Tooker] ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE HURON 83 



and (3) illnesses caused by witchcraft that were cured by extracting 

 the sorcerer's spell ( JE 33 : 199) ."« 



There were several methods for ascertaining the cause of the illness 

 and its cure. The ill person himself might know a natural remedy 

 [my inference], or he might have had a dream that indicated his soul 

 had some desire that had to be satisfied before he would be well again 

 [see below], or he might have had a dream that indicated a sorcerer 

 had cast a spell which was causing the illness (JR 33: 219).*"-' [In 

 addition to the desires that were free, at least, voluntary in us, the 

 Huron believed that souls had other desires which were inborn and 

 concealed ( JE 33 : 189) ]. When a child was sick, the father or mother 

 might dream the cure. For example, one mother dreamed that in 

 order to make her son well he should have 100 cakes of tobacco and 

 4 beavers (JE 10: 173).^° 



If the cause of the illness could not be ascertained by any of these 

 methods, a medicine man^^ was summoned by the relatives to make 

 the diagnosis. This man might say that the sickness was natural and 

 prescribe a potion, an emetic, or he might suggest that a certain kind 

 of water be applied to the diseased part, or he might prescribe the 

 use of scarifications or poultices ( JE 33 : 203) .^^ To effect a cure, the 

 medicine man called upon his spirit, blew on the place where the pain 

 was, made incisions and sucked out the blood. He also ordered feasts 

 and amusements as a preliminary to his cure. If he wished to get 

 information about distant matters, he asked his spirit about it and 



^s The Iroquois still recoguize illnesses of these types, and cures are still efifected by 

 use of herbal medicines and by ritual means. (These methods are discussed at greater 

 length in the notes below.) Hewitt (1928: 610 n. 6-1), in fact, gives this classification 

 of causes as modern Iroquois. Although recent descriptions of curing do not emphasize 

 the cause of illness as being the desires of the soul (see especially Shimony 1961 a: 261 ff.), 

 such may still be the case. The methods of diagnosing and the actual curing pro- 

 cedures are similar for both 17th-century Huron and 20th-century Iroquois. And, 

 onn^'kwa't derived from a verb-stem meaning "to beg" or "to crave." is the general 

 Iroquoian word rendered into English as "medicine" (Hewitt 1928: 610 n. 64). 



^* Similar methods are still used for diagnosis. It should be emphasized, however, 

 that ascertaining the cause of illness is usually not as straightforward a procedure as 

 the ethnographies sometimes seem to indicate. Probably most often there is discussion 

 of the symptoms and possible cures between the patient and members of his family and 

 friends, and out of this discussion comes a decision as to what the course of action 

 will be ("When members of the family are taken sick, they try various herbal medicines 

 suggested by the elders" Fenton 1953 : 7, and see ibid. : 120-121 for examples of interpre- 

 tation of the patient's dream by members of his family.) A simple remedy, as herbal 

 medicine, usually is tried first, and if this is ineffectual, more drastic, more ritually 

 powerful, and hence dangerous measures are taken (Shimony 1961 a: 262). 



^"Fenton (1953: 129) makes a similar statement: "The child's parents decide that 

 the ritual [in this case, of the Eagle Society] may help their sick child, or, the child 

 Is sick and they consult a clairvoyant. The patient may dream himself, or someone may 

 dream that the ritual will help the person." 



" The term "medicine man" is used here for those individuals who now usually are 

 called "fortunetellers" by students of the Iroquois. 



82 Similarly, Iroquois fortunetellers may prescribe herbal medicines and may prescribe 

 their own medicines (Shimony 1961 a: 272-273). Not all these seemingly natural 

 cures are so conceived by the Iroquois. Emetics, for example, are often used in cures 

 for witchcraft (see note 13, p. 117). 



