The Life History and Travels of Kah-ge-ga-gah-bowh, 1847
The Life History and Travels of Kah-ge-ga-gah-bowh, 1847
Chapter III
The Ojebwas, as well as many others, acknowledged that there was but one Great Spirit, who made the world; they gave him the name of good or benevolent; kesha is benevolent, monedoo is spirit; Ke-sha mon-edoo. They supposed he lived in the heavens; but the most of the time he was in the Sun. They said it was from him they received all that was good through life, and that he seldom needs the offering of his Red children, for he was seldom angry.
They also said he could hear all his children, and see them. He was the author of all things that they saw, and made the other spirits that were acknowledged by the Ojebwas. It was said that these other spirits took special care of the various departments of nature. The god of the hunter was one who presided over the animals; the god of war was one who controlled the destinies of men; the god of medicine was one who presided over the herbs of the earth. The fishes had theirs, and there was another over the moon and stars!
“Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth
Unseen, both when we sleep and when we wake.”
There was one unappeasable spirit, called Bad Spirit, Mah-je-mah-ne-doo. He, it was thought, lived under the earth; and to bim was attributed all that was not good, bad luck, sickness, even death. To him they offered sacrifices more than to any other spirit, things most dear to them. There were three things that were generally offered to the Bad Spirit, viz. a dog, whiskey and tobacco, a fit offering, with the exception of the poor dog. The poor dog was painted red on its paws, with a large stone and five plugs of tobacco tied about its neck; it was then sunk in the water; while the beating of the drum took place upon the shore, and words were chanted to the Bad Spirit.
The whiskey was thus offered to the Bad Spirit: —When the Indians were seated around the wigwam, or on the grass, and the person who deals out the whiskey had given all the Indians a dram, then the devil was to have his share; it was poured on the ground, and if it went down quickly, it was thought be accepted the offering.
Fire water was sometimes poured out near the head of the graves of the deceased, that their spirits might drink with their former friends. I have often seen them sit around the grave, and, as they drank, make mention of the name of their dead, and pour some whiskey on the ground.
Our religion consisted in observing certain ceremonies every spring. Most of the Ojebwas around us used to come and worship the Great Spirit with us at Rice Lake. At this festival a great many of the youth were initiated into the medical mysteries of the nation. We were taught the virtues of herbs, and the various kinds of minerals used in our medicine. I will here describe the Me-tae-we-gah-mig or Grand Medicine Lodge. It was a wigwam 150 feet long and 15 feet wide. The clan of medicine men and women alone were allowed to be inside, at each sitting, with their medici