hoffman] MENOMINI GENESIS MYTH 113 



ance dead. Sometimes two nr three, both men aud women, were ou the ground 

 together; but immediately recovering, they rose up and joined again in the dance. 

 This seemed to afford even the chiefs themselves infinite diversion. 1 



Ceremonies of 1891 



During the summer of 1891, when the time arrived for holding a meet- 

 ing of the Mita'wit, I again visited Keshena. The promoter of the cere- 

 mony was Akwine'mi Mo'sihat, who desired to present as a candidate 

 his nephew, son of his lately deceased sister. The usual arrangements 

 respecting the sending of invitations and the designation of assistant 

 mita'wok were made; and two or three days before the holding of the 

 ceremony Mo'sihat, accompanied by his wife and a few friends, went to 

 the ground selected and prepared to erect the mitli'wiko'mik. The poles 

 were cut and planted along the outline of the oblong structure pro- 

 jected, and both the vertical ones, which were arched across and 

 secured to those on the opposite side, as well as the horizontal rods, 

 were all tied securely together by means of strips of basswood bark. 

 The interior bark only is used ; it is made soft and pliable by soaking 

 in boiling water, after which it is split into strands of a finger's width. 

 This process of bark stripping is illustrated in plate x. 



The mitii'wiko'mik was placed so as to extend north-and-south instead 

 of east-and-west as directed according to the ritual. The reason given 

 for this departure was that the place selected for the ceremony was the 

 most favorable that could be found convenient to the grave; and as 

 the grave of the deceased (in whose memory the feast as usual was 

 given) was south of this spot it was necessary to have the traditional 

 " western end" of the structure directed toward the grave. Thus the 

 actual south was the ceremonial west, and was so treated and consid- 

 ered throughout the performance. 



The chief mita'wok at this ceremony were, for the first four, as fol- 

 lows: (1) Akwine'mi Mo'sihat; (2) Nio'pet; (3) Ni'aqtawa'ponri; and 

 (1) Xaq'pote. The second set consisted of (1) Mai'akine'u T ; (2) Kowa'- 

 pemi'u; (3) Shu'nien; and (4) Kime'an. All of the preceding were 

 Meuomiui excepting Kowa'pemT'u, who was a Potawatomi. Another 

 set of four had been designated, but, as they were unavoidably pre- 

 vented from reporting in time, substitutes were appointed for the first 

 night's service. The recitations relating to the gifts, the tobacco, and 

 the food prepared for the visitors, began as before, all in accordance 

 with the injunctions of Ma'nabiish. The tradition relating to the birth 

 of Ma'nabiish was somewhat different from that of the preceding year, 

 as it was given by Shu'nien. Nio'pet chanted the following version of 

 the genesis: 



"There was an o_d woman, named Xoko'nvs, who had an unmarried 

 daughter. The daughter gave birth to twin boys, one of whom died, as 

 did also the mother. 



' Op. oit., pp. 273-278. 

 U ETH 8 



