1923] 



SMITH, BOTANIZING AMONG THE OJIBWE 



43 



While the Chippewa have actually adopted the white-man's way 

 in daily life, and while they may have nominally embraced the white- 

 man's religion, all are still pagans at heart. So far as could be learned, 

 none of them have adopted the peyote cult and hence their religious 

 beliefs, which are largely based on plants as medicine were interesting. 



The writer was repeatedly told that everything is medicine. In 

 this they differ from other Wisconsin Indians, who have their special 

 plants and know nothing about a good third of the flora. But the 

 Chippewa have names for everything, excepting a few adventive 

 plants, which they explain as not belonging there. They usually say. 



Fig. 21. — Medicine lodge at Flambeau village. 



"I guess that came from the south, it wasn't here in the early days." 

 True, not all plants are medicine for healing some disease, but serve 

 for attracting the opposite sex, for brmging good luck, for making the 

 hunt successful or for preventing divorce between a quarreling couple. 

 Collecting was much simplified by the fact that "everything is 

 medicine." All that was necessary was to gather everything that grew 

 and take the specimens to old Bearskin, who supplied the names and 

 uses, with details about the special part that is used. There are half 

 a dozen fairly prominent medicine men in the tribe and practically 



