1953} 



RITZENTHALER, CHIPPEWA HEALTH 



195 



Tattooing (asasuw/'n) 



Another technique for curing the same ailments as by cupping is to 

 strike repeatedly the ailing area of the patient with an instrument set with 

 a series of needles. This method is practiced by individual specialists, 

 mostly women, who work without supernatural assistance. The usual fee is 

 a gift of tobacco often accompanied by such articles as blankets or beadwork. 

 The tattooing instrument in former times was usually the upper or lower jaw 

 of a garfish, of which the long rows of needle-like teeth served quite well. 

 I obtained one such specimen in 1941, but it was the only one on the reser- 

 vation to my knowledge (Fig. 6). The usual type today is a series of steel 





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^. 



FIG. 6 — Tattooing Instruments. 



needles set into the end of a stick. The instrument is first dipped into a 

 native medicine and the sore spot hammered on, and sometimes a poultice 

 or medicine is applied afterward. Medicine is always used in conjunction 

 with tattooing. I obtained the following description of such a curing 

 in 1942: 



"The instrument Mrs. B. used on me was a round stick on to which had been 

 tied about ten or twelve needles. She got some medicine and boiled it and let it cool, 

 and put it into a cup. Then she told me to lay down on a mattress on the floor. I 



