420 THE WINNEBAGO TEIBE [eth. axn. 37 



throughout, both from his own testunony and from that of others, 

 seems to liave l)een i)ractically the attitude of the Wmnebago shaman. 

 He even ofl'ered tobacco to the peyote. 



We have, then, at the beginning the introduction of apparently 

 only one new element — the j^eyote, with possjibly a few Chi'istian 

 teachings. Everything else seems to be typically Wiimebago, and in 

 consonance with their shamanistic practices. On the whole, the 

 extension of the Winnebago cultural backgromid seems to have been 

 so instantaneous that so far as the specific cultural traits of the Win- 

 nebago are concerned there was hardly anytlihig new at all. This 

 view does not, of course, mterfere in the least with the fact that to 

 the Winnebago themselves the presence of the peyote represented 

 the introduction of a new element. 



The elaboration of the peyote practices at Rave's hands is the most 

 difficult problem to trace on accoimt of the lack of data. In the 

 account that he gives of his convereion there is no evidence whatso- 

 ever of any antagonistic attitude toward the old Wimicbago maimer 

 of living. When the author met him, however, for the first time, in 

 190S, this passive attitude had changed to one of violent hatred for 

 the old Winnebago customs. Why and under what circumstances 

 this change took place we do not know. It probably represented 

 the interaction of many elements, the hostility of the tribe, the 

 drawing of issues sharply around certain points, and the gradual 

 assumption on the part of Rave of the role of a prophet who had 

 solved the problem of the adjustment of the Winnebago to the sur- 

 rounding white civilization. Offhand, one might be inclined to 

 believe that Rave's insistence upon breaking with the past was due 

 entirely to the influence of the Christian elements incorporated in his 

 new religion. It is, however, extremely doubtful whether such an 

 assumption is necessary. There seem to have been comparatively 

 few Christian elements in the religion before Albert Hensley's influ- 

 ence had made itself felt, yet many of the old war bundles had been 

 destroyed long before that time, and the peyote eaters were looked 

 upon with cordial dislike by the conservative members of the tribe. 

 The admonition that only a complete break with the past could 

 save the Winnebagoes and enable them to compete successfully with 

 the white mtruders had been given to the Wiimebagoes once before 

 by the famous Shawnee prophet. What the latter claimed, however, 

 was that the various sacred objects used by the Winnebago had lost 

 their power, and that that power must now be renewed. This he 

 thought could only be done by returnmg to the old manner of living 

 which he claimed the Winnebago were no longer following. Such a 

 claim was, after all, not revolutionary. It is not, therefore, the break 

 with the Winnebago present-day viewpoint that characterizes Rave's 

 attitude, but the fact that instead of returning to the older, purer 



