ADMINSTRATIVE REPORT LI 



men" of the Green bay region, for they were known as gather- 

 ers and consumers of the wild rice growing abundantly about 

 the lakelets and marshes left by the retreating ice sheets of the 

 Pleistocene, and their custom gave origin to the name by which 

 they were known among other Indian tribes and subsequently 

 among their white neighbors. Partly no doubt by reason of 

 this custom, the Menomini Indians were notably sedentary, and 

 they were also peaceful; for pacific disposition normally accom- 

 panies sedentary habit. Accordingly the tribesmen withstood 

 the shock of Caucasian conquest better than the roving war- 

 riors of neighboring tribes, so that their descendants still occupy 

 the ancient hunting grounds and rice fields, now inclosed in 

 an important reservation. The various stages in the civilizing 

 (exoterically, at least) of the Menomini Indians, the treaties 

 with the Federal Government, etc, are indicated with consid- 

 erable fullness in the memoir. 



Dr Hoffman's account of the tribal government, totemic insti- 

 tutions, and genealogy of the chiefs illustrates some of the char- 

 acteristic features of primitive social organization, as exemplified 

 among the American Indians. The chieftaincy is hereditary, 

 within vaguely defined limits of fitness; yet divination or sor- 

 cery plays an important role in shaping standards of fitness, 

 and the civic institutions, howsoever definite, tangible, and well 

 adapted to current needs, are assumed and generally believed 

 to be "mysterious" or supernatural in origin, and the penumbra 

 of "mystery" approaches very near unto, and even partially 

 eclipses, rational mentation on the part of everyday actors in the 

 political drama. Thus the arts and institutions of tribal gov- 

 ernment are confusingly entangled with mysticism and esote- 

 ric ceremonial, in which sorcery holds conspicuous place. If 

 the Menomini alone were considered, it might be impossible to 

 separate the tangible from the mysterious, the real from the 

 unreal, but through comparison of the ideas prevailing in many 

 tribes it is possible not only to segregate the mysticism but to 

 analyze its components and discover the stages and principles 

 of its development. 



Dr Hoffman's description of the cult societies and ceremo- 

 nials, and Mr Mooney's description of the temporary ghost cult 



