hoffman] PLANS FOR THE CEREMONY 69 



my brother [or substituting the term of relationship], follow the sun to 

 the place prepared for the shades of the dead, where you will see the fire 

 built by Na'qpote; that will light your course beyond the sun's path. 

 Abide there until the proper time [a certain period of a summer month 

 is usually named], when I shall give a feast and bring a substitute to 

 occupy your place; then shall Na'qpote permit you to return to observe 

 the fulfillment of my promise, do!" The grave box is then placed 

 over the coffin, the medicine stick erected before it, and a piece of cloth 

 or a board is also placed before the grave box, on which is deposited 

 from time to time small quantities of tobacco. 



At the return of summer the person who has made the promise of 

 procuring a substitute prepares himself by bringing together the pres- 

 ents necessary to be delivered as fees, and collecting food for the attend- 

 ants and visitors. A favorite member of the family, a relation, or even 

 a dear friend, may receive the honor of an invitation to become the 

 candidate. In the meantime the furnisher of the feast, i. e., the person 

 who is to procure the candidate, makes known to the chief officiating 

 members of the society his choice, with the desire that a meeting time for 

 initiatory purposes be decided upon, to be held at some time in the near 

 future. The chiefs receive this communication and deliberate, meditat- 

 ing on the course to follow and selecting several groups of assistants 

 to aid in the ceremonies. The candidate, in the meantime, is instructed 

 in the mysteries of the remedies known to his instructor. Each remedy 

 must be paid for separately, as no two preparations, or roots, or other 

 substances are classed together as one; furthermore, the knowledge 

 relating to different remedies is possessed by different medicine men, 

 each of whom will dispose of the properties and uses thereof for a con- 

 sideration only. 



Although four annual ceremonies of the Grand Medicine society 

 were held near Keshena, Wisconsin, in the years 1890, 1891, 1892, and 

 1893, the first will be described only insofar as it pertains to the mode 

 of adopting a member to fill a vacaucy caused by death; and to make 

 the description more intelligible it may be of importance to state 

 under what circumstances the writer's admission into the Mita'wit was 

 obtained. 



Ceremonies of 1890 



Having obtained during the years 1887-1890, from the Ojibwa In- 

 dians at Red Lake and White Earth, Minnesota, complete instruction 

 in the secrets and ceremonies of the Mide'wiwiu, or Grand Medicine 

 society, the information of this unique occurrence had spread south- 

 ward into Wisconsin, as far as the Menomini reservation. In the 

 winter of 1889-90, a number of these Ojibwa shamans went to Wash- 

 ington in the interest of their tribe, and it happened that a small dele- 

 gation of Menomini Indians from Keshena, Wisconsin, also visited the 

 capital on a like errand. These two delegations were furthermore quar- 

 tered at the same house, so that the object of my constant visits to, 



