The Project Gutenberg eBook of The ritual and significance of the
Winnebago medicine dance, by Paul Radin
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you
will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
using this eBook.
Title: The ritual and significance of the Winnebago medicine dance
Author: Paul Radin
Release Date: April 22, 2023 [eBook #70615]
Language: English
Produced by: Robert Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images
generously made available by The Internet Archive)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RITUAL AND SIGNIFICANCE
OF THE WINNEBAGO MEDICINE DANCE ***
THE RITUAL AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE WINNEBAGO
MEDICINE DANCE
BY PAUL RADIN
DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
IN THE FACULTY OF PHILOSOPHY,
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY.
Reprinted from THE JOURNAL OF AMERICAN FOLK-LORE, Vol. XXIV, No. XCII,
April–June, 1911
TO THE MEMORY OF
EVELYN R. BRESLER
[Reprinted from THE JOURNAL OF AMERICAN FOLK-LORE, Vol. XXIV., No.
XCII., April–June, 1911.]
THE RITUAL AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE WINNEBAGO MEDICINE DANCE
BY PAUL RADIN
CONTENTS
PAGE
A. DESCRIPTION OF THE RITUAL OF THE WINNEBAGO MEDICINE DANCE 149
I. Organization of the Bands 150
II. Prescribed Duties of the Bands 151
III. Division of the Ceremony 153
IV. Types of Component Elements of the Ceremony 154
1. Types of Speeches 154
2. Types of Songs 156
3. Types of Action 156
4. Types of Ritual 156
V. Ceremony as a Whole 161
B. DESCRIPTION OF THE OJIBWA MIDE′WIWIN 165
C. DESCRIPTION OF THE MENOMINEE MIDE′WIWIN 167
D. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RITUAL 168
I. The Common Elements 168
II. The Interpretation of the Common Elements—Schurtz’s Theory 169
III. The Shooting Ritual 175
IV. The Initiation Ritual 179
V. The General Ceremony 186
VI. The Complete Ceremonial Complexes 188
VII. Résumé and Conclusion 198
A. DESCRIPTION OF THE RITUAL OF THE WINNEBAGO MEDICINE
DANCE[1]
The Medicine Dance is a society, admission into which is gained by
purchase. The Winnebago suppose it to be a repetition of a ceremony
originally instituted by the Rabbit, when he initiated the first man
into its secrets. The society consists of five bands, which, during the
ceremony, are known respectively as the Ancestor-Host’s, the East,
North, West, and South Bands. These five bands are also known by the
names of their leaders. Any band may act as host, and the position of
the others in the lodge is dependent on the order in which they are
invited by the band acting as host. It thus follows that each band must
know the entire ceremony of the society.
I. ORGANIZATION OF THE BANDS.—For purposes of description it will
be best to divide each band into three parts,—the leader, his two
assistants, and the rest of the band. Leadership depends upon
a thorough knowledge of the ceremony and its complete esoteric
significance, which is in the possession of only one individual in each
band. This knowledge can be obtained solely by purchase and religious
qualifications. These religious qualifications, to which might be added
moral as well, play little part at the present day, but there can be no
doubt that they were essential in the past. The leader likewise often
possessed other characteristics, such as those of warrior and shaman,
but they were not essential for his position.
The two assistants were generally men who had purchased sufficient
information and privileges to entitle them to help the leader in
certain details of the ceremony. The drummers, rattle-holders, dancers,
etc., were always recruited from their ranks. Eventually they became
the leaders. Those who were neither leaders nor assistants possessed
a knowledge varying from that of elementary information, required for
admission, to such as would entitle them to the position of assistant.
There is a priority of position in the lodge depending on priority of
invitation. The band invited first, occupies the east position; that
invited second, the north; that invited third, the west; and that
invited fourth, the south. The east is the position of highest honor;
the south, that of the lowest. Between the bands, there exists an order
of invitation based on tradition, the exact nature of which is unknown.
According to one informant, if one band invited another, the latter in
turn would be obliged to give it the position of honor; but as there
are five bands, this can apply only to special cases. Whatever may be
the order, it is certain that each band has ample occasion to occupy
all five positions.
There are two ways in which a man can join the Medicine Dance. He
may simply apply for admission to any of the five leaders, or he may
take the place of a deceased relative. In the former case, if his
payment is satisfactory, and he has the other qualifications, he is
accepted. In the other case, he or his relatives decide to have him
take the place of a deceased relative. This latter form of candidacy
is by far the commoner. At the present day, initiation requires the
payment of about three hundred or four hundred dollars, in the form of
goods and tobacco. Of this, a portion is given to the leader of the
Ancestor-Host’s Band during the Four Nights’ Preparation, and the rest
to the leaders of the other four bands during the ceremony proper.
Exactly how much information an individual obtains on entering, cannot
be determined. This would depend on the amount of the payment. The
minimum of knowledge would be an acquaintance with the bare externals
of the ceremony, its general significance, and such knowledge of the
legendary origin of the Lodge as a single recital could give. The new
member is not initiated into the symbolism of the ritualistic myths,
and consequently a large portion of the same must be unintelligible
to him. What he obtains is practically only the right to hold the
otter-skin bag and to use it in a certain way. He cannot take part in
any of the forms of dancing or singing, nor can he even shoot at will.
He very rarely remains in this condition long, but takes the first
opportunity to purchase additional knowledge and privileges.
There are three kinds of members,—mature men, women, and children. The
privileges of women differ from those of the men, in that the women do
not have to partake of the sweat-bath, may never become assistants, and
are privileged to dance in a certain way. In other respects they have
equal privileges with men. In practice, there are certain privileges
that women never have, but this is due to the fact that either they do
not care or they are not in a position to buy them. Children belong to
a quite different category. Although they possess an otter-skin, they
have not even the power of making it effective, and, in order to do so,
must have it guided by some older member. There does not seem to be any
evidence indicating that women were ever excluded from membership.
II. PRESCRIBED DUTIES OF THE BANDS.—The duties of the
host, who is known as x’okera,[2] and whose band is called
Minañk‘ara-k‘oñañgire′ra,[3] are as follows:
1. To rehearse the songs and rituals with his band four nights
previous to the ceremony proper. At this rehearsal the candidate
(haⁿbirok‘aragu′-inera, literally “the one for whom they seek life”) is
always present, and instructed in the ceremony.
2. To send out invitation-sticks and tobacco to the leaders of the
other four bands. The messengers are always his sisters’ sons.
3. To begin the Four Nights’ Ceremony preceding the ceremony proper.
4. To receive the leaders and assistants of the other four bands before
the sweat-lodge ritual, and to begin the same.
5. To begin the ceremony proper.
6. To take part in the following portion of the ceremony proper.
(_a_) To welcome the four bands.
(_b_) To lead the candidate to the secret brush and instruct him in
certain precepts.
(_c_) To act as preceptor of the candidate before he is shot with the
sacred shell.
(_d_) To turn the candidate over to the charge of the leaders of the
East and North Bands.
(_e_) To relate certain of the myths.
(_f_) To deliver certain speeches and to perform certain actions that
constitute the basic ritual of the ceremony proper. This will be
discussed later.
The East Band is known as Tconi mina′ñgera (Those-who-sit-first),
Hanⁿp‘ogu homina′ñgere (Where-the-day-comes-from), Wiayephuregi
(Where-the-sun-rises). All these terms are used frequently. The duties
of the leader are—
1. To assist the ancestor-host in passing upon the eligibility of a
candidate.
2. To take part in the following portions of the ceremony proper.
(_a_) Accompanied by his two assistants, to take part in the brush
ritual.
(_b_) To take charge of the candidate after he has been handed over to
him by the ancestor-host.
(_c_) To shoot the sacred shell into the candidate’s body.
(_d_) To relate certain of the myths.
(_e_) To perform the basic ritual.
The North Band is known as Siniwagu mina′ñgera
(Where-the-cold-comes-from). The leader has the same duties as those of
the East leader. The myths recited are of course different.
The West Band is known as Wioi′rê mina′ñgera (Where-the-sun-goes-down).
The leader has the duty of reciting certain myths and performing the
basic ritual.
The South Band is known as Nañgŭojedjaⁿ minañgera
(He-who-sits-at-the-end-of-the-road) or Horotcû′ñdjeregi
(Where-the-sun-straightens). The duties of the leader are the same as
those of the leader of the West Band, except that the myths he recites
are different.
The distribution of the gifts to the different bands is the following:
The leader of the East Band receives one-half of the number of
blankets, the upper half of the new suit worn by the candidate, and
one-quarter of the food.
The leader of the North Band receives one-half of the blankets, the
lower half of the suit, the moccasins, and one-quarter of the food.
The leaders of the West and South Bands receive each three yards and a
half of calico and a fourth of the food.
The ancestor-host receives various gifts of food and tobacco from the
leaders of the other bands. He receives his payment from the candidate
before the ceremony proper.
The candidate is present at the Four Nights’ Ceremony of the
ancestor-host’s band preliminary to the ceremony proper. At the latter
ceremony he sits to the right of the ancestor-host’s band. He is not
dressed in his new suit until after the secret ceremonies in the brush.
There are facial decorations distinctive of the different bands. The
host’s band and the candidate paint a blue circle on each cheek, but
its significance is unknown to me.
The regalia used are simple and few. They consist of eagle, hawk,
squirrel, weasel, beaver, and otter skin bags, a drum, gourd rattles,
and invitation-sticks. The otter-skin bags are always beaded and
contain the sacred shell and various medicines. A few red feathers are
always inserted in the mouth of the otter-skin bag. The gourds contain
buck-shot at the present day. They are painted with blue finger-marks.
III. DIVISION OF THE CEREMONY.—The Medicine Dance is divided into five
well-marked parts. The first part (I) consists of the Two Nights’
Preparation preceding the sending-out of the invitation-sticks. This
takes place at the home of the ancestor-host (x’okera), in the presence
of the members of his band and the candidate. The second part (II)
consists of the Four Nights’ Preparation preceding the sweat-lodge
ritual. Each band has its own Four Nights’ Preparation, although that
of the ancestor-host begins before the others. The third part (III)
consists of the rites held in a sweat-lodge specially constructed
for this purpose near the medicine-lodge, on the morning after the
Four Nights’ Preparation. The participants are the ancestor-host; the
leader of the East, North, West, and South Bands, each with his two
assistants; and the candidate. The fourth part (IV) consists of the
ceremony proper, which in turn must be divided into the night ceremony
(_a_) and the day ceremony (_b_). The fifth part (V) consists of the
rites held in the brush, at which the secrets of the society are
imparted to the candidate. Special guards are placed on all sides of
the brush to prevent the intrusion of outsiders. The participants are,
beside the candidate, the ancestor-host, the leaders of the East and
North Bands, each with his two assistants, and all other individuals
who have bought the privilege of attending. These ceremonies take place
at the dawn preceding the day ceremony.
Two feasts and one intermission interrupt the main ceremony. The
feasts always take place at the end of the ritual of the East Band;
i. e., generally at noon and at midnight. The intermission generally
lasts from the dawn preceding the day ceremony until 7 or 8 A. M. The
intermission begins as soon as the drum and gourds have been returned
to the ancestor-host, and ends as soon as the people return from the
brush ritual.
The first and second parts are concerned entirely with a recital
of certain ritualistic myths, and a rehearsal of the songs and the
specific ritual of each band, used during the remaining parts.
IV. TYPES OF COMPONENT ELEMENTS OF THE CEREMONY.—For purposes of
greater clarity, the speeches, songs, and types of action, will
be carefully differentiated, and referred to by some designation
characterizing their essential traits. These speeches, songs, and types
of action, together form complexes which can be regarded as units, and
I will therefore also refer to these by some designation characteristic
of their function.
1. _TYPES OF SPEECHES._ (1) _Salutations._—No formal salutation is
used during Parts I and II, the individuals being addressed by their
relationship terms. In Parts III, IV, and V the salutations are
invariably the same. The ancestor-host and his band are addressed as
follows: “The-one-occupying-the-seat-of-a-relative (deceased) (some
relationship terms) -and-you-who-sit-with-him, I salute you!” The East
is addressed, “You-who-represent-the-place-where-the-sun-rises;” the
North, “You-who-represent-the-place-where-the-cold-comes-from;” the
West, “You-who-represent-the-place-where-the-sun-sets;” and the South,
“You-who-represent-the-place-where-the-sun-straightens” or (preferably)
“You-who-represent-the-end-of-the-road.”
The appellations of the bands, as before stated, refer to the creation
myth and the four guardian spirits whom the Rabbit visited for the
purpose of inquiring into the necessity and meaning of death. He was
compelled to travel around the earth, which is conceived of as an
island, and received no answer until he came to the spirit at the end
of the road. In the dramatic performance of the medicine dance the
lodge typifies the earth, and the four bands and their leaders typify
the four spirits. The ancestor-host’s band typifies the ancestor of
the Winnebago, their leader being known as x’okera (literally “root,”
metaphorically “ancestor”).
(2) _Speeches._—Under this head will be treated (_a_) speeches of
welcome; (_b_) speeches of acceptation; (_c_) speeches of presentation;
(_d_) speeches explanatory of the significance of the ritual; and (_e_)
speeches of admonition, addressed exclusively to the candidate. This
does not exhaust all the speeches. There are many others, generally
short, that can hardly be classified. It must be understood that
in their content, as well as in the order of their succession, the
speeches must follow a traditionally determined sequence. In practice
this is certainly not always true, but to the mind of the Winnebago
these speeches appear as old as the ceremony. It is their firm belief
that any departure from the accepted norm will interfere with the
efficacy of the ceremony.
(_a_) Speeches of Welcome.—When the leader of the East Band enters
after the ancestor-host has begun the main ceremony (IV, _b_), he
addresses him as follows: “It was good of you that you condescended to
invite me to this dance. I am a poor pitiable man, and you believed me
to be a medicine-man. But I know that you will show me the true manner
of living, which I thought I possessed, but which I did not.” In this
strain he continues, weaving into his speech references to the ritual
connected with his band, and giving words of thanks for the beautiful
weather (should it be a clear day). In concluding, he thanks all again,
and informs them that he will sing a song. With slight alterations, the
leaders of the other bands address the ancestor-host similarly. The
ancestor-host’s answer of welcome is as follows: “Whatever I desired,
you have done for me. All night have you stayed with me, and by your
presence helped me in the proper performance of this ceremony. I am
ready with a dancing-song; and when I have finished it, and sit down, I
shall pass unto you tobacco and the other means of blessing (the gourds
and the drum). You all, who are present, do I greet.”
(_b_) Speeches of Acceptation.—After the ancestor-host has been
presented with food, he thanks the donors as follows: “You have had
pity on me. You have been good to me, and have given me to the full
whatever I might have desired. You have made my heart full of the
blessing of thankfulness. In return I give you a blessing. Here is
some food for you. It is not anything special, nor is it as much as it
ought to be, and I know you will remain hungry. It was prepared for the
spirits of the four quarters (whom you represent), but it is lacking in
all those qualities which would have made it acceptable to them. Such
as it is, however, may its presentation be a means of blessing to you!”
(_c_) Speech of Presentation.—East presents the food to the
ancestor-host with the following words: “I have not very much to tell
you, because I am too poor, but our ancestors told us to give food to
you. This little that I give you is all that I can do, being a person
of so little importance.”
(_d_) Explanatory Speeches.—These are of so specific a nature that no
single one can be considered typical.
(_e_) Speeches of Admonition.—“Nephew, now I shall tell you the path
you must walk, the life you must lead. This is the life the Rabbit
obtained for us. This is the only kind of life, this that our ancestors
followed. Listen to me. If you will always help yourself, then you will
attain to the right life. Never do anything wrong. Never steal, never
tell an untruth, and never fight. If you meet a woman on the left side
of the road, turn to the right. Never accost her, nor speak familiarly
with a person whom you are not permitted thus to address. If you do all
these things, then you will be acting correctly. This is what I desire
of you.”
2. _TYPES OF SONGS._—The songs may be divided into two groups: (1)
those that are sung in connection with myths and after the speeches
of a more general nature, and (2) those that are sung to accompany
definite and specific actions. These latter can therefore be most
conveniently divided into (_a_) minor dance songs, (_b_) major dance
songs, (_c_) initial songs, (_d_) terminal songs, (_e_) loading
songs, and (_f_) shooting songs. The medicine-men distinguish only
between four kinds of songs,—major and minor dance songs, terminal and
shooting songs. Each has a different rhythm and music. For purposes of
description, however, the above division is more convenient.
3. _TYPES OF ACTION._ (1) _Blessing._—Either hand is held outstretched,
palm downward, and moved horizontally through the air. It is always
used when entering and leaving the lodge, and on any occasion where an
individual has to pass from one part of the lodge to another. It is
always rendered as “blessing” by the Indians; and they particularly
insisted upon the fact that the “blessing” was not conveyed by any
words used in connection with the action, but by the action itself.
Each person who is thus passed answered with a long-drawn-out “ho-o-o,”
and with an obeisance of the head.
A modification of the above is the naⁿsura niñkuruhintce (or “blessing
of the head”), which consists of a simple laying of the hand upon the
head; both the giver and recipient keeping their eyes fixed on the
ground, and the recipient slightly bending his head. A few mumbled
words accompany this action.
(2) _Direction of Walking in the Lodge._—One must always pass contrary
to the hands of the clock. A person in the East Band must make the
entire circuit of the lodge in order to pass out. In only exceptional
cases can this rule of passing be broken; and that is when an old and
specially privileged member crosses from his seat to that directly
opposite him, during the shooting ceremony. I was given to understand
that this was an extremely expensive privilege.
4. _TYPES OF RITUAL._—Parts III, IV, and V can be so analyzed that they
fall into a fairly well-defined number of complexes, consisting of
speeches, songs, and movements. These are nine in number. Artificial
distinctions have been avoided in this division, as far as possible.
The complexes are (1) entrance ritual; (2) exit ritual; (3) fire
ritual; (4) presentation-of-food ritual; (5) shooting ritual; (6)
initiation ritual; (7) sweat-lodge ritual; (8) smoking ritual; (9)
basic ritual.
Of these, (3), (5), (7), (8), and (9) are found in Part III; all,
except (7) and (6), in Part IV (_a_); and all except (7) in Part IV
(_b_); (5) does not actually occur in Part III, but is described in
detail in the myth related there. The order in which we will discuss
these ceremonial complexes is not the order in which they follow one
another in the ritual. Some of them are likewise interwoven with
one another. Both these factors will, however, be considered in the
description of the entire ritual, following the description of each
ceremonial complex.
(1) _Entrance Ritual._—The band enters the tent, makes one complete
circuit, and stops. The leader now delivers a short speech, followed
by a song. They then continue to the west end, where another speech is
delivered and another song sung. After this, they continue again, and
stop at the east end, where the leader talks and sings. Now all sit
down. After a short pause, the leader again rises, and, walking over to
the ancestor-host, talks to him, and gives him some tobacco. He then
returns to his seat. Each band entering repeats the same ritual. This
applies, however, only to Part IV (_a_) and (_b_).
(2) _Exit Ritual_ (Part IV, _a_ and _b_).—The East leader rises and
speaks, followed by North, West, and South. They then speak again, and,
singing, walk towards the entrance in such a way that the South, North,
and West Bands make complete circuits of the lodge, thus enabling the
East Band to precede them. Near the entrance all stop singing, and
say “wahi-hi-hi” four times, and pass out. This exit ceremony differs
slightly in the two divisions of IV.
(3) _Fire Ritual_ (Part III).—The ancestor-host rises and goes to the
leaders of the four other bands individually; and after he has blessed
them, they respond; and all rise, make four circuits of the lodge, and
then sit down again. Now the leader of the East Band rises, holding in
his hands the invitation-sticks and some tobacco, delivers a speech,
and, going to the fireplace, kindles a new fire.
(8) _Smoking Ritual._—The leader of the East Band pours tobacco into
the fire, first at the east, and then at the north, west, and south
corners. Then he lights his pipe, puffs first towards the east, then
towards the north, west, and south. That over, he passes his pipe to
the leader of the North Band, who takes a few whiffs, and in turn
passes it around to the next member of the lodge. When the pipe has
made the complete circuit, it is placed in front of the fireplace. In
the mean time the ancestor-host has returned to his seat, and after
a short pause, rises, speaks, and sings again. This smoking ceremony
occurs after each entrance ceremony of IV (_a_) and (_b_), and before
both feasts of IV (_a_) and (_b_).
(4) _Presentation-of-Food Ritual_ (Part IV, _a_ and _b_).—The leader of
the East Band rises, and brings meat, berries, wild potatoes, etc., to
the ancestor-host, delivering a minor speech at the same time. Each of
the other leaders repeats the same ceremony. When all have finished,
the ancestor-host rises and thanks them.
(5) _General Shooting Ritual_ (Part IV, _a_ and _b_).—The leaders of
the East, North, West, and South Bands, holding their otter-skins in
their hands, rise, and, taking three men with them, make a complete
circuit of the lodge. They first speak in undertones to these three
men, giving them directions. At each end the leader of the East
Band speaks, and then, singing, walks toward the west end, saying
“yoho-o-oya-a” three times, and ending with a long-drawn-out “yo-ho.”
At the west end both he and the leader of the South Band speak. Then
chanting “yo-ho” again, they all walk towards the east end. Here the
leader of the East Band speaks twice. Now all place their otter-skins
on the ground in front of them. East then speaks again. At the
conclusion of his speech, all kneel in front of the otter-skins and
cough, at which the sacred shell drops from their mouths upon the
otter-skins. They thereupon pick it up, and holding the shell in one
hand, and the otter-skin in the other, make a circuit of the lodge
four times, increasing their speed with each circuit, and singing.
All this time the shell is held in full view of the spectators, on
the outstretched palm of their right hand. As they near the east end
of the lodge, toward the end of the fourth circuit, standing in front
of the Ancestor-Host’s Band, they supposedly swallow the shell, and
fall down instantaneously, head foremost, as if dead. Finally they
come to, and, coughing the shell up, they put it into their otter-skin
bag, and, making the circuit of the tent, shoot four members of the
Ancestor-Host’s Band, four of the East, four of the North, two of the
West, and two of the South Band. Each person, as he is shot, falls
prostrate on the ground, but, recovering after a few moments, joins
those making the circuit of the tent. Each leader now takes his drum
and gourds to the fireplace. Then the general shooting commences. Every
person possessing the right, shoots one individual, until all the
members have been shot. As each person is shot, he falls to the ground,
feigns unconsciousness, and then slowly recovers. The slowness or speed
of his recovery depends exclusively upon the privileges he possesses,
and the number of years he has belonged to the society. As soon as the
person shot recovers, he falls in line immediately after the last one
shot. While all are thus walking around, the half-dozen people at the
fireplace sing shooting-songs to the accompaniment of drum and gourds.
The amount of noise at this point is quite considerable.
(6) _Initiation Ritual_ (Part IV, _b_).—All the members of the
Ancestor-Host’s Band, and the candidate, make one circuit of the lodge,
taking their otter-skins along with them. As they pass around, they
gently touch the heads of the members with the mouth of the otter-skin,
saying, “yoho′-o-o,” to which the members respond with “ho-o-o.” After
the circuit, all return to their seats with the exception of the
candidate, who remains at the east end, in front of the fireplace.
After a pause, the ancestor-host joins him again, and delivers a speech
of the admonition type. The candidate first faces the south, and then
the north. During his speech, the ancestor-host touches him on his head
and on his chest, and makes him face first south, and then north. When
the speech is over, the ancestor-host sings, and takes the candidate to
the west end of the tent.
The tent is now prepared for the initiation proper. Two long strips of
calico are stretched from the west to the east end of the lodge. They
are about a foot and a half wide, and are separated from each other
by the fireplace. At the west end a much shorter strip of the same
material is stretched along the width of the lodge, across the two long
strips. Upon this the candidate is placed. When these preparations are
completed, the ancestor-host rises, and, going to each of the four
leaders, speaks to them in an undertone. He then returns to his seat.
The leaders of the East and North Bands now rise and make the complete
circuit of the lodge. The former now speaks, then the latter. He, in
turn, is followed by the former, who speaks twice. Then the leader of
the North Band delivers another speech, and, together with his partner,
walks to the west end of the lodge, where the candidate is kneeling.
The two leaders here speak again. Both now take their sacred shells,
swallow them, and walk to the east end. Here they speak again. Now
they hold their otter-skins in readiness for the shooting, but first
jerk them forward twice towards the four cardinal points, saying
“dje-ha-hi, dje-ha-hi,” and concluding with “e-hohoho.” Standing upon
the two long calico strips in a slightly bent position, and holding
their otter-skins tightly in their hands, both run rapidly toward the
reclining form of the candidate, making loud, threatening sounds in
a quavering voice, and strike his body twice with the mouth of the
otter-skin, ejaculating, as they do this, two short sounds, as of an
animal who has succeeded in capturing his prey. The candidate falls
prostrate to the ground instantaneously. He is immediately covered with
a blanket, upon which are placed the otter-skins of the two leaders.
A number of people specially privileged now gather around the covered
figure, dance, sing, and shout to the accompaniment of the shouts of
the other members of the society, all of whom seem to be in a frenzy of
excitement. When the noise has somewhat abated, the blanket is removed,
and the figure of the candidate is shown, still apparently unconscious.
He comes to slowly, but finally succeeds in raising himself and sitting
up. He then coughs violently, and the shell, which has apparently been
shot into his body, falls out of his mouth. After this, his recovery
is rapid. He is then undressed; and all the finery, as well as the new
buckskin suit, moccasins, etc., are distributed to those to whom it is
customary to give them. He now returns to his seat to the right of the
Ancestor-Host’s Band, where some female relative, generally his mother,
dresses him in an ordinary suit.
(7) _Sweat-Lodge Ritual_ (Part III).—The East leader rises, and with
his two assistants makes the circuit of the sweat-lodge, during which
time the North, West, and South leaders, each with his two assistants,
join him. At the east end the leader makes four steps with his right
foot, each time saying “wahi-hi-hi.” He then makes the circuit of the
lodge four times. After the third circuit, he goes directly to the
heating-stone, “in defiance of the rule,” as he himself says, but with
the hope that through this defiance he will gain additional strength.
After he has made the fourth circuit, he seizes the two entrance-lodge
poles, and, shaking them gently, shouts “e-ho-ho-ho.” All now sit down.
Now the ancestor-host takes four sticks and smears them with a special
kind of greenish clay, and hands them to the leader of the East Band.
The latter seizes them and holds them tightly with both hands. By this
action he is supposed to obtain strength. The sticks are then passed
in rotation to the leaders of the North, West, and South Bands, all of
whom repeat the same ceremony.
(9) _Basic Ritual_ (Part IV, _a_ and _b_).—This ritual is that upon
which the ritual of the ceremony proper (Part IV, _a_ and _b_) is
built. In a certain sense it may be justifiable to consider all the
above ritualistic complexes, with the exception of the entrance and
exit rituals, as parts of this basic ritual. The important religious
function of the Medicine Dance is the “passing of the blessing,”
consisting of speeches, songs, and the blessings which each individual
passes from one band to the other for the greater benefit of both the
host and his guests. These blessings are symbolized by the drum, the
gourds, the songs, the speeches, and the specific actions in which each
band participates. The ceremony begins when the ancestor-host delivers
his first speech, and ends when drum and gourds are returned to him.
All that takes place between the ancestor-host’s first speech, up to
the time that the drum and gourds are placed before the members of the
East Band, constitutes the unit that I have called the “basic ritual.”
Into it are thrust, as intrusive elements, other rituals; so that it is
at times extremely difficult to discern the basic ritual itself. But
it is there, and remains intact; for as soon as an intrusive ritual is
finished, the thread of the basic ritual is taken up, and continued to
the end. Such a ritual as the general shooting or initiation, or such
myths as the origin myth, require hours; and yet as soon as they are
over, the basic ceremony is continued from the point where it had been
interrupted.
The East leader rises and speaks, then sits down, and together with
the other members of his band, sings a song (initial song). When this
song is finished, he rises and speaks again, and then sits down and
commences a song known as the “minor dancing-song.” While he and a
few others are singing, drumming, and using the gourd rattles, other
members of his band, as well as members of the other bands, who care
to, and who have bought the privilege, come to his seat and join in
the dancing. When this is over, he and a few others either from his
own or from some other band, who have bought the privilege, go to the
fireplace, where the leader delivers a speech and begins the major
dancing-songs, in which the privileged members participate. When this
is over, the drum is tied to one of the members thus privileged,
generally the one who has been drumming, and the circuit of the lodge
is twice made, the leader and his two assistants at the head, followed
by the other members of his band. Two stops are made at the west, and
two at the east, end of the lodge, where songs known as “completion
songs” are sung. Then the lodge circuit is made four times, all
chanting “wahi-hi-hi,” slowly at first, but then faster, the speed of
the walking corresponding to that of the chanting. Then, with a final
strong “e-ho-ho,” drum and gourds are deposited in front of the next
band. All now return to their seats, where, before sitting down, the
leader delivers a short speech.
This basic ritual is repeated by each band in the manner described. As
it is so often broken up by the intrusion of other rituals, it will be
best to divide it into four parts. These parts are never broken up.
Whenever intrusive elements occur, they either precede or follow.
The first part consists of all that takes place between the first
speech of the leader and the completion of the initial song. The speech
referred to is the one that follows the smoking ritual, which may, on
the whole, be reckoned as belonging to the introductory ritual, such as
the entrance ritual. The second part consists of all that transpires
between the second speech and the completion of the minor dancing-song.
The third part consists of all that transpires between the speech at
the fireplace and the completion of the major dancing-songs. The fourth
part consists of all that transpires between the completion of the
major dancing-songs, and the last speech the leader makes after he has
passed the drum and gourds to the next band.
The most bewildering intrusion is that which follows the second part.
Before the leader and his assistants go to the fireplace, the elaborate
general shooting ritual takes place. After the specially designated men
of each band have been shot, those specially privileged proceed to the
fireplace. Here they sing the shooting-songs until the shooting ritual
is over. The first set of drummers and gourd-rattle holders are often
relieved by a second set. It is only when the shooting-songs have been
completed, that the leader and his assistants proceed to the fireplace
to begin the third part of the basic ritual.
V. CEREMONY AS A WHOLE.—As stated before, there are certain speeches
and types of action that cannot be fitted into the above description.
This is especially true of myths; and these, with the exception of the
content of the myth, will now be considered in connection with the
description of the entire ritual as related to me by Blowsnake, and
based on the above divisions. The ceremony begins with an account of
the manner in which Blowsnake was induced to join the society. Upon
his acceptance, and payment of the required amount of material, the
ceremony began.
The first two nights consisted of an informal salutation, two
explanatory speeches and four myths, the latter in no way connected
with any part of the Medicine Dance. The last three myths deal with the
legendary account of the origin of the Winnebago Medicine Dance, and
its dissemination among the tribe.
At sunset the leader of the band to which the candidate has applied for
admission, gathers together the members of his band, and all retire
to a little lodge near his home, in order to begin the Four Nights’
Preparation. It is only after the leader has finished the first song
that the other four bands who are holding corresponding preparations
are allowed to begin. What actually takes place during these four
nights is not positively known, but there is little doubt that they are
used as a general rehearsal of songs, speeches, and other elements of
the ceremony.[4] In all probability, the candidate who is present in
the lodge of his future ancestor-host is likewise instructed in as many
things as an uninitiated member is allowed to know. This instruction
consists in the teaching of certain myths and types of action.
On the morning after the last of the four nights, the candidate is
given some sacrificial tobacco, and told to go in search of a stone
for the sweat-bath. He selects a stone that he can carry on his back
easily. Before picking it up, he pours tobacco on it. As soon as the
stone is brought to the lodge of the host, it is heated. The candidate
is now despatched for some oak-branches, four pieces of oak-wood about
two feet and a half in length, and some grass. The grass is used for
improvised seats. The oak-wood is used for the four construction poles
of the sweat-lodge. They are placed in the east, north, west, and
south points respectively. It is not permitted to trim the tops of the
oak-wood. When all the bands have gathered near the medicine-lodge, and
retired to their improvised lodges, the ancestor-host and the candidate
go to the lodge of the East leader (that is, to the lodge of the band
first invited), and greet him by touching his head with their hand.
He answers with “ho-o-o.” The leader of the first band rises, and,
accompanied by his two assistants, goes to the sweat-lodge. The
ancestor-host goes to the lodges of the other bands and greets the
leaders in a similar manner. After the leader and assistants of the
band last invited have entered the sweat-lodge, the ancestor-host, the
candidate, and his assistants enter, and the ceremonies begin.
After the ceremonial salutation and an introductory speech, the
ancestor-host, as the leader of the band giving the Medicine Dance
may now be called, rises, and, taking his invitation-stick and some
tobacco, approaches the leader of each band, and, blessing him, thanks
him for coming, and assures him at the same time to how great a degree
his presence will contribute toward the success of the performance of
the ritual. He then returns to his seat. The leaders thank him in turn.
Now follow the fire and smoking rituals, which in turn are followed
by twelve speeches of a general and of an explanatory character. Then
comes the “strengthening” ritual; and immediately after come two
exceedingly long myths describing the initiation of the first man
into the secrets of the lodge, as well as the symbolic meaning of
the shooting ritual. All now undress and take a sweat-bath. Female
candidates are excluded. A number of short speeches follow, and the
whole concludes with the exit ritual.
The drum and gourds are used to accompany the song. The basic ritual
is perhaps present, to a certain extent. However, it was impossible to
witness the ritual, and for this reason the procedure seems somewhat
hazy to the writer.
When the ritual in the sweat-bath is over, there is a slight pause. The
candidate, the ancestor-host and his band, enter the medicine-lodge,
and, after taking their seats, sing a few songs. When the last song is
concluded, the other bands enter in the order of their invitation. Now
comes the entrance ritual followed by the smoking ritual. Thereupon
the ancestor-host rises and delivers the opening speech of the basic
ritual. The ancestor-host does not go through the entire basic ritual
at this time, because he is not permitted to begin the shooting ritual.
Soon after the beginning of the basic ritual by the ancestor-host,
generally after the second speech, gourds and drum are passed to the
leader of the East Band. This one rises and begins the basic ritual,
which he interrupts at the end of the second part, in order to begin
the general shooting ritual. When that is finished, he continues with
the third and fourth parts of the basic ritual. Then drum and gourds
are passed to the North Band. Its leader now in turn begins his basic
ritual, but stops after the second part, where the presentation-of-food
ritual and the smoking ritual intervene. It is now about midnight, and
a feast is partaken of. As soon as the feast is finished, and the lodge
has been cleared of food and eating-utensils, the leader of the North
Band continues with the third and fourth parts of the basic ritual. The
leaders of the West and South Bands perform the basic ritual without
any interruptions, except, of course, that of the general shooting
ritual between the second and third parts. The drum and gourds have now
reached the ancestor-host, who goes through the third and fourth parts
of the basic ritual. There is, however, some doubt as to whether this
is always done. Then follows the exit ritual, and all pass out to rest
for a few hours.
A short time preceding dawn, the candidate, the leaders of the East and
North Bands, and the ancestor-host, each with two assistants, and all
other members who are privileged to do so, leave the lodge and walk to
the brush, where the candidate is to be initiated into the mysteries
of the sacred shell and the shooting. Each band must have one or more
of its members present at this ritual.[5] When they are near the place
set aside for the secret ritual, the order of marching, which up to
this time had been of no consequence, changes into that of single file,
the leader of the East Band leading. When they have arrived at the
place, all stop. The East leader now informs those present that he is
going to make a road for the candidate, symbolical of the path of life,
which forms the basis of the sweat-bath and Medicine Dance. Singing,
he circles the spot four times. At the end of the fourth circuit he
stops, and all turn around and face east. The leader of the North Band
has also the right to go through this ritual, but he does not always do
it. Repeating the ceremony is in all probability connected with extra
expense. All now sit down, and the specific rites of the brush ritual
begin.
The ancestor-host rises, and, taking the candidate with him, goes
to the leader of the East Band and speaks to him. Then he and the
candidate return to their seats. The East leader now relates to the
candidate a portion of the story of the creation of the earth and of
the first man. The North leader then tells the story of the journey to
the land of the spirits, to the lodge of the earth-maker. When this is
finished, the two leaders teach the candidate how to go through the
actions incidental to the shooting, the swallowing of the shell, and
the recovery from its effects. When they think that he is sufficiently
adept in all these actions, they dress him in his new suit, put on a
new pair of moccasins, decorate him with finery, and return to the
medicine-lodge.
These rites generally last until about eight in the morning; so that
when those who have participated in the brush ritual are returning,
the other members of the Medicine Dance are also about ready to begin
the day ceremony, the principal one of the entire Medicine Dance. The
ancestor-host again precedes the other leaders in entering the lodge.
Then follows the entrance ritual. During this ritual the drum is struck
four times at stated intervals. The smoking ritual now follows. When
it is concluded, the ancestor-host rises to begin the basic ritual,
which is interrupted at the end of the second part. Gourds and drum
are passed to the East Band, whose basic ritual is also interrupted
at the end of the second part. Now follows, first the initiation of
the candidate into the Medicine Dance, and then the general shooting
ritual. When the East leader has concluded, drum and gourds are passed
to the North Band, whose basic ritual is not interrupted, as upon the
preceding day. At the conclusion of the basic ritual of the North Band,
the food-presentation ritual follows, then that of the smoking ritual,
and finally the feast. After the feast, the leader of the West Band
narrates the origin myth of the Medicine Dance, which is continued by
the leader of the South Band. The presents are then distributed. After
this, the basic ritual is continued by the leader of the West Band,
followed by that of the South Band, and finally drum and gourds are
passed to the ancestor-host. He either finishes the third and fourth
parts of the basic ritual, or takes drum and gourds to the fireplace.
The exit ritual now begins, and at about sunset the entire ceremony of
the Medicine Dance is over. On the whole, it must be said, that the
main difference between (_a_) and (_b_) of Part IV setting aside the
initiation, lies simply in the number of myths told and the greater
length of the speeches.
B. DESCRIPTION OF THE OJIBWA MIDEWIWIN
As I shall have occasion to refer frequently to the Midewiwin of the
Ojibwa and Menominee, a short summary of these two ceremonies will be
inserted here.
The Ojibwa Midewiwin is a society of shamans of both sexes. It is
graded into four degrees, special initiation being required for each
degree. The ritual of all the degrees seems to be the property of five
shamans,—the four so-called “mide-priests” and the preceptor. In the
lodge the preceptor occupies a position to the side of the candidate
and the mide-priests sitting near the western entrance.[6]
There are two methods of admission. A man may apply because in his
fasting some manito connected with the Midewiwin has appeared to him,
or he may take the place of an individual who has died while preparing
for initiation. As soon as the candidate’s application has been
accepted, a preceptor is selected, whose duty it is to instruct the new
pupil in the mide teachings, and explain to him the meaning and origin
of the regalia, the songs, and the origin of the Midewiwin itself, by
means of birch-bark records. The time required for this instruction
varies, depending upon the preceptor and the amount of payment. The
knowledge required for each degree is definitely determined, and is
imparted almost entirely during this preparatory instruction. When the
candidate has acquired the specified information, and the required
payments have been made, a four-nights’ preparation takes place, during
which he takes four sweat-baths. At dawn of the day of initiation he
repairs to the sweat-lodge, clad in his best clothes, to await the
arrival of his preceptor and the four officiating priests.
The initiation ceremonies which follow are the same for the second,
third, and fourth degrees in almost all details, except that those for
the fourth are more elaborate. The first degree is like the others in
its possession of a shooting ceremony and general speeches, but differs
in elaboration and symbolism of the ritual.
The shooting is performed by the four officiating mide; but it is
only the leader of these four who succeeds in rendering the candidate
unconscious. A candidate for the first degree is shot in the breast;
one for the second, in the joints; and one for the third and fourth,
in the joints and forehead. After he has been initiated, the candidate
tries his power on all the members present. Indiscriminate shooting, as
described among the Winnebago, only occurs at the initiation into the
fourth degree.
To the Ojibwa the Midewiwin is the dramatization of the struggle of
the bear-spirit with the evil spirit, bear, serpent, panther, etc. The
candidate impersonates the good bear-spirit, and some mide sometimes
take upon themselves the impersonation of the evil spirits.[7] In the
ritual of the fourth degree, representing the complete initiation, the
dramatization and its symbolistic interpretation are best shown. He who
succeeds becomes correspondingly powerful in his profession. Hunters,
warriors, and lovers have occasion to call upon him, and charms to
counteract the evil effects of an enemy’s work are sometimes sought.[8]
The Ojibwa interpretation of the Midewiwin is seen in all its details
in the birch-bark records.[9] A mide of the second degree can look into
futurity; can hear what is transpiring at a distance; can touch, for
good or for evil, friends and enemies at a distance, however remote;
and has the ability to traverse all space in the accomplishment of
his desires or duties.[10] A bad mide of this degree has the power of
assuming the form of any animal. In this guise he may destroy the life
of his victim immediately, and then resume his human form and appear
innocent of the crime. A “fourth-degree mide” is presumed to be in
a position to accomplish the greatest feats in necromancy and magic.
He is not only endowed with the power of reading the thoughts and
intentions of others, but also of calling forth the shadow (soul) and
of retaining it within his grasp at pleasure.
From the above it will be seen that the Midewiwin covered practically
all the religious and the shamanistic ideas of the Ojibwa.
C. DESCRIPTION OF THE MENOMINEE MIDEWIWIN
Among the Menominee, initiation generally takes place as a substitution
of one individual for one who has died, although any person who gives
proof of eligibility is accepted. The former is by far the more common
method. Generally a person makes the promise of procuring a substitute
for some deceased member, and a favorite relative or dear friend of the
deceased may be elected. There are four mide-priests who determine upon
the candidacy and appoint an instructor. The instruction the candidate
receives is confined to the knowledge of the remedies known to the
instructor.[11] Each remedy must be paid for separately. The four
mide-priests select two sets of assistants and two ushers, who all play
a prominent part in the ceremonies proper.[12]
When a candidate is taking the place of a deceased member, the
ceremonies begin at the grave of the latter,[13] and, after a service
which lasts from dusk of one day to dawn of the next, all proceed to
the Midewiwin lodge. But only the four highest officiating medicine-men
enter. After a ritual which consists of chants and speeches of welcome,
and the passing of the drum from the first to the other three mide,
the other members who are to take an active part enter. A short ritual
then takes place, after which the second set of mide enter and another
ritual follows. Then the ordinary and visiting mide enter, the former
taking seats according to the phratries to which they belong; and the
candidate, his nearest relations, and he who had promised to give the
feast, enter with them and take seats near the mide of the first group.
Finally the third set of mide enter. The seating in the lodge is,
candidate, friends, etc., near the eastern end; first four mide, next
to them; second set, on northern side near western entrance; and third
set of mide, at the middle of the southern side.
The ceremonies begin by calling the candidate forward to stand before
the mide of the first group. His family and friends stand around him
in a semicircle, dancing in time to the chanting and drumming. One
of the mide begins a chant, at the end of which a pause occurs, and
the candidate and friends resume their seats. The drum is passed in
rotation to the second, third, and fourth mide. As they chant, the
candidate, etc., stands before them. The last of the four then chants
the origin myth of the Midewiwin. The drum is now passed to the mide
who had chanted first. He continues the narration of the ritualistic
myths. Drum and gourds are then passed from one mide to the other, and
from the first set of mide to the third, until the circuit has been
made.
These ceremonies are continued through the night, although only the
three sets of mide remain in the lodge all that time. Shortly after
sunrise, almost all leave the lodge. When they return, preparations
are made for the initiation. The shooting of the candidate is
performed by the second set of mide. The candidate, after recovering,
makes the circuit of the lodge, shooting whomsoever he desires. The
characteristics of this shooting ceremony are practically identical
with those of the Winnebago.
D. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RITUAL
I. THE COMMON ELEMENTS.—The common elements in the foregoing
ritualistic complexes are both general and specific in nature. We have,
as general, an initiation ritual; and as specific, a shooting ritual.
There are in addition, in the Central Algonkin and Winnebago group,
other resemblances, such as similarities in the ethical teaching, in
the details of the shooting ritual itself, and in the presence of the
secret brush ritual. To the above must be added the fact that the songs
of the Winnebago ceremonies are to a large extent in some Central
Algonkin dialect.
The meaning of these general similarities will be touched upon later.
What I wish to insist upon here is, that if the ritualistic complexes
are at all to be regarded as identical, this is so by reason of the
presence in each of a shooting ritual. This identity is strengthened
in each case by the association of this specific shooting ritual with
the more general feature of initiation. The most dramatic phase in the
main ceremony is this initiation and shooting complex; and it seems,
therefore, quite intelligible why the number of similar details thus
associated together should have been interpreted as the historically
primary and basic elements.
To postulate an historical identity, however, on the basis of a number
of common elements, in the face of numerous and important differences,
implies a specific attitude toward the nature and significance of the
common elements in these ceremonies. We know, indeed, that almost
all theoreticians place greater insistence upon the similarities
than upon the differences in cultural phenomena. There is perhaps a
natural tendency to do so. But quite apart from this tendency, there
must likewise be certain definite reasons for such an interpretation.
It is essential, consequently, to understand at the very outset the
theoretical justification of this position.
II. THE INTERPRETATION OF THE COMMON ELEMENTS—SCHURTZ’S THEORY.—This
question has been taken up _in extenso_ by Schurtz,[14] in his work
on “Age Classes and Men’s Societies.” Here, as well as in previous
theoretical discussions, the presence of a number of similarities has
been considered sufficient for establishing the identity of a group
of ceremonies that admittedly possess a large number of specific
peculiarities. But Schurtz gives us a detailed psychological exposition
(and in this lies perhaps his superiority over others who have
discussed the same subject) of the reasons which have prompted him to
take a certain attitude toward these “similarities.” If Schurtz’s work
is therefore selected in preference to that of others, it is because of
the fact that, in addition to practically taking the same position as
most of the other theoreticians, he has most clearly defined some of
the assumptions underlying their position.
Schurtz’s line of argument seems to have been the following. An
investigation of civilized as well as of primitive organizations has
disclosed a number of similarities. Their historical development is
unknown; but the enormous distance separating them geographically,
precludes the possibility that these similarities have been due either
to borrowing or to dissemination from some one original centre. They
must consequently be explained by assuming that they have developed
independently, as external manifestations of the unity of the human
mind. We are thus led to the assumption accepted by most ethnologists
to-day, that the human mind tends to express itself in similar
modes of thought and action the world over. The variation in these
modes is to be ascribed either to the differences in the nature of
the geographical and social surroundings or to the emotional and
intellectual individuality of different groups of people, or to both.
We are, however, concerned here not so much with the variations as
with the common modes of thought and action. It is consequently of
prime importance to determine first the nature of these modes, their
sequence, and the extent to which this sequence has been conditioned by
the modes themselves.
We start at the very outset with an implied assumption; for by
“sequence,” Schurtz distinctly understood an ordered sequence. His
work is primarily an attempt to determine what this ordered sequence
has been, and how it has been determined. The norm of organization in
which the human race expressed itself primarily, is, according to him,
the age-group. Owing to the historical development of various cultural
areas, it is no longer possible to detect this “primary element;” and
he consequently finds it necessary to demonstrate its existence from
another point of view, which is essentially psychological.
The development of the age-group has followed a very definite
sequence—definite, because it has been determined by certain inherent
tendencies of the human mind. These tendencies are “the instinct for
association”[15] (_Geselligkeitstrieb_) and “the sexual instinct”
(_Geschlechtstrieb_). Granting the existence of these two tendencies,
we have then to inquire how they have conditioned the essential
similarities in the evolution of our social life, and the forms in
which that social life has expressed itself.
There are two possible assumptions. We may assume that at a certain
stage of cultural development groups of people possessed no social
individuality sufficiently strong to determine their own development,
and that the _Geselligkeitstrieb_ and _Geschlechtstrieb_ alone, or
reinforced by other factors, were sufficiently strong to condition
development along certain lines; or we may, on the other hand, assume
that the primary modes in which people have expressed themselves are
necessarily of so simple and generalized a type, that they always were
the same. Schurtz has practically assumed a stage in human development
when the individuality of the component units of a social group was at
a minimum; when there was, so to say, a “group mind,” whose initial
development is most easily explained by the influence of inherent
tendencies. It must be said, in fairness to Schurtz, that the other
alternative mentioned above was probably also in his mind. However,
he seems to have elaborated his theory with the first alternative
constantly before his eyes.
This unexpressed assumption is of the greatest possible moment in
Schurtz’s interpretation, because it immediately establishes a certain
fixity for his primary norm; and excluding as it does the possibility
of variation, because the two tendencies, as constants, are acting upon
social groups whose component members have a minimum of individuality,
brings it about that the same primary norm must be simple and
generalized in its nature.
Schurtz has thus given us a psychological _milieu_, and we must now
proceed to investigate what are the specific norms of development, the
method by which these norms have been determined, the nature of their
sequence, and how this sequence has been absolutely conditioned. The
first two of these points become clearer if we attack the question of
sequence first.
It is apparent from Schurtz’s work that to him the necessity for an
ordered sequence was self-evident. This acceptance of an ordered
sequence as axiomatic was conditioned primarily by the fact that he
implied at the very outset that the ordered sequence present in the
evolution of biological phenomena was to be found in an essentially
comparable manner in the development of civilization. In the same way
Schurtz’s use of the terms “highest” and “lowest” and of “intermediate
stages” is only inadequately explained when regarded as derived from
the study of history. Neither can we assume that these terms were
merely a reflection of the conclusion he had drawn from a comparison of
the palpable differences between Europeans and “primitive” people. His
whole treatment of “intermediate stages,” and of the factors he calls
to his aid in explaining them,—such as divergences due to variations
from a type, vestiges, functional changes,—these are all strictly
biological not merely in their terminology, but likewise in their
general connotation.
The justification for equating the processes which have played a large
part in historical and biological evolution seemed, indeed, apparent.
In the cultural history of any people, we find elements splitting up
and giving rise to innumerable variations. In this divergence we meet
again and again with two phenomena,—first, that of the general decay of
cultural elements, of their total disappearance in some cases and of
their persistence as vestigial remains in others; and, secondly, that
of the incessant change, of the re-adjustment and re-interpretation
of cultural phenomena, so that elements often take upon themselves
functions which they originally did not possess, while these original
functions are either partially or totally obscured. Numerous other
points, more specific in nature, could be adduced to demonstrate more
fully the essential similarity of cultural and biological phenomena.
The comparability of the data of civilization and biology brought in
its train, however, the natural corollary that the general course
of their development was the same. Such an assumption fitted in
admirably with the psychological presuppositions of Schurtz, and with
the inferences he felt justified in drawing from the historical data.
Neither Schurtz, nor, for that matter, any theoretician of his time,
ever made any attempt to prove that the method of biological evolution
was the same as that of the historical. It was commonly assumed to
have been the same; but, quite apart from this acceptance of a fact
that seemed to need no proof, the similarity in the evolution of
biological and historical phenomena was by implication conditioned by
his psychological assumptions. The number of norms are necessarily
reduced to a minimum when inherent tendencies are acting on a “group
mind,” for it would be tacitly admitting a large range for personal
individuality, to assume the existence of many norms; but if there
are only a few norms, or, as Schurtz concludes, one norm,—that of the
age-group,—variations can only have arisen as differentiations of this
norm, due to influences either from within or from without.
We are consequently reduced to a condition exactly parallel to that
which we find, according to the theory of evolution, in biology.
Variations are the result of a differentiation of some unit. It is the
object, in the classification of biological data, to demonstrate, by
means of a series of ascending forms, the evolution of the most highly
differentiated from the least differentiated. In thus arranging the
data, it followed that the least-differentiated forms contained the
simple general manifestations of life, and that at the same time the
most highly-differentiated forms likewise contained all these simple
general manifestations, although they were here, as a rule, so changed
as to be entirely obscured, if not unrecognizable.
In a manner almost exactly parallel to the above, Schurtz sought
to classify the phenomena of social organization. The highest must
contain within itself the simple and general phenomena of the lowest
form. Having thus demonstrated to his satisfaction the existence
and the necessity of an ordered sequence, he turned his attention
to demonstrating that this sequence was psychologically as well as
historically conditioned. His line of argument here can best be shown
by analyzing the first few chapters of his book.
At the basis of all social organizations lie two elementary forces,—the
“instinct for association” and the “sexual instinct.” The sexual
instinct is primary, because it is obviously an essential condition
of life. The instinct for association is secondary in so far as its
expression in outward form is concerned. It is as old as the sexual
instinct; but, since at the initial stage of human development the
sexual instinct is so strong a force, the instinct of association had
no observable influence on the actions of men.
The forms of social organization which the sexual instinct conditions
are those based upon certain kinds of blood relationship. These forms
are primary. To establish the priority of the forms thus imposed by
blood relationship, we have but to remember that, as the relationship
of individuals to one another preceded everything else, so the social
forms based upon blood relationship must have preceded all other social
forms. We are therefore to regard as the earliest stage of social
organization that of groups bound together by blood relationship. But
what has been the force differentiating these groups? Obviously not the
same sexual instinct that has caused the formation of these primary
groups. To explain the factors that have caused this differentiation we
must call to our aid two phenomena,—first, that of sexual solidarity;
and, secondly, that of the instinct for association.
Sexual solidarity has its roots in the nature of man and woman, and is
possessed by them in equal intensity. The instinct for association is,
however, a specifically masculine trait. It is found among women only
in a minimal degree. An important corollary follows from this fact: If
women societies are found anywhere, they are to be considered merely
as imitations of men’s societies. If women are found as members in a
society, this is to be regarded as secondary and purely adventitious.
These, and some more specific points to be enumerated later, must be
borne in mind continually, as Schurtz makes a far-reaching use of them.
The instinct for association, he goes on to say, expresses itself,
however, between those of like interests; that is, between those who
would most likely be of the same age. It is not likely, for instance,
to occur between married and unmarried men. We have here two apparently
organically determined classes. In the earliest stages of social
development, however, when the norms of social expression conditioned
by the sexual instinct were still of paramount importance, insistence
was most naturally placed upon the most important stage of man’s
physiological development,—the age of puberty. The strong line of
demarcation between the period preceding and following sexual maturity
was so ever-present a fact to the mind of primitive man, that it found
expression in the multitude of initiatory rites. In these initiatory
rites we have another of the specific “symptoms” with which we shall
have to deal afterward.
When the instinct for association developed more strongly, the
differences due to age, plus the physiological factor, conditioned the
natural formation of two classes,—one of men before puberty, and one of
men after puberty. This natural twofold division was also strengthened
by another factor; for until the age of puberty, boys were under the
influence of women, and were therefore to be reckoned as one with them.
The three groups—men before puberty, unmarried men after puberty,
and married men—are thus built upon the basis of age distinction and
common interest. They are the norms of primitive social organization,
and, as we have seen, their origin is due to inherited instincts.
By implication Schurtz has here also assumed the existence of a
definite sequence; for the division into pre- and post-puberty
groups is a consequence of the sexual instinct, and is therefore
primary. Differentiation into the groups of married and unmarried
men thereupon followed; but the initiation, which is synchronous
with the age of sexual maturity, has introduced another factor, that
of promiscuous sexual intercourse; and the regulation that this has
demanded is found outwardly expressed in the “men’s house.” The
common interests that drew men together into groups have thus far
been those conditioned largely by age. In the development of society,
however, interests became more and more diversified, and resulted,
first, in the disappearance of the age factor as the essential element
for associations, and, secondly, in the necessity for more closely
organized units with specific characteristics. To obtain this close
organization, one of the essential elements was secrecy, and thus
developed out of the “men’s house” those innumerable clubs and secret
societies which we find so common to-day.
In such manner we have constructed an ascending evolutionary series.
It must not be forgotten that in such a series the highest stage is
but a differentiated lower stage. It must likewise be remembered that
there is a tendency for intermediate stages to leave vestigial remains
wherever they developed into higher stages. We may consequently expect
to find traces of “age groups” and “men’s houses” all over the world.
In addition, we must remember that a number of “symptoms”—such as “the
exclusion of women” from a society, the presence of “an initiation,” of
“degrees,” and of “secrecy”—have always been associated with certain
stages of growth. They may serve us for criteria of this growth and of
the stages thereof, and they constitute proofs of historical identity.
They will often appear unassociated with the definite stage assigned
to them; but that is immaterial, for their almost universal presence
is a sufficient guaranty of their significance. It is not necessary to
inquire into their individual significance among definite societies,
because a negative answer would prove nothing, as differences from the
general scheme outlined can be interpreted most easily in terms of some
functional change.
It must of course be remembered that the various points of view from
which Schurtz approached his problem were so inextricably interwoven,
that it is unwarranted to assume that every position he took was as
distinctly analyzed as I have attempted to show.
From two points of view, a psychological and a biological one, Schurtz
obtained similar conclusions. It is now only necessary, after we have
seen how he established his psychological _milieu_ and his sequence
of norms, to investigate the manner in which he approached the
ethnological data themselves.
Schurtz claims to have reached his interpretation from an inductive
study of the available data. We have seen that there is good reason to
suppose that he approached the data with certain preconceptions, the
most important of which was the necessity of “ascending stages” in the
evolution of society. He had to determine, before everything else, the
initial stage of social evolution, and to look for it or for as close
an approximation to it as might still be found to-day. However, as soon
as we accept what Schurtz thought were the necessary consequences of
the two tendencies,—of the instinct for association and of the sexual
instinct,—obviously, then, that organization which conforms closest to
the conditions there imposed would be the most primitive.
He thereupon found himself confronted with the relatively easy task of
finding such an organization. He found it in Australia, and selected
it as the starting-point of his series. In justice to Schurtz and
other theoreticians, it should, however, be said that the Australian
cultures impressed many then, and continue to impress many now, as
cultures that either had been stunted in their growth, or had developed
only as far as the most primitive stages. From that point on, the
construction of a series was a simple task.
Such, in brief, is the position of Schurtz.
He wished to convey the impression that his theory was based entirely
upon an inductive study of the data; but we have seen that, by means of
two powerful tendencies, he in reality based his interpretation upon a
deductive study. He does, it is true, claim that the existence of these
tendencies was established inductively; but even if we were to grant
this, it is apparent that he subsequently disassociated the tendencies
from the data, and used them as new entities from which to re-interpret
the facts.
It has been pointed out before that Schurtz did not believe that the
absence of any or all of the “symptoms” constituted an argument against
his theory. In the same way, any evidences of convergent evolution, of
the appearance of “symptoms” of higher stages associated with those of
a lower stage, would not militate against his position. Such phenomena
were to be regarded as purely adventitious. Dissemination of cultures,
he held, was possible; but, although similarities due to such an agency
might obscure the normal development, this normal development could
hardly be fundamentally disarranged thereby.
* * * * *
The theory of Schurtz might be examined from two points of view. One
might critically examine the validity of the assumptions _per se_, and
the justifiability of his inferences; or one might temporarily lay
aside the theory entirely, and examine the data individually. It is the
latter method of approach that I shall here adopt.
With this purpose in view, I have selected for examination and
interpretation the data furnished by the Ojibwa-Menominee Midewiwin,
the Winnebago Medicine Dance, and the Omaha Shell and Pebble Societies.
The investigation of specific data will, however, not have any general
validity, unless it can be shown that their specific content is the
result of certain very general psychological tendencies.
The common elements in the ceremonial complexes have led to the
predication of their identity, and it will be best therefore to begin
our study with an analysis of them.
III. THE SHOOTING RITUAL.—It might perhaps be expedient, before
discussing the phenomena of “shooting” in general, to analyze what is
supposed to be its precise nature among the various tribes possessing
it in one form or another. Generally speaking, the essential idea
lies in the simulation of being shot by a missile, and re-acting by
simulating muscular contractions until the individual falls prone
upon the ground. The general theory of the Ojibwa-Menominee and of
the Winnebago is, that death must thereupon normally result, but that
certain conditions may change this fatal effect into one of temporary
unconsciousness. Among the Omaha, the simulated death is interpreted
as the dramatic representation of the death of certain persons known
in the ceremony of the Shell Society as “children.” Among the Santee
Dakota, it seems to have had no very definite meaning.[16]
The Ojibwa,[17] Menominee,[18] Winnebago, and Dakota are at one in
interpreting the effects of the shooting as the result of the magical
powers inherent in the missile used. Efficiency in shooting, however,
depends not merely upon the missile, but also upon the shaman using it.
According to the esoteric interpretation of the Winnebago, the specific
results could only be obtained by being a member of the Medicine Dance.
There are indications that this specific efficacy was associated with
the general magical power of shamans,—a power that had been obtained
through personal visions, not in any way connected with this society.
For the Ojibwa-Menominee, this latter seems to have been by far the
more important source for efficacy. For example, the otter-skin bag
could be used with the same effect quite apart from the performances of
the Midewiwin. In the Omaha ceremonies it is not quite clear exactly
what renders the shooting efficacious, and whether the result is
inherent in the magical power of the missile.
In all the ritualistic complexes there are variations both as to the
manner in which the shooting is done, and as to the portion of the body
aimed at. Excluding the Omaha societies, these variations in all cases
depend upon the status of membership. The Ojibwa-Menominee shooting is
in nature and in interpretation quite similar to that of the Winnebago;
while the Omaha presents a number of variations from the type.
In the Ojibwa-Menominee ceremonies the shooting ritual is always
associated with the admission of a new member. This includes, of
course, also the initiation of individuals into higher degrees,
wherever such exist. The shooting is done principally by the newly
initiated individual, because he is supposed to be trying his powers.
There occurs, besides this, a general shooting, in which all members
indulge, and which is supposed to increase their shooting powers. The
strengthening of their power is supposed to resist the effects of
the shot. Among the Omaha this general shooting is unassociated with
initiation, while among the Winnebago it is found associated both with
initiation and with the basic ceremony. It is therefore of considerable
importance to understand what relation this general shooting ritual
bears to the specific shooting associated with initiation. Shooting is
either an element primarily associated with initiation, and afterwards
separated, or it is some general element that has become associated
with any of a large number of other cultural elements. In order to
determine this, we have next to examine with what elements shooting
becomes associated.
Among the Kwakiutl[19] there is a dance in which an individual
(mā′maq’a) throws disease into the people. This disease is represented
by some object, either a stick or a harpoon-head. The shooting has
precisely the same effect as in the Medicine Dance. No association of
shooting of any kind occurs with initiation into a society.
The Kwakiutl example brings up the real question involved in the
shooting. To what extent is the shooting ritual of the Medicine
Dance of the Winnebago merely one of the forms of disease-throwing
which is so common a practice of sympathetic magic? The Central
Algonkin Midewiwin are really loose associations of men and women,
whose powers are obtained more from individual revelations obtained
outside of the Midewiwin than from the benefits of membership in that
society. Shamanistic practices appear to form an integral part of
this society. But apart from this, the shooting of disease, or of any
malignant power, at an enemy, is an extremely common feature among
the Central Algonkin as it is among all other American shamans. The
question that presents itself is, whether the shooting, as found in the
Ojibwa-Menominee and Winnebago Medicine Societies, is not one aspect of
this same general shamanistic practice.
To judge from the speeches and the songs of these societies, the main
religious function is to obtain the power to resist the influence
of the shot. The muscular contortions and the various movements the
individual shot at goes through, are intended to be symbolical of this
resistance. What the members expect to obtain are powers sufficiently
strong to resist any malignant influences that they might meet in the
general course of a lifetime; that is, we are dealing with a very
general manifestation of shamanism, and we ought therefore not to
be surprised to find it wherever shamanism occurs, either entirely
unassociated, or associated with a large number of different elements.
We find it unassociated in a large number of places scattered over
North America. Among the Kwakiutl it is associated with a certain
dance; among the Central Algonkin and Winnebago, with initiation. If it
can now be shown that among the Omaha, and among the Winnebago also,
we find it again in a different association, then the association of
shooting with an initiation ritual will have to be regarded as one
of a number of complexes into which shooting has entered. Whether,
in a specific case, shooting, or the initiation-shooting complex, is
historically related to a similar ritual among other tribes, is a
question that only direct historical evidence or a strong historical
probability can determine. The presence of shooting in a number of
different ceremonies, however, will not in itself demonstrate any
relationship between these ceremonies.
We will now examine the nature of the complex with which shooting
is associated in the night division of the general ceremony of the
Winnebago Medicine Dance and in the Omaha Pebble and Shell Society.
A large number of the societies among the Winnebago and Omaha are based
on the common possession of revelations from the same animal. We may
have a society “of those who have had communication with the Thunders,”
or with the Nights, or with the Grizzly Bear, or what not. The bond
of such a society is generally expressed outwardly, by the possession
of some “gift” which is intimately connected with the animal, be it
a head-dress, a tail, facial decorations, or the right to the use of
a certain drum, etc. The only society among the Winnebago where no
revelation is required for admission is the Medicine Dance. There are,
however, a number of elements which connect the Medicine Dance with
the other type of society so common among the Winnebago. For instance,
there is an outward mark of membership; namely, the otter-skin and the
“migis.”[20] On the warpath the Winnebago wraps the otter-skin around
his shoulder to signify that, as a member of the Medicine Dance, he
is protected from the attacks of his enemies. In the shooting ritual
of the night division of the general ceremony of the Medicine Dance,
and in the Medicine Feast, there are a number of features similar to
those of the Winnebago Buffalo, Grizzly Bear, Night, etc., Societies.
From the point of view of organization, the only difference would
seem to be, that, instead of a common bond lying in a supernatural
communication, it lies here in the mutual shooting. If we wished to
describe the Medicine Dance in terms of Winnebago society norms, we
might call it a “society of those who shoot one another.” The shooting
forms an integral part of the ritualistic complex, much in the same
way as do the set songs and the set speeches. In the basic ritual of
the day ceremony, the shooting occurs in two combinations,—on the one
hand, as an initiation-shooting-complex, set off more or less from
the general ceremony; and, on the other hand, in a complex that is a
repetition of one which occurs at night, and which forms unquestionably
the basic portion of the entire Medicine Dance. We will return to a
discussion of this subsequently.
Shooting in the Omaha Pebble and Shell Societies is associated
precisely in the same manner as in the basic ritual of the Medicine
Dance. In the Pebble Society we have, as a matter of fact, exactly the
condition which we assumed might perhaps be the correct interpretation
of the Medicine Dance. The society is named “Those who shoot the
Pebble.” In the Shell Society the bond of union is similarly the
shooting, the society being called “Those who shoot with a Shell.”
It therefore seems quite probable, taking into account the fact that
three Siouan (one Winnebago and two Omaha) societies present a shooting
feature in their basic rituals, that this ritualistic complex is a
general characteristic of this area. To sum up, a shooting ritual
has entered into a complex quite different from that existing among
the Kwakiutl, Central Algonkin Midewiwin, and in one part of the day
ceremony of the Winnebago Medicine Dance. We must therefore conclude
that the association of shooting with initiation is merely one of many
possible associations, and that the shooting found in the basic complex
must be regarded as historically different from the shooting found in
the initiation complex.
Returning to the question of shooting as associated with an initiation
ritual, it must be granted that it is somewhat improbable that
this particular association should have arisen independently among
two tribes living in closely contiguous geographical areas. We may
therefore assume that the Winnebago either borrowed from the Central
Algonkin, or _vice versa_. All indications point to the former as
having been the case.
The shooting, then, as found in the societies discussed, is merely one
phase of sympathetic magic. A cultural element common to a very large
area has become associated with a special significance and with special
ceremonies. For the cultural areas discussed, this association seems
to have developed into two types of complexes,—the shooting-initiation
complex of the Central Algonkin, and the basic complex of the Omaha and
Winnebago.
IV. THE INITIATION RITUAL.—The elements common to the Central Algonkin
Midewiwin and to the Winnebago Medicine Dance consist of two parts,—an
initiation and a shooting. Of these, the shooting was shown to have
been a more or less free element, capable among other tribes of
entering into an indefinite number of associations; that, indeed, in
the Medicine Dance itself, it had become associated with two different
ritualistic complexes. We have already examined the shooting ritual;
and we will therefore proceed to examine the initiation ritual, in
order to understand its precise significance and its position in the
general ceremony and in the complete ceremonial complex of the Medicine
Dance.
1. _Ojibwa-Menominee._—The simplicity of the organization of the
Ojibwa-Menominee Midewiwin impresses one at a glance. Only a small
number of individuals take active part. It is similarly impossible
to discern any elaborate ritual. A few ritualistic myths are told,
some songs sung, speeches delivered, and then preparations are made
for the shooting of the novice. The ceremony practically ends as
soon as the shooting terminates. In this semi-public performance
there is practically only one ritualistic complex, that of the
shooting-initiation. The only purpose of this complex seems likewise to
be the initiation of an individual into the Midewiwin.
This initiation ritual, we know, is only the terminal element in a long
course of instruction which the novice must go through. It is during
this instruction that the specific teachings and practices of the
Midewiwin are elucidated, and it is then that the symbolism used in the
bark records is explained.
These teachings and practices, apart from some ethical teachings of
the most general nature, vary with each mide. In each case the novice
is taught the mide’s individual songs, his particular tricks and
practices, his specific herbs, and the uses to which he puts them. The
bond connecting the teaching of the mides is of the loosest nature.
When the instruction is over (and it is over as soon as the novice has
exhausted the wealth he expects to spend in each particular case),
the novice is ready for initiation. But into what is he really being
initiated? It would seem purely into the powers purchased from a
certain mide. If this particular mide did not chance to be a member of
the Midewiwin, the same or an extremely similar method of transference
of personal powers would be gone through. In other words, the novice
is being initiated into the status of a mide. If one may speak of any
formal initiation here, it consists in giving to the new mide some
object which is generally regarded as a symbol of the preceptor’s
power. It may be a medicine-pouch, or herbs, or anything, in fact.
But is this not precisely what takes place at the initiation into the
Midewiwin? There, a person is presented with the “migis” and otter-skin
bag, which is symbolical of the powers of a certain type of shaman, the
mide.
The Midewiwin, from this point of view, is hardly a society at all. It
does, nevertheless, possess some of the essential characteristics of a
society: a number of individuals form a rather definite unit, owing to
their possessing in common a number of ritualistic myths, a symbol and
common status, in the eyes of outsiders.
As a society, the Midewiwin presents no such unit as does the definite
organization of the Winnebago Medicine Dance or the Omaha Shell and
Pebble Societies. The bond of unity in the Midewiwin lies in the fact
that all members are mide. An individual is a mide, however, not by
reason of membership in the Midewiwin. The powers that make him a mide
have nothing to do with the Midewiwin at all. They are purely personal.
The Midewiwin is primarily, then, an association of mide; not of
individuals who have become mide because they belong to that society.
It is because of this fact that the individuality of the members is
so potent a factor, and it is because of this fact that no strong
ceremonial unit exists. It is for the same reason that initiation into
the society presents, in all its essentials, the picture of a normal
transference of individual mide power.
Historically I do not doubt that it really is such a transference.
As the idea of the Midewiwin as a ceremonial unit developed more
definitely, the individual transference of the individual mide power
may have become associated with initiation into the Midewiwin itself.
It is perfectly natural, when all the mide became members of the
Midewiwin, that the transference of power should not have been thought
of apart from the society to which the mide belonged. It thus followed
that obtaining knowledge from a mide would be synonymous with joining
the Midewiwin.
As the Midewiwin grew in popularity, and as all the mide and a
majority of the other members of the tribe joined it, there came
to be associated with it certain specific benefits, that had in
themselves nothing at all to do with the mide, but which were
generally characteristic of Central Algonkin culture. The association
of these specific benefits played necessarily an important part in
the history of the society, because it meant that an individual, in
joining the society, obtained much more than certain mide powers. He
obtained, in fact, all the mide powers, plus those specific benefits
which membership in the Midewiwin now brought with it. Through the
transference of the objects symbolical of the mide’s power,—“the migis”
and the otter-skin bag,—shooting now initiated him not only into the
status of a mide, but also into that of a member of a society with an
esoteric ritual. The shooting itself no longer bore the impress of
a general shamanistic practice, but stood as a symbol of initiation
into a society. At the transference of individual shamanistic power,
shooting did not occur. It must consequently have become associated
with initiation when the loose union of the mide developed into a more
or less definite society.
Summing up briefly, we may be justified in saying that the initiation
ritual of the Ojibwa-Menominee Midewiwin is a transference of
individual power as found among the individual mide, modified by the
addition of another element, the shooting-incident. The initiation
can in no way be regarded as necessarily associated with shooting, but
this association will have to be regarded as simply a characteristic
of the Central Algonkin Midewiwin. In other words, just as “shooting”
may enter into an indefinite number of associations, conditioned by the
cultural individuality of an area, so initiation may similarly enter
into an indefinite number of combinations.
2. _Shell Society._—In the Shell Society of the Omaha there is no
specific initiation ceremony. According to the origin legend, an
animal appears to a family consisting of father, mother, and four
children, and helps them to obtain food. They, in order to show their
gratitude, offer him their children. The children are subsequently
shot and killed. As they lie on the shore of a lake, four tremendous
waves sweep them away. They afterwards emerge from the midst of the
lake, and assure their parents that, although they are dead, they are
quite content, and they would advise them to put off their mourning,
return to their own tribe, and form a society. They could obtain new
members by selling to other people the powers they had obtained. The
shooting that occurs in the ceremony proper, and which is interpreted
by the Omaha as a dramatic representation of the shooting of the
four children, has nothing to do with initiation into the society.
Initiation consists entirely in the transference of certain knowledge
and symbols by one of the owners of the society to any individual who
is considered eligible, and who has paid the requisite price.
As a matter of fact, only members are shot. The shooting, whatever
may have been its original significance, is here but one element in
an intricate ritualistic complex similar to the basic ritual of the
Winnebago Medicine Dance. Its purpose seems to be exclusively that of
“strengthening” the powers of the members.
Anything approaching the dramatic initiation into the Midewiwin does
not exist. Admission into the society is in no way connected with the
shooting ritual, although the shooting ritual is actually found in the
society.
3. _Pebble Society._—The nature of initiation into the Pebble Society
is not definitely known. As membership, however, depends upon
supernatural communications from the same animal, it probably is the
same as that found among other Omaha societies of the same kind.
Initiation would thus consist in the obtaining of the supernatural
communication itself. Every person who has had a supernatural
communication with a spirit—in this particular case, the water
spirit—is eligible for membership into the society. Shooting is found,
but it is in no way connected with admission or initiation into the
society. It has, it would seem, practically the same significance as in
the Shell Society.
4. _Medicine Dance._—In the Winnebago Medicine Dance, membership
does not depend upon supernatural communication of any kind, but
must be purchased from the leader of one of the five bands. A long
preparation is necessary, lasting in olden times as long as four
years. The individual is then initiated into certain of the teachings
of the society. It makes no difference into which of the five bands
he is initiated. The knowledge he obtains will, to all intents and
purposes, be the same, excluding certain songs. This does not mean,
of course, that there may not be information belonging to the member
as an individual, which is taught to the novice; but it is understood
that any powers belonging specifically to an individual, and which
the novice wishes to purchase, have primarily no connection with the
society. As every leader is likely to be a prominent shaman as well
as a member of the Medicine Dance, it would be quite impossible to
draw a hard and fast line between what belongs specifically to him as
a shaman, and what belongs to him as a member of the Medicine Dance.
However, it is generally understood that a leader is initiating an
individual into those powers that are the special property of the
society.
As among the Ojibwa-Menominee, initiation is accompanied by a formal
transfer of a “shell” and of an otter-skin bag. Externally the general
ceremony of the Medicine Dance might consequently be regarded as
similar to the semi-public ceremony of the Midewiwin. There are two
features, however, which stand out prominently in the general ceremony
of the former, which must be explained before we can accept this
external similarity as real. They are, first, the peculiar position
of the initiation ritual of the general ceremony; and, secondly, the
presence of another ritual, the basic ritual, and the importance it
assumes.
Precisely the same ritual that we found among the Ojibwa-Menominee—the
initiation-shooting complex; that is, initiation associated with
shooting, the transference of the otter-skin bag and of a shell, plus
a number of incidental elements—occurs in the general ceremony. This
complex intervenes between the performance of the basic ritual by
the North and West Bands. There is absolutely nothing in the basic
ritual preceding or following the initiation that could possibly be
interpreted as a preparation for the latter. As it is found there,
the initiation seems quite out of place, and conveys forcibly the
impression of being intrusive. The general ceremony is by no means
terminated when initiation is over; but the West Band continues with
its performance of the basic ritual as though there had been no
interruption, even though the interval between North’s and West’s
performance of the basic ritual generally lasts a number of hours. The
initiation ritual is, on the whole, treated as an incidental feature.
It can certainly not be the main or most important ritual of the
general ceremony. As a matter of fact, it occurs only in the day ritual
of that ceremony. In the night ritual it is absent. A ritual of which
shooting is one of the essential features occurs in the latter, but, as
we shall see later, this has nothing to do with the initiation.
That the shell and the shooting are unquestionably considered necessary
and essential for initiation, is borne out conclusively by the numerous
references in the speeches. We must therefore not permit the position
of the initiation ritual in the general ceremony to interfere with its
interpretation as a real initiation into the society. However, this
position may have been due to secondary causes. It is quite impossible
to determine them definitely now; but it is possible, by studying the
significance and nature of the basic ritual, to explain to a very large
extent the reason for the position of the initiation ritual.
The basic ritual is a definite ceremonial complex, which constitutes
the most conspicuous unit of the Medicine Dance. Both in the night
and the day ritual of the general ceremony, each individual band
repeats it, and in both cases the ceremony terminates as soon as the
last band has finished it. A number of other rituals separate the
various performances of the basic ritual, and even intervene between
the separate constituent elements of the ritual itself. In each case,
nevertheless, the basic ritual is continued as soon as the disturbing
ritual has been removed. It is for these reasons that it seems to me
unquestionable that we are dealing here with the essential ritualistic
unit of the general ceremony. What strengthens this impression is
the fact that a ritualistic complex similar in its general nature,
although not in the component elements of which it is made up, is
found in almost all the other societies of the Winnebago. In the
Buffalo, Grizzly Bear, Ghost, and Night Societies, there is a basic
ritual of essentially the same functions and significance. In all
these societies, likewise, objects of specific value to the members
are passed from one individual to another; and this “passing” is
accompanied by songs, speeches, and ritualistic details. Although the
complex differs for each society, it nevertheless presents a definite
ritualistic unit, which must be repeated by each person, or each band
belonging to the society, as the case may be.
To judge from the general tenor of the speeches, the purpose of the
ritual in every one of these societies is the “strengthening” of
powers obtained in a vision. Now, the tenor of the speeches in the
basic ritual of the Medicine Dance is precisely of the same nature;
and as we have there, in addition, the characteristic passing of the
“blessing,”—that is, the passing of the drum, the gourds, and the
associate actions, speeches, songs, and dances; in other words, the
means of assuring the continuance and the strengthening of the specific
powers,—there can be little doubt that the basic ritual is essentially
the same for all these societies.
Of course, the demonstration that the basic ritual is at present the
main and most important ritual in the Medicine Dance, does not prove
that it is historically primary. There are, however, a number of facts
that speak in favor of this assumption. In the first place, it is
undoubtedly the characteristic ceremonial complex of all Winnebago
societies, and likewise of a large number of societies among other
Siouan tribes; and, secondly, it is associated with an organization
that is typical of other Winnebago societies. It differs from these
primarily in the fact that membership is purchased, and not obtained
through supernatural communication from some animal. Even the absence
of the customary manner of admission might perhaps be hypothetically
accounted for, for we have an interesting instance of the disappearance
of the “vision” qualification in the Night Dance. The Night Dance, now
known as the Sore-Eye Dance, previously required for admission a vision
from the night spirits. This qualification has now disappeared, and its
place has been taken by purchase, pure and simple, as in the case of
the Medicine Dance. Now, it is possible that the same development may
have taken place for the Medicine Dance. In the absence of any such
positive evidence, however, as has been adduced for the Night Dance,
this assumption can only be regarded as a possible explanation.
If the basic ritual is to be regarded as the principal and
characteristic feature of the Medicine Dance and as historically
primary, then the intrusive character of the initiation ritual may be
explained by regarding it as secondarily associated. We are of course
in no position to say in what way this association occurred, and we
are therefore not in a position to tell whether the initiation ritual
was associated from the very beginning in such a way as to perform the
functions of a normal initiation into a society, or whether it was at
first a purely adventitious addition with no special significance.
If it was regarded from the very beginning as an initiation, there
seems no reason why it should have been given the position in the
general ceremony that it now possesses. It consequently seems better to
regard its position as older than the references made in the speeches
to its functions as an initiation into this specific Winnebago society.
There can be little doubt that the initiation-complex of the Medicine
Dance was borrowed from the Central Algonkin Midewiwin. We may
consequently conclude that, notwithstanding the present interpretation
of the initiation as an initiation into the Medicine Dance, it is
historically really an initiation ritual of one ceremony that has
become secondarily associated with another. In support of this, it can
be pointed out that no initiation bearing the slightest resemblance
to this one, occurs in any other of the numerous Winnebago societies,
and that the Medicine Dance really possesses two initiations,—the one
being the purchase of membership; and the other, that mentioned above.
It might also be added that non-members never speak of the shooting as
an initiation. To them the shooting always appears as a shamanistic
practice associated with the “strengthening” of power. The esoteric
interpretation, however, regards this “secondary” initiation as primary.
Summing up briefly the results of the analysis of the three initiations
discussed, we must emphasize again the fact that we are dealing with
initiations essentially different in nature. In the Ojibwa-Menominee
it is evidently a formal transfer of shamanistic powers from one
individual to another, which has subsequently become synonymous with
admission into the social status of a mide and then with admission into
a society. In the Shell Society the transfer of powers is analogous to
the purchase of specific powers by one individual from another; and as
these have become associated with a society, the individual buying them
purchased at the same time admission into the society. In the Pebble
Society, initiation is synonymous with the acquisition of power through
supernatural communication from some animal. There is no transfer at
all, except in so far as the spirit animal transfers something to the
person fasting. Initiation is connected simply with the individual. No
initiation into the society exists. In the Winnebago Medicine Dance,
whatever may have been the primary method of initiation, we have to-day
a definite initiation like that found in the Midewiwin. This, however,
has been borrowed from another ceremony, and secondarily associated.
Even now it is not in its proper organic position in the general
ceremony, despite the fact that an esoteric re-interpretation has
transformed it into a specific initiation into the Medicine Dance.
Initiation is thus seen to be both a concept and a ritualistic complex,
varying considerably in different tribes. As a ritualistic complex, it
has entered freely into innumerable associations, which can only be
determined by a study of each specific ceremony. The same holds true
with regard to the concept of initiation. It is also apparent that
the concept has a marked influence in determining the nature of the
ritualistic complex connected with it, and _vice versa_. In both cases,
then, we have to examine not merely the nature of these two phenomena
in a given area, but likewise whether they represent historically
primary concepts and complexes, before we can make any attempt to
investigate what are the concepts that underlie all initiations.
V. THE GENERAL CEREMONY.—In the foregoing remarks we have dealt with
the nature and significance of those specific rituals that go to make
the larger complex we have called the “general ceremony.” We will now
proceed to examine the nature and significance of this general ceremony
itself.
1. _Ojibwa-Menominee._—The general ceremony of the Ojibwa-Menominee
Midewiwin is to all intents and purposes the initiation ritual
itself. There is really no other ritualistic complex with which it
is associated; nor is there any feature which interrupts in any way
the dramatic progress of events from the beginning, to the actual
initiation of the new member. In reality this general ceremony must be
looked upon solely as the completion of a long course of preparatory
instruction. Nothing, indeed, accentuates the minor part which the
actual “society” aspect of the Midewiwin plays than this slight
development of the general ceremony. The long course of preparatory
instruction, in which the shaman, as an individual, plays the major
part, seems practically to be the main feature.
2. _Shell Society._—In the Shell Society the general ceremony consists
of a large number of ritualistic complexes. The basic ritual runs
like a red line through the whole, and with this are associated the
following rituals: the passing of the invitation-sticks, the opening
of the pack by the keepers, the circling of the fire “by the four
children,” the filling of the wooden bowl with water, and finally the
shooting. Both the secret and the public ceremonies consist almost
exclusively of the shooting, and of the “passing” of the drum and the
ritualistic details associated with it. The meeting terminates as soon
as the last of the five ceremonial bands has finished this basic ritual.
3. _Pebble Society._—In the Pebble Society the characteristic passing
of the drum likewise occurs, and with it occur the details connected
with it, as well as the preparation for shooting and the actual
shooting. The number of ritualistic complexes is much smaller than in
the Shell Society. However, this may be due to the meagreness of our
information. As contrasted with the marked unity of action displayed
in the Shell Society, we find here a marked tendency for individual
development, that is perhaps to be expected, considering that the bond
of union (namely, the powers obtained through common visions) is a
rather vague one from the point of view of organization.
4. _Medicine Dance._—In the Medicine Dance the general ceremony
includes, in addition to the basic and initiation rituals, a secret
ceremony that takes place outside of the lodge itself. As in the Shell
and Pebble Societies, there are here also two sessions, but both seem
to be secret.
The significance of the general ceremony mentioned is the performance
of a ritual for a variety of purposes, the principal of which are,
first, purely the perpetuation of the ritual; and, secondly, the
“strengthening” and renewal of certain special powers. These two
seem to be pre-eminently the functions of those Omaha and Winnebago
societies that are based upon common visions. In the former the element
of initiation plays no part at all. The meetings of the society take
place at almost any convenient time of the year. For the Winnebago the
element of initiation is more pronounced. The meetings are called for
two reasons,—either for the purpose of initiating a member, or for the
purpose of acquiring additional powers.
In each case the general complexes are different, and in each case they
depend upon associations that are both historically and psychologically
determined by the specific cultural characteristics of the area in
question.
VI. THE COMPLETE CEREMONIAL COMPLEXES.—The general ceremony is only one
element in an extremely elaborate complex. Its position in this complex
has been touched upon before. We have now, however, to examine this
complex itself, and to see what are the ritualistic elements that form
it. And in this final complex we have again to see whether there is a
tendency for certain elements to be associated in a definite manner;
and, if this proves to be the case, how this definite association is to
be interpreted.
1. _Ojibwa._—The Ojibwa Midewiwin consists of a long course of
preparation, and a formal public initiation into a society containing
four degrees. We have seen that the preparation is entirely shamanistic
in character, and that the general public ceremony is to all intents
and purposes as much an initiation into the status of a mide as it
is into a society. This interpretation is again strengthened by the
marked association of the general ceremony with shamanistic tricks.
Among the Cree it appears that this function of the Midewiwin is of
prime importance.[21] In the “degrees” we have another confirmation
of its shamanistic character. The four degrees are merely the four
instalments in which an old shaman sells his knowledge and power. The
number 4 has no especial significance, except in so far as it is the
sacred number of the tribe. Miss Densmore[22] found eight degrees
among another division of the Ojibwa; and the number will doubtless
be found to vary from division to division. The requirements for
admission into the second, third, and fourth degrees, are greater
payments, and greater evidences of religious fitness. The possessors
of the various degrees do not form distinct classes. Those of the
first degree alone, possess one degree only. There is no passing from
one to another degree, but simply an addition of degrees, so that an
individual with the fourth degree possesses all the other degrees; in
other words, degrees are merely marks of increased power. It is for
this reason that an initiation practically the same as that for the
first degree is necessary for the other degrees. The fact that a new
initiation into the society is necessary for each degree, and that the
distinctions represented by the degrees are merely transferences of
increased shamanistic powers, differing accordingly as they have been
obtained from one or another shaman, emphasizes strongly the specific
shamanistic nature of the Midewiwin.
As we have said before, the Midewiwin is a society, not so much because
it is an association of mide, but because there have come to be
associated with it certain functions of a religious and social nature,
setting it off as a unit. The fact that the members are mide will, of
course, have an enormous influence on some of the functions that the
society is supposed to possess.
The powers of the individual mide are those connected with the healing
of wounds, the curing of disease, the ability to transform one’s
self into any animal or object at will, the performance of seemingly
impossible tricks, and lastly the practice of evil magic. In the
teachings of the individual mide in his rôle as a member of the
Midewiwin, all these elements are present; but there are, in addition,
two other powers which are specifically Midewiwin functions,—namely,
the power to prolong life, and the power to assure a successful passage
to the future world. The power of prolonging life is not supposed to
be an effect of the shooting. The belief is, that membership in the
society, and the proper observance of the ritual and precepts, will
enable an individual to surmount successfully the crises of life and
the evil designs of his enemies. Just as the proper observance of
ritual and precepts prolongs life, so it will likewise insure the safe
passage of a soul from this to a future world. According to William
Jones, “it was believed that the soul followed a path to go to the
spirit world, and that the path was beset with dangers to oppose
the passage of the soul; but that it was possible to overcome the
obstacles by the use of the formulas which could be learned only in the
Midewiwin.”[23]
To assert dogmatically that these two powers do not come within the
scope of the individual mide, may perhaps be unwarranted; but at
present the evidence among the Ojibwa is certainly negative. However,
the Midewiwin is considered to be intimately associated with these
specific functions. They are not associated with the specific powers of
the mide. In reality, they are the general religio-magical possessions
of the tribe, that have been secondarily associated with the Midewiwin.
2. _Menominee._—Practically all that has been said of the Ojibwa
applies in equal degree to the Menominee Midewiwin. But two important
differences are noticeable,—first, a member is always succeeded by
a near relative; and, secondly, not only is the Midewiwin connected
with the function of insuring the safe passage to the future world,
but the ceremony itself begins at the grave of the deceased member as
soon as the mortuary rites are over. They may even be regarded as a
continuation of the same.
3. _Shell Society._—In the Shell Society the organization, in
contradistinction to the Ojibwa-Menominee Midewiwin, is not based on
individuals as such, but on definite ceremonial group units. There are
five to-day, but there seem to have been more formerly.
We find a fourfold designation for the lodges. They are known to-day as
those of the eldest son or sun, second son or stars, daughter or moon,
and youngest son or earth. Sometimes, however, these same are known in
order as Black-Bear, Elk, Buffalo, and Deer Lodge. The first “old man’s
lodge” (_uju_) is also known as that of the Eagle.
The general ceremony has been described before, and we will therefore
proceed to discuss what appears to be the purpose of the society, what
powers its members possessed, and with what functions it was associated.
The definite purpose of the society seems to be the performance of
a certain ritual. That in addition there is likewise the desire to
increase or at least strengthen the powers received at purchase, is
extremely probable, but this cannot be definitely stated. What can be
definitely stated, however, is the fact that an absolutely essential
condition for efficacy of the powers obtained is the performance of
the ritual; and in this it is radically distinct from the Midewiwin,
for there the powers obtained from the shaman have no relation to the
ritual. The efficacy then, of the powers, remains always what it was
when taught to the new member.
In discussing what the powers of the members are, it is again essential
to distinguish what they possess by virtue of membership, and what they
possess as individuals. We should most naturally expect that certain
conceptions, certain cultural possessions, belong to a large body of
Omaha. If, then, we find them in a certain society, it is most natural
to assume that they have not been obtained by reason of membership
therein, but that this society will reflect general Omaha ideas. This
or that society may emphasize certain ideas, and may develop them
along certain lines, but it certainly does not originate them. They
have no relation of cause and effect to any particular society. This
has sometimes been assumed to be the case, and such a view comes out
clearly in Miss Fletcher’s[24] statement that all secret societies
among the Omaha dealt more or less with magic as well as with healing
by means of herbs and roots. It is palpably not because they are
secret societies that their members have developed any such tendencies,
but because, as secret societies, they reflected Omaha customs and
modes of thought. For the same reason Miss Fletcher’s conclusion, that
because in both the Shell and Pebble Societies shamanistic tricks are
performed, they may possibly be historically connected, is unwarranted.
The observance of shamanistic tricks is so general a phenomenon, that
all that can be said, when two societies are found emphasizing them, is
that two societies emphasized or developed one or many Omaha customs.
There is no need of assuming any historical connection unless this has
been shown to be the case.
Let us now return to what is distinctive in the powers of a member of
the Shell Society.
The name of the society is “Those-who-have-the-Shell.” It is the
possession of the shell that separates them from other societies. In
the ideas clustering around the powers of this object we are most
likely to find one of the important specific advantages of membership.
As far as can be gathered from Miss Fletcher’s account, the shell is
connected with certain magical qualities. It is difficult to say what
specific magical qualities are meant. However, to judge from the nature
of the general ceremony and the songs, we are really dealing with magic
in its most general sense, but connected in this case with a specific
object, a shell; that is, we might imagine hypothetically that the
society originated in connection with the vision of an individual, in
which the magical power was associated with a shell. The same power
might, in the case of another individual, be associated with a drum,
a flute, a gourd, a stone, or what not. Apart from difference in
ritualistic detail, and in the nature of some of the elements that go
to make up the general ritualistic complex, it is this association
of magical powers with one object in one case, and with another in
another case, that constitutes the difference between the various Omaha
societies.
To illustrate how general is the magical power of the shell in the
Shell Society, and how essential is the specific object possessing
the magic, we will give the following instances. In the origin myth,
shooting is supposed to kill the “children;” in the general ceremony it
probably serves to strengthen powers already acquired; in the ceremony
for punishing offenders, of which we shall speak later, it is merely an
example of sympathetic magic.
Together with the magic specifically associated with the shell, the
members exercised individual magic; as, for example, killing a horse
because its owner had offended him, or killing another member by
magically having a snake hidden near the place where the other was
accustomed to work. These instances of the exercise of magic must not,
however, be considered as specific of the society.
In addition to the association of the Shell Society with magic in its
more general aspect, and also in its application to some specific
object, we find it associated with general shamanistic practices, with
conceptions relating to life after death, and with a magical ceremony
for punishing offenders. The shamanistic practices have been dwelt
on before. All that can be said about the connection of the society
with ceremonies performed upon the death of a member is, that the
deceased is carried to a tent in which the regular ceremonial is gone
through.[25] Whether this ceremony has any definite connection with
ideas relating to the journey of the soul to the future world, is not
known.
By far the most interesting ceremony associated with the Shell Society
is that for punishing offenders.[26] The main purpose seems to be the
punishment of an individual “in order to keep the people in order
and check crime, such as molesting wives or daughters and destroying
property and so causing mischief in the tribe.” This was effected
through a sacred figure supposed to represent the society.... “The
arms contained poisons for punishment, and the leg the magic shells
which made it possible to administer this punishment.... When a man
committed an offence that seemed to demand punishment, the society
met at night, and if it had determined to punish the man, then this
figure was brought out.”[27] Now, it must be borne in mind that
there is here no suggestion of any legal procedure, but merely, as
we shall see, an application of the magical powers of the society to
a very specific social purpose. Punishment consisted in causing the
offender to become sick through the application of poison to a figure
supposed to symbolize him, which is drawn on the earth. This figure was
subsequently shot at. When the ceremony was over, the leaders waited
until they had been informed that the offender had become sick, when
they assembled in a tent and sang until the man died.
In this ceremony we have again a shamanistic practice which was
probably exercised by many members of the tribe, associated in one
of the societies with a definite and specific function. But this
specific function, plus the other traits that have been enumerated as
characteristic of the society, go to make up a complex that is looked
upon as a definite unit.
4. _Pebble Society._—The remarks made on the purpose of the Shell
Society are, generally speaking, applicable to the Pebble Society.
Instead of being attached to a shell, the magical powers are here
attached to a translucent pebble. The possibility for a greater
variability in the nature of the powers obtained was given by the fact
that all those who had had a vision of water, or its representative,
the pebble or the water-spirit, could become members. The water-spirit
was always associated with the granting of knowledge relating to
medicinal herbs and the power of healing sickness generally; and we
find in the society, consequently, a large preponderance of individuals
with such powers. The association between these powers and some
definite object, in this case the pebble, is not as intimate as that
found to exist between corresponding powers and a similar object in the
Shell Society; in other words, the shaman, as an individual, is more
prominent.
The most important association of the society is that connected with
the curing of disease. It would be erroneous to consider this function
as a secondary association, as it is conditioned by the fact that the
visions from the water-spirit would necessarily be connected with “the
powers” relating to medicinal herbs and their healing virtues.
5. _Medicine Dance._—The Medicine Dance, looked upon in its entirety,
is composed of a long course of preparation (now discontinued), the
Four Nights’ Preparation, the sweat-bath ceremony, the night and the
day divisions of the general ceremony, and the secret brush ceremony.
These ceremonies have all become amalgamated into a more or less firm
unit, whose individual characteristics we have touched upon before.
The society is known in Winnebago as _Mañkaⁿ′ni_, the word _mañkaⁿ′_,
meaning “medicine” in its medicinal aspect, as opposed to _wasê′_,
meaning “medicine” in its magical aspect. As far as can be seen from
a detailed study of the rituals, no prominence seems, however, to be
given to the therapeutic or herbalist aspect. There are, it is true,
medicines for general therapeutic practice and for hunting, fishing,
love, and especially for “bad” purposes. But in the ceremony as given
to-day, and as described by those well versed in the ritual of the
society, these medicines find no place.
There is, however, a very persistent exoteric interpretation of
the Medicine Dance, according to which the members are regarded
primarily as powerful shamans concerned preferably with the practice
of “bad” magic. In this practice they are greatly aided by the fact
that their membership in the society increases their magical powers,
especially that connected with the ability to transform themselves
into all kinds of animate and inanimate objects for the furtherance
of their evil designs. The most feared shamans—those who are
distinguished from all others by the possession of the iron moccasins
(_maⁿzua′gudjê_)—belonged to this society. This exoteric interpretation
does not, however, seem to tally with the designation _mankaⁿ′ni_.
Personally I think this term is a popular one, and has no real
significance as a characterization of the functions of the society,
at least to-day. This exoteric interpretation is in all probability
true to a certain extent. It would, however, be essential to determine
whether these shamanistic powers are characteristic of members as
individuals, and only secondarily connected with them as members of the
society, before we can properly understand their significance. That
membership was connected in any way with an increase of shamanistic
powers, is certainly improbable. These powers are unquestionably
identical with the general shamanistic and magical practices mentioned
previously in the Shell and Pebble Societies.
In other words, the general shamanistic and magical beliefs of the
tribe are found present in this society, as they are found in other
societies.
What would tend to minimize our considering these features as in any
way significant of the Medicine Dance, is the fact that there has been
no tendency to develop or emphasize any specific aspect of magic, and
that shamanistic practices are absent and appear entirely disassociated
from the society.
The purpose of the Medicine Dance is in part the desire to attain a
long life, a safe journey to the next world, and the possibility of
a return to this life again, preferably in human shape. All these
benefits may be obtained by taking an active part in the ceremony,
and by performing to the best of one’s ability all the duties of a
member. Although it is essential to participate in the entire ritual in
order to obtain these benefits to the fullest extent, nevertheless the
phenomena of shooting and being shot at play an especially important
rôle in this connection.
Long life means essentially the life consisting of a normal length of
years, with all the possessions of wealth, social and intellectual
distinction, that would naturally be included. Among the Winnebago,
this concept of years is very definite, because they believe that to
each individual has been assigned a life containing a certain number of
years, a certain amount of wealth, a certain number of enemies killed
on the warpath, etc. If a man, therefore, dies before he has reached
the end of his “predestined” life, the residue, it is hoped, will be
distributed among his relatives.
When in the Medicine Dance they pray for long life, what they mean is
the ability to surmount the crises of life. Whatever may be the nature
of these crises,—whether they relate to family disasters, sickness, old
age, etc.,—it is expected that they will be overcome by membership and
active participation in the society. There seems to be no suggestion
that this is attained through the influence of magic. It is mere
membership and obedience to the society’s teachings, ambition to raise
one’s status by purchasing more and more privileges, that accomplish
the desired end in view. The safe journey to the future world and the
belief in transmigration may be obtained in a similar way. If one
performs his duties and rises to the highest distinction, he will have
no difficulty in attaining his object and in successfully overcoming
all the obstacles to his passage.
The prayer for long life is specifically addressed to the Rabbit,
the mythical founder of the society, and indirectly addressed to
Earth-Maker (_maⁿ′’una_), the spirit who sent him to clear the earth of
the obstacles to man’s progress. It is the only prayer ever addressed
to him. No supernatural communication is possible. As a matter of
fact, it is only in this and in the Winter Feast that Earth-Maker is
associated with this specific power of granting long life.
It would be quite erroneous to imagine that the prayer for long life,
passage to the next world, and transmigration, are ideas specifically
connected with the Medicine Dance. As a matter of fact, they constitute
the characteristic cultural traits of the Winnebago, and crop out
everywhere in the folk-lore and in the general rituals. The question of
the safe passage to the next world is perhaps even more specifically
associated with the Four Nights’ Wake. The purpose of the wake is to
enable the deceased to successfully overcome the four great obstacles
on the road to the spirit home of his clan. This is accomplished,
first, by the performance of a definite ritual; and, secondly, by some
warrior relating one of his exploits on the warpath and putting at
the disposal of the deceased the spirit of the man he had killed, to
act as a servant to him. The close relation between the ethical worth
of the deceased and of the one who relates the exploit, on the one
hand, and the safe journey to the spirit world, on the other, comes
out as strongly here as it does in the Medicine Dance; but it seems
unnecessary, for that reason, to predicate any historical connection
between the two. They both reflect the cultural background around them.
Similarly the various elements that make up the life which the
members of the Medicine Dance pray for,—the food-supply, the power of
healing, success on the warpath, a normal quota of years,—these are
all definitely associated with spirits and ceremonials. Success in war
is associated, not with one society, but with a number of societies.
It would, however, be manifestly erroneous and unnecessary to claim
that it belongs essentially more to the one than to the other society,
unless direct historical proof for such a statement were forthcoming.
6. _Summary._—We are now in a better position to see in what the nature
of the complete ceremonial complex consists. The unit it consists of
is loose in the Ojibwa-Menominee, and strong in the Shell and Pebble
Societies and in the Medicine Dance. The specific component elements
are to a large extent different in each. It is utterly impossible now
to discover the origin of the differences in the individual component
elements; but it is quite clear that the forces tending to develop the
larger ceremonial complexes have been, not those of a dissociation, but
distinctly those of an association, of elements.
These associations may be of the most diverse kind. Certain features
may always have been associated with certain other elements, such as
medicinal herbs and medicines with the water-spirit, as in the case of
the Omaha and Winnebago. This, then, is for all practical purposes an
ultimate unit. If, consequently, we find an intimate connection between
a vision from the water-spirit and the practice of medicinal herbs, we
must not consider this as a secondary association that has come about
through the influence of a ceremony.
In the same way, the connection of the buffalo with the magical renewal
of the food-supply will probably have to be looked upon as such an
ultimate unit.
Our first object, therefore, when we find certain elements associated,
is to determine whether there is any reason for believing that we are
dealing with some such ultimate complex or unit.
On the other hand, when we find a magical ceremony for punishing
offenders (viewed from its social aspect) associated with the Shell
Society, or mortuary ceremonies associated with the Menominee
Midewiwin, these associations cannot be considered as being ultimately
connected with any particular aspect of the society’s function, as
the complexes which they form exhibit an extreme variability. Their
presence in various societies must be interpreted as secondary
associations of some kind. As secondary associations, however, they
may have been conditioned either by their specific nature or by the
specific development of the society. As such we might, for instance,
view either certain aspects of the shamanistic practices of the Ojibwa
Midewiwin, or the mortuary ceremonies connected with the Menominee
Midewiwin, or the punishment of offenders in the Shell Society.
When, however, we find cultural phenomena, which are generally
possessed by a tribe, associated in varying degrees with this or
that ceremonial, this association must be looked upon as due to the
influence of the cultural environment. This influence may be conceived
as setting in at any time during the historical development of the
ceremony, while the ceremony itself remains passive; as, for instance,
if the journey to the spirit land is connected with the Medicine Dance,
or with the wake, with the telling of truth, or with membership in
a clan. Here it is obviously the cultural environment that has been
active. If, however, the mide, united in an organization, develop
certain phases of this general cultural environment, such as magic and
shamanistic practices, in a specific way, we have a right to credit
this development as due to the activity of the society, and we have
consequently a real secondary association of definite practices with
an historically older organization. Of course, a good deal in this
particular case would be caused by the fact that the members are mide;
but after this historically preliminary stage, the Midewiwin became an
active unit as a society; and in this sense, if it then specifically
utilizes certain beliefs in a special manner, it can be said to be
secondarily associating them.
It is thus seen that the mechanism of the association is both
psychologically and historically highly complex. One thing, however,
seems to be quite demonstrable; namely, that there is always one
constant element,—the specific cultural background or type of each
tribe.
Bearing this in mind, the similarities in the association of the
Midewiwin of the Ojibwa-Menominee, the Medicine Dance of the Winnebago,
and the Shell and Pebble Societies of the Omaha, do not necessarily
indicate an historical relationship, but would most likely tend
to show that a number of ideas and customs were common to a large
cultural area. This does not of course interfere in the least with the
possibility of an historical connection, but this historical connection
must in each case be demonstrated. However, even if it were proved,
an historical connection alone cannot possibly explain the entire
phenomenon; for the cultural environment, if it is the same, will
condition general similarities and resemblances in ceremonies that
historically are quite unrelated, so that the convergent evolution thus
resulting will completely obscure at times the individual history of a
ceremony. It is, for instance, possible that historically the journey
to the spirit land was connected with the wake among the Winnebago. The
general prevalence of the same idea among so many social and ceremonial
groups to-day, however, makes it unjustifiable to assume such a
connection in the absence of any direct historical data; so that,
although there is to my mind little doubt that these associations are
all historically different, owing to the influence of certain general
cultural ideas, they present to-day the same picture.
It is quite safe to assume that, just as we have shown that the
shooting ceremony in the Medicine Dance is the borrowed initiation
ritual of the Midewiwin, so it would be possible to demonstrate, were
we in the possession of fuller historical data, that other elements
have been borrowed. However, when we have demonstrated the borrowing of
a certain element, we have only partially, and often only inadequately,
explained it. Its further explanation is possible only in terms of the
specific type of ceremony, and of the general cultural environment with
which it has been associated. Both of these may change. It does not
follow that because, among the Winnebago to-day, all the societies are
practically associations of individuals who have obtained supernatural
communication from this or that spirit, this was therefore always the
basis of the societies. To-day the Medicine Dance and the Night Spirit
or Sore-Eye Dance have a different type of organization. Originally the
latter had the former type, and the Medicine Dance may have had it. It
is, for instance, barely possible that we may in this case be dealing
with the beginning of a change of type of organization, and that,
similarly, types of organization preceded that, whose essence to-day
lies in the possession of common visions.
* * * * *
We have now finished the examination of a number of definite
ceremonies. Our object in analyzing them was to determine in what the
significance of the common elements lay, and what general historical
and psychological tendencies were operative in their growth. We may now
examine the results of our study in the light of Schurtz’s theory, and
examine the data upon which Schurtz based his theory in the light of
the leading points of view emphasized above.
VII. RÉSUMÉ AND CONCLUSION.—The main thesis Schurtz sought to establish
was the demonstration of the parallel historical development of society
as determined by certain psychological tendencies of the race. It is
of prime importance to remember that he claimed to have found certain
survivals by means of which he was able to reconstruct the stages in
the history of society. Initiation degrees, the exclusion of women,
etc., he considered “symptomatic” of these stages. His main object was
to prove the existence of these symptoms. Wherever he found them, he
was satisfied that he was dealing with vestiges of the stages through
which society had passed. All these symptoms, according to Schurtz, had
definite and specific connotations, and were associated with definite
and specific stages in the development of society.
We have seen, in the analysis of the ceremonies of a limited area, that
the common elements which were supposed to be symptomatic of historical
relationship had no such value, and that they entered into a number
of cultural complexes historically distinct one from another. In the
same way we will now examine the more fundamental symptoms—initiation,
degrees, and the exclusion of women—to see whether any specific
significance attaches to them, and whether they, too, have not become
associated with a number of cultural complexes historically distinct.
If they have thus become associated, then their value as criteria for
definite stages of social evolution is _nil_.
1. _Initiation._—It was our main purpose, in analyzing the above
ceremonies, to examine them quite apart from any theoretical
presuppositions. In so proceeding, we obtained as a resultant the fact
that initiation connoted psychologically and historically a number of
different things, and that this difference seemed dependent upon the
historical and psychological individuality of each tribe. To Schurtz,
however, initiation meant primarily an initiation into puberty, and
into that social status with which puberty has been so long and closely
associated,—an association that seemed, historically speaking, almost
an ultimate complex; namely, initiation into the tribe. He assumes that
if it is found to mean anything else, then this new meaning is either
a secondary association, or, preferably, an historical development
from the first conception. Carried out logically, we should therefore
have to consider initiation into a masonic order or into a college
fraternity as a transformation of an original tribal initiation. To
this, I think, Schurtz would have taken serious exception, on the
ground that we are here dealing with a purely rational and artificial
social group. But are we not to a certain extent dealing with the same
phenomenon in the primitive societies discussed?
In examining a phenomenon such as initiation, we must not forget
that it is, in a general way, absolutely conditioned by the specific
individuality of one man as opposed to that of another. The desire of
one man for participation in the possessions of another, or in those of
some differentiated group, is an ultimate fact for which we need give
no explanation. What is essential for our discussion is the realization
that the methods of this participation are infinite, depending entirely
upon the influence of cultural factors in the development of specific
areas, and of institutions within them. Thus initiation into the
Midewiwin is the transfer of certain mide powers; into the Pebble and
other Omaha Societies, a common vision; into the Medicine Dance, the
transfer of certain knowledge. This transfer or initiation is in no
way different from that which takes place between two individuals,
except that in the former case we are dealing with phenomena between an
individual on the one hand, and a group of individuals on the other.
This conception of initiation has become associated everywhere with
social and ceremonial groups. One may, for instance, be initiated into
a clan, into a name, into a family, etc.
To Schurtz, however, the concept of initiation is primarily associated
with puberty. His argument is that puberty is a physiological stage
through which every one must pass. The change to sexual maturity is so
important a fact, that it cannot possibly have escaped any tribe. It
follows that this physiological change must have been correlated with
a change in the position of the individual in the tribe. He will, for
instance, among other things, be less subjected to the influence of his
mother, and more to that of his father, etc.
All these general propositions are true; and it is also unquestionably
true that there has been a marked tendency for ceremonies to cluster
around that period of physiological change which we call puberty.
Similarly, in some cultural areas there has been a secondary, or,
if you wish, a constant association of puberty rites with a formal
adoption into the tribe. In Australia, for instance, the individual
does not become of active social importance until he has passed through
certain rites at the age of puberty.
The essential point, however, is whether he does not always become of
active social importance at about that age. He unquestionably does. We
cannot, therefore, assume offhand that it is the fact of puberty that
is being emphasized by the initiatory rites. This would be the case
only if we could prove that puberty is invariably associated with some
form of initiation. If it is not, then we must regard the clustering
of the concept of initiation around the age of puberty, among the
Australians and other tribes, as a cultural peculiarity of these
peoples.[28]
In other words, the beginning of the social importance of an individual
may be associated with puberty initiation rites. Initiation may,
however, be associated with any period of development. For instance,
among the Christians and Semites, it is found associated with birth in
the forms of baptism and circumcision; and just as with any age, so it
may become associated with any social or ceremonial unit. It can thus
become associated with entrance into a society; and we may consequently
say that a society is only one of the numerous cultural elements with
which initiation has become associated.
It is, however, a truism to state that initiation is essential for
group differentiation; excluding, of course, the case where membership
in a group is not synonymous with birth. When Schurtz, therefore,
reconstructs the evolution of initiation, and connects the initiation
into a society with that at puberty, he must have been guided by some
more fundamental facts than that of the presence of initiation. The
postulation of a genetic relationship between the two initiations lay
really in the fact that he detected in the form of initiation into
the society certain “symptoms” which he regarded as being primarily
associated with puberty initiation. These symptoms were the presence of
“tests” as essential for admission into a society; and group-initiation
or the initiation of a number of youths at the same time. That he was
thinking of tests in the most general way, can be seen by the following
statement. “Das Austeilen von Schlägen ... im Duk-Duk hängt wohl mit
den Mutproben der Knabenweihe zusammen.”[29] It is hardly necessary to
insist that the test concept used in this generalized manner is found
associated with the ordinary forms of eligibility; so that, wherever
the idea of eligibility is associated with a social or ceremonial
group, there it will be natural to find tests. There is no need of
giving any examples: they must occur to every one. The test feature
must consequently be considered so general a cultural possession that
its association with diverse cultural phenomena is quite natural, and
its significance will in each case depend upon specific conditions.
We cannot, therefore, predicate any general significance for the
association of the test feature in specific cultural complexes.
Schurtz’s second symptom comes out strongly in his discussion of
the Ruk-Ruk Society of Northern Bougainville.[30] We have here, he
says, a remarkable connecting link between simple men’s associations
(_Männerbünde_), firmly established by puberty rites and secret
societies. He arrives at this conclusion, because he finds it customary
there to have a group of youths initiated into the society at the same
time. Here both the youth of the novices and the group initiation are
emphasized as being symptomatic of a development from former men’s
associations (_Männerbünde_).
It must, however, be remembered, as we have said before, that a man
becomes socially active at about the age of puberty, and that his
social activity will naturally take those channels customary in a
given tribe. The fact that a youth enters a society like the Ruk-Ruk,
to which most members of the tribe belong, should not excite wonder.
As a matter of fact, we should find it necessary to explain why he
did not join. His failure to become a member would most certainly be
associated, in such a case, with a low social status. What is to be
emphasized here is not the youth of the novices, but the intellectual
development occurring at that age. This comes out clearly in the case
of the Duk-Duk, where the parents generally purchase membership for
their children immediately after birth. Young children behave like
regularly initiated members, but they only become active members at the
age of sixteen. Similarly in the Winnebago Medicine Dance individuals
may be initiated in early childhood, but it is at a much later period
that they possess the powers of adult members. As a matter of fact,
admission depends upon so large a number of factors in different
societies, that it would be possible to draw up a table that would
include all ages from birth to old age.
In the same way the initiation of a group of individuals at one time
depends upon too large a number of factors to permit any single
interpretation. The burden of proof rests with Schurtz to show that the
presence of a specific test connects the Ruk-Ruk Society with puberty
rites, and that the presence of a group initiation in the Duk-Duk
connects that society with the men’s associations.
Perhaps a few examples might bring out more clearly the different kinds
of initiation.
In the Ruk-Ruk Society the novices retire to the woods, work for their
sponsors, lay out their plantations, etc. They are also supposed
to converse with spirits.[31] Similar conditions are found in the
Matambala Society of the Island of Florida.[32] This retirement to
the woods and to a holy precinct, and consequent re-appearance, are
characteristic of a large number of initiations. The work the novice
performs for his sponsor must also be regarded as a characteristic of
this area. The tests of the novice have been spoken of before. They
are, as might be expected, of the most diverse kind. In Fiji, for
instance, a ceremonial attack upon the novices occurs, which is said to
symbolize their death.[33]
In Africa we find many of the characteristics noted above. In the
Purrah the novices retire to a holy precinct, and are said to
endure extreme hardship. Only warriors thirty years of age can be
initiated.[34] In the Mumbo-Djumbo only youths older than sixteen are
admitted.[35] The other conditions are similar to those of the Purrah.
In the Simo organization novices were circumcized and lived seven years
in the woods.[36] In the Mwetyi Society, in addition to probations, the
youths adopt a taboo of certain foods or drinks, to which they remain
faithful ever after.[37] In the Ndembo Society novices are shot by a
rattle, and fall down as if dead. They are then carried away to some
holy precinct, where often as many as from twenty to fifty individuals
remain at the same time. At this place they stay sometimes as long as
three years. Their bodies are supposed to disintegrate during this
time. When they are supposed to return, the shaman gathers their bones
and restores them to life. On the return to their villages, they behave
like unknown children, fail to recognize their relatives, to understand
their own language, etc.[38] In the Nkimba similar conditions are
found.[39]
The variability of the method and concept of initiation is thus
seen to be enormous. It might be interesting in this connection to
point out how certain ideas will cluster around initiation in one
large geographical area, and how the same ideas will cluster around
a different cultural complex in another large geographical area.
For instance, in the South Seas and in Africa, initiation is found
generally associated with tests or probations; whereas in North America
tests are not associated with initiation into the society, but with the
obtaining of visions at the age of puberty.
2. _Degrees._—To Schurtz, degrees are symptomatic of age classes.
Wherever he finds them in societies, and wherever they seem to be
correlated with certain ages, he concludes that they are vestiges of
former age groups. However, he seems to have overlooked one fact,—that
the same social and individual forces that would tend toward the
formation of societies would necessarily tend toward the development
of distinctions within them. It will depend entirely upon the nature
of the people and the individual history of the organization, in
what manner these distinctions will be emphasized. One of the
possible methods of emphasizing them is marking off those with common
possessions in some definite manner. Here, again, much will depend upon
the kind of group into which the individual is initiated. If, when
he enters the society, he is initiated into all that pertains to it,
gradations will not be likely to arise. Generally, however, there is
certainly a marked tendency for some sort of gradation, be it due to
length of membership, insistence upon separate payments, unwillingness
of the older members to impart all to a new member who may withal be
quite young, a desire to impart piecemeal in order to enhance the value
of the teachings, etc. Whether these possible lines of cleavage will
associate themselves with definite markings or rites, is a question
of individual cultural development. They may or they may not. In
Melanesia, for instance, they did not.
In the Ruku-Ruku[40] of the Fiji Islanders we find three
gradations,—those of uninitiated youths, grown-up men, and old men.
In the Purrah[41] there were two gradations, consisting respectively
of those over thirty and of those over fifty years. In the Egbo[42]
Society there are eleven degrees, into which membership may be
purchased one after the other in an ascending scale. In Old Calabar[43]
there are five classes.
In the Purrah we are dealing with an exceedingly intricate complex,
in which military and judicial functions are quite prominent. The age
factor seems secondary and artificial. In the Egbo there is no age
factor at all. In the Ruku-Ruku an age factor exists. Owing to the
social value of the Ruku-Ruku, all individuals seem to be potential
members at birth. At the same time, the oldest members always have
specific functions to perform. In this way two groups are formed.
Those who do not belong to these two groups belong to the third group.
All that can be said here is, that a society has utilized a rough
age factor for specific purposes. That in reality the entire tribe
is divided into three divisions, is due to the fact that all the
members of the tribe are members of the society. This is therefore
not a phenomenon that has any general significance in the evolution
of society, but is purely and simply a phenomenon of certain secret
societies. The threefold division is not due to a persistence of a
former threefold division of the tribe, but grew out of the needs of
a specific society. The same remarks hold for the twofold division
of members in the Purrah. Similarly the four and eight degrees found
among the Ojibwa Midewiwin are due to a development within the
society. To-day practically all the members of the tribe belong to the
Midewiwin, and the tribe may be said to be divided into four divisions.
(However, in this case the main element, that of the association of a
certain age with a certain degree, does not exist, because there is no
fixed age at which a man buys admission into the higher degrees.)
It will consequently be necessary to determine the significance of
degrees in each particular case before any general significance can be
attached to them.
3. _Exclusion of Women._—The admission of women into a society is,
according to Schurtz, a secondary feature. This followed directly from
his negative position with regard to women’s _Geselligkeitstrieb_,
and from his assumption that societies were merely transformed
men’s associations, which in turn were transformed age groups. The
question of the _Geselligkeitstrieb_ of women hardly lends itself
to any accurate discussion, as, generally speaking, women have not
been surrounded by those conditions which played an important part in
developing that trait among men. In our own civilization, where men and
women are to a certain extent subjected to the same conditions, a large
number of women societies has developed, and large numbers of women
have been admitted into men’s societies. Among us, this admission of
women is due to the fact that they are now in the same industries that
men are. However, there are manifold factors which can and do bring
about the admission of women into men’s societies or their exclusion
therefrom. The nature of some societies may exclude men, just as it may
exclude women. A soldiers’ society will exclude women, because women
are not soldiers. Similarly a sewing society will probably exclude
men. The exclusion of women will therefore depend upon the specific
functions of a society; but the right of women to participate in
certain activities will again depend upon the manner in which each
specific culture area separated the spheres of action of men and women.
The possibility of infinite variation must force upon us the conclusion
that we can only begin to investigate the reasons for the exclusion or
admittance of women when we have a clear understanding of the ideas
each tribe possesses with regard to the specific functions of the men
and women. This determination is in a large number of cases utterly
impossible, because we are in no position to know whether the reasons
now given are historically the true ones. If, for instance, in a men’s
college fraternity women are debarred on the ground that the fraternity
is interested in fencing, card-playing, etc., which are occupations of
men, historically this is not the true reason. Originally fraternities
were merely social gatherings of individuals who attended a college.
There were no women students to admit. To-day, when women attend the
colleges, wherever new fraternities arise, women are admitted. It is
thus apparent, that, in the absence of historical evidence, we must be
extremely careful in interpreting the reason for this exclusion.
In Melanesia, for example, women are entirely excluded from the
societies. However, in Melanesia, societies are associated with a
multitude of religious and social functions in which women are not
permitted to participate. In other words, the Melanesians draw the line
of demarcation between the activities of men and women along these
lines. If, for instance, in the New Hebrides, women have nothing to do
with the funeral and mortuary rites, and a secret society is intimately
connected with such rites, then we ought not to be surprised that women
are not admitted into the society. It seems to me, therefore, that we
should make much better progress in our study of this phenomenon in
Melanesia and in Polynesia, if we were first to examine whether either
the conceptions of the tribe, or the nature of the specific society, or
the cultural elements with which it was associated, debarred women from
membership.
A few examples from Africa will emphasize this point even more
forcibly, and at the same time indicate along what lines the respective
spheres of men’s and women’s actions are drawn there. In the Purrah
Society, women are excluded. The society has general war and judicial
functions which do not come within the domain of women, according to
the ideas of the tribe. In the Attonga Society[44] of Senegambia, only
women are admitted, and the society is associated with mortuary rites.
In the Dschengu we have another women society connected here with the
cult of some water deity.[45] In the region around the mouth of the
Ogowe there are a number of powerful women societies associated with
various elements.[46]
If we now proceed to Schurtz’s contention, that women societies are
merely imitations of men’s societies, we shall see that, as a general
statement, this is as unjustified as is his interpretation that the
admission of women into societies is a secondary feature. That it
is true in a number of cases, is unquestioned. However, when, as in
Africa, we see a very strong tendency for the formation of societies,
and see at the same time a very large number of women societies, it
seems far more justifiable to assume that the women societies are
formed in response to the same tendencies as those of men. To judge
from parallels in other parts of the world, it is extremely likely that
women will form societies wherever men show a strong tendency to do so.
A number of factors may, however, interfere with a development of such
societies. For instance, it is quite plausible that where, as among the
Melanesians, a strong society-forming tendency existed, and women did
not participate in it, some strong reason existed which might perhaps
be ascribed to the fact that women do not there participate in those
rites that are almost universally associated with societies.
In North America there are numerous examples of women belonging to
men’s societies. A cursory examination will bring out what were the
possible factors at work there. In the Objibwa-Menominee Midewiwin,
women are admitted. Now, in the Ojibwa-Menominee culture, women may
become shamans as well as men, and the society based on shamans will
naturally include both sexes. If there are fewer women than men, this
is because fewer women become shamans. In the Winnebago Medicine Dance,
wealth and certain requirements possessed by both men and women are the
only essentials for admission; and both sexes can accordingly become
members. In the present Sore-Eye Dance, women are admitted. Formerly
the same society, known as the Night Dance, excluded women. The
reason is very simple. Formerly, supernatural communication with the
night spirits was essential for membership, and owing to the specific
associations attached to these night spirits, women never obtained
visions from them. When subsequently it was no more essential to have
had a vision, and membership could be purchased by any one, women were
admitted. Among the Blackfoot, women are part members of the religious
society, because, according to Blackfoot ideas of property, the former
have a part in the medicine-bundle of the man. The possession of the
medicine-bundle is necessary for admission into the society.[47] It is
thus apparent that the explanation for the exclusion of women from a
society must lie in a large number of factors, not the least important
of which is the nature of the specific ideas of property and the
respective spheres of activity of men and women.
4. _Functions of the Society._—Our analysis of the five ceremonies
has clearly established the differences in the functions of the
societies. To Schurtz these differences were due to developments from
one historically primary function. His line of argument is a direct
consequence of his assumption that secret societies have developed from
the men’s associations.
If we glance at the West African, the Melanesian, the Polynesian,
North American, and our own societies, we see that their functions are
legion. Now, it can be demonstrated that where the whole or a large
part of the tribe is included in a society, that society will possess
many of the functions of the tribe, because individuals are primarily
carriers of their culture, and secondarily members of a society; or,
it might be better said that these two functions of an individual are
so inextricably connected that they cannot be thought of apart. It
can also be demonstrated that specific societies have associated with
them a variety of functions. In each case we are dealing with the
same phenomenon. The number of possible combinations is practically
infinite. It is, however, a suggestive fact that certain functions of a
society are distributed over large areas. In Melanesia, for instance,
the most constant functions of societies seem to be those connected
with mortuary rites and ancestor worship. In Africa, again, they are
primarily judicial and administrative. In the case of our five North
American ceremonies, they are religious and magical. For the latter our
explanation lay in assuming that we were dealing there with a common
cultural background. The same explanation holds true for Melanesia and
Africa. In other words, societies, like all other social units in which
an individual takes part, must necessarily associate themselves with
the cultural background in which they are set.
5. _Conclusion._—The study we have undertaken can only indirectly be
considered an examination of Schurtz’s theories. What we have attempted
is the analysis of a number of ceremonies, in order to discover what
tendencies were operative in their growth. These examples, combined
with others taken from the South Seas and Africa, have demonstrated
clearly that there exist in the world certain general ideas that
may associate themselves with any type of social and ceremonial
organization. Ceremonies in origin historically distinct may thus come
to possess general and often specific resemblances. It is consequently
of extreme importance, in any scheme of social reconstruction, to
determine first whether the common elements in the ethnological data
compared are not due to such a convergent evolution.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The description of the ritual is based on material collected by me,
and now in the possession of the Bureau of American Ethnology. The full
description will appear as a memoir of the Bureau.
[2] X’okê′ means literally “root” or “ancestor.” “Ancestor-host” will
be used as its equivalent.
[3] This word means literally “he who puts himself in the place to
benefit his relatives.” The reference is to the Rabbit, who, at the
first performance of the ceremony, acted as host and initiated his
relatives; i. e., the human beings.
[4] The speeches are not actually rehearsals of speeches to be
delivered during the ceremony proper, but they refer to the purpose of
the Medicine Dance much in the same way as do some of the speeches in
the ceremony proper. A large number of miscellaneous myths are likewise
related.
[5] This has been contradicted by some of my informants, who claim
that only the East and North Bands have representatives at the brush
ceremony.
[6] _Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology_, vol. vii, p.
188, diagram.
[7] _Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology_, vol. vii, pp.
245, 255–274.
[8] _Ibid._, p. 257.
[9] _Ibid._, pp. 167–181.
[10] _Ibid._, p. 168.
[11] _Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology_, vol. xiv, p.
69.
[12] Compare diagram, _ibid._, p. 75.
[13] _Ibid._, p. 75.
[14] Heinrich Schurtz, _Altersklassen und Männerbünde_, 1902; cf.
especially pp. 1–82.
[15] Wherever the phrase “instinct for association” is used, it is an
attempt to render the German _Geselligkeitstrieb_.
[16] S. R. Riggs, Dakota Grammar and Texts.
[17] Hoffman, in _Annual Report of Bureau of American Ethnology_, vol.
vii.
[18] _Ibid._, vol. xiv.
[19] Boas, The Social Organization and the Secret Societies of the
Kwakiutl Indians (_Annual Report of the U. S. National Museum for
1895_, p. 485).
[20] Migis is the Ojibwa term for the shell used in the Midewiwin. It
is employed here as a convenient term to designate the objects used by
the Winnebago and Omaha in shooting.
[21] Alanson Skinner (MS.).
[22] Frances Densmore, “Chippewa Music” (_Bureau of American
Ethnology_, Bulletin 45). Washington, Government, 1910.
[23] _Annual Archaeological Report, 1905_ (Report of Minister of
Education, Ontario), p. 146.
[24] _Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology_ (1905–06),
vol. xxvii.
[25] _Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology_ (1905–06),
vol. xxvii.
[26] In the Cheyenne Medicine Arrow Society a similar association
occurs.
[27] Miss Fletcher, in _Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology_, vol.
xxvii.
[28] Van Gennep, in a very interesting chapter on “Initiatory Rites”
(Chapter VI of his _Les Rites de Passage_), has divided puberty into
two divisions,—_puberté physique_ and _puberté sociale_,—and has shown
that the age variations of both are considerable. He insists that many
writers have considerably obscured the points at issue by confusing
the two. Van Gennep believes that the _puberté physique_ and _puberté
sociale_ rarely fall together. It seems to me that this is not entirely
borne out by the facts of the case; for it must be remembered that,
accompanying the physiological changes at puberty, there are mental
changes which in many cases permit an individual to become of active
social importance; and while I think that it is this social activity
that is emphasized by the initiatory rites, nevertheless the fact must
not be overlooked that this social activity often coincides with the
physiological puberty. We must, of course, not identify physiological
puberty with any too definite a time, but allow for considerable
fluctuations.
[29] Schurtz, Altersklassen und Männerbünde, p. 376.
[30] _Ibid._, p. 379.
[31] Schurtz, Altersklassen und Männerbünde, pp. 378 ff.
[32] _Ibid._, p. 379.
[33] _Ibid._, pp. 386 ff.
[34] _Ibid._, pp. 410–413.
[35] _Ibid._, pp. 413–415.
[36] _Ibid._, p. 415.
[37] _Ibid._, pp. 430 ff.
[38] _Ibid._, pp. 433–435.
[39] _Ibid._, pp. 435–437.
[40] Schurtz, Altersklassen und Männerbünde, p. 386.
[41] _Ibid._, p. 410.
[42] _Ibid._, p. 420.
[43] _Ibid._, p. 422.
[44] Schurtz, Altersklassen und Männerbünde, p. 416.
[45] _Ibid._, p. 426.
[46] Schurtz, Altersklassen und Männerbünde, p. 429.
[47] Oral communication of Dr. Wissler.
Transcriber’s Notes:
- Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
- Blank pages have been removed.
- In the section on types of ritual, (8) appears out of order, as in
the original.
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RITUAL AND SIGNIFICANCE OF
THE WINNEBAGO MEDICINE DANCE ***
Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will
be renamed.
Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the
United States without permission and without paying copyright
royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™
concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following
the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use
of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for
copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very
easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation
of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project
Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away--you may
do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected
by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark
license, especially commercial redistribution.
START: FULL LICENSE
THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free
distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project
Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at
www.gutenberg.org/license.
Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project
Gutenberg™ electronic works
1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™
electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your
possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the
person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph
1.E.8.
1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be
used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this
agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™
electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the
Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual
works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting
free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™
works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily
comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when
you share it without charge with others.
1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no
representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
country other than the United States.
1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear
prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work
on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the
phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed,
performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where
you are located before using this eBook.
1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is
derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project
Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™
trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted
with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works
posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
beginning of this work.
1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™
License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™.
1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
Gutenberg™ License.
1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format
other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official
version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website
(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain
Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the
full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works
unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
provided that:
• You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method
you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has
agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation.”
• You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™
License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™
works.
• You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
receipt of the work.
• You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.
1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than
are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of
the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set
forth in Section 3 below.
1.F.
1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™
electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
cannot be read by your equipment.
1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right
of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGE.
1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
without further opportunities to fix the problem.
1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you “AS-IS”, WITH NO
OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
remaining provisions.
1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in
accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™
electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or
additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any
Defect you cause.
Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™
Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of
electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
from people in all walks of life.
Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™'s
goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will
remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future
generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at
www.gutenberg.org
Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation
The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit
501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
The Foundation's business office is located at 809 North 1500 West,
Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up
to date contact information can be found at the Foundation's website
and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation
Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without
widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest
array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
status with the IRS.
The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular
state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate
While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
approach us with offers to donate.
International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation
methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate
Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be
freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of
volunteer support.
Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed
editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
edition.
Most people start at our website which has the main PG search
facility: www.gutenberg.org
This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™,
including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
