960 



WINNEBAGO 



[b. a. e. 



ished in ita precincts. Besides these 

 functions, the Bear clan possessed the 

 right of "soldier kiUing," and was in 

 charge of both ends of the camping 

 circle during the hunt. Each clan has 

 a large number of individual customs, 

 relating to birth, the naming feast, death, 

 and the funeral wake. The chief item of 

 interest in this connection is the fact that 

 a member of one clan cannot be buried 

 by the members of another clan of the 

 same phratry. (For details of the social 

 organization, see Kadin in Am. Anthr., 

 XII, no. 2, 1910.) 



Religion. — The Winnebago possess two 

 important tribal ceremonies, the Maii- 

 kdni or Medicine Dance, and the Winter 

 Feast ( Wagigo). The Medicine Dance 

 can take place only in summer, and the 

 Winter Feast only in winter. The Medi- 

 cine Dance is a secret society, ungraded, 

 into which men and women can be initi- 

 ated on payment of a certain amount of 

 money. Supernatural dreams are not 

 required for initiation at the present 

 day. A new member generally suc- 

 ceeds some deceased relative. There are 

 five ceremonial bands, occupying, re- 

 spectivelj^ the east, north, west, south, 

 and southeast of the long tent in which 

 the ceremony is performed. The posi- 

 tions of honor, which follow in the man- 

 ner enumerated above, are dependent 

 on the order of invitation and may 

 differ at each performance. A secret 

 vapor- bath ceremony precedes, and a 

 secret ceremony intervenes between, the 

 first and second parts of the general cere- 

 mony. The general ceremony itself is 

 public. The purpose of the society is the 

 prolongation of life and the instilling of 

 certain virtues, none of which, however, 

 relate to war. This instilling is accom- 

 plished by means of the "shooting" cere- 

 mony, consisting of the simulated shooting 

 of a shell, contained in an otter-skin bag, 

 into the body of the one to be initiated. 

 This ceremony is extremely similar to 

 that in the Algonquian Midcuiwin, and to 

 that in the Dakota "Mystery Dance" 

 and the Omaha "Pebble Ceremony." 

 There seems little doubt that the shoot- 

 ing ceremony has been borrowed by 

 the Winnebago from some Central Algon- 

 quian tribe, presumably the Sauk and 

 Foxes; also that the teachings have been 

 greatly influenced by those of the Mide- 

 wiwin. On the other hand, the organiza- 

 tion, a large portion of the ritual, and the 

 ritualistic myths are so fundamentally 

 different that it is better to regard the 

 shooting ceremony as a ritual second- 

 arily associated with an old Winnebago 

 ceremony. 



The Winter Feast is the only distinctly 

 clan ceremonial among the Winnebago. 

 Each clan has a sacred clan bundle, 



which is in the hands of some male indi- 

 vidual, who hands it down from one gen- 

 eration to another, always taking care, of 

 course, to keep it in the same clan. The 

 Winter Feast is distinctly a war feast, 

 and the purpose in giving it seems to be 

 a desire to increase their war powers by 

 a propitiation of all the supernatural 

 deities known to them. To these they 

 offer food and deerskin. There may be 

 as many as twelve (?) powers propitiated, 

 namely. Earth-maker, Disease-giver, 

 Sun, Moon, Morning Star, the spirits 

 of the Night, Thunderbird, One-horn, 

 the Earth, the Water, the Turtle, and 

 the Rabbit. Of these, food had to be 

 offered to all except the last two, who 

 are really only the culture heroes and 

 probably of recent introduction. The 

 feast is divided into two distinct parts, 

 one for the Disease-giver and one for all 

 the other spirits. The Sauk and Foxes 

 seem to have a similar feast, but its rela- 

 tion to the Winnebago is as yet unknown. 



There are a number of important cere- 

 monies besides the above, of which the 

 best known are the Buffalo Dance and the 

 Herucka. The former is given in spring, 

 and has for its purpose the magical calling 

 of the buffalo herds. All those who have 

 had supernatural communication with 

 the Buffalo spirit may become members, 

 irrespective of clan. The Herucka is the 

 same as the Omaha Grass dance. There 

 are also a number of other dances and 

 feasts, of which little is known as yet, such 

 as the Snake, Scalp, Grizzly-bear, Sore- 

 eye, and Ghost dances. 



The religious beliefs of the Winnebago 

 are practically identical with those of the 

 Dakota, Ponca, and Central Algonquian 

 tribes. A figure known as Man' una 

 ( Earth-maker) corresponds to the Gitchi 

 Manito of the Central Algonquian tribes. 

 The mythology consists of large cycles 

 relating to the five personages whom 

 Earth-maker sent out to free the world 

 from giants and evil spirits. They are 

 the Trickster, the Bladder, the Turtle, 

 He-who-wears-heads-as-earrings, and the 

 Hare. Besides these there are numerous 

 myths relating to the Thunderbird and 

 other clan heroes, and likewise numerous 

 miscellaneous myths. Although there 

 are evidences of Central Algonquian 

 influence, the mythology shows a much 

 more intimate relation with that of the 

 other Siouan tribes. 



Material Cidture. — In their material cul- 

 ture the Winnebago are distinctly tim- 

 ber people, and their houses and dress are 

 practically identical with thoseof the Sauk 

 and Foxes, Menominee, and others. The 

 same applies to their bead work, although 

 there is considerable evidence to show 

 that they had a characteristic porcupine- 

 quill industry not very long ago. In their 



