rrooker] ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE HURON 103 



town. But, if you still have a desire to eat human flesh, repair to the country 

 of our enemies. "We now associate ourselves with you to carry the sickness 

 to them and to ruin them. 



This speech ended, the men began to sing. Meanwhile, the associate 

 medicine man made the rounds of all the houses to visit the sick. The 

 entire night was spent alternately singing, while beating on pieces 

 of bark, and dancing. The associate medicine man's visits took him 

 until after daybreak. He then returned to the house where the danc- 

 ing and singing were taking place. A chief marched before him 

 carrying in one hand the bow of the medicine man and in the other a 

 kettle filled with water with which he sprinkled the sick.^" The 

 associate medicine man gave those ill something to drink and fanned 

 them at a distance with a turkey wing. Then followed a feast for the 

 men. After they left, the women came to sing and dance, but not to 

 feast. A second feast was made, but, for lack of fish, the third was not. 

 Before he left, the associate medicine man gave a turkey wing as a 

 token to each of the three men he had taught and said that their 

 dreams would now prove true. He also commissioned these men to 

 send to him, after a few days, a report of the success of their remedies. 

 Four or five days later, they visited all the houses to ascertain the 

 number cured and the number still sick. They found 25 cured and 

 25 sick. Their report was given to the medicine man. He sent back 

 his associate, who said that the sick people should come to a certain 

 house to be cured; but his remedy did not have the desired effect 

 ( JE 13 : 237-243) . 



There were many curing dances that were given in response to the 

 desires. One that the Jesuits often mentioned, perhaps because it was 

 impressive and important (cf. JR 21: 151), was the awataerohi 

 [aoufaerohi (JR 10: 183; 13: 31, 171, 187-189; 14: 59), aoutaerohi 

 (JR 13:229), aoutaenhrohi (JR 21:151), outaerohi (JR 17: 171)]." 

 This ceremony cured the disease of the same name, one caused by a 

 spirit the size of a fist that lodged itself in the body of the sick man. 

 Both the names of the ceremony and the disease were from the name 

 of this spirit (JR 10: 183; 13: 171). As other curing rites, this 



^ The Iroquois Otter Society similarly sprinkle those ill with sickness caused by the otter 

 and other water animals and, during Midwinter, the public also (Parker 1909 : 170-171 ; 

 Speck 1949 : 65-67). The implication that the feast food in this Huron ceremony was fish 

 suggests, most tentatively, that the ceremony was related to the Iroquois one. The Iroquois 

 Otter Society is, however, composed of or dominated by women, and sprinkling also occurs 

 in the Thunder Ceremony (Shimony 1961 a : 164). 



^ It is tempting to equate this ritual with that of the Iroquois Idos Society (see notes 

 89, p. 97; 92, p. 99). Both had juggling hot objects as part of their ritual, and both had 

 masks. (The Iroquois False Face Society also wear masks and handle hot coals'and ashes 

 in the course of blowing ashes on the patient, but this society does not emphasize handling 

 hot stones, and its members are masked while performing the ashing ritual, whereas appar- 

 ently the Huron fire jugglers were not.) 



The Wyandot also had a feast which was distinguished from their other feasts by being 

 held at night and by the exhibition of many fire tricks (Finley 1840 : 52). 



