1953] RITZENTHALER, CHIPPEWA HEALTH 185 



the place of his aihng step-father who was to have been initiated, but had 

 suddenly died. This is quite a different situation than that described by- 

 Hoffman (1891, pp. 163-4) for the Minnesota Chippewa in the 1880's. 

 Hoffman describes entrance into the Midewiwin as a natural, routine part 

 of a person's life with application usually as a result of a dream, or, if the 

 desire to join is not blessed by a dream, the person could make his wishes 

 known by expressing to the Mide priests a desire to purchase a mi'g/'s. At 

 the present time even babies who are, or have been sick, can be inducted 

 into the society which seems to be another distinct departure from the old 

 tradition. While curing and prayers for health and new life were certainly 

 important elements in old Midewiwin, they never dominated the ceremony 

 so completely as at present. 



The curative function of the Midewiwin today is primarily on the super- 

 natural basis, although practical techniques are not entirely neglected. Medic- 

 inal instruction, formerly an important feature of the Midewiwin, has 

 degenerated to an almost negligible element. At Lac Vieux Desert, the Mide 

 priest insists that the candidates are told about only two medicines during 

 the four degrees (Kinietz, 1947, p. 209). This is quite different from the 

 situation described by Kohl in I860 who met one Chippewa who estimated 

 that he had traded forty packets of beaver skins for medical knowledge in 

 the Midewiwin. Kohl (p. 382) figured he had thus invested some 530,000 

 in his medical education. 



When a contact situation results in the shrinking of a native institution, 

 it is logical to suppose that those elements which are considered to be most 

 important or most useful to the people will be preserved the longest. In 

 the case of the Chippewa it is apparent that much of the old ritual, meaning, 

 and accoutrements of the Midewiwin have been sloughed off within ihe last 

 fifty years, and in this condensation process the religion has withdrawn into 

 and seized upon the curative aspect as the important one which resulted in 

 a considerable change in the total institution. The reason for this trend, I 

 believe, is a direct reflection of the serious health problem, and represents an 

 expression by the people of the need and desire to deal with this situation 

 through the natural and supernatural curative techniques of the Midewiwm. 



THE CHIEF DANCE 



An even more convincing example of the effect of this preoccupation 

 with health on a religious ceremonial is found in the Chief Dance. The 



