68 THE MENOMINI INDIANS [ktii.ann. 14 



proper age to receive initiation, the father (or under certain circum- 

 stances the mother) announces the fact to the chief priests, when a 

 meeting of the members is called and a feast prepared at the wigwam 

 of the mourner. Dishes of food for the dead are set apart in a separate 

 structure, after which the chief mourner is initiated into the society as 

 a substitute for the deceased. Thus we find among the Ojibwa two 

 distinct services, one for the initiation of members into the society of 

 the Midc', the other a least of the dead, designed to release his 

 "shadow" and to permit it to depart to the land of mysteries, or the 

 place of the setting- sun. 



It will be observed, then, that the membership of the Midc' society 

 is not limited to any particular number of persons; and that the cere- 

 monies of the Ghost society are held at irregular intervals and never 

 at the death of a member of the Mide' society. 



With this brief notice of the ojibwa Mide'wiwin, or Grand Medicine 

 society, a description of the ceremonies as practiced by the Menomini 

 Indians will be presented for the purpose of comparing with the pre- 

 ceding t heir version and dramatic rendering of a belief and practice 

 which no doubt survives to a certain degree among the greater number 

 of tribes embraced within the western group of the Algonquian lin- 

 guistic family. 



The Mita'wit, or society of shamans, commonly termed the Grand 

 Medicine society of the Met'omini Indians, consists of men, women, 

 and a few young boys and girls, who have been initiated into the mys- 

 teiies of that organization, either directly or byproxy. Initiation of 

 the person himself may be accomplished (1 ) by his being adopted by a 

 member to fill a vacancy caused by death; or (2) when proof of eligi- 

 bility has been furnished and the necessary presents and tWs are deliv- 

 ered to the chief of the society to defray the expenses incurred in 

 holding the ceremonies. 



Although initiation by proxy is rare, yet it may occur when a very 

 sick young person is brought to the ceremonial structure for restoration 

 to health. This is done only as a last resort, and after the usual attend- 

 ance of shamans with their incantations and exorcisms has proved 

 futile. The aid of Masha' Ma'nido is thus sought, and as the sick child 

 maybe carried in the arms of one already a mita' v , it is soon deposited 

 in the arms of one of the family, while the person who carried it. con 

 tinues to take the part of a new candidate, notwithstanding the. fact 

 that he already possesses (he secrets. Should the patient recover 

 health, he or she is thenceforth regarded as a regularly initiated mem- 

 ber, although subsequent instruction is necessary to a better under- 

 standing of the pretensions of the society. It is customary on the 

 death of a member of the society for the head of the family of the 

 deceased, if lie be a mitii' 1 , or the nearest mitii" relation or friend, to 

 approach the corpse at burial and to address it. The chief mourner, 

 looking down upon the coarse box containing the remains, says: "Go, 



