66 BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 53 



After searching many weoks in the woods slie found at last one Uttle 

 root, not the principal ingredient but all she could find. She took 

 this home, "sang and talked and prayed over it," wrapped it in 

 fresh bii'ch bark and put it into the coat pocket of the man who was 

 to be benefited by it, telling him that it would help him out of his 

 troubles. To the writer's personal knowledge the man was entirely 

 freed from his difficulties a few weeks later. 



Na'waji'bigo'kwe said also that two years before a man while in a 

 drunken rage had kUled his wife. His relatives hastened to Na'waji'- 

 bigo'kwe and asked whether she had any rra'nlsino'wuck. She gave 

 them a small piece of the root, which the man carried in his pocket. 

 The writer is reliably informed that the man is alive and free to-day, 

 although it is well known that he killed his wife. 



Aside from its virtue as a charm, rm'msmo'wUck is said to be a 

 powerful curative agent. It has the effect of checking the flow of 

 blood from wounds, and is also used internally in many forms of 

 sudden illness. It is a "life medicine," used for good purposes only. 

 Four songs connected with this medicine are contained in this section 

 (Nos. 24, 25,26,27). 



Wa'hUno'wdck ("eastern herb medicine") is entirely different in 

 both nature and use from either hi' jikiwdck' or mi'nisino'wUck. It 

 is said to have had originally some good offices but to have had also 

 evil uses, and as time passed the latter prevailed. Na'waji'bigo'kw^e 

 gave the following story of its origm: There was once a young man 

 who was very anxious to join the Alide'wiwln so that he could gain 

 power as a hunter. His father opposed this, saying, "You are too 

 trifling to appreciate so solemn a thing as the Mde^" The youth 

 was very sad because of his father's opposition. He went away and 

 fasted many days. At last a manido' from the east came to him 

 and told him about this medicine, saying that it had both good and 

 bad properties. The youth at once gathered a number of men around 

 him and they formed a kind of alliance; these men were known as 

 Wa'hunog' } They held dances and were unscrupulous in their use 

 of the medicine. Eight men were destroyed at the first dance, given 

 by a man who knew the secret of this medicine. This tradition was 

 related to Na'waji'bigo'kwe by her grandfather. The medicine 

 "would either kill or cure those who took it"; it had power also as 

 an evil charm and the property of being able to "make things go 

 through the air." There were said to be many songs connected with 

 this medicine, but none have been recorded by the writer. It was 

 said to have passed out of use among the Minnesota Chippew^a except 

 at VermilUon Lake. 



1 Compare lloflman, The Mide'wiwin or " Grand Medicine Society " of the Ojibway.in Seventh Ann. 

 Rep. Bur. Ethn.,pp. 156, 157. 



