﻿hoffman] 
  THE 
  MIDE'WIWIN 
  KITE. 
  161 
  

  

  on 
  this 
  matter 
  than 
  any 
  other 
  person 
  who 
  lias 
  written 
  on 
  the 
  subject, 
  not 
  excepting 
  

   a 
  great 
  and 
  standard 
  author, 
  who, 
  to 
  the 
  surprise 
  of 
  many 
  who 
  know 
  the 
  Ojib- 
  

   ways 
  well, 
  has 
  boldly 
  asserted 
  in 
  one 
  of 
  his 
  works 
  that 
  he 
  has 
  been 
  regularly 
  ini- 
  

   tiated 
  into 
  the 
  mysteries 
  of 
  this 
  rite, 
  and 
  is 
  a 
  member 
  of 
  the 
  Me-da-we 
  Society. 
  

   This 
  is 
  certainly 
  an 
  assertion 
  hard 
  to 
  believe 
  in 
  the 
  Indian 
  country 
  : 
  and 
  when 
  the 
  

   old 
  initiators 
  or 
  Indian 
  priests 
  are 
  told 
  of 
  it 
  they 
  shake 
  their 
  heads 
  in 
  incredulity 
  

   that 
  a 
  white 
  man 
  should 
  ever 
  have 
  been 
  allowed 
  in 
  truth 
  to 
  ljecome 
  a 
  member 
  of 
  

   their 
  Me-da-we 
  lodge. 
  

  

  An 
  entrance 
  into 
  the 
  lodge 
  itself, 
  while 
  the 
  ceremonies 
  are 
  being 
  enact 
  ei, 
  has 
  

   sometimes 
  been 
  granted 
  through 
  courtesy; 
  though 
  this 
  does 
  not 
  initiate 
  a 
  person 
  

   into 
  the 
  mysteries 
  of 
  the 
  creed, 
  nor 
  does 
  it 
  make 
  him 
  a 
  member 
  of 
  the 
  Society. 
  

  

  These 
  remarks 
  pertaining 
  to 
  the 
  pretensions 
  of 
  •' 
  a 
  great 
  and 
  stand- 
  

   ard 
  authority" 
  have 
  reference 
  to 
  Mr. 
  Schoolcraft, 
  who 
  among 
  nu- 
  

   merous 
  other 
  assertions 
  makes 
  the 
  following, 
  in 
  the 
  first 
  volume 
  of 
  

   his 
  Information 
  Respecting 
  the 
  Indian 
  Tribes 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States, 
  

   Philadelphia, 
  1851, 
  p. 
  301, 
  viz: 
  

  

  I 
  had 
  observed 
  the 
  exliibitions 
  of 
  the 
  Medawin. 
  and 
  the 
  exactness 
  and 
  studious 
  

   ceremony 
  with 
  which 
  its 
  rites 
  were 
  performed 
  in 
  1820 
  in 
  the 
  region 
  of 
  Lake 
  Su- 
  

   perior; 
  and 
  determined 
  to 
  avail 
  myself 
  of 
  the 
  advantages 
  of 
  my 
  official 
  position, 
  

   in 
  1822, 
  when 
  I 
  returned 
  as 
  a 
  Government 
  agent 
  for 
  the 
  tribes, 
  to 
  make 
  further 
  

   inquiries 
  into 
  its 
  principles 
  and 
  mode 
  of 
  proceeding. 
  And 
  for 
  this 
  purpose 
  I 
  had 
  

   its 
  ceremonies 
  repeated 
  in 
  my 
  office, 
  under 
  the 
  secrecy 
  of 
  closed 
  doors, 
  with 
  every 
  

   means 
  of 
  both 
  correct 
  interpretation 
  and 
  of 
  recording 
  the 
  result. 
  Prior 
  to 
  this 
  

   transaction 
  I 
  had 
  observed 
  in 
  the 
  hands 
  of 
  an 
  Indian 
  of 
  the 
  Odjibwa 
  tribe 
  one 
  of 
  

   those 
  symbolic 
  tablets 
  of 
  pictorial 
  notation 
  which 
  have 
  been 
  sometimes 
  called 
  

   " 
  music 
  boards," 
  from 
  the 
  fact 
  of 
  their 
  devices 
  being 
  sung 
  off 
  by 
  the 
  initiated 
  of 
  the 
  

   Meda 
  Society. 
  This 
  constituted 
  the 
  object 
  of 
  the 
  explanations, 
  which, 
  in 
  accord- 
  

   ance 
  with 
  the 
  positive 
  requisitions 
  of 
  the 
  leader 
  of 
  the 
  society 
  and 
  three 
  other 
  

   initiates, 
  was 
  thus 
  ceremoniously 
  made. 
  

  

  This 
  statement 
  is 
  followed 
  by 
  another, 
  ' 
  in 
  which 
  Mr. 
  Schoolcraft, 
  

   in 
  a 
  foot-note, 
  affirms: 
  

  

  Having 
  in 
  1823 
  been 
  myself 
  admitted 
  to 
  the 
  class 
  of 
  a 
  Meda 
  by 
  the 
  Chippewas, 
  

   and 
  taken 
  the 
  initiatory 
  step 
  of 
  a 
  Sagima 
  and 
  Jesukaid 
  in 
  each 
  of 
  the 
  other 
  fra- 
  

   ternities, 
  and 
  studied 
  their 
  pictographic 
  system 
  with 
  great 
  care 
  and 
  good 
  helps, 
  I 
  

   may 
  speak 
  with 
  the 
  more 
  decision 
  on 
  the 
  subject. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Schoolcraft 
  presents 
  a 
  superficial 
  outline 
  of 
  the 
  initiatory 
  

   ceremonies 
  as 
  conducted 
  during 
  his 
  time, 
  but 
  as 
  the 
  description 
  is 
  

   meager, 
  notwithstanding 
  that 
  there 
  is 
  every 
  evidence 
  that 
  the 
  cere- 
  

   monies 
  were 
  conducted 
  with 
  more 
  completeness 
  and 
  elaborate 
  drama- 
  

   tization 
  nearly 
  three-quarters 
  of 
  a 
  century 
  ago 
  than 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  

   day, 
  I 
  shall 
  not 
  burden 
  this 
  paper 
  with 
  useless 
  repetition, 
  but 
  pre- 
  

   sent 
  the 
  subject 
  as 
  conducted 
  within 
  the 
  last 
  three 
  years. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Warren 
  truly 
  says: 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  Me-da-we 
  rite 
  is 
  incorporated 
  most 
  that 
  is 
  ancient 
  amongst 
  them 
  — 
  songs 
  

   and 
  traditions 
  that 
  have 
  descended 
  not 
  orally, 
  but 
  in 
  hieroglyphs, 
  for 
  at 
  least 
  a 
  long 
  

   time 
  of 
  generations. 
  In 
  this 
  rite 
  is 
  also 
  perpetuated 
  the 
  purest 
  and 
  most 
  ancient 
  

   idioms 
  of 
  their 
  language, 
  which 
  differs 
  somewhat 
  from 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  common 
  every- 
  

   day 
  use. 
  

  

  ■Op.cit, 
  vol. 
  5, 
  p, 
  71, 
  

  

  7 
  ETH 
  -11 
  

  

  