136 THE MENOMINI INDIANS [eth.amn.14 



therefore the players constituting the side named to assist the organ- 

 izer wear something red about the person — a piece of red ribbon, a red 

 feather, or something else of that color. The ball must be colored red 

 on the "eastern" half and yellow on the "western" half in order to 

 conform with these symbolic requirements. 



It a woman dreams that she sees the Wa'banuna'qsiwok, she also is 

 obliged to prepare a game as an offering to appease the evil ma'nidos 

 that are favorable to those people. The woman must dress in red, and 

 perhaps all those on her side will do the same; perhaps tliey will wear 

 only some red ribbons or pieces of cloth to denote their side. But in 

 any game, those who are members of the wi'dishi'anun of which the 

 Kine'u v is leader, the ana'maqkl'ii will always win. because the ma'nidos 

 first won when Ma'nabusb instituted the game. 



When the ball game is played for amusement, or as a simple test of 

 physical endurance and skill, some of the players are sometimes enabled 

 to procure from the mita /T a medicine called psha'kiwis, which is made 

 by boiling certain plants and roots. The decoction is then rubbed 

 all over the legs up to the knees, and sometimes even to the thighs. 

 The players also rub charcoal or charred wood on their legs to 

 strengthen them. A player who does this is considered certain to win 

 in such games, because when an opponent approaches, the medicine 

 will take away his strength and he may fall down. If a player, not 

 prepared by having used suitable medicine, gets the ball and runs 

 toward the goal, then an adversary whose legs have been rubbed with 

 medicine has only to run after him and step on oue of his footprints 

 when the ball carrier will become weak and may be overtaken. 



The leader of a party of players generally goes to the ball ground 

 just before the game begins and prays to his ma'nido for aid. Then 

 he often finds success and assistance; for example, when throwing the 

 ball straight up in the air, he says to his ma'nido, as it is flying upward, 

 "Take the ball toward my side; " and as the ball turns to descend it 

 goes in the direction desired. 



Ceremonies of 1893 



The last annual meeting of the Mita'wit was held in August, 1893. 

 It was called at that time in compliance with my request, the shamans 

 having previously informed me that I had authority to ask for a meet- 

 ing by virtue of my previous admission. The candidate was a little 

 girl, 4 years of age. She was admitted to membership for two reasons, 

 as will hereafter be set forth. 



The promoter of the ceremonies was A'kwine'mi Mo'sikat, and the 

 mitii'wiko'niik was erected 3 miles southwest of Keshena, amidst the 

 pines and oaks of an open grove, near an Indian farm. The structure 

 was smaller than usual, measuring only about 65 feet in length, with 

 the usual width of 20 feet anil an interior height of 7 or 7k feet. 



The chief mita'wok of the first or leading quartette, consisted of 

 Shu'nien, Nio'pet, Mo'sihat, and Ni'aqtawa'pomi, although the last 



