Chapter 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.