92 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 190 



by extracting the spell, ontetsans (JR 17: 211) or aretsan (JR 17: 

 213) "'^ ]. Such a man usually said that the illness was caused by the 

 desires. Sometimes without much ceremony, he mentioned four or 

 five things the patient desired. If he thought the patient was not 

 likely to recover, he mentioned a thing that he thought the man could 

 not procure ^^ and, if the man died, his death was attributed to a desire 

 which could not be gratified ( JR 33 : 203-205) . 



Medicine men also were called okl (C 144; S 170, 193) loki (JR 

 10:49, 161; S 170, passim), oky (JR 33:193), ondaki (JR 8:109), 

 oqui (C 143, passim)], as were admired and esteemed people (JR 10: 

 49). When a man did the extraordinary or was more capable than 

 most or a valiant warrior, he was called oM (C 143) . "Mad" persons 

 were called okl (S 170; C 144). Some spirits (S 170) and charms 

 (see below, "Charms") were called oki.^° 



The arendiwane had an oki^ a powerful spirit who entered his 

 body, who appeared to hun in his dreams, or who immediately after 

 awakening showed him the cause of the illness. The spirit 

 might appear in one of a number of forms, as an eagle, a raven 

 ( JR 33 : 193) , crow or other bird, or as a flame or ghost ( JR 15 : 177) 

 and reveal the secret for the recovery of health or for success (JR 

 17: 153-155). This secret was called ondinoc^ 'a desire inspired by 

 the spirit.' If a Huron was asked the cause of this desire, he an- 

 swered ondays ihatonc okl haendaerandic^ 'the thing under the form 

 of which my familiar spirit appeared to me gave me this advice' ( JR 

 17 : 155) . Other less important secrets and desires came from certain 

 dreams for which the spirit was believed to be the author. These 

 dreams the Indians dared not disobey, as otherwise they exposed 

 themselves to great misfortune ( JR 17 : 163) .^^ 



These medicine men {saokata)\\'a.d the sight to penetrate, as it were, 

 into the depths of the soul and to see the desires that the sick man had 



''s The word ontetsans respmbles the Seneca haM.-jenfs, 'conductor' or master of cere- 

 monies (Fenton: personal communication: see also 1953: 134). Compare also shadMjlH 

 "dispenser of herbal medicines" (Shimony 1961 a: 263). On the basis of the material in 

 the Jesuit Relations, it is possible that the word arendiwane was used as a general terra for 

 medicine man and that special words were used for certain types of medicine men, as the 

 diagnosticians (the present fortunetellers) and the sucking shamans. 



'9 In general, the present Iroquois fortuneteller prescribes simple and inexpensive rem- 

 edies for minor ailments and more drastic measures if the illness is more serious, is lingering, 

 or the patient is concerned (Shimony 1961 a: 272). Only in extreme cases, as repeated 

 witchcraft, does the fortuneteller prescribe cures that are economically impossible for the 

 patient to obtain (Shimony 1961 b : 209). 



"5" The basic meaning of oki seems to have been "spirit" (see note 36, p. 78). To call 

 medicine men and extraordinary and "mad" people oki was probably to refer to their 

 spirits, or familiars. 



^ The idea of the familiar spirit seems to be lacking in current Iroquois culture. For- 

 tunetellers now, for example, possess their ability by virtue of initial talent, gift, not ap- 

 parently as the result of having a familiar (Fenton 1953: 70; Shimony 1961 a: 270; 

 1961 b : 207). The present absence of the idea in Iroquois thinking is probably the result 

 of culture change, for it is mentioned in the 17th-century accounts and occasionally in the 

 earlier anthropological ones. 



