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Show Horrm.] NOTES ON INITIATION CEREMONIES. 223 etc. In the latter method of drawing the outline upon the sand or upon ashes, the result is made known with such directions as maybe deemed necessary to insure success. For the purpose of gaining instruction and success in the disposition of his alleged medicines, the Mide' familiarizes himself with the topography and characteristics of the country extending over a wide area, to ascertain the best feeding grounds of the various animals and their haunts at various seasons. He keeps himself informed by also skillfully conducting inquiries of returning hunters, and thus becomes possessed of a large amount of valuable information respect- • ing the natural history of the surrounding country, by which means he can, with a tolerable amount of certainty, direct a hunter to the best localities for such varieties of game as may be particularly desired by him. In his incantations a W& bSno' uses a drum resembling a tambourine. A hoop made of ash wood is covered with a piece of rawhide, tightly stretched while wet. Upon the upper surface is painted a mythic figure, usually that of his tutelaly daimon. An example of this kind is from Red Lake, Minnesota, presented in Fig. 22. The human figure is painted red, while the outline of the head is black, as are also the waving lines extending from the head. These lines denote superior power. When drumming upon this figure, the W& b6no' chants and is thus more easily enabled to invoke the assistance of his man'id6. Women, as before remarked, may take the degrees of the Mide'wiwin, but, so far as could be ascertained, their professions pertain chiefly to the treatment of women and children and to tattooing for the cure of headache and chronic neuralgia. ^ ^ WAWli6, dnmL Tattooing is accomplished by the use of finely powdered charcoal, soot or gunpowder, the pricking instrument being made by tying together a small number of needles; though formerly, it is said, fish spines or sharp splinters of bone were used for the purpose. The marks consist of round spots of one- half to three- fourths of an inch in diameter immediately over the afflicted part, the intention being to drive out the demon. Such spots are usually found upon the temples, though an occasional one may be found on the forehead or over the nasal eminence. When the pain extends over considerable space the tattoo marks are smaller, and are arranged in rows or continuous lines. Such marks may be found upon ifbme individuals to run outward over either or both cheeks from the al » of the nose to a point near the ( nfe |
