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Show HOFFMAK.] INITIATION CEREMONIES. 237 and acknowledged by the credulous and are practiced by that class of Shamans here designated as the W& bSn5'. In his history ' Rev. Mr. Jones says: As the powwows always unite witchcraft with the application of their medicines I shall here give a short account of this curious art. Witches and wizards are persons supposed to possess the agency of familiar spirits from whom they receive power to inflict diseases on their enemies, prevent good • luck of the hunter and the success of the warrior. They are believed to fly* invisibly .' at pleasure from place to place: to turn themselves into bears, wolves, foxes, owls, bats, and snakes. Such metamorphoses they pretend to accomplish by putting on the skins of these animals, at the same time crying and howling in imitation of the creature they wish to represent. Several of our people have informed me that they have seen and heard witches in the shape of these animals, especially the bear and the fox. They say that when a witch in the shape of a bear is being chased all at once she will run round a tree or a hill, so as to be lost sight of for a time by her pursuers, and then, instead of seeing a bear they behold an old woman walking quietly along or digging up roots, and looking as innocent as a lamb. The fox witches are known by the flame of fire which proceeds out of their mouths every time they bark. Many receive the name of witches without making any pretensions to the art, merely because they are deformed or ill- looking. Persons esteemed witches or wizards are generally eccentric characters, remarkably wicked, of a ragged appearance and forbidding countenance. The way in which they are made is either by direct communication with the familiar spirit during the days of their fasting, or by being instructed by those skilled in the art. A Mide' of the second degree has the reputation of superior powers on account of having had the mi'gis placed upon all of his joints, and especially because his heart is filled with magic power, as is shown in PI. in, No. 48. In this drawing the disk upon the breast denotes where the mi'gis has been " shot" into the figure, the enlarged size of the circle signifying " greater abundance," in contradistinction to the common designation of a mi'gis shown only by a simple spot or small point. One of this class is enabled to hear and see what is transpiring at a remote distance, the lines from the hands indicating that he is enabled to grasp objects which are beyond the reach of a common person, and the lines extending from the feet signifying that he can traverse space and transport himself to the most distant points. Therefore he is sought after by hunters for aid in the discovery and capture of game, for success in war, and for the destruction of enemies, however remote may be their residence. When an enemy or a rival is to be dealt with a course is pursued similar to that followed when preparing hunting charts, though more powerful magic medicines are used. In the following description of a pictograph recording such an occurrence the Mid § ', or rather the W& b6no', was of the fourth degree of the Midg'wiwin. The indication of the grade of the operator is not a necessary part of the record, but in this instance appears to have been prompted 1 History of the Ojebway Indians, etc., London ( 1843?), pp. 146, 146. |
