62 BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 5:; 



In generalship Odjib'we was distinguished for sound judgment and 

 steadmess of purpose rather than for reckless daring. His war expe- 

 ditions were successful and he boasted that he was never wounded 

 by the Sioux, 



Odjib'we's prowess won for him the right to wear 11 war-honor 

 feathers, each indicating that he had taken a Sioux scalp; these were 

 eagle feathers and were worn upright in a band around the head 

 (})1. 5). The writer saw Odjib'we wearing this decoration in a dance 

 several years before his songs were recorded. Three of the feathers 

 are notched, and the right to wear these was acquired by killing and 

 scalping Sioux; the unnotched feathers indicated that he had scalped 

 Sioux who had been killed by other warriors. The dots of rabbit 

 skin on the feathers indicate the number of bullets m his gun at the 

 time of securing the scalp .^ Bits of once bright ribbon are at the 

 tip of each feather. Odjib'we stated that ^'four feathers could be 

 counted for the death of each Sioux; one was worn by the man who 

 killed him, one by the man who scalped him, and the others by men 

 who assisted in the scalping." 



Odjib'we was entitled to wear also a skunk skin badge (pi. 6) on 

 his right arm. This signified that he once caught a wounded Sioux 

 by the arm, the mcident being related in connection with song No. 3, 

 His war club (pi. 7), of birch, has a knot for the head. According to 

 Odjib'we, he had despatched two Sioux with this club. After the 

 wars were over he allowed his friends to blacken it and to decorate 

 it with brass nails. The Chippewa war drum was called ogi'tcida 

 dewe'igiln (''drum of the braves"). The frame of Odjib'we's drum 

 is 17^ mches in diameter; it is made of wood with metal rim. The 

 frame is apparently not of native manufacture, but Odjib'we said it 

 was the original. He said that in time of war it frequently became 

 necessary to renew the cover on the drum, but the design was always 

 duplicated on the new cover. The cover shown in the illustration is 

 comparatively recent. The design on Odjib'we's war drum (pi, 7) 

 was explained as follows in the language of the interpreter: 



There was a man who invented the use of the drum among the Indians. The 

 lightning is a picture of his dream, and the sound of his drum was like the rumble of 

 the thunder. When We'nabo^jo was wandering around he always sent Mici'ken 

 ("large turtle") on his errands; so the large turtle came to be considered a great war- 

 rior. When Mici^ken went to war he had Miskwa^des ("small snapping turtle ") as his 

 oc'kabe'wis (messenger). That is why the picture of the lightning and the turtle is 

 on the war drum. The Indians fought with bows and arrows, so a picture of a bow 

 and arrow is also on the drum. 



Odjib'we's war shirt was of scarlet flannel (pi. 8). After the wars 

 with the Sioux were ended Odjib'we kept it in a bag woven of cedar 



1 All the war paraphernalia of Odjib'we, including these feathers, are now in the National Museum at 

 Washington, 



