The Grand Medicine Man

1901

The ceremony of the Grand Medicine is an elaborate ritual, covering several days, the endless number of gods and spirits being called upon to minister to the sick man and to lengthen his life. The several degrees of the Grand Medicine teach the use of incantations, of medicines and poisons, and the requirements necessary to constitute a brave.

"When a young man seeks admission to the Grand Medicine lodge, he first fasts until he sees in his dream some animal, the mink, beaver, otter and fisher being most common, which he hunts and kills. The skin is then ornamented with beads or porcupine quills, and the spirit of the animal becomes the friend and companion of the man.

The medicine men have only a limited knowledge of herbs, but they are expert in dressing wounds, and the art of extracting barbed arrows from the flesh can be learned from them.

In olden times — yes, to within the memory of living Ojibways — the medicine man at the funeral ceremony thus addressed the departed: "Dear friend, you will not feel lonely while pursuing your journey toward the setting sun. I have killed for you a Sioux, [hated enemy of the Ojibways], and I have scalped him. He will accompany you and provide for you, hunting your food as you need it. The scalp I have taken — use it for your moccasins." — Open Court.