hokfman] LOVE POWDERS 153 



the wa'beno, 1 am rather inclined to the opinion that, as the practice 

 mentioned below was with fire, the performers alluded to were the 

 wa'beno. The above-named writer says: 



It is pretended that all the Algonqnius and Abenaquia formerly practiced a kind 

 of pyromancy, the whole mystery of which is as follows: The}' reduced to a very 

 fine powder some charcoal, made of cedar; they disposed this powder in their own 

 manner, and afterwards set tire to it, and by the form which the fire took whilst it 

 ran along this powder, they pretended to discover what they wanted to know. 



The wa'beno'ak were also formerly believed to be familiar with the 

 properties of plants and other substances, which, if properly combined, 

 would prove efficacious in causing the most indifferent man or woman 

 to fall in love with the person wearing it about his person. Such 

 preparations are termed love powders, and have been frequently 

 alluded to by various writers, the statement of only one being here 

 quoted. The Reverend Peter Jones remarks on this preparation: 



This is a particular kind of charm which they use when they wish to obtain the 

 object of their affections. It is made of roots and red ochre. With this they paint 

 their faces, believing it to possess a power so irresistible as to cause the object of 

 their desire to love them. But the moment this medicine is taken away, and the 

 charm withdrawn, the person who before was almost frantic with love, hates with 

 a perfect hatred. 1 



It is doubtful whether the reverend gentleman, although himself an 

 Indian, had any suspicion of the actual composition of the preparation 

 of which he speaks as having been employed by the Misasauga 

 Ojibwa. The Ojibwa of Minnesota are very expert in this line of 

 preparing so-called charm remedies — so much so, in fact, that the less- 

 cultured whites are firm believers in the reputed properties of the 

 substance named, while many of the more intelligent seriously ask if 

 there is truth in the stories related. 



While treating of this class of shamans and their alleged powers in 

 the exposition of the ritual and ceremonies of the Mide'wiwiu of the 

 Ojibwa Indians',-' I had occasion to explain, in the following words, the 

 composition and method of preparation of some remedies which had 

 been, until that time, unknown: 



It consists of the following ingredients: Vermilion; powdered snakeroot (Polygala 

 senega, L.) ; exiguam particulam sanguinis a puella effusi, quum in primis menstriiis 

 esset; and a piece of ginseng cut from the bifurcation of the root, and powdered. These 

 are mixed and put into a small buckskin bag. The preparation is undertaken only 

 after an offering to Ki'tshi Ma'nido of tobacco and a Mide' eong with rattle accom- 

 paniment. 



This preparation is not employed as that previously mentioned by 

 Reverend Peter Jones, nor even as that used by the Menomini, as will 

 now be explained. 



During a recent visit to one of the reservations in Minnesota, I had 

 occasiou to confer with a Catholic missionary regarding some of the 



i History of the Ojebway Indians, London [1861], p. 155. 



2 Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, p. 258. 



