190 BULLETIN, PUBLIC MUSEUM, MILWAUKEE [Vol. 19 



are thus regarded as being of great moment, and influenced behavior to no 

 small degree. The attempt to influence the spirits for the benefit of the 

 person or community was by means of such techniques as offerings of tobac- 

 co, food, and goods; prayer and supplication; observance of taboos; religious 

 observances and ceremonies; and by intercession of guardian spirits. The 

 Chippewa also believed that each person had a soul. 



Such concepts had a number of implications in terms of the health and 



i well-being of the people. While common physical ailments such as head- 

 aches, colds, cuts and bruises were viewed as natural occurrences, the ma- 

 jority of more serious ailments were believed to have a supernatural etiology. 

 Thus sickness or injury could be the result of offending a spirit by failure to 

 observe a taboo or sanction. Most common, however, was the danger of a 

 ! fellow Indian using his spiritual power, or hiring a shaman with more 

 power, to bring injury to an enemy. To this end such techniques as sympa- 

 thetic magic, soul stealing or incapacitation, and magically imbedding foreign 

 I substances in the body were employed. Paralysis of the face, for example, 

 I was always regarded as the work of an enemy, and usually a shaman was 

 hired to determine who was poisoning the person, rid the patient of his 

 malady by employing more powerful spirits, and if possible, return the 

 sickness to plague the sender. Such efforts often resulted in shamanistic 

 duels. Shamans were greatly feared and respected because of their greater 

 spiritual power and thus greater ability to do both good and evil. 



The previous description is that of the traditional culture, and it should 

 be pointed out that while the majority of these concepts and practices sur- 

 vive, or have at least in part survived, they are at present associated primarily 

 with the older folk. 



It is interesting to note that according to Clements' tabulation of disease 

 concepts of the world (pp. 193-201), the Chippewa are one of the few 

 tribes having four or more of these concepts. Clements defines primitive 

 concepts of disease as "those ideas held by primitive people as to the cause 

 or genesis of sickness." He then sets up the following five catagories into 

 which all primitive concepts of disease can be classified: 



1. SORCERY. Here are grouped all those theories which ascribe sick- 

 ness either to the manipulations of persons skilled in magic or to 

 the operations of human beings who exercise some control over the 

 supernatural world. 



