DBNSMORE] CHIPPEWA MUSIC II 63 



bark, a method of storage generally used among the Chippewa. 

 Several years before his songs were reco^ ded the writer saw the old 

 warrior wearing this shirt in a dance. The decoration is of narrow 

 strips of weasel skm, forming a fringe. The weasel is a hunter, a 

 wanderer, and a warrior. A well-laiown authority states,^ "I can 

 not learn of any other creature tliat is more thoi'oughly ])ossessed of 

 the lust for blood than are these slim-bodied little creatures." 



The principal kinds of "medicine" carried by the Chippewa war- 

 riors were hi'jikiw1lc¥ ^ ("cattle herb medicine"), m%'nismo'wuck 

 ("island herb medicine"), and wa'huno'wuck (" eastern herb medi- 

 cine"). These medicines were secured by tlie warriors from the old 

 men of the tribe, usually members of the Mide'wiwin (Grand Medi- 

 chie Society), who made a special study of the compounding of herbs. 

 They were used both externally and internally and were supposed to 

 have efficacy as charms, their mere presence serving as a protection. 

 They were believed also to "counteract the effect of bad medicine 

 carried by the enemy." ^ 



Bi' pldwucV , a medicine which derives its name from the principal 

 ingredient^ is commonly used among the Chippewa at the present 

 time. It is said to be taken internally as a stimulant and as a cure 

 for fits. It is used also externally as a stimulant and to check the 

 flow of blood from wounds. 



According to Maifi'gans* (pi. 9), the origin of this medicine is as 

 follows : 



There was once a Mide''wini^ni [male member of the Mide^wiwin] who dreamed 

 that he saw homed animals resembling cattle, under the water. They came up from 

 the water and talked with him, telling him how to prepare this wonderful medicine. 

 In order to persuade them to return he composed and sang a song (No. 22). He was 

 a young man at the time, but he sang this song until he was old. He sang it when- 

 ever he dug the roots or prepared the bi'jikiwUcJ/. Others learned it from him and 

 now it is always sung when this medicine is prepared. 



It w" .istomary for the old men when preparing this medicine to 

 "make w ists like cattle"; this was done also when the hi'jlkiwuck' 

 songs were sung in war dances (see No. 23). 



Maifi'gans used four ingredients in compounding hi/jikiwD,clc\ The 

 number of ingredients was said to vary from two to eight, according 

 to the judgment of the man preparing the medicine, but the prin- 

 cipal herb, that from which the medicine took its nam3, was always 

 present. 



1 Witmer Stone and William Gram, American A niinala, New York, 1902, p. 237. 



2 From bi'jiki and ivUck; the former was originally applied to the buffalo (see No. 99), but at tlie present 

 time signifies "cattle," wliile the latter means "medicine." 



3 Cf. J. N. B. Hewitt, " Orenda and a Definition of Religion," in American Anthropologist, n. s., iv, 

 no. 1, pp. 40, 41, 1902. 



< Maiii'gans and Odjib'we, treating the sick, are shown in pi. 10, Bulletin 4.5. 



