88 
Every now and again the Parry Islanders come upon some old, dis- 
carded bag, which they immediately assume has served some evil purpose. 
They examine it cautiously, allowing their imagination to run riot over 
any refuse that has gathered in it. One man who found a bag of bass- 
wood fibre that had belonged to the father of Jim Nanibush declares 
that it contained the dried hand of a child and two shells such as were 
used by members of the Grand Medicine Society. A black velvet case 
about four inches square, with a sling to pass over the shoulder, was 
picked up on the railway track in 1912 and displayed at a council meet- 
ing. It was said to contain some small bones of a dog, a goose, and other 
creatures which some one had used for witchcraft. No one dared to 
claim it, so the people publicly burned it. 
The sorcerer who has slain his enemy by witchcraft must necessarily 
guard against discovery and vengeance; and the Indians believe that the 
safest precaution he can take is to sever and eat his victim’s tongue so 
that the shadow will be unable to inform on him. He has merely to walk 
around the grave four times, counter-sunwise as usual, to make the 
corpse rise to the surface, when he can sever the tongue, and, if he wishes, 
the small bone from the tip of the little finger (or the entire hand of a 
little child) to hide in his bag for future witchcraft. 
So potent is this fear of witchcraft that every Parry Islander takes 
counter-measures for his own protection, and for the protection of his 
family. He strives to avoid malice and ill-will by hiding his emotions, 
and by carefully weighing his words lest he give vent to some angry 
or ill-timed remark. He sets food before chance visitors of his own race, 
whatever the hour of the day or night, lest they resent any semblance 
of inhospitality and later cast a spell on himself and his household. Since 
a sorcerer may visit a house by night and place evil medicine in dishes 
prepared for the following day some of the Indians regularly add a little 
wild ginger ( nimepin ; Asarum canadense ) to their food. In earlier days, 
they say, warriors always mixed this wild ginger with their war-rations 
of dried berries and dried meat, for it prevented the contagion of the 
food from several sources, from the touch of a little baby, of a woman 
at her seasons, and of a sorcerer or witch. 
“ Any man fortunate enough to obtain and chew a little earth gathered a foot 
underground at the base of a maple tree that has a streak of black along its eastern 
side can not only destroy the potency of a sorcerer’s medicines, but even seize the 
sorcerer himself when he makes his nightly visitations” (John Manatuwaba). 
“ My father, who was a member of the Grand Medicine Society, knew that sor- 
cerers generally employ the small owl kokoko to seek out and molest their victims; 
so whenever he proceeded to his winter hunting and trapping grounds he guarded him- 
self against their attacks in the following manner. At his first camp he burned in his 
fire a few twigs of the creeping juniper, because it has sharp points that blind the 
owl. In the morning he wrapped some of the ashes in birch bark and carried them 
to his next camp, where he repeated the process. So he continued each day until he 
reached his destination. There he deposited his ashes in the fireplace and burned 
juniper every fourth day. No sorcerer was ever able to harm him at this season 
or spoil his success in hunting” (Jonas King). 
Nevertheless, it would not be correct to suppose that the Parry Island- 
ers attribute every case of sickness to witchcraft. They believe that 
accidents do occur, though very rarely. Moreover, a man may become 
