
should he receive the proper revelations. |
|
|
The war-leaders, together with all men of |
|
|
notable bravery, whose exploits had won |
|
|
them fame, were required to police the |
|
|
AND MONOGRAPHS |
|
52 |
MENOMINI CULTURE |
|
camp. An hereditary officer in one of the |
|
|
Bear gentes was their commander. He |
|
|
wore a special badge of authority, and had |
|
|
charge of the peace-pipe, by virtue of which |
|
|
he prevented blood vengeance in cases of |
|
|
intertribal murder, causing the aggrieved |
|
|
parties to withhold their wrath until the |
|
|
case could be formally tried, and the mur- |
|
|
derer, if adjudged guilty, bought off or |
|
|
executed. |
|
|
The warrior police were required to |
|
|
guard the beds of wild rice from premature |
|
|
pickers when the tribe had gathered for the |
|
|
annual harvest, in much the same way that |
|
|
the Oki'tcita "soldiers" of the plains regu- |
|
|
lated the buffalo hunt. |
|
|
BIRTH AND NAMING CUSTOMS |
|
|
A woman approaching childbirth with- |
|
|
drew to an outhouse or a small special lodge, |
|
|
and there had her infant, for the blood which |
|
|
attended its arrival was regarded as un- |
|
|
clean, as is that lost during the menses. |
|
|
The child, almost as soon as born, was |
|
|
bound on a cradle-board, and holes were |
|
|
made in its moccasins, so that if any spirit |
|
|
INDIAN NOTES |
BIRTH AND NAMES
53
should coax it to leave its parents and return to the Otherworld, whence it came, it would be obliged to refuse, on the ground that its shoes were too poor to undertake so long a journey.
\Yhile ordinal names, derived from the Thunderers, are found among the Meno- mini, each child is given a personal name, often by some shaman who is paid for this service. These names may be revealed in dreams, or may be titles acquired from the Powers Above. At a later period hi life a youth who has done some brave deed in war may have his name changed by consent of the gens or the tribal council, and fre- quently receives one of the gentile names mentioned in a preceding section.
Children of both sexes were always, and to some extent still are, taught to fast when yet very young, in order to enable them to undergo a rather prolonged ordeal at pub- erty. The object of the puberty fast is to induce portentous dreams by starvation. Visions of this nature include the blessing of the devotee by some god or important animal, with the gift of certain special per
AND MONOGRAPHS
|
54 |
MENOMINI CULTURE |
|
sonal, warlike, or supernatural privileges, |
|
|
and prophecy concerning the supplicant's |
|
|
future. Sometimes some taboo is imposed, |
|
|
or orders issued to perform certain rites |
|
|
periodically. Evil or unpropitious dreams |
|
|
may be refused and new revelations sought, |
|
|
but the reappearance of the same vision |
|
|
four times makes it irrevocable. |
|
|
PUBERTY |
|
|
A girl undergoing her first menses is |
|
|
obliged to withdraw from society for ten |
|
|
days, and thereafter on each recurrence for |
|
|
several days, or as long as the period de- |
|
|
mands. For this enforced sojourn she is |
|
|
provided with a small lodge and her own |
|
|
peculiar utensils which no one else may |
|
|
touch. During 'such periods women are |
|
|
considered highly unclean, and hence are |
|
|
supposed to pollute, injure, and perhaps |
|
|
even destroy any person or medicine with |
|
|
which they may come in contact. |
|
|
- |
MARRIAGE |
|
Traditionally all marriage customs were |
|
|
derived from the Great Dawn. Love |
|
|
INDIAN NOTES |
MARRIAGE
55
matches were formerly rare, but young men did a great deal of courting at night, going to the lodge and bed of the girl in the midst of her family. Usually, however, parents selected wives. for their sons. If a young man proved acceptable to his prospective parents-in-law, presents were given them by his relatives, and the bride went to the young man's wigwam and dwelt with him. Her parents made gifts in return to the groom's relatives at the end of a year, and these had to be of equal or greater value than those they had originally received. Plurality of wives was once the rule.
Separation was by mutual consent; but in recent times a wife could be given away publicly with a blanket at the Dream Dance. Adultery was cause for divorce, and the woman was sometimes punished by the loss of her nose. The offending man was liable to death at the bands of an aggrieved husband.
The "joking relationship," a formal eti- quette, is still maintained between brothers- and sisters-in-law, uncles aunts, and nieces
AND MONOGRAPHS
|
56 |
MENOMINI CULTURE |
|
and nephews. The mother-in-law taboo is |
|
|
also known. |
|
|
GAMES |
|
|
Menomini games are often played for the |
|
|
dual purpose of honoring the gods and of |
|
|
curing the sick, amusement being secondary |
|
|
in a number of cases. Such games are the |
|
|
perquisites of important deities, and are |
|
|
held only to gain their good graces. La- |
|
|
crosse, in particular, is the property of the |
|
|
Thunderers, and is looked upon as mimic |
|
|
warfare. A game can be called only by a |
|
|
man having a Thunderbird as his dream |
|
|
guardian, or who is supposed to be a rein- |
|
|
carnated Thunderer himself. In either case, |
|
|
such a person must give the game peri- |
|
|
odically. Apparently, betting is not in- |
|
|
dulged in, in connection with this sport, |
|
|
but the giver must fee both sides with gifts |
|
|
of calico or other bright-colored cloth, and |
|
|
must not take part irt the play himself, but |
|
|
stay at one side to offer prayers and sacri- |
|
|
fices. Shinny, played exclusively by women, |
|
|
belongs to one of the sets of sacred Sky Sis- |
|
|
ters and is performed under conditions |
|
|
similar to those of lacrosse. |
|
|
INDIAN NOTES |
GAMES
TWO HITHERTO UNRECORDED GAMES
A game played solely for the amusement of children, that they might become tired and more readily fall asleep, was called kakatcis katamoyan. A disc was cut out of bark, a foot or more in diameter, and this the little ones were taught to roll before them, like a hoop.
A rough game, which not infrequently developed into a free-for-all fight, was called hato'wi, or ato'wi. Two sides were chosen by the players; or members of some friendly visiting tribe, such as the Pota- watomi, played in opposition to the Meno- mini. The object of the sport was to show which of the contestants could best keep his temper. First one side and then the other took turns kicking each others' buttocks. With each kick, delivered with all the force which the moccasin-clad foot of the owner could gather, the name of the game was shouted aloud; in fact, whenever a crowd of Indians had gathered to watch or partici- pate in athletic sports, such as bow-shooting, wrestling, racing, or lacrosse, if any one
57
AND MONOGRAPHS
|
58 |
MENOMINICULTURE |
|
shouted "Hato'wi!" it was customary for the |
|
|
bystanders immediately to begin to play. |
|
|
A list of Menomini games, all of which are |
|
|
widely diffused throughout the Central |
|
|
Algonkian and Southern Siouan tribes, fol- |
|
|
lows: |
|
|
Lacrosse Moccasin |
|
|
Snow-snake Kicking game Prisoners' base Draw-sticks |
|
|
Rolling hoops Foot-racing Shinny Bowl-and-dice Ice game Cup-and-pin Throwing sticks Cat's-cradle Racing ponies |
|
|
SIGN LANGUAGE |
|
|
A system of signs for blazing forest trails |
|
|
was once in vogue among the Menomini, |
|
|
but has become almost extinct. I have |
|
|
often seen them break over young saplings |
|
|
and bushes, inclining the fallen tops in the |
|
|
direction the party was taking for the bene- |
|
|
fit of anyone coming behind. The condi- |
|
|
tion of the leaves — fresh, wilted, or dried — |
|
|
helps mark the elapse of time as well. A |
|
|
few signs are made with the hands, appar- |
|
|
ently the remnant of a once more extensive |
|
|
sign language. |
|
|
INDIAN NOTES |
|
SIGN LANGUAGE |
59 |
|
Contempt: Raise right fist to the lips, fingers |
|
|
away from the mouth, throw out first two fingers |
|
|
and bring hand downward and forward with |
|
|
celerity. This gesture may be made with im- |
|
|
punity only to joking relatives. |
|
|
Astonishment: Right fist raised and placed |
|
|
thumb against mouth; for great surprise, the |
|
|
left fist raised in like manner, the thumb against |
|
|
the infolded little finger of the right. It must |
|
|
be understood that both thumbs are folded in. |
|
|
Horse galloping: Extend right arm horizon- |
|
|
tally with hand clenched, fingers down, rapidly |
|
|
clench and unclench fist. For several horses |
|
|
both hands are used. |
|
|
Lightning or gunshot: Back of right hand |
|
|
slapped smartly in palm of left. |
' |
|
/ give it to you: Extend right hand, palm |
|
|
downward, raising palm until almost on the |
|
|
same plane as the upright body.- |
|
|
There were once other signs, say the old |
|
|
people, but they are all forgotten. None of |
|
|
the above gestures is confined to the Meno- |
|
|
mini tribe in its use. |
|
|
WARFARE |
|
|
Although a peace-loving tribe, the Meno- |
|
|
mini were both able and willing to resist |
|
|
invasion and even to carry the fighting into |
|
|
the enemy's country. They drove the Sauk |
|
|
and Fox from their seats on Green bay, and, |
|
|
AND MONOGRAPHS |
60
MENOMINI CULTURE
much later, during the Blackhawk war, materially helped the American forces to ex- pel them from the territory east of the Mis- sissippi. They raided the Osage, and, in company with their allies, the Eastern or Santee Dakota, ventured up the Mississippi to attack the Mandan.
All Menomini warfare was conducted through the assistance of the war-bundles, the type example of which was traditionally given the tribe by the Thunderbirds, through the medium of a man named Wata' fauna. The succeeding examples down to the pres- ent day have been granted to men and even to women as dream revelations. Semi- annual sacrifices are made to the bundles in the spring and the fall, when a public cere- mony with feasting and dancing is held (pi. iv). At this time the bundle-owners are masters of the rites, and are fed by attend- ants who place the food in their mouths with wooden skewers.
When general war was declared, runners were sent to the various villages of the tribe, bearing tobacco and a string of wampum, painted red, to notify the bundle-owners or
INDIAN NOTES
61
partizans to gather their warriors. When for this or any other reason a partizan de- cided to go to war, he collected his young men, who were volunteers desirous of ob- taining fame, and led them out of the vil- lage to a secluded spot in the forest. Here a long lodge of boughs was erected, the bundle opened, and its contents displayed. Sacrifices, including a dog feast, were made, and the war dance was performed. The partizan managed these affairs, but did not take part.
The war-party then proceeded, with the partizan in advance carrying the war-bun- dle, or having it borne for him by his uncle or a nephew. Thus equipped the leader could neither turn back nor deviate from his path, unless his uncle or his nephew came forward, took hold of him, and forcibly changed his course. When scouts had lo- cated the enemy's camp, it was approached at night. Before attacking, the partizan again opened the war-bundle, and, with its contents spread out before him, sang the songs belonging to the bundle's ritual, to the accompaniment of a deer-hoof rattle, and
AND MONOGRAPHS
62
MENOMINI CULTURE
then distributed the sacred contents of his pack among his followers. One, for exam- ple, would receive a root medicine to make him invulnerable, when chewed and sprayed over his body. Another was given a sim- ilar charm to secure invisibility. Another might accept a snake-skin to give him the serpent's power of stealthy approach. The skin of a swallow rendered the bearer as dif- ficult to hit as is that bird in flight; a miniature warclub gave another the ability to strike with the force of the Thunder. Thus fortified, the men encircled the hostile camp, while the partizan stayed behind singing to stupefy the enemy.
The attack was commenced just before dawn, when vitality was supposed to be at its lowest ebb. Bows and arrows and war- clubs were used, but shields were not car- ried. Scalps were taken back to the parti- zan, who gave rewards to the successful warriors. The first to kill a foe received a wampum belt. After the attack the war- riors turned homeward, taking time, when out of reach of the enemy, to stretch the scalps on hoops. When the lodge of boughs
INDIAN NOTES
WARFARE
63
erected on the outward journey was reached, a victory dance was held, and the names of the victors were announced with the nature of their coups.
Among the Menomini there was no sys- tem of war honors. The greatest deed was to slay a foeman, for which feat alone was granted the right to wear an eagle-feather on the . head. For this, and perhaps for scalping a foe, the principals were entitled to have their names changed by vote of council composed probably by the chiefs of the gens of the victor. Usually some gens name "vacant" at the time was awarded.
Following the victory dance the warriors danced with the scalps attached to short wands, after which the nearest female rela- tive of each man, preferably his sister, came forward and made him a present "to wash the blood from his hands," and took the scalp, whooping as she received it. The scalps were then the property of the women, who ornamented and kept them as trophies. If a man had no female relative to receive his scalps, they reverted to the war-bundle and were kept therein until the next semi-
AND MONOGRAPHS
|
64 |
MENOMINI CULTURE |
|
annual war-bundle feast, when each was |
|
|
given to some renowned warrior to dance |
|
|
with until his female relatives "washed his |
|
|
hands" and took it from him. Bits of |
|
|
scalps are sometimes found attached to |
|
|
charms contained in the war-bundles, and |
|
|
it is probable that the wisps of hair care- |
|
|
fully preserved in these palladia, explained |
|
|
as locks from the heads of former owners, |
|
|
are in many cases really from scalps taken |
|
|
when the bundle was used, having been |
|
|
kept as tokens of its prowess. |
|
|
SOCIETIES • |
|
|
THE MITA'WIN |
|
|
An idea has already been given of the |
|
|
underlying ritual of the important secret |
|
|
society known as the Mila'win, or Medicine |
|
|
Lodge, which is composed of four graded |
|
|
degrees. Admission is by purchase, often to |
|
|
fill a vacancy caused by death, and the ini- |
|
|
tiation is- the dramatization of the origin |
|
|
myth, in which the candidate plays the |
|
|
leading role. The chief feature is the pre- |
|
|
tended slaying and bringing to life of the |
|
|
candidate, which is the symbolic presenta- |
|
|
INDIAN NOTES |
M I T A' W I N
65
tion of the belief that all so initiated will be reincarnated in the Hereafter,
In addition to the ritualistic myths of the society, a mass of official and unofficial lore is acquired from tune to tune by the initiate after he has joined the body, but always by purchase. This is made up of the songs and the formulae accompanying the herb medicines known to the members, and leg- endary data concerning the specific gifts of the various animals to Ma"nabus at the time of the founding of the lodge. Inci- dentally, there occurs in the customs of the lodge one of the few traces of the old tribal dual division previously mentioned, based on the separation of the universe into halves. It is said that formerly mem- bers took their positions on one side or the other of the Medicine Dance structure ac- cording as to whether the medicine-bags they possessed were made of the skins of animals inhabiting the upper or the lower regions.
MEDICINES AND BUNDLES
Peculiarly the property of the members of the Mita'win, yet known through pur-
66
MENOMINI CULTURE
chase to many others, is a vast series of medicines, both magical and practical, hav- ing for their ingredients roots, herbs, shells, fossils, stones, claws of animals, and the like. Presumably all these had their origin in dream revelations, but many have been handed down from one member of the society to another from time immemorial, and, except as gifts of "our grandmother, the Earth," or of various gods and animals, through the Great Dawn, their origin is forgotten. Medicines and their sacred formulae, for none are valuable without their particular songs and prayers, can be obtained only by purchase from their own- ers, but as anyone may buy them, they are known, though in lesser degree, beyond the limits of membership in the Mil a' win. Their number has been, and constantly is, augmented by accessions from other tribes. The gathering of roots and herbs for medicinal use is always attended by placing tobacco in the holes from which they were dug, with a song or a prayer in honor of Earth Grandmother, whose hairs they are. Besides the actual curing of disease, there
INDIAN NOTES
M I T A' W I N
67
are medicines for all manner of purposes, a very incomplete list of which may be given here to show their diversity.
These are at least eighteen different love medicines, or charms for gaining the affec- tions of a member of the opposite sex than that of the user; medicine for keeping mar- ried couples faithful; for driving enemies insane; for winning at gambling, racing, etc. A famous good-luck medicine is called ukemd'u'as, which attracts friendship, over- powers enemies, and brings food, wealth, and gifts to the house; witch medicines of many kinds for destroying foes; medicines to thwart sorcerers; for taking game and fish; to guard against snake-bite; and to insure the bearer against injury from the missiles of medicine-bags shot by unknown foes.
Like these medicines, the various sacred bundles are sometimes transferred by pur- chase, but so far as the writer is aware, this is seldom done. All sacred bundles were originally the fruit of the owner's dream revelation, and could never be passed on to other hands with a complete making-over of the power of the first
AND MONOGRAPHS
68
ME NO MINI CULTURE
dreamer, even though the buyer had also had a bundle dream; for each vision was charged with special instructions which were apt to differ, and the makeup of the bundle was likewise variable within certain limita- tions. It was customary, however, for people who had not been successful in estab- lishing favorable contact with the gods to go to a bundle-owner and purchase the right to use or to carry certain of the medi- cines and charms contained therein. In- herited bundles theoretically lost some of their power, although instances are re- ported in which identical dreams were vouchsafed father and son. It has been observed that this theoretical loss of power credited to the bundles is seldom admitted in actuality. As all bundles were acquired through dreams, and as dreams cannot be controlled successfully, there was no limit set by custom on the number of bundles of any kind to be found in the tribe; but they were never very numerous. They were, as has previously been stated, personal and not clan property.
INDIAN NOTES
|
DREAMER S-W ITCHES |
69 |
|
THE DREAMERS |
|
|
Next of importance to the Mita'win is |
|
|
the Society of the Dreamers, of which no |
|
|
more than passing mention need be made |
|
|
here, since it has been fully treated under |
|
|
the caption of Religion. It is a modern |
|
|
acquisition. |
|
|
THE WITCHES' SOCIETY |
|
|
The belief in witchcraft is deeply rooted |
|
|
among the Menomini, and it is the constant |
|
|
effort of the shamans and the members of |
|
|
the Mita'ivin to combat their activities. |
|
|
Witches and wizards are persons who, |
|
|
through self-mortification, such as fasting |
|
|
and sacrifices, have obtained the patronage |
|
|
of some one of the Evil Powers, in return |
|
|
for which they are obliged to slay members of |
|
|
their own tribe as votive offerings. They |
|
|
attack and destroy their victims by magi- |
|
|
cally transforming themselves into balls of |
|
|
fire, owls, bears, foxes, turkeys, and other |
|
|
animals, and traveling for great distances at |
|
|
night with remarkable speed. Arrived at |
|
|
the lodge of his prey, the sorcerer dis- |
|
|
charges enchanted arrows at him,- causing |
|
|
AND MONOGRAPHS |
70
MENOMINI CULTURE
disease, and, if the attacks are repeated, death. Witches are known to have magic bundles, the most notorious of which con- tain the entire hide of a bear, or the skin of a horned owl, which are worn when as- suming the shapes of these animals. With the skins is included a bandoleer, or shoulder pouch, covered with tiny bags holding bad medicines, the worst of which are portions of the body of the terrible Horned Hairy Snake.
The witches are said to be associated in a society having eight members, four using the bear and four the owl, as mediums of murder. Their rites are said to include a disgusting form of cannibalism, for witches are supposed to haunt the graveyards where their victims are buried, and so magically to obtain the heart and lungs of the mur- dered persons, which they are credited with devouring. Witches also destroy their victims by shooting and stabbing rude effigies of them made on the ground or on birch-bark, or by torturing dolls of grass or wood. They also steal the luck away from hunters, sending their arrows or bullets
INDIAN NOTES
|
W A' B A N O- J E" S A K O |
71 |
|
astray; they cause children to drown; and |
|
|
practise other nefarious arts. |
|
|
THE WA'BANO CULT |
|
|
This is a group of unattached shamans |
|
|
who resemble the Dakotan Hey oka in some |
|
|
of their practices, especially with regard to |
|
|
immunity from fire and boiling water, |
|
|
though they do not use "backward speech." |
|
|
They are prophets, and derive their skill from |
|
|
the Morning Star (Wa'bano, or Wa'panana), |
|
|
or even from the Sun. |
|
|
THE JE"SAKO CULT |
|
|
Like the Wa'bano, the Je"sako form a |
• |
|
cult by themselves, but are not associated |
|
|
or united. They are diviners and doctors. |
|
|
and in the curing of the sick commence |
|
|
their work by erecting a small, cylindrical, |
|
|
bark lodge, where they commune with the |
|
|
spirits. The lodge sways from side to |
|
|
side, the wind blows, and voices are heard |
|
|
speaking to the seer, who replies through |
|
|
the medium of the turtle, who acts as inter- |
|
|
preter. |
|
|
AND MONOGRAPHS |
|
72 |
MENOMINI CULTURE |
|
The cause of the patient's illness, invari- |
|
|
ably witchcraft, since disease is unnatural, |
|
|
is made clear to the Je"sako. Sometimes |
|
|
he coaxes the soul of a moribund patient, |
|
|
thought to be already well started on the |
|
|
journey to the Land of the Dead, to return |
|
|
and enter a small wooden cylinder where it |
|
|
is imprisoned and delivered to its relatives. |
|
|
These attach the cylinder to the patient's |
|
|
breast for four days, so that the soul may |
|
|
return to his body. |
|
|
Sometimes the gods inform the Je"sako |
|
|
that his client is afflicted by a sorcerer's |
|
|
arrow in the flesh, which he proceeds to |
|
|
extract by sucking through a bone tube. |
|
|
He vomits forth the arrow, displays it to |
|
|
the onlookers, and announces that the cure |
|
|
is made. A sorcerer's arrow when thus |
|
|
brought to light will be found to be a maggot, |
|
|
a fly, a quill, or some other small object. |
|
|
Of course, the doctor is well paid for his |
|
|
diagnosis and cure. |
|
|
MITA'WAPE AND TE'PAPE |
|
|
These are two minor cults similar to the |
|
|
preceding, differing only in having lesser |
|
|
INDIAN NOTES |
|
OTHER CULTS |
73 |
|
powers. They are more numerous than the |
|
|
Je"sakowfik, and derive their strength from |
|
|
dreams of the Great Dawn. There is still |
|
|
another class of like physicians called Tcipi- |
|
|
nini, who derive their power from Na'xpatao, |
|
|
brother of the Great Dawn and Lord of the |
|
|
Realm of the Dead. |
|
|
THUNDER CULT |
|
|
A cult of those who have dreamed of the |
|
|
Thunderers was once organized to worship |
|
|
the Thunderbirds through the medium of a |
|
|
large drum, but as the drum was cracked |
|
|
during a thunderstorm, the cult was aban- |
|
|
doned. |
|
|
BUFFALO DANCE CULT |
|
|
Twice a year, in spring and fall, those who |
|
|
had dreamed of the bison gave a perfor- |
|
|
mance in which the principal participants |
|
|
wore buffalo head-dresses, and imitated this |
|
|
animal. A long tent, like that used in the |
|
|
Medicine Dance, was erected, and a row |
|
|
of wooden bowls filled with vegetal foods |
|
|
appropriate to the patron of the rite was |
|
|
placed down the center. Round these the |
|
|
AND MONOGRAPHS |
|
74 |
MENOMINI CULTURE |
|
performers danced, pawing, bellowing, anc |
|
|
eating or drinking without touching their |
|
|
hands to the vessels. At the conclusion |
|
|
the dishes were overturned by each with |
|
|
his head, when a portion of tobacco was |
|
|
found hidden beneath the bowls. This cere- |
|
|
mony in honor of the buffalo was often |
|
|
* |
given in order to secure the aid of these |
|
beasts in healing the sick. The buffalo are |
|
|
credited with great knowledge of herbs and |
|
|
mystic curative powers. |
|
|
LIST OF CEREMONIES |
|
|
Including the ceremonies and dances al- |
|
|
ready described, the following rites have |
|
|
been noted, many now obsolete being |
|
|
marked with an asterisk. |
|
|
1. Medicine Dance and attendant cere- |
|
|
monies. |
|
|
2. Dream Dance. |
|
|
3. War Dance.* |
|
|
4. Victory Dance.* 5. Scalp Dance.* 6. Semiannual War-Bundle Dance.* |
|
|
7. Youth's First Game Dance, or, more prop- erly, Feast.* 8. Harvest or Crop Dance.* 9. All Animals' Dance, in honor of the to- temic ancestors.* |
|
|
INDIAN NOTES |
|
CEREMONIES |
75 |
|
10. Rain Dance, given to the war-bundles in time of drouth. |
|
|
11. Dog or Beggar's Dance,* given in the sugar camps in early spring. The dancers wore birch-bark masks, and brave deeds were recited. |
|
|
12. Tobacco Dance, perhaps a degenerate form of the Calumet of Southern |
|
|
Siouan tribes.* |
|
|
13. Shawano Dance. Said to have been |
|
|
derived from the Shawnee, and perhaps connected with certain Mila'uin rites |
|
|
for the dead, for during this dance Na'xpatao is besought to allow the spirit of the dead man in whose honor the dance is given to return to earth and participate. 14. Circular Dance. A dance performed by the braves, who count their coups and reenact them.* |
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|
15. Woman's Dance. A social dance recently introduced by the Winnebago, and sel- dom performed. |
|
|
BEAR CEKEMONIES |
|
|
The Menomini had certain ceremonies |
|
|
which they performed when a bear was |
|
|
slain. A deerskin was offered to the Sun |
|
|
and a feast was given. The bear's skull was |
|
|
prepared and cleaned, and was later hung |
|
|
up in the woods. The bones of the animal |
|
|
were kept away from the dogs. Members of |
|
|
AND MONOGRAPHS |
|
76 |
MENOMINI CULTURE |
|
the Bear totem, at least, always apologized |
|
|
to a bear before slaying it. |
|
|
MYTHOLOGY AND FOLKLORE |
|
|
The mythology of the Menomini has been |
|
|
described at length in an earlier portion of |
|
|
this paper, and therefore needs little con- |
|
|
sideration here. A large body of folklore |
|
|
has been collected by Hoffman and the |
|
|
writer: it is typically Central Algonkianin |
|
|
character, but bears strong resemblance to |
|
|
the Ojibwa of the north. Its affiliations |
|
|
cannot be more definitely placed until |
|
|
more is known of the other Central tribes, |
|
|
especially those of Siouan origin. |
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|
While the subject is too extensive for de- |
|
|
tailed treatment it may be noted that the |
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|
Menomini themselves divide their folklore |
|
|
and mythology into four classes: |
|
|
First, the cosmogonic myth and the myths |
|
|
concerning the founding of the Mita'win. |
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|
These are regarded as highly sacred and |
|
|
secret, and in the case of the Mita'win |
|
|
myths, which deal with the Culture Hero- |
|
|
God, are the exclusive property of the mem- |
|
|
INDIAN NOTES |
MYTHOLOGY
77
bers of the society, and can be obtained by new members only at a high price.
Xext come the stories of the Culture Hero as Trickster. These are but tales of buf- foonery and lust, and are not at all in keep- ing with the character of the Hero as brought out in the preceding group. They are extravaganzas without sacred meaning. Their separation in the native category is added reason for supposing that these form part of a cycle the hero of which was the real Great Hare, and a personage dis- tinct from the primal Hero-God with whom he has been confounded by reason of names of similar sound. The trickster stories are much more widely diffused than are the sacred myths among other tribes.
The third class is composed of weird and marvelous yarns dealing with the exploits of heroes and wizards, super-animals, can- nibals, living skulls, and animated forces. Magic is their keynote. These correspond with our fairy tales, and show the Algonki- ans to have a lively and colorful imagination, not inferior to that of Celtic story-tellers.
Lastly is a group called by the Indians
AND MONOGRAPHS
|
78 |
MENOMINI CULTURE |
|
" true stories," a designation which is by no |
|
|
means accurate, since they overlap with |
|
|
those of the preceding category. These are |
|
|
principally brief narrations of love, war, |
|
|
ghosts, adventure, witchcraft, and super- |
|
|
natural experiences. |
|
|
A fifth class, not recognized by the na- |
|
|
tives, may be added. It is possible to seg- |
|
|
regate a small group of stories of European |
|
|
derivation by reason of certain entirely for- |
|
|
eign properties and motives. The influ- |
|
|
ence of these on the rest of the groups has |
|
|
been negligible. |
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|
FUNERAL CUSTOMS |
|
|
When a death occurs, the corpse of the de- |
|
|
ceased is arrayed in its finery, its face |
|
|
painted, and the guests assembled for the |
|
|
wake. This now lasts two days and two |
|
|
nights, but is said to have ended formerly |
|
|
the same day at sunset. The first evening |
|
|
the presiding officers enter the house and |
|
|
sing the death-songs to the swish of the |
|
|
gourd-rattle, and this is repeated the fol- |
|
|
lowing night. The next day the corpse is |
|
|
redressed in its second-best clothes and |
|
|
INDIAN NOTES |
MORTUARY
79
is laid out in state in the lodge, with calico, tobacco, and other gifts, which are placed near its head. After certain rites the body is carried out of doors through a hole made in the rear of the wigwam or through a window, if the funeral is being held in a house. This is done in order to confuse the ghost, so that it cannot follow the party which carries the corpse to the grave. When the funeral procession reaches the cemetery, the body is laid on the ground, and a feast of the dead, at which all the food must be consumed, is held. At the end of this rite a ceremonial smoke is given for the deceased, and the body is placed beside the grave. The chief mourner now comes forward with a package composed of a new suit of clothes, in the center of which is placed a lock of hair cut from the dead person by one of the attendants. This bundle is carried home and kept in the house for at least a year after the ob- sequies. The bundle receives offerings of food and tobacco from tune to time, and is spoken of as if it were the deceased, still alive.
AND MONOGRAPHS
80
MENOMINI CULTURE
The body having been lowered in the grave, the next of kin steps over it and runs home by a roundabout way, so that the ghost may not follow. Formerly a quan- tity of food, utensils, and weapons were placed in the grave for the use of the soul on the journey to the Otherworld, but this is no longer done. The grave is now filled and a short stake is erected at the head. Warriors are called on to count their coups and to appoint the souls of foes whom they have slain, and over which they are sup- posed to have control, to accompany and assist the soul of the deceased to the Other- world. These men now step forward and recite their exploits. For each coup counted, and at least four are necessary, an attend- ant marks a horizontal line or an X on the grave-post with vermilion. A stick with four bunches of shavings fringing it at inter- vals is also prepared. The totem animal of the departed is painted on the post, in- verted, or with head down, to show that it is dead. Somewhat later a long, low house of boards with a ridged roof is erected over the grave with a little door at one end to
INDIAN NOTES
|
MORTUARY |
81 |
|
permit the ghost, which is supposed to |
|
|
linger about the cemetery, to leave and |
|
|
enter. |
|
|
For members of the Mitd'win a ceremony |
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|
is held one year later, often at the grave, |
|
|
when the soul of the dead person is called |
|
|
back to earth and feasted, and then released |
|
|
to return and live forever in the Hereafter. |
|
|
In the rites as performed at the cemetery |
|
|
the Medicine Dance structure is erected at |
|
|
the spot (pi. i) in reverse orientation from |
|
|
that usually employed, and the soul of the |
|
|
deceased, temporarily reincarnated in a new |
|
|
candidate for membership in the society, |
|
|
is conducted to the grave at the end of the |
|
|
ceremony, faced to the west, and dismissed |
|
|
to return alone to the Realm of Xa'xpatao. |
|
|
After certain other rites (pi. m) the com- |
|
|
pany returns to the lodge with rejoicing |
|
|
and promiscuous shooting with their medi- |
|
|
cine-bags. |
|
|
MOURNING |
|
|
Immediately after a death the mourners |
|
|
blacken their faces, put on old clothes, and |
|
|
allow their hair to hang disheveled. They |
|
|
AND MONOGRAPHS |
|
82 |
MENOMINI CULTURE |
|
lacerate the fleshy parts of their bodies with |
|
|
flints. In former times a widow or a wid- |
|
|
ower was required to mourn for four years. |
|
|
A man was unclean for the space of a year |
|
|
and could not handle weapons or medicines. |
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|
A widow's mourning was ended by her hus- |
|
|
band's relatives, to whom she brought pres- |
|
|
ents. They combed her hair and told her |
|
|
she was free. Violation of the mourning |
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|
rules was punishable by cutting off the nose, |
|
|
the same penalty as was exacted for adul- |
|
|
tery. |
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|
INDIAN NOTES |
|
83 |
|
|
II. HOUSING ORIGIN OF THE MENOMINI TYPES |
|
|
WHEN FIRST encountered by the French, the Menomini Indians |
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|
|§?^gj resided on the west shore of |
|
|
Green bay, Lake Michigan, from the mouth of the Menominee river south- ward to the mouth of the Fox. This early country is low-lying and damp, for the greater part, except for the elevated sand dunes which border the shores of Green bay. The upland through which the rivers flow is also dry and sandy, and on the shifting dunes the Indians pitched their wigwams. The traces of their prehistoric and, later, historic settlements, may still be observed at Big and Little Suamico, Pensaukee, and on the Oconto, Peshtigo, and Menominee, in particular. These sites have been described in detail by Fox, Schumacher, and Younger, of the Wisconsin Archeolog- ical Society.3 |
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|
AND MONOGRAPHS |
84
MENOMINI CULTURE
The Green bay shore, where some of the oldest Indians now living were born and spent the early years of their lives, was the summer home of the greater portion of the tribe. When winter winds began to blow, they temporarily abandoned their fisheries, ceased their quasi-maritime life, and with- drew inland up the various streams. Here they fQund shelter from the bitter blasts in the forests and the protected river bottoms. Some scattered families even penetrated to the upper waters of the Wolf on the present reservation, and may have been the makers of the mounds and pits still to be seen there. When the breaking of the ice in the spring freed the rivers for travel, they abandoned hunting and trapping to paddle down to the coast once more.
Owing to the diversity of their country and of its living conditions, the Menomini had at their disposal a variety of materials adaptable for shelter, and it is therefore not surprising that a number of types of houses were developed by the tribe. Two, how- ever, were in ordinary daily service, and these were, and indeed to a certain extent
INDIAN NOTES
|
WINTER LODGE |
85 |
|
are, the quadrangular house of bark for |
|
|
summer, and the semi-globular or dome- |
|
|
shaped lodge for winter use. Both types |
|
|
are familiar "to students as forms found |
|
|
widely diffused among the Algonkian tribes |
|
|
of forested North America. |
|
|
THE WINTER LODGE |
|
|
The semi-globular house, covered with |
|
|
mats or with bark, was the more widely |
|
|
distributed form of the two, and may be |
|
|
considered as the Algonkian lodge par |
|
|
excellence. It has been noted among the |
|
|
tribes of New England, at least among |
|
|
those of Massachusetts and of Connecti- |
|
|
cut, for the Abenaki and others to the |
|
|
north seem to have preferred the conical |
|
|
type. The round or semi-globular wig- |
|
|
wam was utilized by the tribes of Long |
|
|
Island and coastal New York, but not by |
|
|
the Iroquois. It was in vogue among the |
|
|
Delawares, and all the Central Algonkians, |
|
|
and was common among many tribes as |
|
|
far south as the borders of the Muskho- |
|
|
gean or Gulf culture. On the north it is |
|
|
still to be seen, occasionally, at least, |
|
|
AND MONOGRAPHS |
|
86 |
MENOMINI CULTURE |
|
among the Ojibwa and the Eastern Cree, |
|
|
even on the shores of Hudson bay. North- |
|
|
ward, however, as one approaches the |
|
|
Arctic, the conical lodge largely supplants |
|
|
this type. In all this wide sweep of terri- |
|
|
tory variations appear principally in |
|
|
ground-plan (that of the southern reaches |
|
|
inclining to be oval rather than circular), |
|
|
and in roofing material. Along the Atlan- |
|
|
tic coast, sedge-grass and cornhusks were |
|
|
used, as well as the ordinary elm- or cedar- |
|
|
bark and cattail mats. In the north birch- |
|
|
bark was favored. |
|
|
All of the Southern Siouan tribes, and |
|
|
with them may be included the Eastern or |
|
|
Santee division of the Dakota, and the |
|
|
Winnebago, were given to the use of this |
|
|
semi-globular structure, but, like the Algon- |
|
|
kians, the more southerly representatives |
|
|
of the group preferred lodges of oval outline. |
|
|
THE SUMMER HOUSE |
|
|
The summer house of bark, with quad- |
|
|
rangular ground-plan, but varying as to the |
|
|
shape of the roof, which was either arched |
|
|
or triangular in cross-section, was almost |
|
|
INDIAN NOTES |
|
L O N G-H O U S E |
87 |
|
as widely distributed as the semi-globular |
|
|
lodge, being found among the Iroquois of |
|
|
New York and Canada, as well as among |
|
|
the Algonkians. The various tribes using |
|
|
these types of lodges did not always observe |
|
|
the seasonal changes nor move from one |
|
|
form of dwelling to the other. |
|
|
THE LONG-HOUSE |
|
|
The long-house, favored by the Iroquois |
|
|
and their Algonkian vassals in the East as |
|
|
a place of dwelling, survives among the |
|
|
Menomini and other Central Algonkian |
|
|
and Southern Siouan tribes as a ceremonial |
|
|
structure devoted principally to the rites |
|
|
of the Medicine Dance, and, to a lesser |
|
|
extent, to other sacred performances. It |
|
|
too may be an ancient pan-Algonkian sur- |
|
|
vival, as it seems to have been widely dis- |
|
|
tributed among the peoples of this stock |
|
|
at the time of the first colonists. Among |
|
|
the Iroquois it is no longer used as a habita- |
|
|
tion, but the Five Nations still build their |
|
|
council and ceremonial structures in the |
|
|
shape of the long-house, and apply this |
|
|
name to them. |
|
|
AND MONOGRAPHS |
MENOMINI CULTURE
Among the Menomini the writer has seen and entered bark houses of both semi-globular and ridged types, and has even assisted in erecting one of the long ceremonial structures designed for the Medicine Dance, as recently as the spring and summer of 1920. Of course, log and frame houses are now occupied by the majority of the Indians, and the wigwam as a dwelling-place will soon be a thing of the past.
CONSTRUCTION OF THE HOUSE THE WINTER LODGE
In building a round winter lodge or wigwam (pi. v), about sixteen saplings, each eighteen feet in length and about one and one-hatf inches in diameter at the butt, are selected and cut. Four of these poles are set upright in the ground so as to form a rectangle three or four feet broad by twelve or fifteen feet long, the latter dimension being intended for the breadth of the house. When these "doorposts" have been erected, the women (for generally two at least are required to build a wigwam of this char-
INDIAN NOTES
CONSTRUCTION
89
acter), bend the poles toward the center of the long sides of the rectangle, and lash them together with basswood-bark. To accomplish this, one of the women takes her pack-strap and throws it over the upper end of a pole and bends it down to where she can reach it. She then holds it fast, while the other pulls down the opposite pole. These doorposts having been con- nected, the other poles are set up and arched over them transversely, and all are bound together in the same way. A mat is laid on the floor, in the center, to mark the fireplace. The door usually faces the south, in order to catch the sunlight, and to be protected from wind and ram.
When this has been done, a double roof- mat of cattail-flags is taken and its width measured around the side of the lodge, from the bottom of the frame upward, starting at the outside of one of the doorposts, and working around to the other. Guided by this gauge a horizontal ring of saplings is bound around the framework from door- post to doorpost, about three to four feet from the ground, corresponding to roof
AND MONOGRAPHS
90
MENOMINI CULTURE
purlins in our houses. Then the operation is repeated, starting above this ring and allowing a few inches less than the width of the mat, so that when the coverings are tied on, each successive mat will overlap the one below, and thus shed water. About six mats are needed for the average wigwam.
The framework of the lodge having been completed, the mats arc tied on the cross- pieces with raw basswoods tring. A rect- angular hole about two and one-half feet square is left open in the roof directly above the fireplace for the egress of smoke. A small rush mat or a piece of elm-bark is fastened to one side of the aperture, so that it can readily be drawn over the hole in case of rain. A mat or an old blauket, weighted at the bottom, serves as a door. Except for its shape, the long-lodge used to house the ceremonies of the Medicine Society is built in the same manner.
Sometimes birch- or .cedar-bark is used to cover a round winter lodge. The bark is cut in suitable sizes by reaching up the bole of a tree as far as possible, and girdling it with an axe or a hoe. Then it is again
INDIAN NOTES
WINTER LODGE
91
girdled by a serrated cut made near the ground, and the two cuts connected by a perpendicuJar gash. The bark is then pulled off in a sheet and flattened by being weighted down with stones until ready for use. Sometimes, but rarely, elm-bark, prepared in the same manner, is used for covering a lodge.
Around the inside of the lodge, from door- post to doorpost, a couch or bench is built. Crotched stakes are driven into the ground at intervals, two or more feet out from the wall, and other poles are laid in the crotch'es, which are two to two and one-half feet above the floor, to form an inner circle. Over these is laid a coarse grill of smaller sticks, and this in turn is covered with boughs of balsam or of other evergreens. On these is placed bedding composed of blankets or bearskins. The inner wall is often lined with reed mats woven in various esthetic designs and gaily colored.
Miscellaneous objects are stored under the wall-couch, or are hung from poles suspended overhead on wooden hooks. Shelves are often built above the couches,
AND MONOGRAPHS
92
MENOMINI CULTURE
stakes to support them being erected from the floor.
The fire is built in the center of the wig- wam, under the smoke-hole. An upright frame of two crotched poles, a yard or less high, supporting a third horizontal bar, is constructed on which to swing the kettle over the fire, or a tripod of poles serves the same purpose.
The place of honor is in the rear of the lodge, behind the fire and opposite the door. This is the place accorded to guests. The family medicine-bundles or other sacred objects, if kept in the house, are stored here near the sleeping place of the master of the lodge, or are hung from the ceiling above his head. Special outhouses are not built by the Menomini to contain these treasures, but almost always the man of the family has a sacred pole, ten to twenty feet high, close by, usually in front of the wigwam. Surmounting this pole is a rude flag, or a representation of some object of importance to the owner, such as his dream- guardian, or a symbol referring to it, carved in wood. These poles are frequently
INDIAN NOTES
SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE
DETAILS OF CONSTRUCTION OF THE SQUARE HOUSE a, Four upright crotched saplings; b, Connecting poles fastened in the- crotches; c, Crotched uprights supporting ridgepole; d, Rafters lashed fromi ridgepole to connecting poles; e, Horizontal pole forming lintel; /, Frame- work for walls.
|
SUMMER HOUSE |
93 |
|
painted red, and sometimes on festal occa- |
|
|
sions are hung with feathers or other |
|
|
objects of adornment. From time to time |
|
|
when the weather is fair, the sacred bundles |
|
|
are hung on them to air, but a shorter, |
|
|
special post may be used for this purpose |
|
|
(pi. xi). |
|
|
A small, dome-shaped lodge, scarcely |
|
|
large enough to accommodate one person, |
|
|
is erected not far from each house. Such |
|
|
lodges are used exclusively by women dur- |
|
|
ing their menses, when it is taboo for them |
|
|
to enter the wigwam or to touch any of the |
|
|
cooking utensils, weapons, or especially |
|
|
the medicines belonging to the family. |
|
|
Men who have any particular charms or |
|
|
supernatural powers are held to be in |
|
|
danger of death if they so much as come |
|
|
in contact with a woman at this time, and |
|
|
even ordinary warriors are liable to grave |
|
|
disaster. |
|
|
THE SUMMER HOUSE OF BARK |
|
|
The quadrangular summer house of bark |
|
|
with ridged roof is built as follows: Poles |
|
|
are cut and peeled, and four upright |
|
|
AND MONOGRAPHS |
94
ME NO MINI CULTURE
crotched saplings are set in the corners of a rectangle about fifteen to twenty-five feet long, by ten to twelve feet broad, as shown in pi. vi, a. Next, four horizontal connect- ing poles are laid in, or fastened close to, the crotches (b). A short, crotched upright is lashed at its butt to the center of each cross-beam at each end of the frame- work, its apex being from seven to eight feet from the ground. The ridge-pole is then laid longitudinally in the crotches, and tied fast with basswood-bark. Not infrequently the forked upright at the rear is run into the ground, since there is no door at this end to be allowed for (c). Next, poles to serve as rafters (d) are lashed from the ridgepole to the longitu- dinal side beams. A pole bound hori- zontally across the front of the frame, at a height of about four or five feet, forms a lintel (e). Along the four sides, vertical poles are then set up, extending from the ground to the upper longitudinal beams, and securely tied in place. At intervals of about a yard apart, horizontal poles are bound to these from end to end (/).
INDIAN NOTES
SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE
INTERIOR OF SO'MAN JIM'S BARK HOUSE
SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE
SECOND VIEW OF INTERIOR OF SO'MAN JIM'S HOUSE
SUMMER HOUSE
95
The whole structure is next covered with overlapping sheets of elm- or cedar-bark, except for an opening about a yard long by two feet broad left in the apex of the roof for the escape of smoke. Here a movable sheet of bark is attached, to be drawn over the hole in case of rain. The coverings of the lodge are rectangular pieces of bark about three by six feet, flattened, seasoned, and perforated at the corners for attach- ment to the framework with basswood strings. They are placed along the sides of the building with the grain of the bark running horizontally, but on the roof with the grain running vertically, as the bark grows on the tree. Each piece is tied to the frame in such a way that the lashing is protected by the overlapping of the suc- ceeding piece, and the under edge of each is deeply serrated, as noted in describing the process of peeling it from the tree. This is perhaps done to prevent splitting. Sometimes logs are tied down over the roof- ing to keep the bark from warping or from blowing away (pi. vn).
Both types of lodge are rain-proof, but
AND MONOGRAPHS
96
MENOMINI CULTURE
the quadrangular form is too open and airy for comfort in winter. The round lodge, however, is comfortably warm in the cold- est weather. In pis. vm and ix may be seen interior views of one of the best-made bark houses it has ever been the writer's privilege to enter, that of So'man (Grape) Jim, or "Wild Jim Crow," in the hard- wood forest west of Neopit, Wisconsin, on the Menomini reservation. The details of the construction of the sleeping platforms, the cracks in the bark, and the camp imped- imenta of reed mats, splint baskets, the baby's cradle-board and the like, are visible. The exterior of the same building is shown in pi. vn and x.
So'man Jim was a Wa'bano by profession, and did not belong to either the Mitd'win or the "Dream Dance." He lived in seclu- sion, and was almost as uncompromisingly distant to other Indians as he was to the whites. These pictures were therefore secured by stealth. He died a few years ago when away from home at Neopit, and having no ties with the fraternal secret order of the Mitd'win, which is scrupulous
INDIAN NOTES
SUMMER HOUSE
97
about conducting the funeral services of the cult for the dead, he was deposited without ceremony in an unhallowed grave adjoining the local Christian cemetery, where a beer bottle marked the spot when last seen by the writer hi 1920. His bark lodge, robbed mysteriously of his sacred bundles and medicines, has fallen to pieces. Another good house of this type, in the same region, was owned by the father of Kime'wun Oke'mas, whose portrait will be found in the section devoted to Menomini dress (pi. xvi). This lodge was also aban- doned on the death of its owner, but he being a member of the Mita'win, as well as of the Wa'bano and the Je"sako, was property cared for after his demise. In the shelter of this building, the writer, guided by the dead man's son, one of the few Menomini converts to the "Peyote religion," found the war-bundle" and the Jensako outfit of the former owner, and purchased them for this Museum. Out- side, close to the wall, stood a wooden statue, nearly lifesize, of the war god Wa'-
A N D MONOGRAPHS
98
MENOMINI CULTURE
bano (Morning Star) in human guise, which also became a part of our collection.
In pi. x is shown another view of So'man Jim's lodge and outbuilding or arbor, and his garden of native beans and squashes. The cornfield is farther away. PL xi shows a stake outside the lodge whereon are exposed to the revivifying rays of the sun his war-bundle, gourd-rattles, eagle-feather fan, and Wa'bano drum.
A couch is built in the quadrangular house, like that already described in the semi-globular lodge. It is two feet high, by the same breadth, or thereabouts, run- ning all along the interior of the walls, and is covered with cedar-bark, and, if avail- able, with boughs of balsam and with skins. The usual poles are suspended from the rafters on which to hang various objects. The fireplace is built in the center of the floor under the smoke-hole. There are no windows, the smoke-hole and the fire serv- ing to light the interior. A mat or an old blanket usually forms the door, but some- times a piece of bark is substituted.
Sun-shades or arbors of boughs or of
INDIAN NOTES
SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE
SO'MAN JIM'S WAR-BUNDLES HUNG ON THE SACRED POLE
|
L O N G-H O U S E |
99 |
|
bark (pi. x) like those in use by the other |
|
|
Central Algonkian and Southern Siouan |
|
|
tribes, were often set up in front of the |
|
|
lodge, and cooking was sometimes done |
|
|
under similar shelters. The conical tipis |
|
|
now occasionally seen among the Menomini |
|
|
are very recent imitations of Plains types. |
|
|
Small temporary summer sun-shades or |
|
|
lodges, as described by Hoffman, were for- |
|
|
merly made; they were either ridged or |
|
|
semi-cylindrical in shape, covered with |
|
|
bark or with mats, and barely large enough |
|
|
to shelter one man. Little, low-ridged huts |
|
|
of planks are set up over graves (pi. I, in) |
|
|
to accommodate the spirits of the dead. |
|
|
THE LONG-HOUSE |
|
|
In olden .times, bark houses are said to |
|
|
have been made much longer and larger |
|
|
than they are now, to serve as communal |
|
|
dwellings. It is still remembered that |
|
|
where two families lived in the same wig- |
|
|
wam, there was a door at each end. No |
|
|
partitions were made, but the house was |
|
|
divided by imaginary boundaries into four |
|
|
quarters or sections, and it was considered |
|
|
AND MONOGRAPHS |
|
100 |
MENOMINI CULTURE |
|
bad taste to overstep these limits, although |
|
|
it was no such breach of etiquette as |
|
|
among some of the northern bands of the |
|
|
Ojibwa that have been visited by the |
|
|
writer. The long-house (pi. xn) now sur- |
|
|
vives only as a ceremonial structure, used |
|
|
for the rites of the Medicine Dance in par- |
|
|
ticular. It is rectangular in ground-plan, |
|
|
and about fifty or sixty feet long by ten to |
|
|
fifteen feet wide; it has an arched roof |
|
|
about eight feet high. The frame (pi. |
|
|
xm) is made of peeled poles arched over |
|
|
like those in an ordinary round wigwam. |
|
|
This frame is kept standing permanently, |
|
|
and boughs, mats, or, as is more common |
|
|
nowadays, canvas coverings, are brought to |
|
|
roof the structure when it is to be used. |
|
|
THE FIREPLACE |
|
|
Every lodge has its fireplace. When |
|
|
indoors, it is always placed in the center of |
|
|
the wigwam, directly under the smoke |
|
|
aperture in the roof. In order to prevent |
|
|
flying sparks from setting fire to the house, |
|
|
an ever-present danger when the roofing |
|
|
of bark or of mats is dry, a round, basin- |
|
|
INDIAN NOTES |
FIREPLACE
101
like pit is often dug in the floor to contain the fire. These holes, as observed by the writer, are about two and one-half to three feet in diameter, and six inches to a foot in depth. Sometimes stones are placed in them to act as supports for kettles. In some cases the fireplace is built up above the surface of the ground with small bowl- ders. This is more commonly done when the fire is made outside, in warm weather, or when the camp is a temporary one. When thus built outside the wigwam the fire was often placed under a small shelter or arbor to protect its users from the weather. In lodges in which no fireplace is dug, the reader should understand that the fire is made on the bare earth, with the occasional addition of several good-sized stones as supports for kettles. Both the raised and the sunken types of fireplace, often filled with ashes, bones, and broken or discarded utensils, are common on archeological sites all over eastern United States, and are found in many of the ancient Menomini villages. But it should be noted that the remains of deep pits which dot
AND MONOGRAPHS
102
MENOMINI CULTURE
their old encampments are more likely to prove to be caches for wild rice or corn, or holes dug to bury offensive rubbish.
Kettles are generally swung by a wooden pot- hook (fig. 1) from a
wooden cross-bar elevated over the fire by means of two crotched uprights, about a yard in height. The pot- hook here shown is 9i! in. long.
Grills for smoking fish and drying meat formerly were made as follows: Four crotched sticks, a little over a yard long, were set upright in the ground to form the corners of a square or an oblong, in the center of which was the fireplace. The four corner posts were connected by bars on each side, and across these bars were laid
FIG. i.— Wooden
INDIAN NOTES
Ill rt Z O n N
I P"1 h-
s
"
|
CONSTRUCTION |
103 |
|
lengthwise a number of short poles or |
|
|
sticks, on which, in turn, were placed a |
|
|
series of lighter cross-pieces. |
|
|
FURTHER DETAILS OF CONSTRUCTION |
|
|
Some further details concerning the use |
|
|
and construction of native houses by the |
|
|
Menomini may be of interest. All dwell- |
|
|
ings are generally constructed by members |
|
|
of one family, their relatively small size |
|
|
making it unnecessary to call for assistance; |
|
|
in fact, ordinary lodges can be built by one |
|
|
or two persons. In the case of the long- |
|
|
house used for ceremonies, more help is |
|
|
required, and it is customary for many |
|
|
Indians to gather and hold a "building bee." |
|
|
In building a round house for winter, or |
|
|
a long ceremonial lodge, no scaffolding was |
|
|
needed, as the roof was so low that the |
|
|
workers could easily reach it with their |
|
|
hands. In the square habitation for sum- |
|
|
mer, which was a trifle higher, the workers |
|
|
built a sufficient number of the lower cross- |
|
|
pieces first, to -serve as a scaffold. |
|
|
The raw basswood-bark used for lashing |
|
|
was applied when freshly stripped from the |
|
|
AND MONOGRAPHS |
104
MENOMINI CULTURE
tree. In drying, this hardened and shrank, somewhat as the rawhide used -by the Prairie tribes does, making a firm grip.
For the durability of native lodges no data are available. The framework lasts many years with occasional partial renewals. It was customary to leave this skeleton standing until the time when the house might be needed again, perhaps the follow- ing year. In the forest country it was not necessary to transport poles, as new ones could be obtained almost anywhere it might be decided to set up a temporary camp. Winter lodges could thus be razed or erected in a very short time; indeed the writer has seen Indian women set up such a house in half an hour, not allowing for the time required to select and cut the poles. At most, two or three hours is the limit under unfavorable conditions. As for the summer houses, I have never seen one erected, but as these were more per- manent structures than the round winter type, in the sense that they stood all the year round and were inhabited periodically, more time, perhaps a day or two, was
INDIAN NOTES
|
SITE OF HOUSE |
105 |
|
required in their construction. When the |
|
|
Indians departed from their summer camps, |
|
|
these quadrangular structures were left |
|
|
intact, because the bark was too bulky to |
|
|
carry, and more could easily be obtained. |
|
|
should they decide not to return. But the |
|
|
cattail mats used for winter lodges, valuable |
|
|
on account of the large amount of labor put |
|
|
into their manufacture, and the relative |
|
|
scarcity of reeds in the dense parts of the |
|
|
pine forests, were stored in a dry place when |
|
|
not in use. |
|
|
SITUATION OF THE HOUSE |
|
|
In former times the Menomini did not |
|
|
live scattered in the forest, often miles |
|
|
from one another, as they do now. In those |
|
|
days the danger of attack by lurking foes |
|
|
from other tribes made concentration |
|
|
imperative, and large villages were fre- |
|
|
quent. This is borne out by conditions |
|
|
noted at their ancient sites on Green bay. |
|
|
Tradition and archeological evidence both |
|
|
show that the lodges were pitched close |
|
|
together, but without formal order. This |
|
|
irregular grouping seems to have been |
|
|
AND MONOGRAPHS |
106
MENOMINI CULTURE
usual among the forest tribes, in contra- distinction to those of the prairie, who took pains to form their camps in great circles, wherein the several bands often had their fixed quarters. However, the Menomini elders claim that the members of each of the gentes were similarly segre- gated in their ancient villages.
Wigwams were not erected near trees that might fall and crush them, nor where heavy branches, torn off in a storm, might break in the roof. No toilet facilities were provided in the villages, the privacy of the encircling forest sufficing. It was often necessary to move a village when the fire- wood in the vicinity had been consumed.
Nowadays the Menomini are less careful in the situation of their houses than for- merly. In olden times a warm, sunny knoll, preferably of sand, was chosen. Even at present an effort is made to locate the house on dry, high ground. Now as then, drinking water, preferably an ever- flowing spring, must be close at hand.
INDIAN NOTES
HOUSE TERMS
107
VOCABULARY
Waki'nikon, round, or semi-globular winter lodge.
npa'*kiu'ika'n, round, or semi-globular winter lodge made of cattail mats (u'pa*kiuk); hence its popular name, u'pa*ki, literally, 'a cattail.'
anakaki'kumik, square, summer lodge of bark.
kesdunukakiku'mik, cedar-bark lodge.
unepunuka, elm-bark lodge.
mJte'ptme andki'kumik, basswood-bark lodge.
•wi'kisikamik, birch-bark lodge.
miuseku'kawa wi'kiwam, young hemlock-bark house.
asekani'kamik, prairie-grass lodge.
pokana's u-i'komtk, sedge-grass house.
atim'tvon, temporary shelter of mats hung over a cross-bar, and pegged out on the sides.
sata'k'ii'i'komik, a lodge of cedar- or spruce- boughs, so thickly thatched that they shed water.
apasiuikomik, a round lodge built of logs. A temporary structure used for camps.
kino'*tam, a long lodge, shaped like a medicine- dance structure, with an arched or rounded roof. Formerly used as a communal resi- dence.
wa'nekan, or wanekuta'o, semi-subterranean house dug into a hillside.
asepa'wi'kiom, a rock house. My informants explained this term by stating that in for- mer years, before they were confined to their present reservation, they sometimes lived or camped under overhanging ledges, or in the mouths of caves where it was light
AND MONOGRAPHS
108
MENOMINI CULTURE
and airy. In other words, they used rock- shelters.
me'ltk ikamik, wooden house, log cabin.
iskwu'*temuposi, doorpost.
upa'siuk, lodge posts.
pimela'pase, a sapling used as a withe or ring around the frame of a winter lodge.
ana'kianuk, beams or joists, in a log cabin.
nawisku'tiu, or pota'wagfin, fireplace.
la'nahu'an, a couch built around the inner wall of the wigwam.
anago'tiu, the place of honor in the rear of the lodge opposite the door, always reserved for the master of the house and for distin- guished guests.
tasipina'gun, a meat-drying scaffold made of bark and tied to its supporting posts with basswood-bark strings.
akotcewa'han, a platform in or outside the lodge, used to receive such loads, borne into camp on the backs of the Indians, as were not allowed to touch the ground for ceremonial or sanitary reasons. Also for drying pur- poses.
piyatakanatik, a post outside the lodge to which tobacco sacrifices are attached and sacred articles are tied to sun.
mila'mu oskapasamau'ikomik, or mila'mu okwatc ospo'towat ('woman out-doors fire-making,' or 'at fire'), two names for the small hut to which women withdraw during their menses.
pita'uikon, sweat-lodge.
mo'tiahigan, garden.
INDIAN NOTES
SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE
OTTER-FUR FILLET MADE OF THE ENTIRE SKIN Photograph by courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History
|
109 |
|
|
III. DRESS |
|
|
A"' T THE present time the Menomini no longer wear native dress |
|
|
H&j&j habitually, but preserve these |
|
|
costumes for ceremonial or gala |
|
|
use. Moreover, cloth has been accessible |
|
|
to them for so many years that information |
|
|
concerning the leather garments which they |
|
|
formerly used is difficult to obtain, although |
|
|
some of the elder Indians still remember |
|
|
when clothing of deerskin was commonly |
|
|
worn. |
|
|
MEN'S ATTIRE |
|
|
HEAD-DRESSES |
|
|
Three general types of men's head-dresses |
|
|
have been observed by the writer; these |
|
|
are head-bands of fur, sashes woven of |
|
|
yarn used as turbans, and the dyed deer's |
|
|
hair roach. |
|
|
Of the first class the most valued variety |
|
|
is a fillet of dark otter-fur. Not only does |
|
|
AND MONOGRAPHS |
110
MENOMINI CULTURE
it present a handsome appearance, but the connection of the otter with the sacred rites and original myth of the Medicine Dance society, and its own supposed supernatural powers, influence the natives in their pref- erence. If the wearer be a warrior these fillets are often ornamented, as is shown in pi. xiv, with rosettes or medallions of beads, and eagle-plumes. Or, if he be a member of the Medicine Dance, bunches of dyed, split, hawk-feathers containing charms are set vertically on one side of the head-dress. Sometimes, indeed, the whole skin of an otter is used (pis. xv, xvi, xxx), the head being bent around and thrust in the vent, the tail forming a flapping ornament on one side. The bare under-surface of the tail, is often further enhanced by decora- tions in applique of ribbon or of beads. This type of head-dress is by no means common as compared with the fillet first described.
The fillet form is sometimes decorated with the tail of the otter sewed on the rear as a pendant, or with streamers of twisted fur at side and back. In addition to otter-
INDIAN NOTES
SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE
MEN IN DANCE COSTUMES, WEARING FUR TURBANS
SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE
JOE MOON IN CEREMONIAL COSTUME
H E A D-D R E S S E S
111
skin, other furs are sometimes used, but generally for some special purpose. Fillets of wolf-skin are found in several of the more important hunting-bundles. These are donned for the purpose of giving the wearer the tireless persistency and keen tracking powers of that animal. Head- bands of shaggy buffalo-skin were formerly worn to battle, the wearer feeling secure in the possession of a bison's strength and courage. For the Buffalo Dance, like head- gear was donned, and the leader of that important rite wore a cap made of the major portion of the skin of a buffalo's head with horns attached.
A common form of head-covering is a yarn sash or belt twisted around the brow, with the addition of the customary feather ornaments.
The roach or crest made of dyed deer's hair (pi. xvm), or sometimes of the coarse tufts from the neck of a turkey or the back of a porcupine, is worn, though sparingly, among the Menomini. According to their ideas, it lacks the dignity of the otter-fur band.- The roach is attached to the back
AND MONOGRAPHS
112
MENOMINI CULTURE
FIG. 2. — Roach spreaders of antler. (Height of a, 8^ in.) Courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History.
INDIAN NOTES
|
SHIRTS |
113 |
|
of the head by drawing the scalp-lock |
|
|
through a hole made in the broad part of |
|
|
its base for this purpose. A little wooden |
|
|
peg thrust crosswise through the hair |
|
|
above the hole prevents it from slipping off. |
|
|
A carved spreader of bone or of antler |
|
|
(fig. 2) , or a similar object made of engraved |
|
|
German silver, is used to expand the hair of |
|
|
the roach, and sometimes supports an |
|
|
eagle-feather by means of an attached bone |
|
|
tube used as a swivel. The roaches are |
|
|
usually kept rolled on a stick in a carved |
|
|
wooden box, when not in use. The roach |
|
|
spreaders here figured are in the American |
|
|
Museum of .Natural History, and measure |
|
|
respectively 8iV in. and 7H in. in height. |
|
|
SHIRTS |
|
|
Men's shirts were formerly made of |
|
|
tanned deerskin, often dyed brown with |
|
|
butternut juice. They were gaily orna- |
|
|
mented with the colored quills of the por- |
|
|
cupine, or sometimes those used in war had |
|
|
an image of the sun painted on the back. |
|
|
None of these garments have survived, |
|
|
although the costume worn by the famous |
|
|
AND MONOGRAPHS |
|
114 |
MENOMINI CULTURE |
|
chief Oshkosh is said to have remained in |
|
|
the possession of some of his relatives until |
|
|
stolen by an acquisitive white antiquarian. |
|
|
At the present time the cheap calico shirt |
|
|
of the traders is used, often with the addi- |
|
|
tion of beaded epaulets, and beaded strips |
|
|
on front and back. Ruffles and bright |
|
|
ribbons are added to suit the wearer's |
|
|
taste. . |
|
|
LEGGINGS |
|
|
The ancient style of man's leg-gear was |
|
|
the deerskin legging. Two pairs of these |
|
|
were obtained for this Museum, one from |
|
|
the late Ke'soa'pomesao (pi. xix, a), the |
|
|
other from Charlie Dutchman (pi. xix, ft). |
|
|
The tailoring of both these pairs is very |
|
|
simple. A tanned doeskin, trimmed into a |
|
|
rectangular piece, was taken and folded |
|
|
down the center lengthwise of the skin. |
|
|
The open edges were then sewed together, |
|
|
beginning with a narrow margin at the |
|
|
top, or hip, and gradually increasing this |
|
|
until the ankle was reached. Here the |
|
|
residual edges formed flaps five or six inches |
|
|
wide. One of these flaps was afterward slit |
|
|
INDIAN NOTES |
SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE
ROACH OF DEER'S HAIR
SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE
ANCIENT DEERSKIN LEGGINGS
LEGGINGS
115
fine for a fringe, the longest strands being at the bottom; the other was notched or serrated. The sewing shown in pi. xix, b, is not done in a continuous seam, but is knotted at two-and-one-half inch intervals with deerskin thongs, the long ends serving as streamers. Both pairs of leggings are made with the outer surface of the skin which once bore the hair turned in, a pecu- liarity which has escaped the writer's atten- tion if extant elsewhere.
In pi. xx is shown another Menomini legging, one of a pair made in a manner similar to the preceding, but with a more elaborate fringe of much greater length, and ornamented with paint, beadwork danglers, colored yarn, and tassels. This pair, in general appearance, closely re- sembles the ordinary form found widely distributed among the Central Algonkians, Shawnee, Delawares, and Winnebago.
A very beautiful style of ceremonial leggings, used in the long ago, but not now seen, was made of deerskin and decorated with longitudinal strips of otter-fur.
The oldest type of cloth leggings is like
AND MONOGRAPHS
|
116 |
MENOMINI CULTURE |
|
those exhibited in pi. xxi, a, b. These are |
|
|
made of broadcloth worked with flower |
|
|
designs in beads. They resemble the skin |
|
|
leggings, but have no fringe. The most |
|
|
recent form of cloth leggings lacks the |
|
|
beadwork, but possesses a border of colored |
|
|
silk ribbons, sewed on without much care. |
|
|
These leggings all differ from the trousers of |
|
|
Caucasians in that they are two separate |
|
|
garments, intended to incase the legs and |
|
|
thighs, a breech-clout sufficing in lieu of a |
|
|
seat. The thighs are thus left partially |
|
|
bare, even in the coldest weather. |
|
|
BREECH-CLOTHS |
|
|
The breech-clouts observed and collected |
|
|
by the writer have usually been plain strips |
|
|
of dark blue or black broadcloth, about |
|
|
two feet broad by four feet long, with vari- |
|
|
colored silk ribbons sewed along the sides |
|
|
and the ends. Some, however, have had |
|
|
floral designs in colored beads similar to |
|
|
those shown on the leggings figured in pi. |
|
|
xxi. The garment was made to pass |
|
|
between the legs and over the belt, thus |
|
|
leaving a flapping apron before and behind, |
|
|
INDIAN NOTES |
|
MOCCASINS |
117 |
|
on which the embroidery was displayed |
|
|
(pi. LXXVHI, a). |
|
|
MOCCASINS |
|
|
Menbmini moccasins are of three types. |
|
|
The first form is a traditional variety of |
|
|
which no examples were secured. This is |
|
|
said to have been a plain shoe made of a |
|
|
single piece of deerskin, puckered to a seam |
|
|
running over the toe. |
|
|
The second type, considered to be the |
|
|
tribal style by the natives, has a broad |
|
|
vamp set in over the instep, to which the |
|
|
upper puckers "on all sides (pi. xxn). A |
|
|
small fringed tag is .inserted at the heel, to |
|
|
aid in drawing off the moccasin, and tying- |
|
|
thongs are attached to the ankle-flap in |
|
|
front. In some cases the ankle-flap is |
|
|
abbreviated, doubled over, and sewed fast, |
|
|
leaving a seam at the top through which a |
|
|
draw-string may be run to tie around the |
|
|
ankle. |
|
|
The third kind of moccasin resembles |
|
|
that commonly found among the Ojibwa |
|
|
and the Cree at the present tune, and is |
|
|
attributed by the Menomini to an Ojibwa |
|
|
AXD MONOGRAPHS |
|
118 > |
MENOMINI CULTURE |
|
origin. In it a seam extends over the toe |
|
|
to the upper part, where a small oval vamp |
|
|
is inserted. This form shows the same |
|
|
methods of lacing as the preceding. |
|
|
Hoffman4 states that the Menomini |
|
|
sole their moccasins with rawhide, or par- |
|
|
fleche, but this must be a slip of the pen on |
|
|
the part of this usually accurate observer, |
|
|
for like all the tribes east of the Mississippi, |
|
|
the northern forested country of Hudson |
|
|
bay, and the Mackenzie, the Menomini use |
|
|
only one-piece shoes of soft, tanned leather, |
|
|
and always have, so far as their memories |
|
|
and traditions show. In this matter Hoff- |
|
|
man's own illustrations contradict his text. |
|
|
A superstition is attached to the wear- |
|
|
ing of long tie-strings in winter. It is |
|
|
believed that in doing this the wearer is |
|
|
trying to prolong the cold weather. |
|
|
BEADED ORNAMENTS |
|
|
No modern male costume is complete |
|
|
without various ornaments in the shape of |
|
|
woven beadwork. Pounds and pounds of |
|
|
strung beads are worn about the neck. |
|
|
although this style is more commonly |
|
|
INDIAN NOTES |
SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE
LEATHER LEGGING, ELABORATELY FRINGED Photograph by courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History
SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE
PL. XXI, A
BEADED BROADCLOTH LEGGING Photograph by courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History
SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE
BEADED BROADCLOTH LEGGING Photograph by courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History
SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE
TRIBAL STYLE OF MOCCASIN Photograph by courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History
ORNAMENTS
119
found among members of the gentler sex. Many men wear woven belts as shoulder scarfs. A number of woven bead garters, tied together by the fringes, are sometimes donned in the same manner. Bead belts are also worn about the waist, and garters, which have no other function than ornament, are tied outside the leggings below the knee (pi. xxni, LXIII). There can be no doubt that all this woven beadwork is but a survival of an ancient woven quill technic, still to be found on rare old pieces preserved in medicine- bundles or on medicine-bags. The art is more fully dealt with on pages 252-266.
In addition to these articles, bandoleer bags, or shoulder pouches, of woven beads are worn usually in pairs, one on each side (pi. xxm). The solidly embroidered bags often seen among the Menomini are not made by them, but come by trade or as gifts from the Ojibwa. The Menomini and the Winnebago in particular always weave their bandoleers; and sometimes baldrics of this type, in which the bag has degenerated into a small flap, are seen.
AND MONOGRAPHS
|
120 |
MENOMINI CULTURE |
|
Yarn sashes vie with beaded belts in |
|
|
popularity, though they are now less com- |
|
|
mon than when the writer's first observa- |
|
|
tions were made. They are worn about the |
|
|
waist, the shoulders, and even twisted |
|
|
around the head as turbans. Garters were |
|
|
likewise woven of yarn, but are now exceed- |
|
|
ingly rare. This woven yarn technic, so |
|
|
say the elders, is a survival of the days |
|
|
when buffalo-wool yarn was available. |
|
|
Articles made of the skin or hair of the |
|
|
buffalo were never plentiful with this |
|
|
tribe, however, and Catlin says that even |
|
|
in his day the Menomini were too far re- |
|
|
moved from the buffalo to have robes, and |
|
|
so used blankets instead.5 |
|
|
TOBACCO-POUCHES |
|
|
Men formerly wore around their necks |
|
|
tobacco-pouches of the skins of small |
|
|
animals, or of yarn woven with beaded |
|
|
designs. This custom, and the articles |
|
|
themselves, will be found more fully |
|
|
described elsewhere in this paper (see |
|
|
pages 365-367. |
|
|
INDIAN NOTES |
SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE
GROUP OF MEN IN COSTUME, SHOWING WOVEN BEAD ORNAMENTS
SKINNER— MENOMINI CULTURE
EAGLE-FEATHER DANCE-BUSTLE
DANCE-BUSTLE
121
AN EAGLE-FEATHER DANCE-BUSTLE
In the ceremonies of the Dream Dance Society an ornamented eagle-feather bustle, or "belt," as the Menomini call it, is worn. PL xxiv shows an example of these regalia used only by officers during the greater part of the Dream Dance rites. It will be noted that the specimen closely resembles the so-called "crow" belt of the Plains tribes. The article is of heavy leather, to which are attached two elaborately deco- rated plumes, the shafts of which are beau- tified by the addition of thin, narrow, wooden strips, wound in alternate bands with colored silk thread. The tips of the plumes, and the bases as well, bear tufts of colored down, and small brass hawk-bells depend at intervals. Below the belt hangs a forked strip of cloth, to which handsome eagle-feathers, adorned with down, ribbons, decorated strips, and sleigh- and hawk-bells are attached. A flap of feathers showing between the forked part of the strip is enriched by the addition of a solidly beaded disc bearing a "whirlwind" (?) design.
AND MONOGRAPHS
|
122 |
MENOMINI CULTURE |
|
The officer who wears this belt also |
|
|
carries in his hand a wand of authority. |
|
|
This is a short, slender stick, crooked |
|
|
slightly at the end, and wound with strings |
|
|
of beads of different shades in such manner |
|
|
that spirals of color alternate on it. |
|
|
WOMEN'S ATTIRE |
|
|
HEAD-DRESS |
|
|
The typical Central Algonkian woman's |
|
|
head-dress, consisting of a beaded binder |
|
|
of cloth with swinging pendants of woven |
|
|
beads, is rare among the Menomini. An |
|
|
example is shown in pi. xxv; the modes of |
|
|
wearing it in pi. xxvi and xxvu. It is |
|
|
told that the ancient forerunner of this |
|
|
adornment was composed of a rectangular |
|
|
piece of leather, about ten inches by six, |
|
|
soft- tanned, upon which designs were |
|
|
quilled at the two ends, in small rectangular |
|
|
spaces, leaving the center blank, as is now |
|
|
the case with the cloth and bead specimens. |
|
|
The woman's hair was braided and doubled |
|
|
up, tied in a "club," and the leather |
|
|
wrapped about it in cylindrical form. |
|
|
Around the -center strings were bound, to |
|
|
INDIAN NOTES |
H E A D-D R E S S
123
which were attached Jong, narrow stream- ers, woven of colored quills, which almost touched the ground. It will be seen that this is precisely similar to the modern form, except for the materials used.
Modern "pagan" Menomini women frequently wear the hair in a simple braid in which colored ribbons are often inter-
FIG. 3. — Back comb of German silver. (Height, If in.) Courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History.
twined. They also use huge back combs of engraved German silver (fig. 3), of native make. Formerly these combs were made of wood, and, though corroborating data are lacking, perhaps of bone and of antler. The one here figured is in the American Museum of Natural History, and measures 8i in. in diameter.
AND MONOGRAPHS
124
MJENOMINJ CULTURE
COSTUME
The women's costume is composed of a shawl of broadcloth ornamented along the borders with broad bands of silk ribbon in conventional floral or other designs, in various colors, handsomely appliqued by cross-stitch ings; a silk or calico waist, and a skirt. This latter article is made of a single square piece of broadcloth, red, black, or dark blue in color, decorated in the same way as the shawl or robe, on the lower and the side borders. The skirt is lapped around the waist, covering the legs to midway below the knee, and is held in place by a sash of woven yarn, over which the upper, plain edge of the skirt falls out- ward. The edges of the skirt come together at one side, and are open all the way to the waist, but are usually pinned or tacked together to prevent a sudden gust of wind from exposing the limbs, as shown in pi. xxvin-xxx. The old people say that in early days the skirt was a square piece of tanned deerskin instead of cloth, gaily ornamented with colored porcupine-quills along the sides in lieu of silk applique.
INDIAN NOTES
SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE
BEADED HAIR BINDER, WITH PENDANTS Photograph by courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History
SKINNER MENOMINI CULTURE
SAUK AND FOX GIRL IN COSTUME. SHOWING MODE OF WEARING HEAD-DRESS. SIDE VIEW
SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE
SAUK AND FOX GIRL IN COSTUME, SHOWING MODE OF WEARING HEAD-DRESS, REAR VIEW
SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE
PL. XXVIII
g&SffP!
WOMAN IN COSTUME. SHOWING DRAPERY OF SHAWL
|
LEGGINGS |
125 |
|
LEGGINGS |
|
|
Women's leggings (pi. xxxi) are short, |
|
|
reaching only from the ankle to the knee, |
|
|
where they are bound at their upper |
|
|
border, just below the joint, with string |
|
|
garters of non-ornamental character. The |
|
|
lower part of the legging, which is exposed |
|
|
between ankle and skirt, is often prettily |
|
|
beaded, or silk ribbon-work extends all |
|
|
along the side and lower borders. |
|
|
In ancient times the leggings were made |
|
|
of tanned, dark-dyed deerskin, with beau- |
|
|
tiful quill embroidery in colors, or even |
|
|
bands of woven quillwork. Moccasins |
|
|
were similar to those worn by men. |
|
|
WAISTS |
|
|
Little information concerning the ancient |
|
|
type of upper garment worn by women |
|
|
could be obtained. Some old Indians |
|
|
think it was a sleeveless poncho-like shirt. |
|
|
with a hole left at the top for the head. A |
|
|
doeskin was folded over, and sewed together |
|
|
along the sides, leaving openings at the |
|
|
upper corners for the arms. This, they |
|
|
say, might have been attractively fringed |
|
|
AND MONOGRAPHS |
|
126 |
MENOMINI CULTURE |
|
along sides and bottom. Whether the tail, |
|
|
legs, and neck of the hide were trimmed |
|
|
off, slit for fringe, or left as dangling orna- |
|
|
ments, none could recall. Some thought |
|
|
that no upper garment was used at all, |
|
|
save a skin, or rather a fur robe. |
|
|
Nowadays, a tight-fitting waist of silk or |
|
|
of calico cut in "Winnebago" style (pi. |
|
|
XXVHI) and covered with a profusion of |
|
|
native-made brooches of metal, or a much |
|
|
beruffled waist of "Potawatomi" style |
|
|
(pi. xxxn), is used. It is noteworthy that |
|
|
both varieties bear names ascribing them |
|
|
to foreign sources. |
|
|
NECKLACES AND BELTS |
|
|
Short, narrow, bead necklaces, beauti- |
|
|
fully woven on the bias or obliquely (pi. |
|
|
xxxm, a, c), are still to be seen on Meno- |
|
|
mini women, although they are rapidly |
|
|
becoming things of the past. The older |
|
|
examples are sometimes woven on horse- |
|
|
hair. Cowrie shells strung together, and |
|
|
long, white glass beads (imitation wampum |
|
|
of the "Dutch" variety) are also worn in |
|
|
great quantities around the neck; a modern |
|
|
INDIAN NOTES |
SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE
WOMAN IN COSTUME. SHOWING SLIT SKIRT
|
KNIVES |
127 |
|
substitute, it is said, for wampum. Bead |
|
|
belts are worn, though rarely, around the |
|
|
waist and across the shoulders. |
|
|
ARTICLES OF COMMON USE |
|
|
Knives were constantly carried by both |
|
|
sexes. The woman wore hers at her belt |
|
|
in a plain, leather sheath, or, in modern |
|
|
times, in one studded with brass tacks |
|
|
(pi. xxxiv, a). It was a small, keen knife, |
|
|
useful around the lodge, as well as for |
|
|
defense, and its domestic nature was fur- |
|
|
ther evidenced in many cases by the addi- |
|
|
tion of an awl-case tied to its side. The |
|
|
man's knife, which was more of a fighting |
|
|
and scalping weapon, was kept in a leather |
|
|
sheath beautifully ornamented with dyed |
|
|
porcupine-quills, suspended from the neck |
|
|
by a short cord, and swung in front over |
|
|
the chest, where it could be seized on the |
|
|
instant. These fighting knives figure in |
|
|
Menomini traditional history. The writer |
|
|
has seen chipped stone blades, now regarded |
|
|
as charms, worn around the neck by the |
|
|
Osage. which he believes mark a survival |
|
|
of this custom among the Siouan people. |
|
|
AND MONOGRAPHS |
128
M E N O M I N 1 C U L T U R E
Nowadays, wars having ceased among the Wisconsin Indians, the Menomini wears his hunting-knife at his side; the sheath being made of plain leather like that of the woman, or of the skin of a deer's foot with the hoofs attached (pi. xxxiv, b).
Both men and women usually disport earrings, though this is not uni- versal. They never seem to wear more than a single pair. Men also wear necklaces, a primi- tive one of bear's claws being illustrated in fig. 4.
Bracelets of silver and FIG. 4.- Necklace of German silver cunningly (Length, wrought by native smiths are abundant. A typical series of these is shown in fig. 5; d is an example on which has been etched a rattlesnake, as a fetish against disease and witches; c is formed to represent a strap
bear's claws. 10 in.)
INDIAN NOTES
BRACELETS
129
FIG. 5.— Silver bracelets. (Height oi d, If in.)
AND MONOGRAPHS
|
130 |
MENOMINI CULTURE |
|
and buckle. Both bracelets and wrist- or |
|
|
arm-bands are as commonly worn by men |
|
|
as by women. |
|
|
-PERSONAL ADORNMENT |
|
|
MODES OF WEARING THE HAIR |
|
|
Like their hereditary enemies, the Sauk |
|
|
and Fox, Menomini warriors formerly |
|
|
reached their hair, but for warlike pur- |
|
|
poses only. The hairs were extracted one |
|
|
by one with tweezers probably made from |
|
|
the valves of a fresh-water clam. The |
|
|
roach, composed of the standing hair which |
|
|
remained, was as broad as the palm of the |
|
|
hand in front, but narrower toward the |
|
|
back of the head. A long lock was culti- |
|
|
vated at the center of the crown. Some- |
|
|
times the hair was worn long in a number |
|
|
of braids; again, and more commonly, it |
|
|
was allowed to flow free. By some it wa- |
|
|
bobbed at the shoulders, but in any case |
|
|
the scalp-lock was retained. This is still |
|
|
the practice among the more conservative |
|
|
Indians. Fig. 6 is a reproduction of a |
|
|
photograph of Kime'wun Oke'mas (Rain |
|
|
Young Chief) showing his scalp-lock coiled |
|
|
INDIAN NOTES |
SCALP-LOCKS
131
on his crown, although he has otherwise
long since adopted the white man's hair-cut.
The men still eradicate their beards and
mustaches by pulling out each hair with
FIG. 6. — Modified hair-cut, showing scalp-lock.
tweezers made of a coil of spring wire, and women rid themselves of their pubic hairs in the same manner.
AND MONOGRAPHS
132
MENOMINI CULTURE
FACIAL PAINTING
The Menomini still paint the face for religious and gala occasions. The cere- monial paintings are sometimes, but not always, significant. For the various degrees of the Milii'icin there are special markings, which are described in another paper.6 In the Dream Dance the writer once saw an old man who had the upper half of his face colored yellow with ocher, with small blue spots on his cheeks; others had four hori- zontal stripes of red and black, or yellow and black one and one-half inches wide, under each eye; others again had red daubed on the cheek. It is customary for the members of one of the contending sides in lacrosse to put a red mark on one cheek, or on the forehead, to distinguish them- selves from their opponents. Women are apt to place a small, round spot of red on each cheek, and to paint the parting of the hair the same color. In mourning, men and women blacken the entire face with charcoal.
The color red symbolizes happiness,
INDIAN NOTES
SKINNER— MENOMINI CULTURE
WOMAN'S LEGGING. BEADED AND APPLIQUED
5 3
|
PAINTING |
133 |
|
hence its frequent use. Blue and green, for |
|
|
the Menomini do not distinguish between |
|
|
the two, are sacred paints of holy sky color. |
|
|
The writer could not learn that the Meno- |
|
|
mini ever painted their bodies, and, indeed, |
|
|
this was not necessary, for they have for |
|
|
many generations dressed fully, even for |
|
|
war. Whether the custom of covering the |
|
|
entire body with clothing is ancient may |
|
|
well be doubted, yet not only this tribe but |
|
|
the neighboring Ojibwa bands at least, |
|
|
count it shameful to appear at any sort of |
|
|
ceremony with the body exposed. This is |
|
|
not at all true of the Sauk and Fox, even |
|
|
today, and it may be strongly suspected |
|
|
that the Winneftago have no aversion to |
|
|
the nude. |
|
|
TATTOOING |
|
|
Today, at least, the Menomini do not |
|
|
tattoo themselves for ornament but only |
|
|
for curative purposes. Persons suffering |
|
|
from chronic headache, for example, often |
|
|
have some local herb-doctor tattoo the |
|
|
figure of a Thunderbird over the seat of |
|
|
affliction. |
|
|
AND MONOGRAPHS |
|
134 |
M E N O M I N I CULTURE |
|
In the summer of 1911, James Black- |
|
|
cloud, a man well along in years, sold the |
|
|
writer a tattooing outfit with complete |
|
|
instructions as to its use. The parapher- |
|
|
nalia consists of the following articles: |
|
|
1. A small birch-bark dish intended to hold |
|
|
liquid medicines. |
|
|
2. A tattooing instrument composed of sev- |
|
|
eral needles set in a handle made of the thick, |
|
|
strong quill of some large bird, from which the |
|
|
covering had been stripped. The upper end |
|
|
had been folded over and thrust into a longi- |
|
|
tudinal slit made in its own shaft. The needles |
|
|
were fastened in a row in the distal end. In the |
|
|
hollow tube small seeds, shot, or beads, had |
|
|
been placed to cause it to rattle when used. |
|
|
Hawk-bells were attached to the upper or proxi- |
|
|
mal end. |
|
|
3. Dried bear's gall, used <o fix the coloring |
|
|
pigment. |
|
|
4. A package of powdered herbs and roots. |
|
|
In using the tattooing outfit, a little of the |
|
|
bear's gall is placed in the bark dish, and |
|
|
dissolved in a quantity of lukewarm water, |
|
|
corresponding in amount to a tablespoon- |
|
|
ful. To this is added some powdered |
|
|
birch-bark charcoal as pigment, and a |
|
|
portion of the powdered roots. These last |
|
|
are called 'by the Indians skunk-root. |
|
|
INDIAN NOTES |
SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE
PL. XXXIV
0.
KNIFE SHEATHS Photograph by courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History
|
TATTOOING |
135 |
|
deer's-ear root (an aquatic plant), red-top |
|
|
root, black root, and yellow root. The |
|
|
compound is applied in a thick paste over |
|
|
the seat of pain, and the figure desired is |
|
|
pricked in through the paste. The latter |
|
|
is then bandaged over the wound caused by |
|
|
the pricking of the needles, and is allowed |
|
|
to remain for four days. |
|
|
The tattooing needles are said to have |
|
|
been given to mankind by the Thunder- |
|
|
birds, and represent their spears or light- |
|
|
ning. Xo songs nor prayers accompanied |
|
|
the packet of utensils, but the user was |
|
|
admonished to think steadfastly of the |
|
|
Thunderers while at work. |
|
|
MUTILATION OF THE BODY |
|
|
Many have the ears pierced for earrings, |
|
|
which are used by both sexes. Generally |
|
|
only a single pair is worn, but I have seen |
|
|
one old man who had many perforations in |
|
|
each ear. For further discussion of this |
|
|
subject, the reader is referred to the section |
|
|
following. |
|
|
AND MONOGRAPHS |
136
MENOMINI CULTURE
TOILET ARTICLES
A Menomini toilet set, collected by Dr S. A. Barrett of the Public Museum of the City of Milwaukee, is shown in pi. xxxv. It consists of a mirror with a battered homemade wooden handle, to which are attached four streamers of fur. Among these pendants is a coil of spring wire, used as tweezers to eradicate facial hair. Before the arrival of the whites, the two attached valves of a clam-shell served the same pur- pose. The first tiny bag shown on the left is a cosmetic holder, filled with vermilion. Concealed by the decorated top of deerskin is the bag proper, a little leather affair shaped like a tiny leg and foot cased in a moccasin with embroidered ankle-flaps. The paint-brush, figured above it, is carved from the tip of a buck's antler not yet out of the velvet, for the distal end still retains a few downy hairs left on to form the brush. The other little leather bags contain differ- ent pigments indispensable for the toilet of a warrior. The woven-bead bag for- merly held tweezers.
INDIAN NOTES
TOILET SETS
137
Another toilet set is shown in fig. 7. This is interest- ing because the back of the home- made mirror con- tains a small cavity which has been used as a mortar for grinding blue paint. Other paint and medicine mor- tars are made from the tanned skins of gray and fox squirrels, with the hairs removed but the tails retained. The skins serve also as an envelope for the set. Such sets are used espe- cially in the rites of the Mitd'win, and are often to be
AND MONOGRAPHS
138
MENOMINI CULTURE
found among the articles contained in
medicine-bags. None of the above toilet articles seems
to be peculiar to the Menomini, for similar
trinkets have been observ- ed among all the adjacent tribes. The two little woven - bead tweezer- bags shown in fig. 7 seem to be unique, how- eve r. The conventional figures on them are meant to
FIG. 8. — Comb-case carved from the represent the antler oi a moose, obverse. (Height, 7f in.) Courtesy of the American Museum WOOd - duck, of Natural History. . •,
the most ornamental of American fowl, and therefore an appropriate decoration.
In figs. 8 and 9 are seen the obverse and
INDIAN NOTES
COM B-C A S E
139
the reverse of an ancient comb-case carved from the antler of a moose. The work is very crude, and it is even possible that it was done with stone tools. Some of the figures incised on its surface are said to be turtles, the totem of its maker. A porcupine's tail, or rather a portion of one, is at- tached as a comb-clean-
FIG. 9. — Comb-case carved from the
antler of a moose, reverse. Courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History.
er, a com- mon custom. It is thought that such tails were once used as hair- brushes. The specimen here figured is in the American Museum of Natural History; in height it measures 7f in.
AND MONOGRAPHS
|
140 |
MENOMINI CULTURE |
|
VOCABULARY |
|
|
MEN'S GARMENTS |
|
|
Wawiepi'nun, deer-hair roach. mikt'k pa"siikip, otter-fur head-band. anu'ki or apa"sos o'kum pipake'u'ian, leather or deerskin shirt. a'sian, breech-clout. miti'san, leggings. ma'kiisinfin, moccasins. ma'kasintin megiscku-n'tdn'tin, beaded moccasins. piikwu'fita, belt. mlkinniin, necklace. oska'sittn na'kutiio, bear-claw necklace. kaki'katapian, beaded garters. |
|
|
For clothing and other objects embroid- |
|
|
ered with porcupine-quills two terms are |
|
|
used, kaiauiakii'it'ikiin. or 'quilled,' a com- |
|
|
mon phrase, or more properly, pimikwfi- |
|
|
Id'wun, 'enriched.' Leggings or moccasins |
|
|
hung with carved deer's dew-claws and hoofs |
|
|
or with metallic tinklers, are said to be |
|
|
nani'hdnaku'fita'wfin. In addition to neck- |
|
|
laces of beads, kona'pdmik or cowrie shells |
|
|
(the badge of the Mitd'min or Medicine |
|
|
Dance society), bear's claws, and birds' |
|
|
bills were formerly used. |
|
|
INDIAN NOTES |
SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE
TOILET SET
Photograph by courtesy of the Public Museum, Milwaukee
o •
>• '" «i S
£E -
I- •£
gj
§
o
|
TERMS FOR DRESS |
141 |
|
WOMEN'S GARMENTS |
|
|
Nisa'gipun, a hair ornament, with long beaded trailers, rarely worn by the Menomini, but common among the Sauk, Fox, and Winne- |
|
|
bago. |
|
|
pe'sakagunice'ti, waist. milana'pis or ina" pis, skirt. ak'tvu'kuatao ina" pis or wapu'wean, robe or blanket. |
|
|
TERMS COMMON TO BOTH |
|
|
The terms for leggings and moccasins |
|
|
are the same for both sexes. In cases |
|
|
where it' is desired to particularize, the |
|
|
word ina'niu, man, or mita'mu, woman, is |
|
|
prefixed. |
|
|
A'sikun wiuna'kun, knife-sheath. Knives are |
|
|
commonly worn by both sexes. pelcinama'uan, tobacco-pouch. po"sahau, medicine-bag, also known as mile'- waian (Medicine Dance skin), -and mi- gi'kwaian (otter-skin). sukaku'uho'swunuk, metal brooches, generally worn by women. |
|
|
AND MONOGRAPHS |
|
142 |
|
|
• IV. FOOD AND ITS PREPARATION WILP RICE TRADITIONS OF THE RICE |
|
|
A""" MONG all the forest Indians, the Menomini, dwelling in the heart |
|
|
P5KS °f *ne wild-rice region, became |
|
|
most intimately associated with the harvest and the utilization of. the plant. According to tradition they recognized this fact to such an extent that they took the title of Ma"nomaneo Ina'niwfig, or "Wild Rice Men," commonly abbreviated to Ma"nomaneu>tik (singular Mannomaneo), derived from ma1 no man, "wild rice," and ina'nm'tig, "men," "people." The term Menominiwok ininiwok, as given by Hewitt in the Handbook of American Indians, is not of the Menomini dialect, but rather is a cognate phrase in some kindred Algon- kian tongue. According to Menomini tradition, the wild rice, since it springs up from under |
|
|
INDIAN NOTES |
|
WILD RICE |
143 |
|
the earth and the water, is the gift of one |
|
|
of the Underneath beings, probably Sekd- |
|
|
t coke' man. The Indians believe that the |
|
|
birds on their migrations follow these beings |
|
|
and bring rice to them. They sometimes, |
|
|
though seldom, introduce the plant to new |
|
|
waters, for, Jenks to the contrary, there is |
|
|
no rule against transplanting rice.7 |
|
|
THE HARVEST |
|
|
The usual harvest "season is about the |
|
|
middle of September. At this time the |
|
|
Indians gather in camps on the shores of the |
|
|
lakes. They usually arrive while the rice is |
|
|
still in the milk, and spend the time until it |
|
|
ripens, in pitching their lodges and prepar- |
|
|
ing to gather the grain. The older people |
|
|
instruct the younger generation to be quiet |
|
|
and to refrain from noise or boisterous play. |
|
|
Nanawe'tauwuk, or police, are set to guard |
|
|
the rice, and no one is allowed to trespass |
|
|
on the fields before the appointed day. |
|
|
From time to time the police examine |
|
|
the rice, and when they finally decide |
|
|
that it is ripe enough for gathering they |
|
|
carry the information to the chief, who |
|
|
AND MONOGRAPHS |
144
MENOMINI CULTURE
instructs them to go from lodge to lodge crying, "Tomorrow we will commence the harvest." That night the chief of each band makes a sacrifice to Sekatcoke'mau. He gives a feast with prayers and a speech, saying, ''We are going to commence to pick our rice tomorrow;" then turning to the people, "We make this offering to our Grandfather, the Master of Rice, who caused it to grow for our use. We give this tobacco [with these words he stops and digs a small hole and puts tobacco in it], as an offering to the Underground Powers and ask them to permit us to make the harvest. We beg for four days of good weather, and then we will leave the rest of the rice to the Thunderers for their use." Here the chief rises and throws tobacco into the fire (an unusual form of sacrifice) as an offering to the Thunderbirds: "May they permit us to pick rice for four days in the fields which they and the lower Gods have given us; then they may take their share."
At the conclusion of the speech, tobacco is passed about and the old people smoke in honor of the gods, after which the feast is
INDIAN NOTES
FEAST
eaten. This ceremony having been per- formed, the four days of calm weather are sure to follow unless someone has failed to fulfil the conditions of respect and quiet which are enjoined. Women undergoing their menses and persons belonging to a family in which there has been a death within a year may not go on the rice fields, for such an act would offend both the Thun- derers and the Underneath gods.
The morning following the feast the Indi- ans visit the rice-beds in their canoes. An ideal party is composed of three — a man to pole the boat, and two women to gather the rice. Owing to the oozy nature of the lake bottoms at the river inlets, where the rice grows, an ordinary pole is not feasible for pushing the dugouts, and because of tht matted rice-plants, paddling is likewise impossible. For propelling the bateau, therefore, a sapling, crotched at one end. and ten to sixteen feet long, is used. The boatman, standing in the stern, shoves his pole down among the roots of the rice, and drives his craft ahead with a twisting push, each turn causing the forked end of the
145
AND MONOGRAPHS
|
146 |
MENOMINI CULTURE |
|
<Q pole to grip the roots, which |
|
|
give more resistance than the |
|
|
surrounding ooze. As the boat |
|
|
$1 is thus sent ahead at an even, |
|
|
although not very rapid rate, |
|
|
the women reach out and pull |
|
|
bunches of the rice-plant over the |
|
|
gunwales. For this purpose they |
|
|
use a stick about three and one- |
|
|
half feet long; then with a some- |
|
|
what shorter stick, grasped in |
|
|
the other hand, they knock off |
|
|
Ithe ripe grain into the bottom of |
|
|
the canoe. Work must be done |
|
|
quickly to keep up with the speed |
|
|
at which they progress. In some |
|
|
cases the pulling-stick is made |
|
|
with a slight curve for the pur- |
|
|
pose of more readily bending the |
|
|
rice, but some are straight, in |
|
|
order, it was explained, to pene- |
|
|
trate the dense masses of the |
|
|
plant (fig. 10). The example |
|
|
Fro. 10.— figured is 30* in- long- |
|
|
Pulling stick After making their course for harvest- |
|
|
ing rice, through the rice-bed the party |
|
|
INDIAN NOTES |
HARVEST
147
returns and continues thus, going back and forth, always beating each new swathe as close to the last as possible, in order to harvest all the grain. Great care is taken during the work not to offend the manitous who rule the water, especially by wasting the rice, lest they should upset the canoes, or cause storms to rise.
The beating of the rice-bed is continued until the canoe is filled, the length of time taken for this varying with the yield of the crop and the size of the bateau. When it is loaded the party returns to camp and the women at once commence shuffling the rice in the bottom of the boat, in order to break off the spiny beards. This is done with the hands or with the feet, and is an uncomfort- able, not to say dangerous, procedure, since the sharp spikes are apt to penetrate the skin and work into the flesh like the quills of the porcupine, causing painful wounds; and if one flies into the eye it almost infalli- bly destroys the sight.
When the beards have been broken off, the rice is packed in sacks, in blankets, and in birch-bark mococks. A small quantity of
AND MONOGRAPHS
148
MENOMINI CULTURE
the rice, however, is reserved and hastily prepared for a feast in the following man- ner: The unhulled kernels are thrown into a dry kettle swung over a medium fire, and are stirred with a wooden paddle to pre- vent them from burning, while they roast or parch. The hulls crack like popcorn, though not so loudly, as it cooks. When the grains have all burst open, the rice is taken from the kettle and put into a pan, and a small hole is dug and lined with a cloth. Beside the hole a stake is driven into the ground. The rice is then poured in the hole and a man with clean, new moc- casins steps in. Grasping the stake to keep him in place, he dances up and down on the rice to thresh it. In former times he chanted a song as he danced, but this cus- tom has long since ceased.
After the rice is threshed it has still to be winnowed. For this purpose it is placed by one of the women in a large birch-bark dish or tray (pi. xxxvi) and shaken up and down to free it from the husks. If a breeze is blowing it helps by carrying off the chaff. From time to time handfuls of refuse work
INDIAN NOTES
THANKSGIVING
149
to the top and are picked out and thrown away.
Next the rice is washed to cleanse it of any particles of foreign matter that have found their way in, and of the smoky odor caused by the parching. After this it is ready for cooking. A small quantity is placed in a kettle with water and boiled slowly, being constantly stirred to prevent it from burning. It takes only a few hand- fuls to make a meal, so greatly does the grain expand. The dish is seasoned with pork or with salt.
As soon as the first lot of rice has been thus prepared for eating by each family, the harvesters gather about and their leader offers tobacco, saying: "I thank thee, O Rice-maker (Ono'miahdwatuk) , that we have lived to see this season. As we must not partake of thy bounty without tobacco and a ceremony, I am doing this faithfully to carry out our part, to thank thee, and to fulfil thy wishes before we touch and taste the rice, in order that we may be successful in making a good harvest." When the leader has made this speech, the feast begins.
AND MONOGRAPHS
150
MENOMINI CULTURE
This ceremonial meal must always be eaten on the first day of the harvest.
After the harvest has all been gathered, the bearded rice may be hulled on the spot, or it may be taken home as it is and pre- pared for use later. If there is time the Menomini do not use the hasty process just described. Instead, a scaffold or grill of crossed poles is built up about two and one- half or three feet above the ground, and covered with a flat grass known as upouki- wfi'nfiskwtio ("grass made to roast or dry wild rice"); over this a mat is laid and the rice is spread on it. A small, even, "flat" fire, without high flames, is built under the scaffold, and constantly watched to prevent the blaze or the sparks from igniting the covering. The rice is stirred from time to time to keep it from burning, and gradually cracks and bursts until it is done, when it is hulled with the hands. At this stage it needs flailing and winnowing before it can be eaten.
Sometimes the rice is cached for future use by placing it in a dugout canoe and burying it on the sunny slope of some hill-
INDIAN NOTES
|
EARLY ACCOUNT |
151 |
|
side where falling rain will rapidly drain |
|
|
away and not rot the vessel nor its contents. |
|
|
Rice so cached is still fit for use at the end |
|
|
of one or even of two years. |
|
|
Interesting from an historical and com- |
|
|
parative standpoint, as showing the conser- |
|
|
vatism of this tribe, is an early account of |
|
|
the Menominl rice culture given by Mar- |
|
|
quette, writing in 1673, as follows: |
|
|
"The first nation we came to was called the |
|
|
Folles-Avoines, or the- nation of wild oats. I |
|
|
entered their river to visit them, as I had |
|
|
preached among them some years before. The |
|
|
wild oats, from which they derive their name, |
|
|
grow spontaneously in their country. They |
|
|
grow in marshy ground and are not unlike our |
|
|
European oats. The grain is not thicker than |
|
|
ours, but it is twice as long, and therefore it |
|
|
yields much more meal. It makes its appear- |
|
|
ance in June and does not ripen until September. |
|
|
In this month the Indians go to shake the grain |
|
|
off the ears in their canoes, which easily falls |
|
|
if it be ripe, and which afterwards serves them |
|
|
for food. They dry it over a fire, then pack |
|
|
it away in a kind of sack made of the skins of |
|
|
animals, and having made a hole in the ground |
|
|
they put the sacks therein, and tread upon it |
|
|
until the chaff is separated from the grain, and |
|
|
then winnow it. Afterwards they pound it in |
|
|
a mortar to reduce it into meal; they then boil |
|
|
it in water, and season it with grease, which |
|
|
makes it very palatable."8 |
|
|
AND MONOGRAPHS |
|
152 |
MENOMINI CULTURE |
|
VOCABULARY |
|
|
Ma"nymdn, wild rice. nemakosku tcikutao, wild rice threshed by the feet. |
|
|
apu'ataa, parched wild rice. anapa'*ku>un, an underground cache (also called u'ana'kun) for wild rice. A hole dug in the earth about the size and shape of a barrel, and lined with basswood- or elm-bark. |
|
|
The rice is placed in bark- fiber bags wrapped in rolls of the same material (see descrip- tion, p. 147). Corn was cached in the same way, and kettles of maple syrup were covered and hidden likewise. |
|
|
meli*ko'ne aia*so, a canoe filled with wild rice |
|
|
or corn and buried in a hillside for better |
|
|
drainage (see p. 150). |
|
|
WILD POTATOES AND OTHER VEGETAL |
|
|
FOODS |
|
|
Three kinds of wild "potatoes" are rec- |
|
|
ognized by the Menomini. and all are eaten |
|
|
with gusto. They are called: |
|
|
1. Tapepin, 'straight.' This variety is washed and dried and boiled alone, or with corn, wild rice, or meat broth. |
|
|
2. Pe'koutc, or ma'lcetauopin, 'wild or Indian potato'; cooked like the former, but occa- sionally prepared with meat or preserved in syrup for future use. 3. Wapise'pin, 'white potato,' used in the same manner as the last. |
|
|
INDIAN NOTES |
|
CORN |
153 |
|
The following were favorite old-time |
|
|
Menomini vegetal foods: |
|
|
Seiva1 'pemin opanskunuslt, dried sweet corn and wild potatoes. Kitcekoma'sekonuk, potatoes and hulled corn. Ma'no'man pikwoutcpdniuk kanusiluo, wild rice and potatoes. Pikimi'na'tao, potato preserves; dried potatoes placed in maple sugar. The potatoes are dried on cedar-bark scaffolds covered with |
|
|
mats; they are then stored in woven sacks. I have often observed the entire process. \Vcna' maku'iin, a small spotted squash, a native |
|
|
variety. Ona'holao pa'xtao, squashes cut in strips, braided and dried (pi. xxxvn) for winter |
|
|
use. |
|
|
Wau'euka pi*sikuta K-ena'makwtiniin, squashes cut in circles and dried for winter con- |
|
|
sumption. |
|
|
CORN AND ITS PREPARATION |
|
|
From an economic standpoint, the Meno- |
|
|
mini, like the other Central Algonkian tribes, |
|
|
were fortunately situated. Not only did |
|
|
the forests comprised within their bound- |
|
|
aries furnish abiding places for game of all |
|
|
sorts, and the lakes and the rivers shelter |
|
|
numerous varieties of fish, but the soil was |
|
|
excellent and the climate pleasant, so that |
|
|
AND MONOGRAPHS |
|
154 |
MENOMINI CULTURE |
|
even by their primitive methods good crops |
|
|
could be raised. Of all the vegetal foods |
|
|
cultivated by the Menomini, corn was by far |
|
|
the most important. Their origin myth for |
|
|
maize is as follows: |
|
|
LEGEND OF THE ORIGIN OF CORN |
|
|
Long, long ago a certain man was accus- |
|
|
tomed to go hunting, leaving his little |
|
|
nephew at home to guard his lodge. Every |
|
|
time the uncle went out he would tell the |
|
|
little fellow, "I have something very mys- |
|
|
terious; it is wrapped up in a bundle over |
|
|
there in the corner. Take great care of it |
|
|
and never open it under any circumstances." |
|
|
Day after day the uncle went out and each |
|
|
time he instructed his nephew to be careful |
|
|
of the bundle. At last one day when the |
|
|
old man had departed, the lad thought to |
|
|
himself, "I wonder why my uncle is so par- |
|
|
ticular about that bundle? I will open it |
|
|
and see what is inside." |
|
|
Going to the corner where it was kept, the |
|
|
boy took the package. He untied wrap- |
|
|
ping after wrapping until at last he came |
|
|
across a sack in which there were some |
|
|
INDIAN NOTES |
SKINNER— MENOMINI CULTURE
PL. XXXVII
MORTAR AND DOUBLE-ENDED PESTLE Photograph by courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History
LEGEND
grains of corn. "Well," said he, "since my uncle is not here I'll do as I please." So he placed several kernels in the fire to roast.
After a while the heat caused the kernels to expand, and at last they exploded with loud reports, like giant popcorn. The particles fell all over the lodge, and some flew outdoors, where they lay, covering the giound like snow. One even fell in the path of his uncle, although he was hunting a long distance away. As soon as the old man saw it he knew exactly what had hap- pened, and he set out for his lodge as fast as he could go. In the meanwhile the fright- ened nephew tried to gather up the frag- ments and conceal them, but there were so many that he was unable to do so. They lay everywhere; some even rolled under the bed. While the boy was still at work gath- ering them up, his uncle arrived. Rushing into the wigwam, he cried, "Nephew, you have done that which I strictly forbade you to do! You have made me very angry, and I am going to punish you for it!"
He seized the lad and beat him until he was too tired to strike. Then he picked him
155
AND MONOGRAPHS
|
156 |
M E N 0 M I N I CULTURE |
|
up and tossed him out of the lodge through |
|
|
the smoke-hole. "Never come back here |
|
|
again," he said. "I can never forgive you |
|
|
for opening this sack of mine." Then he |
|
|
added, "Let there be snow and storm." |
|
|
According to the command of the old |
|
|
man, who was a very powerful Mitd'o, the |
|
|
storm came and the snow fell. The old |
|
|
man knew that he must get rid of his |
|
|
nephew, for he realized that the lad had |
|
|
great supernatural power, which he might |
|
|
sometime turn against him. In the mean- |
|
|
time the boy lay on the ground where he |
|
|
had fallen, and the snow covered him over |
|
|
until he was out of sight. There he re- |
|
|
mained ten days. At the end of the time |
|
|
he arose, went into his uncle's lodge and |
|
|
slew him. When the old man was dead, |
|
|
the youth inherited all his effects, including |
|
|
the corn, which the old man had selfishly |
|
|
hidden away from mankind, but which the |
|
|
nephew gave to all the world. |
|
|
K i CULTIVATION |
|
|
In cultivating maize the Menomini usu- |
|
|
ally planted it in large hills placed far apart. |
|
|
INDIAN NOTES |
|
CULTIVATION |
157 |
|
Some had no hills at all, preferring to drop |
|
|
tne seed in holes in level ground; still others |
|
|
were accustomed to plant in holes and build |
|
|
up the hills after the seed had sprouted. |
|
|
Several kinds of corn were known. Among |
|
|
them were popcorn and the ordinary maize, |
|
|
of which latter there were two varieties, an |
|
|
early blue form, and a white form ripening |
|
|
later in the season. The ears of the old |
|
|
native maize were not long and symmetrical |
|
|
like those now seen, but short, nubby, and |
|
|
conical, with comparatively few kernels. |
|
|
The change in shape and size is ascribed by |
|
|
the Indians to improved methods and im- |
|
|
plements of agriculture. It is thought that |
|
|
the old-time hoes were furnished with stone |
|
|
blades. |
|
|
PREPARATION |
|
|
Popcorn, called nani'sapimin, "mouse |
|
|
corn," or "little brother," was also raised. |
|
|
It was usually prepared by roasting or |
|
|
parching, and pounding it in a mortar, with |
|
|
the addition of dried meat, maple sugar, or |
|
|
wild rice, or all three. In this condition it |
|
|
was very nourishing, so much so that a |
|
|
AND MONOGRAPHS |
158
MENOMINI CULTURE
small quantity with the addition of a little water sustained one a long time. Conse- quently it was a favorite food for travelers, hunters, and warriors, who could not be troubled to carry any great bulk of food on their extended excursions. Ordinary maize was also prepared and used in the same way. In the autumn, corn is gathered and brought into the lodges, where it is husked at the convenience of the owners. Jolly husking-bees often accompany this labor, when young and old enjoy themselves in much the same manner as do white people under similar circumstances. In husking the corn all the sheathes except four or five are stripped from the cob. These are turned back and braided together around a basswood cord, which strengthens the braid, so that it can support the ear. The braids of corn, often as much as six or eight feet long, are swung from a cross-bar supported by two crotched uprights, at a height of five or six feet from the ground. These uprights, generally placed under a bark shelter, are allowed to bear their burden outdoors throughout the autumn
INDIAN NOTES
PREPARATION
159
and sometimes through the winter as well. When the owners have the leisure or feel in the mood, the corn is taken down and shelled. The kernels are put in bags of woven string and stored away out of reach of mice, squirrels, and other rodents, until needed for use.
The dry corn is prepared in a number of ways, one of the most common being the following: The corn is shelled and is then crushed in a small, horizontal wooden mor- tar with a short, heavy, double-headed pestle (pi. xxxvin). This reduces the corn to coarse flour or meal, but chaff is freely mixed with it. To remove this it is not sifted through a basket, as is done among other eastern Woodland tribes, but is win- nowed in a birch-bark tray like the wild rice. After winnowing, the coarse part is boiled for hominy, and the finer flour is used for gruels or for cakes. Sometimes when the corn is still on the stalk, women go through the fields trying the ears. If they find that the kernels are fairly hard they pick a quan- tity. These they take home. They may boil and eat them at once, or they may first
AND MONOGRAPHS
160
MENOMINI CULTURE
parboil them, in preparation for storage, as follows: The half-cooked ears are taken and held firmly do*wn against the bottom of a dish, while the kernels are cut off with a knife, or sometimes shelled with the back of the blade. A rush mat or a sheet of birch- or cedar-bark is stretched over a grate of poles, and the kernels are spread on this and allowed to dry in the sun, though in bad or cloudy weather the process is carried on indoors. This is the favorite corn for soup. For feasts it is mixed with beans. It is named "sewa'pimenfik," and is called "great in a feast."
Another popular dish is prepared by scraping the green corn from the cob with a tool made from one of the unworked rami of the inferior maxillary of the deer. The kernels, which are considerably broken up by the scraping, are put in a birch-bark pan or dish. Grease is added and thoroughly mixed with the corn, which is molded into cakes and baked in the ashes.
Green corn is often baked. For this pur- pose a hole is dug, about six feet long and four feet broad, by two or three feet deep.
INDIAN NOTES
COOKING
161
The bottom is lined with a layer of flat stones. Half-ripe ears of corn are husked and laid on the stones and covered with a layer of husks. Then another layer of stones is laid in place, and another layer of corn, and so on for several tiers. A slow fire composed of wood leaving plentiful ashes and coals is made over the pit. This fire is usually started in the evening and al- lowed to burn all night. In the morning the ears are removed, and the corn shelled with either a deer-jaw scraper or a musselshell. It is boiled and is then ready for consump- tion.
Again, the ripe, well-grown corn is shelled from the cob. Wood-ashes are added to water until it becomes slimy, making a strong lye. The liquid is drawn off and placed in another kettle, and the ashes are thrown away. Then the kernels are put in and boiled. When the lye has softened the hulls, the corn is removed and repeatedly washed and rubbed with the hands. For this rinsing it is often placed in a hulling- bag (pi. LIV, b, c) and shaken about in the water. This also serves to break off the
AND MONOGRAPHS
162
MENOMINI CULTURE
hulls, which drain away with the water through the coarse meshes of the bag. The sound of the shaken corn indicates when the hulls are separated. The clean kernels are dried and stored in woven "short bags." At this stage it is called ki'cekonayase'konuk, "looking like popcorn after cooked," and is used to make soup. Such soup is seasoned by the addition of deer-bones, which are boiled with it, their marrow flavoring it. Sometimes red corn is cooked without hull- ing; it is shelled and boiled a long time until tender.
When traveling and not desiring to be overburdened, the Menomini frequently stored their corn in boxes made of bark of black ash or elm, which they buried at a spot to which they hoped to return (see page 152).
In addition to foods of corn and of wild rice the Menomini knew also quite a num- ber of edible roots, nuts, fruits, and berries, which they did not cultivate, but gathered where they could find them. These were dried, made into preserves or jams, or eaten uncooked.
INDIAN NOTES
|
VEGETAL TERMS |
163 |
|
VOCABULARY |
|
|
CORN |
|
|
Inii'n wa' pimin, white corn. |
|
|
ape' sa' pimin, black or 'blue' corn. |
|
|
kinu'putemin (long white kernels), white man's |
|
|
corn. |
|
|
osatt'ii'a' 'pimin, yellow dent. |
|
|
nani'sapimin, popcorn. |
|
|
sewa1 'pimin, sweet corn. |
|
|
SQUASH |
|
|
Wina'mdkwuastn, small, spotted, native squash. |
|
|
oka'*ma*kumu'in, hard variety of Hubbard |
|
|
squash. |
|
|
•wisaii'wi'kwi nama'kwun, pumpkin. |
|
|
BERRIES |
|
|
Anepimi'nun, service-berries. |
|
|
pia kaminun, cranberries. |
|
|
noma'kiminuk. gooseberries ('sturgeon-berries'). |
|
|
sakuwkominuk, June-berries. |
|
|
me' nun, blueberries. |
|
|
miPkata'i wano'ku'unuk, black raspberries. |
|
|
ama'ku'anit wano'ku'iinuk, red raspberries. |
|
|
oskishiki minun, low-bush blackberries. |
|
|
pdii'a'he minun, high-bush cranberries. |
|
|
U'e*kano'sun, unidentified berry, like cranberry, |
|
|
but spotted. |
|
|
FRUITS |
|
|
Seu'a'non, wild grapes. |
|
|
mamd sewa'non, wild grapes (large variety). |
|
|
lala'ki minun, chokecherries. |
|
|
na*noetmn, black cherries. |
|
|
ungishimimin, red (birch-bark) cherries. |
|
|
AND MONOGRAPHS |
|
164 |
M E N O M I X I CULT U R |
E |
|
VEGETABLES |
||
|
Pigii'a'tc pdni'ftk, wild potatoes. Kapise'piH, white potatoes. alapc'pin. edible root. sikako'sia, wild onion. |
||
|
k'd'uatid'a.'i'sia, milkweed (used for greens). u-ake'pen, yellow water-lily root. |
||
|
NUTS |
||
|
Xano'ickopaka'n, hickory-nuts. paka'n au'dpaka'n, butternuts. sawa'ttimtn, beechnuts. |
||
|
paka'esiik, hazelnuts. apa"siminiin, pin-oak acorn. oske'teminiin, white-oak acorn. |
||
|
MAPLE SUGAR |
||
|
LEGEND OF THE ORIGIN OF MAPLE SUGAR |
||
|
Many years ago, Mannabus was traveling |
||
|
about over the earth when his attention |
was |
|
|
attracted to the maple tree. It had |
not |
|
|
been one of his own creations; indeed, it |
was |
|
|
made by some other hero. Ma"nabus |
was |
|
|
displeased with it, for in those days its |
sap |
|
|
was pure syrup, and it ran very slowly |
||
|
"That is a poor way," said he, "for |
the |
|
|
sap to run; it is too slow and tedious |
for |
|
|
my aunts [the women] and my uncles |
[the |
|
|
men] to wait for it, and it is too hard to get |
||
|
INDIAN NOTES |
SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE
WOODEN LADLE FOR STIRRING SAP. AND WOODEN MORTAR Length of a, 14 J in.; of b, 26| in.
|
MAPLE SUGAR |
165 |
|
out of the bark dishes. I'll make it better |
|
|
and more profitable for them." |
|
|
So, suiting his actions to his words, he |
|
|
went over and urinated into the tree, and |
|
|
his urine united with the sap and made it |
|
|
thinner so that it flowed more freely. |
|
|
"Now," said he, "my uncles and my |
. |
|
aunts will hereafter realize that this is a far |
|
|
better way for them to get their sugar. |
|
|
Heretofore they got the syrup too cheaply, |
|
|
but now they will have to work for it by |
|
|
their sweat. There will be more sap, but |
|
|
they must prepare it." |
|
|
SUGAR MAKING |
|
|
In the latter part of February and in |
|
|
March the Menomini formerly made their |
|
|
sugar, but they claim that now the seasons |
|
|
have changed, and they establish their |
|
|
sugar-camps in late March or early in April, |
|
|
generally during the latter month. When |
|
|
the proper time has arrived they withdraw |
|
|
to their favorite "sugar bushes," where the |
|
|
men busy themselves in cutting four-foot |
|
|
fagots for the fires, while the women sort the |
|
|
birch-bark dishes (pi. xxxix, a), washing |
|
|
AND MONOGRAPHS |
166
MENOMINI CULTURE
and preparing them for use. When one is found to be broken or leaky, it is marked with charcoal at the defective point and set aside. The sound receptacles are put up in nests of ten and bound with strings of bark. When this has been done the women commence to mend the leaky ones. For this purpose they calk them with pitch, obtained from deposits on sawn logs, which they scrape off with a knife. The handle of this tool is wrapped with cloth to protect the hand from the sticky substance. If no logs are available, a hole is chopped in a pine tree, and the sap is allowed to collect. This sap is then gathered and boiled in a kettle which is swung over a glowing heap of coals, but drawn to one side; or it is placed in a skillet. Great care must be taken to prevent a coal or a spark from igniting it. When it hangs sticky and stringy from the stirring-paddle, it is done. The cracks in the leaky vessels are daubed with the pitch, and rags are laid over it, which are covered in their turn. These tasks take up the workers' time until the warm spring days cause the sap to run.
INDIAN NOTES
GATHERING SAP
167
Then a man takes his axe and a couple of assistants, his children, if he has any, and sets out. The assistants carry the iron gouge for cutting holes in the trees, the spouts, and the receptacles for collecting the sap. Finding a suitable maple, the man takes his axe and chops into the sunny side of the tree, drives in the iron gouge- shaped implement at the lower end of the cut, and inserts a wooden spout in the open- ing so made (pi. xxxix, 5). If the sap is flowing properly, it begins to gush out at once. A good worker will tap from two hundred to three hundred trees a day. When the spout has been inserted, one of the assistants places a dish under it, and the party proceeds. An hour or an hour and a half before dark the sap is gathered, for if left longer it turns bitter and is useless. None must be wasted, or the Powers Below will be offended and foul weather will ensue. In case this occurs, the contents of the catching dishes are thrown out, and the dishes inverted under the spout until the rain or the snow ceases, when they are replaced in their proper position.
AND MONOGRAPHS
168
MENOMINI CULTURE
Two birch-bark buckets suspended from a shoulder-yoke (fig. 1 1) are used for carry- ing the sap. As rapidly as they are filled they are brought back to camp and poured out in a vat or trough. This may have been hollowed out of a single, huge basswood.
FIG. 11. — Shoulder-yoke used in gathering sap. (Length. 28 in.)
One such, seen by the writer, has a capacity of from five to thirty pork-barrels. Sometime? «. hollow log is used, the ends being stopped up, and the cracks calked with white slip- pery-elm-bark fiber and pitch. This trough lies partly inside and partly outside the sugar-camp so that it will be convenient for the workers.
The camp itself is a log house with no windows, the requisite light coming from the door, through the smoke-hole in the roof, and from the fires. A scaffold upheld
INDIAN NOTES
SUGAR MAKING
169
by crotched posts in the center of the house is covered with cross-poles, and under it is suspended the metal kettle for boiling the sap over the fire. In some cases, instead of a scaffold in the center, there are poles running from end to end of the house, over which cross-poles are laid. The sap vat pro- jects into the room at the opposite side of the house from the door, and the smoke- hole is in the center of the roof, directly over the fires. So much for the interior arrangement of the camp.
The sap is poured into the vat outside the house, and is dipped up with kettles inside. These kettles are then hung over the fires. They have to be watched constantly, lest they boil over. In this event the watchers thrust into the sap a stick, to the end of which fresh pine-tips have been tied. This causes the liquid to recede. As fast as the sap boils away, more is added, until the vat is emptied. Now syrup begins to form in the kettles, which are immediately drawn to one side. A syrup stirrer, called nata'poa- kun (pi. XL, a), is thrust in at intervals and twisted in such a way that the sap is lifted
AND MONOGRAPHS
170
MENOMINI CULTURE
up on it and allowed to fall back in the ket- tle. When the syrup hangs in a stringy, sticky mass, it is taken away from the fires and allowed to cool, when it is strained through a thin sack or a sheeting. When the syrup has been cleared of impurities, it is taken, two or three quarts at a time (not more, bcause it expands rapidly), and cooked again over a small fire. After fif- teen to thirty minutes it is done. This fact is recognized either by the way in which it drips from the stirring-paddle, or by its taste. It is then stirred until it begins to harden. Sometimes the white of an egg is added to lighten the color. Then it is taken, while still warm, and poured into a wooden trough, where it is pulverized by rubbing and crushing with a heavy wooden ladle as it coagulates. The pulverized sugar is placed in birch-bark mococks, in which it is closely packed, but not pressed in hard lest it become too solid to be removed. Small, hard cakes of various shapes are often put in with the sugar. This process may be dispensed with, and it may be run into molds and allowed to harden in the various
INDIAN NOTES
GRADES
,hapes that the fancy of the maker dictates. These molds do not have to be greased like our pastry forms, for the sugar comes out very readily when cool. In former times fresh-water musselshells, or bones, or carved wooden forms shaped like turtles, stars, leaves, or dishes, were used for this purpose. Now commercial molds have largely taken their place. To make candy, or wax (se'kat- katao), the syrup must be taken after the last boiling, and before it has hardened, and pulled, exactly like taffy.
When the sugar has been granulated, it is graded according to quality (the whiter the sugar the better) and stored away. To the leavings in the kettle is added sap which has been boiled a little, and this is cooked again to make second-grade sugar. It is considered a disgrace, and an offence to Ma"nabus, to spill or waste any sap; the sugar will shrink as a punishment. On the other hand, if the. Indians are careful, they will have more than they think they have. A sacrifice is offered at every initial cooking. Sugar should be used at all feasts, and the
171
AND MONOGRAPHS
|
172 |
MENOMINI CULTURE |
|
entire portion placed before each guest must |
|
|
be consumed. |
|
|
After the sugar-making the kettles are |
|
|
washed by rubbing with wood-ashes and a |
|
|
stone until they are bright and clean, the |
|
|
Indians taking great pains with them. |
|
|
VOCABULARY |
|
|
GENERAL TERMS |
|
|
Sopoma'tik so' porno, maple-tree sugar. ina'n so' porno, real sugar. mama'tcetau so'pomo, Indian sugar. sopoma'xpoku<un, 'sugar bush,' or grove of sugar-maple trees where sap is collected. |
|
|
GRADES |
|
|
Wapishomana'kau'atdo, white grade; the first |
|
|
run. |
|
|
U'e*sa'uwamaka, brown sugar; the second run. se'katkatao, maple-sugar wax. ape'Ksamaka pena'o-omi, or pena'o-mi ('black partridge dung,' or 'partridge dung'). The dark and bitter last run or fourth grade of |
|
|
sugar. |
|
|
UTENSILS |
|
|
Wiki'natci'piakun, birch-bark sap-bucket. naio'u'dkun asna'lcipi, yoke for carrying sap- buckets, etc. |
|
|
makwu'ku'tiamitcikiin, wooden sap-spout. unki hona'kfin, birch-bark dish for collecting sap. |
|
|
INDIAN NOTES |
|
HUNTING |
173 |
|
nata'poaktin, sap-stirrer. nakaii'ahi'tciit, pulverizing-trough of wood. a'misku'un snakau'ahn'tci, ladle for pulverizing, made very heavy. cFnopi'akiin, sap-trough. |
|
|
HUNTING, GAME, AND MEATS |
|
|
Although agriculture played no mean part |
|
|
in the Menomini struggle for existence. |
|
|
nevertheless it was not developed by the |
|
|
tribe to a point where it was their principal |
|
|
source of food. Fishing and especially hunt- |
|
|
ing supplied the major portion of their diet. |
|
|
MAGIC AXD MYTHOLOGY OP THE CHASE |
|
|
As the writer has brought out in another |
|
|
paper,9 the Menomini not only resorted to |
|
|
every practical device in the way of snares |
|
|
and traps for taking game, but employed a |
|
|
number of mystic formulae, including sacred |
|
|
bundles with their rituals, to overpower |
|
|
their quarry by means of sympathetic and |
|
|
contagious magic. To the present day, no |
|
|
hunter, however skilled, believes for a mo- |
|
|
ment that he could be successful without the |
|
|
aid of sacred charms and incantations. |
|
|
The most important of the hunting- |
|
|
AND MONOGRAPHS |
174
MENOMINI CULTURE
bundles is one called Misa'sakiuns. This potent medicine was obtained from the manitous by the Culture-Hero Ma"nabus, who fasted until the hearts of the Powerful Beings were smitten with pity for his deplor- able state. The first animal to respond was the beaver, who gave his mystic song to lure the game, and his skin to contain the medicines. Next was the weasel, re- nowned for his ferocity and his success as a hunter. The mink followed, for he is wise in the ways of animal-kind, and, after him, the wolf, who is master of the deer, and many other predatory creatures added their powers. This bundle is given by the gods to especially worthy men, to whom they appear in visions.
The opening of the bundle in a "clean place" in the woods precedes the hunt. The men of the party perform a dance dramatizing the chase and slaughter of the deer, and its subsequent preparation for food. Next morning they smudge their weapons in incense taken from the bundle, and set out, sure of success, because the essence of the charmed pack has already
INDIAN NOTES
HUNTING-BUNDLES
175
permeated the forest during the night and stupefied the game. The bundle also con- tains formulae for killing and blinding witches, one of whose wicked activities con- sists in stealing luck from hunters. As the witch-destroying formulae can be turned against innocent parties, the bundle has fallen into disrepute, although its game- overpowering qualities are generally ac- knowledged. Few of these packs are in existence, but another and almost as im- portant a medicine is more widely distrib- uted. Indeed parts of it may be found in the possession of almost every conservative male Menomini. This is the famous "Spotted Fawn Medicine," or Kitaga'sa muski'ki",
The spotted fawn medicine was given to Ma"nabus because the first bundle which he received from the Powers was too dif- ficult for ordinary mortals to obtain, only a few persons being worthy to possess it. The lesser packet contains two gifts from the animals that are of transcendent impor- tance. The wolf, as master of the deer, donated his abilities in the chase, and the
AND MONOGRAPHS
176
M E X O M I N I CULTURE
deer themselves submitted, giving their consent to be captured that the Indians need not starve. Because of its small size, Ma"nabns doubted the efficacy of this charm, but the manitous took him to an island in the middle of the ocean, and there, after he had performed the rites, all the animals in the world appeared before him, and he was convinced.
In addition to these principal charms, there are all manner of personal hunting- fetishes of lesser value, either obtained in dreams by their owners or bought of suc- cessful hunters and wizards. There are even times when it is permissible to use war-bundles, or perhaps only certain ones among them, to take game. None of these things is of such tribal importance as are the two great hunting-bundles, which, while privately owned, are employed for public benefit, and are regarded as national stand- bys in days of starvation.
Many are the superstitions and beliefs of the Menomini regarding the taking of game. In their philosophy, if not in prac- tice, animals must not be slain wantonly.
INDIAN NOTES
SUPERSTITIONS
177
Each species of wild game is supposed to have its chief or ruler, resident under- ground, and no doubt connected, if not identical with, the animal manitous con- trolling the four tiers of the Underworld. It is further believed that in the beginning all slain creatures came to life and returned to their former haunts, ready to be slaugh- tered again, on the fourth day. However, when the Culture-Hero refused to let the Powers Beneath revive his younger brother whom they had slain, this resurrrection ceased. Nevertheless, it is believed that only by propitiating game animals and then- leaders will beasts be allowed to fall a prey to the weapons and the traps of the hunter.
The bear is the recipient of special rever- ence and is not killed without a ceremony and apology, a custom widespread among the Central and Northern Algonkians.10 Bones of the bear are scrupulously collected that they may not become food for dogs, and are deposited in running water. The skull is hung in a tree in a "clean place" in the woods. These animals are supposed to
AND MONOGRAPHS
178
MENOMINI CULTURE
reside in springs during winter, as well as in drier hibernating quarters.
The wolf was never deprived of life unless some hunter, having repeatedly missed fire, decided that his bow or his gun was at fault. He therefore slew a wolf, and, laying his weapon between the forefeet of the ani- mal, presented the carcass with tobacco, begging it, or rather its spirit, to cause his missiles to find their mark. In former years, it is said that an Indian who had use- lessly taken the life of any small animal was obliged to absolve himself by offering to- bacco and prayer, lest ill luck befall him.
It is believed that in the spring the deer face the south, and that the wind from that quarter blows away their gray winter coats and gives in exchange the red fur of summer. In the fall, they feed facing north, and the process is reversed. In the beginning the deer desired to eat man, but was rendered harmless by virtue of an edict of the assem- bled gods, who rendered it subordinate to men and to wolves. The deer is regarded as the most useful of all animals; its flesh is food, its skin is valuable for clothing, its
INDIAN NOTES
SUPERSTITIONS
179
hair for ornaments or quilting, its bones for tools, its antlers for arrowpoints and glue, its hoofs and dew-claws for glue and orna- ments, and its sinew for thread.
Lone muskrats, outlawed by their tribe, are supposed to grow great in size and feroc- ity, even attacking men. A muskrat se- cured the mud of which the Great Dawn reconstructed the earth during the flood. The muskrats are admirers of the tribe of beavers, whom they imitate in the con- struction of their lodges, but not very suc- cessfully. Muskrats are excellent food, but are generally considered fit only for old people.
Dogs are eaten on ceremonial occasions, but not even then with relish. To spare the feelings of the feasters, so it is said, the meat is referred to as "white raccoon." Dogs could once speak, but were indiscreet and so lost the privilege.
Garter-snakes are said to change into chipmunks, and vice versa. The small painted turtle, scratching his gaily red- blotched sides, causes sparks to fly off, and thus sets the prairies on fire. The snapping
AND MONOGRAPHS
|
180 |
ME NO MINI CULTURE |
|
turtle, highly valued for food, especially for |
|
|
sacred feasts, is called by a number of cere- |
|
|
monial names, such as Mi'shikao, which I |
|
|
suspect is literally "Hairy (Mossy) One," |
|
|
and Ukema'uwinini, "Chief Man." |
|
|
Another myth recounts that the catfish, |
|
|
little and insignificant as it now appears, |
|
|
on one occasion slew a huge moose. His |
|
|
head is flattened because a moose once |
|
|
kicked him there. There is a semi-human |
|
|
sturgeon who is looked upon as a "strong |
|
|
power," and has been known to travel on |
|
|
land. These, and a host of other little |
|
|
superstitions concerning the animal king- |
|
|
dom, are current among the Indians. |
|
|
CUSTOMS OF THE CHASE |
|
|
THE FEAST OF THE FIRST GAME |
|
|
The first animal, whether furred or feath- |
|
|
ered, that was slain by a male child, was |
|
|
made the object of much congratulation by |
|
|
his parents, who immediately had it cooked, |
|
|
no matter how worthless it might be, and |
|
|
served in an informal feast or celebration |
|
|
called the Oskina'nitawin, or "Youth's |
|
|
Dance," to which even the prominent men |
|
|
INDIAN NOTES |
|
DIVISION OF GAME |
181 |
|
of the camp were invited, and of which they |
|
|
pretended to partake with great solemnity. |
|
|
This was done by the way of encouraging |
|
|
the youthful Ximrod to slay game, and thus |
|
|
become "a good provider" among his |
|
|
people. |
|
|
THE DIVISION OF GAME |
|
|
Among the Menomini a man's father-in- |
|
|
law has a peculiar right to a share in any |
|
|
bear which his son-in-law may kill. .It is |
|
|
his duty to skin the animal, and he is en- |
|
|
titled to keep the hide, one side, the head, |
|
|
and the neck. This rule does not apply to |
|
|
other game. If any person chances on a |
|
|
hunter who has just killed a deer, the |
|
|
slayer is forced by custom to give him the |
|
|
hide and a portion of the meat, especially if |
|
|
the newcomer is an old man. It then falls |
|
|
on the recipient to skin and cut up the deer. |
|
|
The slayer is entitled to receive the head, |
|
|
shoulders, brisket, lungs, heart, and back. |
|
|
The custom of surrendering part of the kill |
|
|
to a new arrival is called a'poko', and the |
|
|
act of giving it was accompanied by the |
|
|
phrase, " N'da'bokinttn" "I give it to you," |
|
|
AND MONOGRAPHS |
|
182 |
MENOMINI CULTURE |
|
with the gesture of flinging out the open |
|
|
right-hand. I have seen a man surrender |
|
|
the entire carcass of a small mammal, such |
|
|
as a squirrel, to a stranger who, having |
|
|
heard the shot, ran to the spot in hope of |
|
|
surprising the hunter. I have also seen a |
|
|
man. thus caught, "buy off" the newcomer |
|
|
by means of some small gift. |
|
|
DEER HUNTING |
|
|
Deer were driven to slaughter in the fol- |
|
|
lowing manner: Trees were chopped and |
|
|
allowed to fall partly over, with limbs on |
|
|
the |