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Fig the bed DE ah Papa ree eh ces oot te rae ik graalh a & ’ aot rho Ra aR thy Dima an ew ar - ae nivel ted Prense se Be AU te td aH + us bie a * het ) PA | SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 146 ae SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION o0F BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 146 CHIPPEWA CHILD LIFE AND ITS CULTURAL BACKGROUND UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON : 1951 ec a ee NT Eat Ne RN a a Se a ae For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office Washington 25,D.C. - Price 75 cents 77 BGRRDED pranucis University Lib Nagy LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL SMITHSONIAN INsTITUTION, Bureat oF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY, Washington, D. C., April 15, 1950. Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith a manuscript entitled “Chippewa Child Life and Its Cultural Background,” by Sister M. Inez Hilger, and to recommend that it be published as a bulletin of the Bureau of American Ethnology. Very respectfully yours, M. W. Stiruine, Director. Dr. ALEXANDER WETMORE, . Secretary, Smithsonian Institution. aG8 ae CONTENTS Page RARGIS UC 32 Se aa Se a Se SE Se NE Be eed ol ee pee Ss mE Ue IX IinformantsanGuimterpretersh == so2 225. 22s e see ee sae ee Se XIII intreductions tHe,Chippews: Indians. ..-- .--..22-2. 25 2 ee et 1 LET ETEY TV HONLINY SY 1 60 LRM ey ro cae Uap py ney We a Ton a Oe I ee 2 ATEN tain AClOls = ane ee ee ee OR ee eh 2 AB CE LON a 2 fears ee eee Se pe he oy a el ge 4 OI Ole Cen AD LOI 2 ee Sle ee ee a eh ee 4 Effect of mother’s pregnancy on youngest child__________-_____-_-- 6 Hood taboo ANG prescriptions... 5. =.= =. 2.42 220260 2-5 ee 6 Conduct taboos and prescriptiOns: --~ 2-3-5 ase ee 8 EN] SCT CGS BY EEN STORED fog, Enea ey Ete 2 YM TAs See Cte 10 TREN EEGs oe SG oe SN SPAR RR a ee Da ale CN ra Cnc ea Se |e 12 TELE eee Cop OS) NA ta a eS Oe ee ede cere re Leer 12 IRersOnSs Assisting ats bint Messe ses aa een ere ee ie oe cee ek age WS Position of mother during delivery —-— 9) = 92 13 AGES Hee tole ee ee ee ee eee ee eee eee 15 UN PAGCOR: sehen = Sp eee et th a ag se ag lap sd 16 TELS OO ES IS DE Se eee ee eee ey ere 17 “CYS TDD ADLER ee ee ee ee ame ear See sae » -» 18 NRG OST es SE eS ee ee eee eee hae eee ae 18 UN EES SP SS PSP AS i 01 | ec ee ee ee ee Se ey oe 18 Runificationvotem otierse set. same eee ee oe ok oe See ee eee ee 19 Announcement of birth and ceremonial celebration__._--_---_------ 19 Rostmatalanterestsi22e >a. sce —2 - toe ee ae a ee 2 20 INGSE IMCS ANGLeaTMN ps: 2). lotta eee te oe eee 20 Cradles, diapers, “talcum powder,” baby hammocks, and method of (HEP NS) OKO HEINER OFF OS a ES Re ee ee ee ee ee ee 21 nila biese saa eee aes ee See ee Ba oa seo an Re ee ae 25 AR CONGRATS tT OlOUNON ae S26 — Sasa oe Ba Sco Se Ce a ee eee 26 A child’s first actions, first word, first step, first portage, and first tooth 27 INDITSIN Gan WeamMing = seo. oe nol See se ee ee a eg 28 DEPT STT a gENas SEDE NGs ee Pe ee e eee nes Zeer echo eens 28 HASTY Fria Pe A MI ae gl AM SE ae aye a nh ee ee Sy 29 nausea CONGIMIONS se 2 Senet a Re ree Se Re ae ee Rs 30 PAS AT GCGRINIeb R= ah Be ae Ne er ee ko oh a een 30 LCR ADIOS ote. See hs es See os a he A Pe Ee ana ta cake nN ee ge 31 Werormed: bAblese.. 6 =.= Baas oto. Sees 2 ee he Re ake cl 32 1 SYS a SP a Pea a a ag ae Sd eine eee ER? EP 32 WIPO IEIMAC ys se ate ote oe eee eh eel A 28 Nk = em os 32 Slaves, servants, and adopted persons___-=_--=___----.--____-. __ 33 ISCAS TESA CWA AVERT Ce | RA NS a 5S eee er eo SORE IS 35 WaTlousimames! 3 = ee 52 Sos 2h ee cook Sa ae a a 35 ORipIN TOL WAMNES ese ee. ke ee ee ee ek a 35 Ene AIMeCSAROs 2222662 AS ale eee lee ha Pe a 37 WETEIN GIA sxe ees Se a Pe i oe hale RR ot 38 IV CONTENTS Page Prepuberty fasts___-------- agen): luce 2a0 peeeeiee nee Ae alee el 39 Age of boy‘and girl.» -_. =. 2-5. sb See tee oa eee eee 39 Selection: of fasterssc2 2.25202 220 2a) eee ee ee eee 39 PignMeaANt CTEAMS 25222 22 eee ee ee ee ee 40 Manner of fasting) 20.4 524 22 ee ee Se ee oe sae 40 Purposeioffasting 2: <2 25 See See eee 44 Personal accounts of dreams... 2.22 <2 see eee eee eee 47 BUberty, CUSLOMB= 2 oe oe ee oe a ee ee 49 Boys’ puberty customs: 22222... SSeS ee Se eee 49 Girls puberty rites 22-22 l See eS ee eee eee 50 Mrainimng childrens 2 ))2¢.l 0) 3 SoU See oe ee eee 55 Type of education. o0 .- 5-2 Pete lease Sa ee ee 55 Methods*2222 202222 262 See ee ee 55 Instructorsic228 22s 222 1 2 Se ee eee ee ee 56 Time-of instructions= 222.52 22 220s oe ee ee 57 Reward ang ‘punishment. oS Se se ee ee ee 58 Discovering righteous children’: 2 3225255 ° esse ee ee setts 59 ‘Religion and supernatural powers 22) 2 22 —— Se ee eee 60 The: Suprenie Being. 22 =. sae ee 2 ee ee eee 60 Minomdeities 2225022 = Vee sene ets OSS Stoel ee ee ee 60 Tobacco asia Ceremonial Ofer ge = eee esse ee ee 62 The Midé! wiwitt2t: 2222 2 een. ee ee 63 “Grand medicine,” or powers of members of the Midé’wiwin- - ------ rel “Pip: shaking’) 22023. .2o2 2222 22st ht St See ee eee 75 Belief in dife*atter death22 22.22" 5) cos Se See ee ee 78 Lifeatter death: 2252.02" .26 12223 oe eee eee ee ee 78 Deéatheie eck scl ut See sek SESS Se ree 78 Imterment 2 S225 225222. Rese Meee es Cae ee es ee eee 80 Giaveses = 22 ehesliwes (coo eee eee See eee = See eee 82 Offerings for the dead (cibénaki’win)._--------------------------- 83 Burisle:23 oc. /2 00.2 Siete Ce eee | es ee 84 Mourning 62 2 OcU shi 2 ee eo es Soke ee ee 86 Health measures os 222 i 222 oe Pee ae Sa Ee ee 87 Shamanisticupowerss 222.5. 2502 7 ae see eee eae eee 88 Herbs; roots, bark22o° 22252" beer hie Set ooo ee eee er * 90 Tattooing (4ja’sOwim).... "= 222. SL fe oll So Se ee eee 93 Bloodletting: (pi'pkicoane) 222 - Sel hse see Stes. 2S eee eee 95 Sweating co@tote sos sie st ea eS eee 96 Préventivesmeasures= 2225 225 = S21 2t a 2S SOS eae Se ee ee eee 96 Moral training ct sf nc 8 tare ros St Se eee eee ee ee ee 97 Kindnesssont ir eo arts seo nen See oe. ae eee 97 Stealine ss shes se! cot tes fe Sa ee Se ee 98 Lyingvand boasting! = 2222222 Safco 2228 ee eee 99 Talebearing= 228 ie %22 Sossh2 os Se eee eee 99 Quarreling 2282 7 2 ar Ss Cece Ser eee ee See eee 99 Intoxicants, suicide, cannibalism, revenge. = —*=- =. ==-_.2-_-=_-==* == 101 Mental: training Str Sle Si oo ee eee 102 Counting times es 2 1 Le ee 102 Linear measurements and counting numbers---------------------- 103 Directions oF Are eA oon oR ee aa eee Bante ae 105 Interpretation of natural phenomena-_-_-_-__----------------------- 106 Wariguare ce sok eee os i See aie eee ee 107 CONTENTS V Page DiversiQuseees 4: A ees are cree ome hoe Leo eS le 109 Chit Gre ran Sip bey Mees een la Seg YY aa Re ee Ss ee eS 109 Games auGeeam linge ee ee eee oe ee 110 DAN CESHae Newel eee Is 2S eee Cee Ee EO ee eS 112 NYAS RSTISTVI D2 a0 2 YN 4 ene 3 gee aE Ce 114 Vocational training and domestic economy---_--_-_-_------------------ 115 CU EETIO OMIT E KGL ec See coer Sy eae og A a, Sere ele | a 115 Snowshocs and GOUOP PANS: seo. 5 22,5 See ee al th ee ee Se 117 ESOS FeRTIG TAT EO WUS= eee hs ee AR oe en EE i 9 Dee its ek Oe pea 118 LB OLS iy Ee eee AERMPR cote I Pe MS eae y Meee epee OL pa me ee pe 119 AFipsealrinragie ee Me NEL ots TU wh ee a ee Ae 125 eG Hay rig mae el aa aie Shan oi Bee gal seh wel, Seg ae Si hes 129 Birchbark containers/and! bulrush) matsee 2255 -— = 2-2 ee eee eee 133 drama ingest ahs: va RR 3) oars Sa I pe od tA go Ra he lh Oi ay tt 137 HuelGreplaces|.and lighting: =o.) ucu= 2. ae Sse a ee IS 141 (Greil e riba ge lec FE OS Sl gn. See ee i wd. Mine Natal Se 144 Hoodsipreparationvand storages s=- 2 4 a= ys = ee oe ee 144 Bandsvchiefss and icouncils®=s2285. 2 Jo 52" ye eee ee ee 150 VIE Ett) (OBS GO RIAN peop SL et an a ee RR he a ee 153 (Gieii ty os ES, ee Pe eee ee ee oy ENE end eee een NLL emer ea 153 COS Ue ttl ea Oe et CI Se SN See CONeeeeie reser men tL meee mre Ps 156 Retry ea ae eerste me ar P oh 0G SLs ReneS Se a tte a 158 VERON RSS OLN E11 eg OS RY cee PORES SORE MET Me eRee SG One MBENT, Seen Fee ee yeS! 2 160 PPG pam ies seg ee th te ce eo me ee ee BHC CESBINERNIATTIN Gest tris 8 eS Mt ee a GE MPT AMIUE LOUIS a3 9 2S Se aes ie fal cla, Se a) 5 Spt So es ee ee a, 162 EATS YE Sg eS np eter tien Oa Meet ereainy, eee amtvenenet cy 2 Pel aa ee a ee = 162 RSS MTG TY ASR a Sn 3 a Bo aE i Se Si LN ame ee 162 List of some jplants used by the Chippewa.__...-..--.-2-=<.+..-=---242 173 TEN Sh Irv veda tools Mee em ee Re an ane eg ee SORE SO Re re Cae 173 LNG UES ACES EY OE EE SR pete ee Aen ok ee eee Eten trerT ee Bee tee 189 ales ee mathe hare ee st alee ~ ‘ se BS ne =p “e vi ace = aes > nay SA of RSD vi it yi - di ersghit ne he Be a.+ re j “ te ii we Sa 4 rate airs H 1 < i Neu ee ® fi WATS cic haere aa enh ee - 1 ot Ney Av ban. an vee + mal a eit e ; Ae gage aN eae » Lae @ » 4 Ch ais eee ent: ¥ Pe a 8 slows AO ta aed 0 en ~ AG ee Cth hee 2G ue a — a4 Bo ily wes TO} ye 43 4 AF + aes at are Oe eg 8 ; tet re ADE ey nth re 7 eae shel ly * Hikes big rwu mys pen “ S Peet 4* 2 ing of Adan sartt byes alte: rt dees hh 3h (‘sileyy UveiIpuy JO BO ‘§ ‘A AseyaNod : EFET ‘PIOJATT IOI ) youssyp © wod S ‘SUOIJVAIOSeL (BAQI[O) BAoddiqD 94} JO dey—T aun aspeod ae ie S Ll tg e vosnonsvuuulene Sens = AE $ OE SS - Ponbugnd > AID K20: a VMOl e uisnvt ONISS 7 epiou puso qanova ny A a err: re] NOSIGVW F KugQ uoseyy@ wie YOIHOI oo _ eee. 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Loa opoys%@ pues pviuOd GNVES : Syv7 LI3N tml rts en ae WIR & ayn] apis seg peuor mee tS) ay). CHIPPEWA CHILD LIFE AND ITS CULTURAL BACKGROUND By Sisrer M. Inez Hincer INTRODUCTION: THE CHIPPEWA INDIANS Copway, a native Chippewa, wrote in 1851 regarding the origin of the name of his people: “I have heard a tradition related to the effect that a general council was once held at some point above the Falls of St. Anthony, and that when the Ojibways came to this general council they wore a peculiar shoe or moccasin, which was gathered on the top from the tip of the toe, and at the ancle [sic]. No other Indians wore this style of footgear, and it was on account of this peculiarity that they were called Ojibway, the signification of which, is gathering” (Copway, 1851, p.30). The word “Chippewa,” which is now generally applied to this tribe in the United States, is the popular adaptation of “Ojibway.” Culturally, the Chippewa Indians belong to the woodland area of North America; linguistically, they belong to the large Algonquian family. The tribes of the Algonquian family, according to Michel- son’s linguistic classification, fall into four major divisions: Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Eastern-Central, the last having two sub- types—the Eastern and the Central. The Eastern includes the Mic- mac, as one group, and the Abnaki, which comprise all the remaining extant dialects, as a second group. The Central subtype, the one in- cluding the Chippewa, is subdivided into the following groupings: The Cree-Montagnais; the Menomonie; the Sauk, Shawnee, Fox, and Kickapoo; the Ojibwa, Potawatomi, Ottawa, Algonkin, and Peoria; the Natick; and the Delaware (Michelson, 1906-07, pp. 223-290). The first recorded word regarding the Chippewa is found in the Jesuit Relations of 1640 where they are mentioned under the name of Baouichtigouin. In 1641 Fathers Isaac Jogues and Charles Raym- bault found them at war. In 1667 Father Allouez wrote of them as living on “the sault by which Lake Tracy empties into the Lake of the Hurons” (Kellogg, 1917, p. 185). In 1670-99 Perrot found them liv- ing south of Lake Superior (Hodge, 1907, pt. 1, p. 278). Mention of the Chippewa is found in most of the journals and narratives of the 1 884216—51——_2 2 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buu 146 early missionaries, travelers, and fur traders. The tribe is recorded in historic literature under more than 70 different names, among them Achipoes, Chepeways, Odjibwag, Uchipgouin, Dewakanha, Dshipewe- haga, Ninniwas, Saulteur, and Saulteaux. Contemporary Chippewa, basing their information on traditions recorded in the ceremonials of the Midé’wiwin, their native religion, say that when the first white men met them, the Chippewa were jour- neying westward to their place of origin from somewhere in the East where there are great bodies of water. Their westward movement, in- terfered with by Fox and Sioux, was greatly aided by the use of fire- arms. These came into their possession about 1670. During the beginning of the eighteenth century, the Fox were driven from North- ern Wisconsin; the Sioux were driven across the Mississippi River and south of the Minnesota River. The Chippewa then continued west- ward across what is now Minnesota and North Dakota as far as the Turtle Mountains. While a portion of the tribe was thus moving westward, another forced the Iroquois to withdraw from the peninsula between Lake Huron and Lake Erie (Hodge, 1907, pt. 1, p. 278). Skinner notes that the territory over which the Ojibway at one time roamed “extended from the Niagara River on the east to the neighbor- hood of central Montana on the west, and from the northern part of Wisconsin and Michigan north about halfway to Hudson’s Bay” (Skinner, 1911, p. 117). Treaties between the United States Government and the Chippewa, as well as executive orders of Presidents and special acts of Congress affecting them, began as early as 1785 and continued to be made until recent times. ‘Twenty-two such negotiations were transacted in the 60 years between 1805 and 1864 (Kappler, 1904, pp. 18-754 passim). Until the nineties the Indians were continuously ceding lands; in more recent times the Government has been reacquiring lands for the Indians. Today the Chippewa live on reservations within their original terri- tories in Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, and North Dakota, and in Ontario, Manitoba, and Northwest Territories (fig. 1). The entire population in the United States and Canada was estimated in 1905 to be between 30,000 and 32,000 (Hodge, 1907, pt. 1, p. 280). The popu- lation in the United States today according to the 1940 census is nearly 30,000 (U.S. Office of Indian A ffairs, 1940, pp. 9, 12, 16). PRENATAL PERIOD PARENTAL FACTORS Sterility —The cause for inherent sterility was not known. Sterility could be produced artificially by taking a decoction, ingredients of. HILGER] CHIPPEWA CHILD LIFE 3 which were known only to certain persons.t Sterile people were not well thought of. “Indians are proud to be able to conceive.” Some informants had not heard of either partner blaming the other if their union was childless. One informant, however, knew that— a sterile woman was suspected of having had intercourse before puberty. Ifa certain married couple had no children, and the man died, and his wife re- married (or if his wife left him and married another man) and if the woman then had children, everyone knew that she was not sterile. No one suspected her any longer ; everybody knew then it was the man’s fault. Fertility—Certain Indians claimed to have knowledge regard- ing the medicinal value of plants which, when taken in the form of a decoction, produced fertility in sterile women. On the Red Lake Reservation, “if a mother didn’t have children and wanted some, they brewed two roots, anicinabékwi djibik and basénakwegok and she drank it. It always worked.” On the White Earth Reservation sev- eral decoctions were used. The following were two: “Use either the bark of the hazelnut brush (baganimidji nénagek) or a sort of butter- cup or waterlily found in the meadows (pakwédidjitegons).” On the Mille Lacs Reservation both husband and wife drank the potion: If a woman has no children and she wants some, she is given an Indian medi- cine and her husband drinks it too; they always have babies after that. ‘I know of a couple who drank it; she was a relative of my husband—my husband’s sister’s daughter. They were getting old, drank the medicine, and had a baby; but it died when it started to creep around. No one here today has knowledge of that medicine. One old lady had it, and she died. Another very old informant on the same reservation said : “Old Indians knew medicine which when taken by both husband and wife always caused them to have children.” On the Lac Courte Orielle Reservation, informants did not wish to name the ingredients, but said “roots and barks of certain trees.” The interpreter added : The ingredients are known only to older members of the tribe who still practice medicine. They will reveal the true recipe only when told to do so by the chief medicine man at the celebration of the Midé’wiwin which takes place in the fall and in the spring of every year. At the celebration certain old persons, mem- bers of the Midé’wiwin, are selected for promotion to higher degrees. ‘They are then told the recipes of certain decoctions—each degree has its own particular knowledge pertaining to herb curing. When a member has completed the entire course—that is, has made all the degrees—he is a full-fledged medicine man. Limitation of size of family—Artificial limitation of families was not known to the Chippewa. Abstinence, however, was practiced. “Parents preached to the men and to their daughters to stay away 1 Throughout this work where plants, roots, and bark are not identified, it was impossible to obtain either native names or specimens. Cf. also Preface (p. XIII). For those that were identified, see list of some plants used by the Chippewa (p. 173). 4. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 146 from each other. It was considered a disgrace to have children like steps and stairs.” “Ifa man had sense, he didn’t bother his wife while a child was young.” “Some had many children, but none had them like steps and stairs; the men and women kept away from-each other.” “I didn’t live with my man as husband until the baby was able to walk. I slept alone.” CONCEPTION All informants agreed that conception is due to the collaboration of both parents. Typical remarks were such as these: “It is from the man that the child comes, as well as from the woman.” “The man is responsible for the baby along with the woman. That was always believed by the Chippewa because they knew that to be true.” How- ever, it was believed that a child born with certain physical traits was not conceived in the normal way: it was considered reincarnated. Such traits were those of being born a twin; of being born with a small patch of gray hair anywhere on the head, or with teeth, or with a caul, or with “nips” out of the ears, or with birthmarks, especially ones that resembled healed wounds. It was believed that the ghost of an Indian, well advanced in years, one who showed the characteristics with which the child was born, had come near the mother’s body and had entered the body of the child. This occurred either at the moment of con- ception or very soon afterward. “Such babies were old-time Indians. No one knew who the old-timer was, but some old Indian’s spirit went up to the mother’s body and entered the baby’s body. This was not said as a joke; this was the truth.” “My daughter was born with a patch of white hair, and I heard my grandmother say, ‘There, that child is some old person come back to life.’” “Some boys and girls were born with marked ears; it was supposed that they were old Indians born again. You know in old times, Indians had their ears pierced. My grandmother had long slits in her ears.” 2 PERIOD OF GESTATION Gestation covered a period of nine missed menstruations and was reckoned from the first one missed, birth being expected at any time after the ninth one missed. ‘The phases of the moon served as a calen- dar. One informant said: We took notice whether the first menstruation that was missed occurred at half-moon, quarter-moon, full-moon, or no moon—the old Indians reckoned every- thing by the moon, for we had no calendars like now. The exact time was nine moons. We made marks with charcoal somewhere to remember the moons as they passed; I used to make marks on the birchbark covering of our wigwam, in the corner, right over the place where I kept my things. 2 According to Hallowell, the Saulteaux believed that a child with a few gray hairs was reincarnated. An infant that cried constantly was thought to be trying to utter the name it bore in a previous existence. (Cf. Hallowell, 1940b, vol. 70, p. 50.) HILcER] CHIPPEWA CHILD LIFE 5 Another added: I took notice of the phase of the moon of.my first missed menstruation and counted the numbers of moons of the same phase as they passed. I kept that number in my head. I always had a good memory and didn’t have to mark a stick like many women did. Informants differed as to the exact time during gestation in which the child became a human being. Some had been told that the embryo was human from the moment of conception; others, only from the time that it gave signs of life; others had never heard any one tell. “We were taught that the child was a human being as soon as it was con- ceived: right from the start when we knew we were that way; from the time we didn’t menstruate anymore.” “After 4 months the child is completely shaped and starts to move in the mother; from then on it isa human being. Some children even hiccough at that time.” “TI always thought of my babies as being human beings after I had missed two menstruations.” “I had an aunt who knew her baby was 2 or 3 months along when she lost it. (She lost it because she carried too heavy a load of wood on her back.) You could tell that it was begin- ning to form. They cleaned it just like a child that is born and wrapped it. They gave a feast just like for a dead person and buried it in the same way. They believe that a child is human when it is conceived.” Some informants had been taught that for the growth of the un- born child marital relations of the parents was necessary during the entire period of pregnancy; others noted that after conception “the mother takes care of herself and the baby grows from the mother’s blood.” All informants agreed that there were no methods by which either male or female sex could be produced, either at the time of conception or during pregnancy. Sex, however, could be predicted by the con- tour of the mother’s abdomen, by the location of the fetus, by the movements of the child, by the physical condition of the mother, or by a type of affinity. If the contour of the mother’s abdomen was point- ed, she carried a boy, because a boy sat in a haunched position, having knees toward front of his body; a girl sat low with knees on a level with feet thereby causing her mother’s body to be rounded. “When I had my first baby my mother told me it would be a girl, because I was shaped round; and a girl it was.” If the fetus was located near the sternum the mother was carrying a boy; if near the pelvic bones, a girl. Boys gave evidence of more life than did girls and they in- dulged in more violent and more frequent movements. Some women noted that they had to void oftener when carrying boys than when carrying girls. An affinity is said to exist between certain small chil- dren and an unborn child; a small girl will be attracted to the woman 6 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLu. 146 bearing a girl; a little boy, to the fetus of a boy. These children will climb on the woman’s lap, throw their little arms around her neck, and wish to be where she is. They will follow her around and at every opportunity come near her. Girls were usually born about 10 days before they were expected, but this was not so with boys. Boys were “harder on the mother when born, and labor pains took longer.” “When my daughter was born, I took sick at 2 o’clock and she was born at 6.” Twins could nearly always be predicted because of the movement of the two fetuses. “My sister told us right along that she would have twins for there were always two hiccoughing: sometimes they hiccoughed to- gether; sometimes, one after the other.” Parents had no preference as to the sex of the child, except that mothers usually were glad to have a number of girls since daughters, more often than sons, cared for their aged parents. EFFECT OF MOTHER’S PREGNANCY ON YOUNGEST CHILD It had often been observed that during pregnancy a mother’s young- est child developed an unusual thirst. This continued until the birth of the baby, at which time someone offered the child a drink of water in a small birchbark receptacle (pl. 24, 2). While the child was drinking, the person offering the drink bent the receptacle outward, thus forcing the water to spill away from the child. After this the child no longer craved water. FOOD TABOOS AND PRESCRIPTIONS Informants on all reservations except Mille Lacs agreed that the Chippewa husband was not hampered in his food by either taboos or prescriptions during the pregnancy of his wife. One of the oldest members on the Mille Lacs Reservation was convinced that the fathers, too, should be restricted in diet: Both father and mother must not eat turtle. If they do the baby will stretch all the time just like the turtle stretches all the time, and that isn’t good for baby. Nor must they eat catfish. I knew a baby who was born with rings of sores encircling its head; the father had eaten catfish. The sores ate into the baby’s head and it finally died. At Nett Lake the mother of a freckled-face little girl was confused and remarked that the child’s father must have eaten sea-gull eggs, for she was positive that she herself had not done so. For the pregnant wife, however, food was both restricted and prescribed. The violation of these mores at any time during preg- nancy affected the physical nature and/or the personality make-up of the unborn child. The expectant mother was warned not to eat much food at any time since “it made the baby large and birth diffi- HILGER] CHIPPEWA CHILD LIFE 7 cult,” but she was to observe this rule especially immediately preced- ing birth—an empty stomach facilitated birth. A child’s head will be large, she was told, and his limbs feeble, if a pregnant woman eats either the head or the tail of any vertebrate animal; only the parts between extremities should be eaten. Eating entrails of fish or of any other animal will cause the navel cord to wind about the child’s neck, shoulders, or body, and this, too, makes birth extremely difficult. Eating lynx, also, causes the birth to be difficult, for “the lynx has a hard time giving birth to its young.” Eating turtle delays birth “because the turtle is slow.” If an expectant mother would eat turtle her newborn baby would stretch continuously. Eating fat or grease or tallow caused the child’s head to become large; so did eating suckers. Eating popped rice caused the baby to have difficulty in breathing. Eating sea- gulls’ eggs caused the baby’s face to be covered with freckles, for “sea-gulls’ eggs are speckled with freckles.” Chokecherries and hom- iny constipated the mother. Eating porcupine caused the baby “to have a stuffy nose”; to be clumsy or crippled, clubfooted, or pigeon-toed. “I didn’t heed the warnings of my mother; I ate porcupine and my boy was born club- footed.” “The teachers in our schools used to tell us not to believe these old Indian superstitions; but I believe in some of them. TJ can’t help believing that they are true for I have seen them come true.” Porcupine, too, made babies headstrong, difficult to train, hateful, and touchy, for “the needles of the porcupine are sharp.” Rabbit heads caused the child to become frightened easily. They also caused large bulging eyes. Eating the head of catfish caused the baby’s eyes to be small. Eating blackbirds and robins, or any animal that makes a sound like a bird, caused the baby to be a cry- baby. ating hell-divers made the baby moan, “a pitiful hard moan, for the hell-diver makes a peculiar sound, a kind of sickening sound.” Eating duck caused the child to vomit much; eating certain fish made it bite. Siskos, a snakelike fish, caused it to have snakelike movements of the body. Eating woodchuck caused the baby to shake continu- ously, “for the woodchuck shakes all the time.” Eating raspberries caused red marks on the child’s body; eating blueberries, little blue marks like blueberries; eating blackberries, caused black marks. “I have a blueberry mark; my mother used to say she ate blueberries while she was carrying me.” “Once when I was carrying a child, we were moving camp. My mother walked behind me. I took a black raspberry and ate it. She saw me and told me what would happen; and when my baby was born, he had a black spot on his leg.” Other foods that were taboo were geese, eggs of turtle, and “lash”—a fish of snakelike color. Mothers were encouraged 8 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 146 to eat venison, wild rice, lake trout, and whitefish. (Cf. Hilger, 1936 d, 46-48.) CONDUCT TABOOS AND PRESCRIPTIONS Most informants had never heard that husbands of pregnant wives were in any way either restricted by conduct taboos or hampered by conduct prescriptions except that the husband was strictly forbidden to strike his wife or to speak roughly to her. A Lac Courte Orielle informant, however, related the following: According to the Chippewa traditions, hunting was at no time and in no way ever considered to be injurious to anyone with one exception. If while an animal was being dressed that had been killed by the husband of a pregnant woman certain bad signs appeared—muscles in certain parts, say in the sides or ribs of the animal, twitched or jerked—he knew he was seeing a bad omen: stillbirth or death shortly after birth of his unborn child was in the offing. This could be averted only if great sacrifices were offered. Wor example, the man and his entire family and all those who lived in his household had to bring various foods—in the early days it was wild rice, berries, dried meat, etc.—to a place where all the grand-medicine men and women of the tribe were meeting. The latter were feasted and their power thereby obtained in averting the evil. The man knew, too, that from now on he had to refrain from hunting until after the birth of his child. Some violated this custom; such cases are known and the child suffered the consequences. The expectant mother was restrained by many conduct taboos. “If she minded the old people who taught her these, she was all right; if she disobeyed them her child would have to suffer the consequences.” An expectant mother was not to look at corpses of human beings if she wished her child’s eyes to be bright looking and not “dazed and queer looking, or even cross-eyed.” If the mother allowed her gaze to rest on a deformed person or a deformed animal, “such as a de- formed calf,” she knew her child would be physically deformed. It might have drooping eyelids, or have its mouth drawn to one side. In fact, expectant mothers were not to look at any unusual object and if, inadvertently, they did so “they were not to turn and look again.” Nor were they to look at snakes; it was best not to look at any animal, or to torment any animal, even the smallest ones, such as a fly. If an expectant mother stepped over a tree felled by lightning, knowingly or unknowingly, her baby was born with a rash or a queer- colored skin, and was usually subject to convulsions. Such a baby had to be bathed daily, until cured, in a decoction made by boiling bark or pulp of a tree that had likewise been felled by lightning. If notice had been taken of such a fall, the bark was then and there gathered and saved until the arrival of the baby. This taboo, how- ever, was not known to the Lac Courte Orielle informants. The child of a mother who had been frightened by a lizard was born Hiner] CHIPPEWA CHILD LIFE 9 with “a head shaped like that of a lizard, and with short arms and little legs like those of a lizard.” An expectant mother was told not to turn over in bed, lying down; she was either to rise on knees and turn over, or to sit up and do so. Rolling over in bed caused the umbilical cord to wind around the child’s neck or body, thus causing either difficult birth or, at times, the strangling of the child at birth. “Sometimes the cord was even ae the arm of the baby, because the mother had turned without sitting up.” “My mother instructed me, but I never heeded her. When my children were born with their cords around their necks, she’d say, ‘There, now! See, I was right.’ ” Women were taught to do hard work while carrying a child and in this matter no leniency was shown them. Women who refrained from hard work might anticipate adherence of placenta after birth. “TI used to saw wood and do everything; it did not hurt me, but my little girl’s back was all streaked, because of the wood that I packed on my back while I was carrying her.” “A pregnant woman was not per- mitted to lie around; she was made to do hard work, such as chopping wood, because that kept the child loosened and made birth easy.” Hesitating on the threshold of a door or lying across her bed did not affect the expectant mother in any way. Such a woman was instructed, however, not to enter the wigwam of any but her immedi- ate relatives. It was known in some cases that her enemies—jealous because of her marriage to her husband—had the favor of certain medicine men who allowed them to use their “bad medicine.”? Some of it was of such strength that even the slightest contact with one pos- sessing any of it was sufficient to injure the unborn child, or even to kill both mother and child. Pregnant women were not allowed to receive gifts, not even food, from anyone except immediate relatives. There was constant fear of “bad medicine.” For the same reason she was not to lie on any one else’s bed but her own; her clothes might come in contact with bad medicine—a thing they always feared. Women were also advised to refrain from going to dances or from mixing with crowds. If they did so on the Red Lake Reservation, legs and feet had to be massaged previously with some medicinal preparation made from snakeroot (wini’sigéns). On the Lac Courte Orielle Reservation— there was always fear that an expectant mother might come in contact with “bad medicine” and be afflicted with péasikwa’kwé (meaning she was tripped in her purpose). Therefore, any part of her body might at any time be rubbed with a mixture of a root found in swamps (mackw6od’kawac) and with sturgeon grass (naméwac’ )—we now callit catnip. This would offset any “bad medicine” which was intended to harm her or her unborn child. 3 When Chippewa Indians say ‘“‘bad medicine” or ‘grand medicine” (kabé midé’wid) they mean a mysterious magic power, including black art, possessed by certain members of the Midé’ wiwin, their native religion. (Cf. also pp. 71-75.) 10 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 146 ABORTIONS Both induced and spontaneous abortions occurred among the Chip- pewa. Induced abortions, however, were not looked upon with favor on any reservation and were, therefore, of rare occurrence. Judging from the number of children born to older informants, one is led to believe that among them there were few abortions, but a rather high rate of infant mortality. One informant’s story is typical of those told by many of the older women: “I had six children, all of whom are dead: One died as a mere baby; two were 1 week old; one was 3 years old; tuberculosis took one boy at 19, and my last girl at 21.” Several of the oldest informants had heard, when younger, of women who had aborted children voluntarily; these instances, how- ever, were spoken of in whispers. Most informants had never been acquainted with such a woman. “No, I never knew any woman who did that. An Indian doesn’t like to do that. My grandmother said that years ago they suspected a woman of having done that but couldn’t prove it.” “Mothers never induced abortions in old times; they took good care so that their babies would be born right.” “Indians are proud to be able to conceive and do not think much of abortions.” Abortions, however, did occur in the olden days, and they occur today. In old days, I heard of one woman that was not married, but that had babies; and she caused abortions. They said she used to go where there was a fallen tree and hang over that, and so cause the abortion. But after she was married, every baby died just as it was born. That was long ago. I knew of her; but I was not acquainted with her. I know that there is medicine that women take and I know of some women way back that did that, but I don’t think that is right. Sometimes the woman never gets over it, and sometimes it kills her. Some try to hurt themselves, too, and cause abortions in that way. A very old informant knew of persons who had drunk decoctions to induce abortions: “I was brought up by my great-grandmother who had such knowledge. I never heard of abortions due to lying across a log or carrying a heavy weight. The only way I heard of was by means of tea. I don’t think there was much of this since Indians liked children too well.” “I do not know of any full-bloods on the reserva- tion today who cause abortions; but some of the others do that.” “I know that abortions are being committed on the reservation today, for I know several persons myself who do it. They drink Indian medicine which is made by steeping some roots or herbs; that is all they have to do. Those who know what to use do not tell.” One in- formant had aborted seven times “because I’m not rightly married HILGER] CHIPPEWA CHILD LIFE 11 tomy man and I don’t want to have his kids around. I have enough to do to take care of two—the ones my right husband does not take care of. Some woman here in the village gives me tea to drink. It works every time.” On the same reservation two informants told of four old women who were dispensing decoctions to expectant mothers. A woman 26 years of age—a mother of four small children—said she had been told repeatedly by older women “to get medicine from ‘Old Lady So-and-So’ the next time a kid was on the way.” A 30-year- old mother of 7 children had been offered information regarding artificial limitation by a white woman on one of the reservations, and added, “If I don’t want any more children, I’ll go to ‘Old Lady So- and-So’ and get some drink to get rid of the baby; I don’t need her, that white woman, to advise me.” Informants noted that induced abortions, in old days, as well as today, were performed either because husbands were mean to their wives and did not support them, or be- cause some women did not like children. Although decoctions were the ordinary means used, women also induced abortions by lifting or straining themselves or by jumping off high places. Spontaneous abortions occurred because women worked beyond their capacity, as, for example, in splitting wood. A severe fall might also do harm. When a woman feared an abortion she might use preven- tive measures, the knowledge of which was in possession of certain persons. A 90-year-old informant possessing such knowledge demon- strated the treatment. After placing some finely crushed roots, leaves, and flowers of certain herbs on smouldering lint on a dustpan, she stood over it flexing her knees so that the bottom of her long skirts rested on the ground about the dustpan. This permitted the fumes to ascend her clothing without any of them escaping. She remarked, My sister and I have this knowledge. We generally use a frying pan, in place of the dustpan I used here, and make the woman stand over that while the herbs are throwing off medicine. It is done only if a woman hurts herself and is afraid of an abortion. Knowledge to do this came to my sister and me from my mother, and she received it from her grandmother. So it goes back to our great-grand- mother. I wanted to teach it to my daughter when she was here last week, but she wouldn’t even listen to me; she said she didn’t believe in any of it. None of my children believe in the old Indian ways; maybe they will when they grow older and wiser. Since no one but my sister and I have this knowledge, and we won’t live much longer, it will die when we go; it belongs only to our family. In old times the fetus of an induced abortion was buried either under the floor of the wigwam in which the mother lived or under the roots of the tree from which roots had been taken for making the potion that caused the abortion, or anywhere under the ground. It was never buried with funeral rites. Spontaneous abortions were buried in the same manner as adults (p. 81). 12 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 146 BIRTH PLACE OF BIRTH If pregnancy ended in late fall or winter, birth usually took place in the home wigwam of the permanent camping grounds. If, however, there were preadolescent boys or girls in the family, a small wigwam was built not far from the home to which the mother retired until after the birth. “TI used to erect a special wigwam so that I might be away from the children since we all lived in one-room wigwams in those days.” Ifthe birth occurred in spring or summer, the mother prepared a place in the open, some distance from the home wigwam, and gave birth there. The birth also occurred in the open if the family hap- pened to be enroute to or encamped in a place of food gathering, such as maple-sugar making, fishing, hunting, trapping, berry picking, or wild-rice gathering. “My mother-in-law was out trapping with her husband when one of her children was born. She cut the cord herself and continued to work.” “My grandmother used to tell how women at times gave birth while the families were away from home, hunting. They would stay in the same place for four days after a birth, and then go on again.” PERSONS ASSISTING AT BIRTH Midwives (gata’niwi’kwé, a term also used for any woman adminis- tering to the sick) usually attended the mother at birth. At times, however, only the woman’s mother and sister, or some women who were near relatives, did. “You could have whomever you wanted: I wanted my mama and my sisters.” “AIJ] women seemed to know how to assist at birth, and always there were several women present at birth.” “T assist at birth even today and that without a doctor. Some of the full-bloods don’t want men around; not even doctors.” “I my- self think it is a disgrace the way women submit themselves to strangers today when their babies are born, especially to those doctors; when I was at the hospital with pneumonia, I heard all about it. In old days not even the women looked at anyone more than neces- sary ; a big piece of buckskin was placed over the mother to protect her modesty.” Only certain midwives, however, knew how to deliver stillbirths. This was done by means of the midwife’s hands. “I know one mid- wife who removed three children in stillbirths.” “A woman who was dying of childbirth asked me to take her child as soon as she had died. I did so and the child breathed twice and also died.” “I was called to a home where the woman had died some time before. They did not want to bury her with her unborn child, so I removed it by using both Hiterr] CHIPPEWA CHILD LIFE 13 of my hands. I had a hard time doing it for the baby, too, was dead.” It was not customary for any man, not even the husband, to be present at birth unless no women were available, or unless some strong person’s assistance was needed. Some women objected to having their husbands anywhere near the birthplace; others tolerated them “to come in and to see how things were progressing.” “Sometimes if the mother was too weak to kneel or stand, the women called upon the husband to lift his wife.” “Men were not to come into the home until the baby and mother were cleaned up. A man has something inside of himself (informant insisted this was different from his soul) and if he came into the place of birth something would happen to that being in him; it might even die. The man wouldn’t amount to any- thing after that. No; men had better stay away if they know what’s good for them.” ‘There was nothing, however, by way of magic, such as walking continuously or drinking or eating a particular food, that the father could do to assist with the birth. Medicine men or medicine women, shamans, were called in only if labor was unusually hard, and it appeared as though the mother would not survive.* ‘These exercised their powers and were well paid for their services in material goods, such as cloth, buckskins, and kitchen utensils. Other assistants who were not of the immediate family were paid in wearing apparel. Members of the immediate family did not expect pay. POSITION OF MOTHER DURING DELIVERY In the early days all mothers took a kneeling position when giving birth; some women dosotoday. “Those who are accustomed to giving birth in a kneeling position find it difficult to do so lying down in bed, like women have to do when they go to hospitals.” In the early days the child was delivered on a thin layer of dry grass, which was spread either on the ground or on a bulrush mat. Today a worn blanket usually replaces the mat. “No quilts nor good blankets are used be- cause after everything is over, all is burnt.” Mothers employed several ways of bracing during delivery. One method was to grasp a sapling that rested in the crotches of two poles that were planted firmly into the ground some few feet apart. “My children were all born while I was in a kneeling position bracing my- self on a pole so that my elbows were on the opposite side of the pole; the more the arms were used the less pain there was.” At the present time, the pole may extend cornerwise in a room, being nailed to the scantlings of the walls. Today, too, chairs or boxes often replace poles. 4Cf. shamanistic powers, pp. 88-90. 14 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buur. 146 Some informants found pulling on a rope with all possible strength of greater benefit than bracing. One end of the rope—either a strip of moose hide, a pack strap, or some basswood fiber—was fastened to the trunk or limb of a tree or, in more recent years, to some part of the framework of the house. If the woman was too weak to pull the strap, a short pole was tied to the end of the strap and she supported herself by placing her elbows across it. “I was lying in bed in great pain when my first baby was about to be born,” a young woman re- marked. “They sent for my mother. When she came she made me get out of bed and kneel on the floor, telling me to lean against a chair. But I couldn’t stand that. Then they tied a rope—one we use for > anchoring the boat—to the wall and put a stick through the end of it, and they told me to pull onit. But I thought my end had come.” “T had an awful time when one of my babies came. Finally, one of the two old ladies that took care of me made me stand up and put my arms around her neck like this [ with face toward assistant’s back] and tried to lift me. Just as soon as she pressed her buttocks against my stomach, the baby came.” An informant on the Red Lake Reservation, in her nineties, gave the following account of the birth of her oldest child—her only surviving one of 12: My son was born in brush like this. I expected him because I was sick all night. I had swept the floor of our wigwam and gotten it all cleaned so it wouldn’t be dirty should anyone happen to come. Harly in the morning I took what little clothes I had for him—tanned buckskins, mostly—and a scissors and went out into the brush about as far from our home as that fence (about a rod). I told my husband to bring hay out there, and after that I was there all alone. I knelt down and braced myself on a stick I had gotten ready the day before: I had placed a sapling in the crotches of two sticks that I had planted into the ground. The child came, and I cut the cord and tied it. Then I wrapped up the baby and hollered for my man to come. He took the baby and I walked with him toward the home, and on the way I began to feel faint and my man braced me with his arm. All that’s woman’s sorrow! I fainted after I got into the wigwam. My mother and the neighbors were all out fishing, and it all came so fast. I drank Indian medicine and soon got well again. The only time that I was Sick at childbirth was when this child was born; he was my first child. A middle-aged woman on the L’Anse Reservation recounted an event her grandmother told: My grandmother, who died some years ago at the age of seventy-three, said that when she was a small girl they used to move from place to place. Once while we were coming along the Flambeau Trail when it was cold and snow was on the ground, my grandmother, grandfather, uncle, father, and mother were traveling together. We stopped overnight in one place, and next morning, my grandfather, grandmother, and mother stayed behind while the others moved on. When night came my father cleared away the snow in a certain place. He built a big fire there; then removed the remnants of the fire and built over this place a wigwam covered with mats and brush, in which we slept. We kept asking when mother was coming. “What’s wrong with mother?’ “Why doesn’t she HILGER] CHIPPEWA CHILD LIFE 15 come?” After 3 days my mother and grandparents came, my mother carrying a little bundle. “Here’s a new baby,” she said. : In those days people picked moss in swamps: They hung this swamp-moss on bushes until it was dry and all the bugs had fallen from it, packed it in birch-bark makuks or sacks and saved it for new babies. The babies were covered with this moss and then wrapped in squirrel and weasel hides. Very few babies, they say, died in those early days. They were like little kittens; they lived right on. [Hilger, 1986 a, p. 21.] AIDS AT CHILDBIRTH At the onset of labor pains, the woman was given a decoction of herbs. “It causes the child to come at once and easily too.” “Indians made their own medicine to help birth along and to make pains easy to bear. Only certain ones knew what plants to use, and you had to pay the women who made the medicine.”® One informant used nabanani’weok (a root that looks like the hair of a man) acécwa’cok (high weed with flowers like sunflower), and mamaskwaga’misud (root that becomes red when boiled). Another used bark of basswood (wigobi’mic) and slippery elm (dcaci’gob). A third used sweetgrass (wi’kic). (Cf. Flannery, 1940, pp. 21-22.) Women were encouraged, too, to move about and, if possible, to work until labor pains became very severe. “If you make them walk around or work, the baby will be loosened and birth will be easy. We were told not to overdo though.” ‘When I began feeling sick and wanted to lie down my mother said, ‘Get up, this is not a sickness!’ And I had to go to work; I had to be on the move all the time.” All during pregnancy expectant mothers were admonished to adhere to the prenatal food and conduct taboos if they expected easy delivery. Most informants knew of mothers who had died at childbirth, and they attributed each death spoken of to some irregularity or difficulty in delivering the placenta. “I knew of a woman who died because a second child was born in the afterbirth.” “Some mothers died of hemorrhages or neglect. The afterbirth was often hurried or pulled so that parts were left behind and caused blood poisoning.” “When my boy was born, the afterbirth had grown to my side. One of the old ladies whom my mother had gotten to help with the birth washed her hands with castor oil and went around the cord and pulled the afterbirth out very easily. Not all women could do that; the ones that could also knew how to take a child from a dying mother, or a dead baby from a living mother. It seems the ones that could do that best were married women who had never borne children.” Some mothers refrained from work for 2 or 3 days after a birth ; most of them, however, returned to work withina day. Several old inform- ants were much amused at the idea of being confined to bed for several 5 Cf. uses of herbs, barks, roots, pp. 90-93. 16 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (Buu. 146 days after a birth. ‘Some of those young women say they are Indians. They may be Indians in some things; they most certainly are not when it comes to forgetting themselves after their babies are born. Why, I have seen many an Indian woman in the old days get right up after her baby was born and help with the work—work like cooking a meal or cutting up a deer her old man had brought in.” “After the baby was born, the mother got right up and walked around.” “The mother was lifted up to stand on her feet and given Indian medicine to drink. Aiter that she walked around a little, although she didn’t do any work for 2 or 3 days; but she didn’t lie down.” The mother drank a cupful of tea 3 or 4 times a day made by boiling the inner bark of oak, maple, or slippery elm. She did this for 10 to 14 days immediately following the birth. THE NAVEL CORD Usually one of the attending women cut the navel cord; at times, mothers did so themselves (cf. p. 14). In the early days a stone, chipped to a cutting edge, was used in severing the cord; in more recent years, a butcher knife or scissors. The cord was dried and placed in a little beaded buckskin container, “about the size of my palm,” the edges of which were sewed together with sinew. One such bag on the Red Lake Reservation consisted of two pieces of buckskin, each 2 inches in diameter. The bag of a 13- year-old son of an informant on the Nett Lake Reservation was made of two pieces of buckskin, 114 by 114 inches each, covered with beads of no particular design and finished off at the lower end’ with beaded fringes. Girl’s bags did not differ in appearance from those of boys. A child’s bag was attached to the bow of its cradleboard so that it might play withit. Thisisstill done (cf. p. 23). Informants varied as to the final disposal of the cord. Densmore’s informants said that the child was to keep its own cord during its entire life (Densmore, 1929, p. 51; cf. also Flannery, 1940, p. 11, and Coleman, 1929, vol. 2, p. 52). One of the writer’s informants on the Vermilion Lake Reservation had saved all of her children’s until they grew up; “but now they are all lost.” Usually, however, the cord was disposed of early so as to be efficacious to the child. A Red Lake informant noted: “When a baby boy began to walk, his father took his bag on a hunting trip and dropped it wherever he killed the first animal. That caused the boy to become a good hunter. If it was a bear the father had killed, and the bear was in a hole, the cord was thrown into the hole after the bear was out.” In the old days on the Lac Courte Orielle Reservation, after a boy was a year old his navel bag was placed in the stump of an old tree and ashes were thrown over it with the hope that a bear might find it and thereby HILenR) CHIPPEWA CHILD LIFE 17 make a lucky hunter of the boy. unlie ia ee: ; Ng ? . >in Saas nf avi til gata atnahaut” rn £ bg awl) alt piel ai? chanel » Lshata” il yo nel aor Wom ane i ) ed oan ‘ — =— - MAM aoe OL AT oPinas)] 490 of ane anngai “ab Io ee a A. it. ques hcnsal hich? wh -arisligs aidan EP g j Ate” (ld . Weaning, 29; 165, Weasel degree, 68 Weasel grave marker, 83 Weasels, 124 skin, use of, DA 3, 65, 6S, 69, 165 Weather predictions: 106 Weaving, blanket, 26, 27 mat, 136 Weeping, restraint of, 79 Wein, Sarah, informant, x11r Weinzierl, Mrs. Emily, xi Whip, 113 Whipping, rare, 99 White Earth Bape veter Minnesota, 1x, Xi) MNS ads 21, 24, 32, 86, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, Ae %7, 85, 96, 101, 110, 114, 115, 122, 139, 140, 146, 148, 163, 164, 166 Whitefish, 8, 50, 75, 101, 128, 129 oil, used in lamps, 143 smoked, 148 Whitefish people, 70 White, Joe, subchief, 151 Widowers, restrictions of, 162 “Wilson, Mr. is ‘Wilson, Mrs., ¥ ‘Winchell, N. a) 158 INDEX Widowhood, release from, 161, 162 Widows, regulations for, 161, 162, 172 Wife, 83 Wigwam, 50, 56, 58, 76, 77, 78, 128, 137, 138, 139, 142, 143, 146, 147, 149, 158, 159, 168,171, 172 birchbark, 128, 138, 140, 171 ceremonial, 66, 67, 69 _eireular, 138, 171. construction of, i187; 138, 139 divination, 75, 76, 17 dome-shaped, 75, 88, 96 elongated, 139, 171 family,.19, 26, 50, 52, 54, 56, 128, 138, 161, 163; 172 menstrual, 50, 52, 53, 54, 129, 167 Midé’ wiwin, 66, 67, .84, 188 Shaman’s, 76, 77 sweating, 96 temporary, for. use at birth, 12, 163 Wilcox, Roy P:, x1r ““Will-o’-the-wisp,” magic use of, 71 Williams, Mr. and Mrs, Pat, informants, XIV “Willow, red” (Cornus stolonifera), 63 See also Dogwood, red. Willow switch, 112 , informant, STIL informant, XIII Winde’ 20, mythical being, 114 Winds, spirits of, 60, 61 Winnebago, 33, 77, 113, 114 Wintergreen ( Gauitheria procumbens Le) 173 tea from, 146 Wives, multiple, 161 Wolf, 101, 149 . Wolf, Angeline, informant, xiII Wolf clan, 155 Wolf, guardian spirit, 45, 46 Wolf, Mike, Chippewa chief, 151 Wolf, Peter, Chippewa chief, 151 Wolves, 124, 170 Women chiefs, 153, 172 Women, ornaments worn by, 205 21 pregnant, 28, 165 punishment of, 162 tasks of, 52, 55, 115, 116, 129, 130, 137, 138; 141, 147, 156, 170, 171 work during pregnancy, 9, 164 Wood carriers, leather, 130, 140, 141,171 Woodchuck, taboos regarding, fé Wood, fuel, 141, 142, 171 Work, 109, 116, 120, 168, 170 caught by parents, 56, 57 Writing, picture, 108 Yellow River, Wisconsin, 149 Zea mays V.., 144, 145, 149, 150, 171, 173 Zizania aquatica L., 173 O — th ih : ay Dy AR Mh et Pte ay eM hee f é 4 ft Mie yA) “a 1 vt ‘ ; 1 wed Wie” At eS, ‘ib hi ’ \ \ j Vt . 4 hy) Ayi tr eal ha) tip ts 1 aby j AIG ‘ yt \ ey n ! wi ee Db Peet en Wy ". < e _ ae te wins Sieg Wy ow! 3 . s ‘ a 3 4 he > ie bee eee whe C4 et eae - ; yin ee ¥4 Cry f T va ¥ CLG rah Ep a - ‘A eens es 8 . id ne < ‘oe yon i " eh aye A ITHSONIAN INSTITUTION LIBRARIES " oy “ ¥ ho r bi veh 4 "fi, Ce eon caret ere 7 ccneees whe ew & 4 OF a , . ‘ 5 a ee Lh Ss nee vs 4 oe 4 3 ; vy iG Chee ee aa ive hae Weg oe Anes “a's : 44 ¢ i i Pe | + eR: : ‘ 39088 014218952 im OV ey vee ey ews ee i eS OSS Moe ae pried te 6 vee Wi bayoes Bett GW it ye Medebank eh Web TBH 4 . ae Hite Soe 5 § * on) eon ae [3 Aenean ¢ area, 1 BOWE 4 m6 ides ad, ? — ‘ * ore t ear a) +P no Wa Bm at : ee OE ae PO Te ee Ne ae ee TH Ab iy he ae , F c . 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