﻿HOFFMAN.] 
  

  

  MIDK' 
  RECORDS. 
  165 
  

  

  an 
  accepted 
  candidate 
  has 
  paid 
  his 
  fee, 
  and 
  then 
  only 
  after 
  necessary- 
  

   preparation 
  by 
  fasting 
  and 
  offerings 
  of 
  tobacco. 
  

  

  During 
  the 
  year 
  1887, 
  while 
  at 
  Red 
  Lake, 
  Minnesota, 
  I 
  had 
  the 
  

   good 
  fortune 
  to 
  discover 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  an 
  old 
  birch-bark 
  chart, 
  

   which, 
  according 
  to 
  the 
  assurances 
  of 
  the 
  chief 
  and 
  assistant 
  Mide' 
  

   priests, 
  had 
  never 
  before 
  been 
  exhibited 
  to 
  a 
  white 
  man, 
  nor 
  even 
  to 
  

   an 
  Indian 
  unless 
  he 
  had 
  become 
  a 
  regular 
  candidate. 
  This 
  chart 
  

   measures 
  7 
  feet 
  li 
  inches 
  in 
  length 
  and 
  18 
  inches 
  in 
  width, 
  and 
  is 
  

   made 
  of 
  five 
  pieces 
  of 
  birch 
  bark 
  neatly 
  and 
  securely 
  stitched 
  to- 
  

   gether 
  by 
  means 
  of 
  thin, 
  flat 
  strands 
  of 
  bass 
  wood. 
  At 
  each 
  end 
  

   are 
  two 
  thin 
  strips 
  of 
  wood, 
  secured 
  transversely 
  by 
  wrapping 
  and 
  

   stitching 
  with 
  thin 
  strands 
  of 
  bark, 
  so 
  as 
  to 
  prevent 
  splitting 
  and 
  

   fraying 
  of 
  the 
  ends 
  of 
  the 
  record. 
  PI. 
  in 
  A, 
  is 
  a 
  reproduction 
  of 
  the 
  

   design 
  referred 
  to. 
  

  

  It 
  had 
  been 
  in 
  the 
  keeping 
  of 
  Skweko'mik, 
  to 
  whom 
  it 
  was 
  in- 
  

   trusted 
  at 
  the 
  death 
  of 
  his 
  father-in-law, 
  the 
  latter, 
  in 
  turn, 
  having 
  

   received 
  it 
  in 
  1825 
  from 
  Bada'san, 
  the 
  Grand 
  Shaman 
  and 
  chief 
  of 
  

   the 
  Winnibe'goshish 
  Ojibwa. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  affirmed 
  that 
  Bada'san 
  had 
  received 
  the 
  original 
  from 
  the 
  

   Grand 
  Mide' 
  priest 
  at 
  La 
  Pointe, 
  Wisconsin, 
  where, 
  it 
  is 
  said, 
  the 
  

   Mide'wiwin 
  was 
  at 
  that 
  time 
  held 
  annually 
  and 
  the 
  ceremonies 
  con- 
  

   ducted 
  in 
  strict 
  accordance 
  with 
  ancient 
  and 
  traditional 
  usage. 
  

  

  The 
  present 
  owner 
  of 
  this 
  record 
  has 
  for 
  many 
  years 
  used 
  it 
  in 
  the 
  

   preliminary 
  instruction 
  of 
  candidates. 
  Its 
  value 
  in 
  this 
  respect 
  is 
  very 
  

   great, 
  as 
  it 
  presents 
  to 
  the 
  Indian 
  a 
  pictorial 
  re'sume' 
  of 
  the 
  traditional 
  

   history 
  of 
  the 
  origin 
  of 
  the 
  Mide'wiwin, 
  the 
  positions 
  occupied 
  by 
  

   the 
  various 
  guardian 
  man'idos 
  in 
  the 
  several 
  degrees, 
  and 
  the 
  order 
  

   of 
  procedure 
  in 
  study 
  and 
  progress 
  of 
  the 
  candidate. 
  On 
  account 
  

   of 
  the 
  isolation 
  of 
  the 
  Red 
  Lake 
  Indians 
  and 
  their 
  long 
  continued, 
  

   independent 
  ceremonial 
  observances, 
  changes 
  have 
  gradually 
  oc- 
  

   curred 
  so 
  that 
  there 
  is 
  considerable 
  variation, 
  botli 
  in 
  the 
  pictorial 
  

   representation 
  and 
  the 
  initiation, 
  as 
  compared 
  with 
  the 
  records 
  and 
  

   ceremonials 
  preserved 
  at 
  other 
  reservations. 
  The 
  reason 
  of 
  this 
  has 
  

   already 
  been 
  given. 
  

  

  A 
  detailed 
  description 
  of 
  the 
  above 
  mentioned 
  record 
  will 
  be 
  pre- 
  

   sented 
  further 
  on 
  in 
  connection 
  with 
  two 
  interesting 
  variants 
  which 
  

   were 
  subsequently 
  obtained 
  at 
  White 
  Earth, 
  Minnesota. 
  On 
  account 
  

   of 
  the 
  widely 
  separated 
  location 
  of 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  different 
  bands 
  of 
  

   the 
  Ojibwa, 
  and 
  the 
  establishment 
  of 
  independent 
  Mide' 
  societies, 
  

   portions 
  of 
  the 
  ritual 
  which 
  have 
  been 
  forgotten 
  by 
  one 
  set 
  may 
  be 
  

   found 
  to 
  survive 
  at 
  some 
  other 
  locality, 
  though 
  at 
  the 
  expense 
  of 
  

   some 
  other 
  fragments 
  of 
  tradition 
  or 
  ceremonial. 
  No 
  satisfactory 
  

   account 
  of 
  the 
  tradition 
  of 
  the 
  origin 
  of 
  the 
  Indians 
  has 
  been 
  ob- 
  

   tained, 
  but 
  such 
  information 
  as 
  it 
  was 
  possible 
  to 
  procure 
  will 
  be 
  

   submitted. 
  

  

  