Part 2

The native flora is about the same at both Lac du Flambeau and Leech Lake, and the species are by no means as varied as on the Menomonie Reservation. They make full use of everything that occurs with them except the adventive or introduced plants. They recognize regular types of soil as sources of their medicinal plants. Sandy meadows, sandy wastes, lakes, still ponds, swamps, upland swamps, rocky openings in the forest, evergreen forests, and hardwood forests all are searched for distinctive plants. The greatest number of species of native plants are found in the composite family and we find the Ojibwe making more use of these than any other tribe. The heath family contributes many species and is important to them. Grasses and sedges, while numerous in species are not so well known to them, although here again they use more species than the neighboring tribes.

John Whitefeather, of the Couderay Ojibwe, who adopted the writer into their tribe, related their origin myth. Briefly it is as follows: There has always been a controversy among the whites as to whether such an Indian as Hiawatha ever lived. Hiawatha is the name that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow gave to their cultural hero, Winabojo. Hiawatha or Winabojo was never seen by man, although sometimes both names have been used for proper names among the Ojibwe. Their great spirit or ruler of the universe was named Dzhe Manido.

According to Whitefeather, Winabojo was the one who caused the deluge that covered the world and was responsible for building it again. Winabojo was sitting at the mouth of a big river and noticed a stick bobbing up and down near the middle of the stream. He thought it was curious that it was not carried on down stream to the big lake and further thought that it would be fun to sit on the stick. So he swam out and sat on it. Dzhe Manido had told him two phrases, one of which he might sing to himself, which is translated “Lake must close in” and the other was “Lake should spread out”, and he must not say that. Winabojo became curious to see what would happen if he repeated the second of these phrases. He said it. Immediately the stick sank and he fell under. He swam back to the top but could discover no land. Other animals were swimming around, so he requested muskrat to dive down and get him some mud from the bottom of the lake. Muskrat dived down but it was too far and he drowned. The martin tried it and drowned. The otter tried it and drowned. Then beaver tried it and obtained some mud, but died as he reached the surface. Winabojo took the mud that remained between the claws of beaver and rolled it into a little ball. Winabojo made this ball grow as he rolled it around in his hands, while the animals swam around him. Finally the ball grew large enough for the fox to jump upon it and run around. Then it grew larger until all the animals could get upon it.

So Winabojo and the animals were the first inhabitants and Winabojo put the plants upon the world. Winabojo lived in a little valley with his grandmother, Nokomis. Against her wishes, he went on a voyage of exploration, leaving his valley to climb a hill. In the next valley he saw a lot of people all dancing and he wanted to dance with them. So he went down and danced all day, though none of them spoke to him or said a word to each other. When the wind died down at sunset, he discovered them to be only cattails, so he started back home. On his way he was approached by Cumpa. No one knows who sent Cumpa there, but we think that it was Dzhe Manido. Nokomis had told him that there were inhabitants somewhere on the earth. Winabojo sat down with Cumpa and they talked over the matter of how to regulate the world. In their conference they developed the medicine lodge idea and the Ojibwe count Winabojo as its founder. The painted post that they erect in their medicine lodge represents Winabojo. It is carved to resemble a human form, but not too closely, as they wish it to be understood that Winabojo is a god and not a human being.

Winabojo started during the month of July to hunt for the inhabitants of the earth and finally found them in the latter part of December or early January. Then he stayed with them for several months, teaching them the secrets of the medicine lodge. He told them how they must gather roots and what songs they must sing. A specimen song and its meaning is here given.

Nin ba ba odjiˈbîke _I go to gather roots;_

oˈoˈweˈdasaˈssema _here is tobacco;_

mînode ni nowi nîmîcîn _Give me direct guidance,_

gi wedjiˈbîkeiˈen _You,-maker of roots_

da mino wi djiˈbîkeiˈan. _That I may get the proper roots._

Their story of creation is the common one among the northern Algonkians. They believe that all objects, both animate and inanimate possess some mysterious power, and speak of that power as the manido that dwells in it. On the Lac du Flambeau Reservation, the writer saw two or three large stones, shown in plate 48, fig. 2, that were thought to be spirit rocks. They also believed that the spirit of the departed brave often returns to the grave, as long as the body has not turned to dust. They often buried the body in a sitting position facing west, or in a shallow grave on its back or side, making a mound, over which bark, birch poles or boards were erected, to form a little grave house, as shown in plate 51, fig. 2. This, they believe to be often inhabited by the spirit of the departed one which they occasionally feed with wild rice or dried jerky (deer meat) through a small opening. According to McKenney,[91] the Ojibwe of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, buried their dead in a box which was elevated upon a platform of poles. Mourning for the departed usually lasted a year, unless some medicine man shortened the time, or a relative performed some notable feat in war.

Their religion was the teachings of their Grand Medicine society or midewiwin. The Ojibwe are probably the strictest disciples of this society of any of our Wisconsin Indians and the part played by plants is the greatest of any factor. Things other than plants were used, such as rattlesnake meat, duck bones, clay and feathers, but these were so far in the minority that they are scarcely worth mentioning. According to the Ojibwe, every plant is medicine; if not to your particular informant, then to some other medicine man or woman. It was a matter of finding the proper informant to get the correct name and use. Consequently, in the field we gathered every tree, shrub, perennial or annual, herb or grass we encountered. All of these being medicinal plants were thus sacred to them and must be secured with the proper mide ceremony. This consisted of an explanatory song, and the offering of tobacco to grandmother, the earth, and Winabojo, their cultural hero.

The constant effort of the Government to educate the Indian is resulting in the gradual discarding of the medicine lodge ceremonies. The Ojibwe, who have stayed on the frontier of civilization, are among the last to change, and have clung tenaciously to their medicine society. As with other Wisconsin Indians, the Ojibwe love their children dearly and are rarely harsh to them. The children are taught to dance at an early age and while subsequent education may make them forget the names and uses of medicinal plants, they never forget the dance tunes and steps. It is a common conception among white men that it is useless to educate an Indian. Too many have agreed with Mark Twain that “the only good Indian is a dead one.” Stories are related concerning Indian college graduates that revert to the tepee and to the dog feast. Some of these may be true, but according to Indian psychology, there is nothing disgraceful about this. It is the fallacy of the white man in trying to impose his culture on other peoples and in always assuming that it is superior to any other way of living. We are prone to point to the exceptional fall from grace, and forget about the many who have made a success of their life according to our standards. There are many full-blooded Indian men and women in Milwaukee, who are useful citizens. Many Milwaukee men and women are proud of the Indian strain in their blood. Education has been of great assistance to the Ojibwe, who have many times proven that they have the same capabilities as their white brothers. The Indian has the same anatomical characteristics as the Caucasian race and is capable of going far along the road of education.

Since the field work among the Ojibwe was completed in 1923 and 1924, some scattering members of the tribe have adopted the peyote lodge. The Ojibwe are fond of visiting and, in the summer time, some are always away on visits to other tribes in Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, the Dakotas, Kansas or Oklahoma. The old idea of fighting other tribes was forgotten long ago and they feel that all red men are their brothers. Those Ojibwe who have visited the Winnebago Indians in Wisconsin have been especially influenced to adopt the peyote cult. This rarely happens where the Ojibwe live in close contact with their tribesmen on reservations. But several live as isolated families on the shores of our northern lakes, and when they adopt the peyote religion they throw overboard all of their medicine lodge paraphernalia and beliefs.

The members of the peyote cult, chew and swallow the peyote buttons which are the button-shaped branches of a cactus (_Lophophora williamsii_) found in Texas, New Mexico and Old Mexico. The practice is said to have originated among the Indians of old Mexico. Under its narcotic influence the peyote Indian claims to see in a vision and to commune with Jesus Christ, who gives him the rule of conduct for his life. The Indians justify their use of peyote by comparing it to the sacramental wine of the white man. However, peyote carries a governmental disapproval and the Indian police are supposed to be vigilantly alert for peyote. A jail sentence, as well as confiscation of the supply of peyote, is meted out to any member they can detect using it.

Another type of ceremonial dance used by the Ojibwe, and in fact by all of the forest Indians of Wisconsin, is the dream dance, such as is shown in plate 47, fig. 1. While this is sacred, it is not performed in secret, and the white people are often invited to come and witness these dances. They do come from many miles away to see the Indian dances and games. At the Lac du Flambeau Reservation, they perform several kinds of dances, such as the corn dance, the warrior dance, the prisoner dance, the deer hunt dance, and many others.

One dance in particular was brought back from Oklahoma by Anawabi. It is called the “Squaw Dance.” In it men and women dance together, as shown in figure 20 of the Museum’s Yearbook for 1923. Anawabi, the medicine man, was credited with powers of witchcraft as well as healing. A young Ojibwe boy sick with pneumonia, told his parents in a delirium that Anawabi had come and was taking his breath away. His parents believed him, and he eventually died, but before he did, some friend hastened to Anawabi and Anawabi stood not on the order of his going, but left at once for Oklahoma where he stayed two years. He probably witnessed the modern two step among the Oklahoma Indians, which they called the “Squaw Dance.” It is distinctly opposed to the Indian way of dancing. It has always been the custom for women to remain in the background at any of the old time dances, dancing by themselves, outside and back of the circle or group of the men. For them to take an equal part in a dance seems out of place. This caused a rift in the tribe, and the older residents at the old Flambeau village will have nothing to do with such dances.

The participants in the dream dance usually dress in all of their native finery and nowadays wear many ornaments that are not of Ojibwe origin. While under the spell of the singing and drumming, the dancers assume a smiling face and are usually oblivious to the presence of any spectators.

The Ojibwe use two types of drums. One is the large dream-dance drum, about two feet in diameter and fourteen inches deep. The other is a tambourine-shaped drum of rawhide only a couple of inches thick and possibly ten inches in diameter, suspended by a loop of sinew, decorated with human figures, and beaten with the hands or a smaller bone drum stick. This drum is used in games and the songs differ considerably for the various games. La Crosse, the woman’s shinny game, the bowl and dice game, the moccasin game and others are all announced by preliminary songs from the chief, who accompanies himself on the game drum.

In writing this bulletin, the system adopted in previous bulletins will be followed. Plants not found to be of use are included in this list, as other investigators may find that they were used. The listing of each plant will be by family and English names, followed by the Latin binomial according to Gray’s Manual of Botany, then the Ojibwe name and its literal translation, if that be known. Following this will be the uses, methods of use, supposed properties, its value as an official or eclectic drug by the whites, and any known myth connected with it. The same procedure will be followed in the other subheadings under investigation, viz.: foods, fibers, dyes, and plants of miscellaneous uses such as utility, good luck charms, love potions and so on.

OJIBWE MEDICINES

The Ojibwe are probably the best informed and the strictest observers of the medicine lodge ceremonies in the country. Their knowledge of plants both in their own environment and far away is probably the best of any group of Indians. While their flora is not so rich in species as that of Indians farther south, they make trips far away from their home to obtain necessary plants.

As among the white people, one plant may bear several common names, according to different individuals in different sections of the country, and again, one name may be given to several plants, as in the case of plants used as “revivers”. Yet, there is an agreement in names of Lac du Flambeau and Leech Lake Ojibwe, that well checks information received. The name is usually descriptive, just as their names for animals usually are either descriptive or representative of the cry or note uttered by the animal, like “ko-ko-ko-o”, the hoot owl, or “ka-ka-ka”, the raven or crow. The medicine name usually tells what the plant looks like, where it may be found, some peculiar taste or property, or its chief use. Often a termination is added signifying the plural of a noun or the part of the plant used, such as the wood, the leaf, the flower, the root, or the berry or fruit.

It is worth noting that they understand the proper time to gather the plant part. At times, the medicinal qualities are inert, undeveloped or dispersed by being too old. Much of the knowledge of white men originated from studying the Indian plant uses, in the early days. Eclectic practitioners sought the Indian herbs and observed carefully what parts of the plant were used. This mass of early information was sifted scientifically by the students of medicine, and finally tested physiologically on animals. Perhaps sixty-five per cent of their remedies were found to be potent and are included in our pharmacopoeas; the other thirty-five per cent were discovered to be valueless medicinally. All of the references to uses of the plants by white men were obtained from the 1916 edition of the National Standard Dispensatory, by Hare, Caspari & Rusby.

The medicine man depended largely upon his reputation and often cured fancied diseases by shamanistic suggestions. His peculiar incantations to the patient to inspire confidence and induce the patient to think he was getting well, often worked, as it works in the case of quack doctors and credulous white men. The young man who had the proper dream following the period of fasting in his youth, predicting his predilection towards the medicine man’s profession, was taken through a rigorous course of training. Individual knowledge was handed down through the family. Instruction to boys and girls usually comes from the uncle or aunt, and if they have no natural uncle or aunt, then one is assigned to them. This is considered the closest relationship among Wisconsin Indians, and when one is adopted into the tribe and given a medicine bag, it will be through the sponsorship of an uncle for his nephew. Among the Ojibwe, both at Lac du Flambeau and at Lac Court Oreilles, the writer is known as Shagashkandawe “Flying Squirrel,” which they say was the name of a famous old chief and medicine man.

The Ojibwe still use the songs essential to digging medicine roots. Jack Doud, the old scout captain of the Civil War, of the old Flambeau village, told the writer that Winabojo, their deity, had received the seeds of all plants from Dzhe Manido, the creator of the universe, and that Winabojo had given them to Nokomis, grandmother, the Earth, to keep in her bosom, for the use of the Indians. Jack Doud also said that Winabojo took some of the native foods from his own body. He said that Winabojo pulled out a little pinch of flesh and threw it on the ground telling it to grow there as _mandamin_ or corn for the Indians. Another pinch yielded squash, another beans and so on until Winabojo had very little flesh left on his body. In other words, the Indians did not know the sources of their cultivated crops, and had invented this tradition to attempt to explain their presence.

As with other Algonkians, the Ojibwe place tobacco in the cavity from which they dig the root, as an offering to Grandmother Earth, to Winabojo, and to Dzhe Manido, praying in song to these deities to make their chosen medicine potent. The medicine man or woman is usually distinguished by two long braids of hair over either shoulder. They are usually shrewd diagnosticians, and depend upon their senses for discovering the ailment. They feel the pulse rate, look at the pupils of the eyes, at the condition of the tongue, at the complexion variation, feel the body temperature and inquire where the pain is felt. From these symptoms they diagnose the disease. Usually they want time to dream over the case, and drink a draught of their own dream-inducing medicine before going to sleep. In a vision or dream, they are directed to the proper medicine to use, and concoct it the following day. External afflictions are treated with lotions or poultices, while internal troubles are almost invariably treated with a medicinal tea. The ingredients are steeped in lukewarm water, and copious draughts are prescribed several times a day. The writer has taken such draughts of various medicines and finds them not unpleasant to the taste. Bitter and nauseous ingredients are usually disguised by “seasoners” which they add to make them taste good. The time alloted for a cure is usually four days, their sacred number, and unless there is marked improvement in the patient at the end of that period, the medicine man will change the treatment.

Some of the medicine men have “tattooing outfits”, which are not really tattooing outfits as we understand the term, but rather blood-letting instruments. Sharp fish teeth are mounted at the end of a four or five-inch stick, and with a quick stroke on the upper side of the elbow or near the collar bone the blood is caused to gush out. The patient holds the arm out tensely while lying down and when the artery is tapped the blood spurts out rapidly. A tourniquet is applied to the upper arm when the medicine man thinks enough blood has flowed and the medicine man then sucks out the residue. The wound is then bandaged and the tourniquet removed. It is the thought of the medicine man that it is necessary to let out a certain amount of bad blood, so that the remaining blood in the patient’s body can be more easily purified by his heart and his breathing.

The Ojibwe also believe that the medicine man can make bad medicine as well as good, and can prescribe certain medicines from his medicine bundle that will enable him to get the better of his enemies. They had many hunting charms which were supposed to help them get game. The hunter in using these would often trace the outline of the desired game upon the ground drawing a line to its heart. He would then pierce the heart with the line and put the proper medicine on the heart puncture indicated. A similar procedure might be followed against human enemies. Such practices were always kept a deep secret, becoming valueless should anyone see the perpetrator making the figure. They were likewise deprecated and resented by the tribe and punishment was apt to follow anyone caught in such a practice, which all agreed was a perversion of the grand medicine society teachings. Most of the remedies of the medicine men were kept tied in little bits of cloth, compounded and ready to steep for use. Combinations of nine to twelve herbs are common. These have been ground with a mortar and pestle until it would be difficult to identify the ingredients of the prepared medicines. Even if one knew all of the ingredients, the amounts of each herb would be difficult to ascertain. Often, as in the case of Sweet Flag (_Acorus calamus_), the amount must be very limited since the medicinal effect is so severe.

The medicine men are taught that their medicines have a great value and will not be efficacious if disposed of cheaply. Since money is not so plentiful they are quite willing to accept pay in valuable goods. This may be a pony, so many blankets, so much wild rice or whatever the patient has of value. The patient usually calls the medicine man for ailments that have not responded to his own individual treatment. When the patient pays what the medicine man thinks is proper, then he may be told what was used to effect the cure, and how and when to gather the ingredients and how to administer the remedy. The recipient is admonished to see that he does not impart the knowledge unless he is well paid for it, as he paid the medicine man. This explains the difficulty one encounters when he tries to get medicinal information. Only by completely securing the confidence of the Indians, can a white man get this information without pay, and then it must be thoroughly understood that the investigator is not copying their medicines to take commercial advantage of this knowledge. The Indian is quick to appreciate favors and to acknowledge the respect that is given to him by the white man, and becomes quite confident when he realizes that his confidence is not abused.

OJIBWE MEDICINAL MATERIALS

While the Ojibwe use a few remedies outside the plant kingdom, they are not of such great importance as among some other tribes. These are here considered first, the plants following under the proper families alphabetically.

OTHER THAN PLANTS

REPTILES

=Rattlesnake=, “jicigwe”. The flesh of the rattlesnake commonly known as the massasauga rattler, is sometimes used in combination with other medicines, for its lubricant effect, similar to Russian mineral oil. The Plains Indians and those farther south in the United States consider rattlesnake meat quite efficient in making childbirth easier.

FISH

=Sturgeon=, “namê”. Fine teeth of the sturgeon were said to be used to make the “tattooing” tool employed by the medicine man in blood-letting. Large fish bladders, “pîkwadj”, were sometimes used as syringes; a hollow duck bone bound with sinew in the end of it, being used for anal applications.

MINERALS

=White Clay=, “wabaˈbîgan”. White clay was sometimes mixed with medicinal powders to make them into pellets or pills, and the clay was supposed to be a medicine, too, but for what purpose we were unable to discover. Red Clay “osaˈman” was also used in fabricating poultices and was supposed to help draw out the inflammation.

MAMMALS