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Mast medes carried their herbal medicines in small bags tied for dis- 
tinction with different knots, or with differently coloured strings. Their 
owners, unlike the wabenos, had received no special blessings in childhood 
that (supposedly) infused their remedies with extra power; but they sup- 
plied the deficiency by certain rituals which they claimed produced the 
same effect. Any lay person could use the same remedies provided he 
possessed the requisite knowledge, although they would then possess their 
“ natural ” virtues only. Probably quite a number have passed into the 
modern pharmacopoeia of the laity now that the society is extinct; for 
every Parry Island Indian knows a few herbal remedies — not many, since 
no one may teach them without receiving payment, and the ordinary native 
cannot afford to purchase them extensively. Children always learn a cer- 
tain number from their parents, for their services around the camp take the 
place of a monetary indemnity. 
“No one may teach another any medicine without payment or benefit, for he 
would lose power thereby and wear out his life. Because Jesus healed the sick without 
payment he lost his power and perished. The least a competent medicine-man will 
accept for a medicine is $50, the full earnings of one moon ” (Jonas King and Pegah- 
magabow). 
Every man, whether mede or layman, who plucked a leaf or dug up the 
root of a plant for medicinal purposes had to make an offering of tobacco; 
but the interpretation of the custom, and the exact procedure that should 
be followed, varied with different individuals. Medes offered their tobacco 
to the manidos of the four cardinal points, the sky, and the earth before 
burying it at the root of the plant for the use of Nokomis , the earth; and if 
they required the root alone of the plant, they buried with the tobacco the 
leaves and stem. Only the two ex-members of the Grand Medicine Society, 
however, Jonas and Tom King, identified Nenibush with Mede Manido, and 
Nokomis, his grandmother, with the earth. The other Parry Islanders did 
not know this esoteric doctrine of the Medicine Society and were inclined 
to give a rather sinister meaning to the medes’ offering on account of the 
popular identification of medes with sorcerers. 
“ The mede receives a blessing from the sun, the moon, the stars, or from one of 
the manidos of the four cardinal points. When he digs up his medicine root he offers 
tobacco first to the manido from which he derived his blessing, then to the manidos 
of the four quarters and of the sky, and, finally, to the great serpent manido which 
has no name, but which dwells beneath the earth, governing many lesser manidos , and 
controlling all the trees and plants. This is the manido that receives his tobacco when 
he buries it in the earth ” (John Manatuwaba). 
It was the offering of the tobacco to the great serpent that offended the 
Parry Islanders, not its burial at the root of the plant. They themselves 
usually buried it there, but only as an offering to the plant’s soul or shadow. 
“Talk to the tree or plant when you are gathering its bark, leaves, or root. Tell 
its soul and shadow why you are taking away part of its body. Say to it ‘ Help me 
to cure such and such a malady.’ Unless you do this your medicine will not be of 
much avail. Moreover, if it is the root of the plant you need, take only part of it 
and leave the stem if possible undisturbed” (Pegahmagabow), 
The oldest inhabitant of Parry island, Jim Nanibush, burns his tobacco 
in the fire after he returns home instead of burying it at the root of his 
