200 BULLETIN, PUBLIC MUSEUM, MILWAUKEE [Vol. 19 



drumming. Both doctors accompanied their singing with a rattle, and the 

 ceremonies were held in the evening or at night. 



The Conjuror 



The theory and practice of the Wisconsin Chippewa is essentially the 

 same as described in detail by Hallowell for the Berens River Saulteaux in 

 his excellent monograph "Conjuring in Saulteaux Society." One variation 

 is that the Wisconsin tent is not the extreme barrel-shape, but instead, 

 cylindrical, with the framework open at the top (Fig. 8), or the poles 

 joining to form a dome (Fig. 9). It is to be expected that such variations 

 will occur inasmuch as each conjuror must have his tent built according to 

 instructions received in his fasting dream as to shape, number of poles, kind 

 of wood, etc. 



The procedure of the conjuror is to call the assisting supernatural spirits 

 into the tent (their entrance causing it to shake) and consulting with them 

 on problems demanding a clairvoyant or prophetic solution. The doctor is 

 thus equipped to determine the cause of illness whether it be natural or any 

 of the five supernatural reasons: sorcery, spirit intrusion, disease-object 

 intrusion, breach of taboo, or soul loss. With this intelligence at his com- 

 mand the doctor is then able to prescribe a cure. It is interesting to note 

 that the conjuror who himself may kill or cause sickness by the technique 

 of soul-stealing sometimes gets involved in shamanistic duels over a patient. 



The number of such doctors extant at the present time is meagre. I 

 know of only four Wisconsin Chippewa who have practiced in recent times, 

 and there are none left at the Lac Court Oreilles Reservation. This is very 

 different from the situation at Berens River, Canada, where nearly 10 per 

 cent of the people were known to have practiced tent-shaking in recent 

 times (Hallowell, p. 27). The decrease in numbers in Wisconsin seems to 



!be due not so much to the decrease in demand as to the disappearance of 

 the custom of fasting. The power to conjure was obtained through the 

 fasting dream, and there is only a small group of people at present who are 

 equipped with such an experience. The phrase they use, i.e., "He has no 

 dream,'' applies to not only nearly all the middle-aged group, but also to 

 nearly all of the old people. The few conjurors that are left seem to be in 

 considerable demand and circulate their services over a wide area. There 

 are records of a conjuror being imported from Lac du Flambeau, a distance 



