160 



THE MENOMINI INDIANS 



[KTH. ANN. 14 



ing in company with a visiting- member of the society or when the 

 sacred articles were removed to the dancing- arena. 



The Reverend Clay MacCauley, late of Washington, District of Co- 

 lumbia, delivered a lecture before the Tokyo (Japan) conference on 



the 9th of March, 

 1893, ' in which he 

 related his experi- 

 ence of a visit to the 

 Menomini Indians 

 at Keshena, Wiscon- 

 sin, about twelve 

 years previously, for 

 the purpose of gath- 

 ering information 

 in connection with 

 the federal censusof 

 1880. Mr MacCau 

 ley gives a descrip- 

 tion of the meeting 

 place of the Dream- 

 ers, the same danc- 

 ing ground as above 

 described, and a 

 subsequent conver- 

 sation with Mat'si- 

 kiue'u v (Bad Eagle) 

 as to the doctrine of 

 the advocates. This 

 Indian long since 

 left the society and 

 is now a convert to 

 Christianity. The 

 explanation generally is in accord with what the members now believe, 

 though some portions bear strong suggestions of the personal feeliug 

 of the interpreter rather than of the opinion of the rest of the common 

 members of the society. 



After relating superficially what he witnessed during a brief visit to 

 the ceremonies, Mr MacCauley says : 



I have told you of the Dreamers j ust as I saw them. The members of the league 

 ■were evidently thoroughly, even fanatically, in earnest. That was clear. But what 

 did they believe; what did they teach; what was their aim? I could not tell, and 

 many had assured me they meant ill. The day following, I therefore sent for Metchi- 

 keni to interpret for me what I had seen. . . . Here is the interpretation of the 

 Dreamers' ceremonies aud statement of their doctrines, as Jletchikeni gave them to 

 me. . . . "If I thought that our dance was a step backward, I would have noth- 

 ing to do witli it; ueither would Niopet. . . . We are dressed in the old dress of 

 our fathers, aud we sing aud dance; but I have been iu the theater in Washington 

 and have seen the white men do about the same things, with no one to blame them. 



■Published in the Japan Daily Mail of March 21. 1893. 



Flu. 25 — Place of the drum. 



