110 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 190 



If their usual cures had no effect and there were many sick in the 

 village, or at least an important man was ill (S 202), or a sick person 

 dreamed that he would be cured by the dream-guessing feast, it was 

 given (JE. 10: 175). [This ceremony was called ononharoia — 'turn- 

 ing the brain upside down' (JR 10:175, 183); ononhara (JR 10: 

 175); ononhwaroia — 'turning round the head' (JR 17:167, 171); 

 ononhouaroia — 'upsetting of brain' (JR 23: 53, 103) ; onnonhouaroia 

 (JR 30 : 101) ; lonouoyroya (S 202). ]« 



In the evening, after someone had said that this ceremony should 

 be given, a band of people went through the houses, upsetting every- 

 thing (JR 10: 175), breaking, and turning topsy-turvy everything in 

 the houses. They threw fire and burning brands about the streets, 

 shouting, singing, and running through the streets and around the 

 walls all night (S 203). The next day they returned, announcing in 

 loud voices, "We have dreamed." Those in the house tried to guess 

 what had been dreamed by offering what they thought the dream 

 was ( JR 10 : 175-177 ; cf . JR 23 : 53) . In each house and at each fire, 

 they stopped for a short time and sang softly, "So-and-so gave me 

 this, so-and-so gave me that" (C 165; S 203). Nothing was refused: 

 hatchets, kettles, wampum, axes, knives, pruning hooks, pipes, dogs, 

 skins of beaver, bear, deer, lynx, and other animals, fish, corn, tobac- 

 co, canoes, and other objects were offered (JR 10: 177; C 165; S 203) 

 and hung around their necks ( JR 10 : 177) . If nothing was given to 

 them, they went outside the door and got a stone which they put be- 

 side the man or woman who gave nothing, and then went away sing- 

 ing; this was a sign of insult, reproach, and ill-will (C 165; S 203). 

 When they had been offered what they had dreamed, they thanked 

 the giver (JR 10: 177), uttered a cry as a sign of joy and ran out of 

 the house, while those in the house struck their hands on the ground 

 with their usual exclamations, Ae, <?, e, e, e to congratulate him (S 203). 

 Other presents, as some leather or an awl if the dream was a shoe, 

 were given to them ( JR 10 : 177) . The gift belonged to him (S 203) . 



6 The name of this Huron ceremony is cogmate with one of the names of the Iroquois 

 Midwinter ceremonial and it would appear, therefore, that the descriptions of it are descrip- 

 tions of a Huron Midwinter ceremonial (Beauchamp 1SS8 : 198, 198 n. ; 1891 b: 41-42; 

 Fenton 1942 b: 15; Hewitt 1910 g: 940). (The major descriptions of the Iroquois Mid- 

 v/inter include Morgan 1901(1) : 199-213; Hewitt 1910 g; Fenton 1936; 1941 c; Speck 

 1949 ; Shimony 1961 a : 173-191). The dream-guessing rite now appears most prominently 

 in the Onondaga Midwinter ceremonial where 3 days are devoted to it (Hewitt 1910 g : 942). 

 At Six Nations it is a rite that now may be performed during the Midwinter ceremonial if 

 someone wishes his dream guessed for curative purposes (Speck 1949: 60, 63, 122-123), 

 but it is not given frequently (ibid. ; Shimony 1961 a : 173). 



It should be noted that the French accounts usually state that the dream-guessing cere- 

 mony was performed to cure an individual and no mention is made of the ceremony being 

 a part of Midwinter. The origin of the ceremony as given by the Jesuits also suggests that 

 the dream-guessing rite was a curing ceremony quite independent of Midwinter. On the 

 other hand, the French may have been describing the Midwinter ceremonial although they 

 did not explicitly say so. The third possibility is that the Huron performed the dream- 

 guessing rite at times other than Midwinter to cure an individual if the patient's dream 

 indicated it should be performed, as many other rituals associated with particular calen- 

 dric ceremonials may be performed separately to cure among the Iroquois. 



