DENSMoRE] USES OF PLANTS BY THE CHIPPEWA INDIANS 375 
PLANTS USED AS CHARMS 
It was the belief of the Chippewa that many herbs, as well as 
other substances, possessed the power to act without material contact, 
affecting the actions or conditions of human beings and animals. 
In order to make these substances effective it was considered necessary 
to “talk and pray” over them when they were used, and, in the case 
of an herb, to “talk and pray ” when it was gathered. The Chippewa 
refer to all such substances or combinations of substances as “ medi- 
cine,” indicating a belief in their extraordinary power. Thus it is 
said that a man “carries a great many medicines,” or “uses medicine 
all the time,” meaning that he has in his possession a large number 
of materials, probably in little buckskin packets, with which he can 
produce such effects as safety on a journey, the loss or winning of a 
race, or the finding of lost articles; or he can cause starvation in a 
certain lodge, insanity in an individual, or enable a man to bewitch 
another man’s wife. It is said that “the Chippewa were greater 
medicine people than most of the Indians,” the knowledge and use 
of such substances being transmitted in the Midewiwin together with 
remedies for treating the sick. 
The term “charm” used in this chapter has no Chippewa equiva- 
lent. Songs were not used with the working of these charms, the 
efficacy being secured, as indicated, by “talking and praying.” With 
the “ Song of the fire charm” (Bull. 45, Bur. Amer. Ethn., No. 86) a 
decoction of herbs was applied to the feet, enabling a man to walk in 
fire without harm. A similar use of herbs, in the present work, is 
classified as a remedy for burns on page 353. 
Charms are considered in the following classes: Love charms, 
charms to attract worldly goods, charms to insure safety and suc- 
cess, charms to influence or attract animals, charms to work evil, and 
protective charms. In some instances the charm was carried by the 
individual working the magic, and in other instances the material 
was applied to articles belonging to the person who was to be affected 
by the charm. Herbs were used alone or together with substances 
believed to increase their power. 
Attention is directed to the use of certain plants as charms and 
also as medicines. <A large proportion of the plants used as charms 
had some value as either medicines or food, but the following are of 
special interest as the condition supposed to be affected by the charm, 
and the ailment for which the plant was administered, are alike 
connected with a disturbance of the nervous system. 
Dogbane was used as a protective charm against evil influence or 
“bad medicine,” and also as a remedy for headache. 
