SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 146 CHIPPEWA CHII.D LIFE AND ITS CULTURAL CKGROUND By SISTER M. rr XGER ^5>K \- C.Z SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION ^^^ : BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 146 CHIPPEWA CHILD LIFE AND ITS CULTURAL BACKGROUND SISTER M. itez HILGER UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON : 1951 For sale by the Superintendent of Documente, U. S. Government Printing Office Washington 25, D. C. - Price 75 cents LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL Smithsonian Institution, BuKEAU 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. Stirling, Direotor. Dr. Alexander Wetmore, Secretary, Smithsonia/n Institution. CONTENTS Page Preface ix Informants and interpreters xiii Introduction: the Chippewa Indians. 1 Prenatal period 2 Parental factors 2 Conception 4 Period of gestation 4 Effect of mother's pregnancy on youngest child 6 Food taboos and prescriptions 6 Conduct taboos and prescriptions 8 Abortions 10 Birth 12 Place of birth 12 Persons assisting at birth 12 Position of mother during delivery 13 Aids at childbirth 15 The navel cord 16 The caul 17 The fontanels 18 The placenta 18 The baby's first bath 18 Purification of mother 19 Announcement of birth and ceremonial celebration 19 Postnatal interests 20 Nose rings and earrings 20 Cradles, diapers, "talcum powder," baby hammocks, and method of transporting baby 21 Lullabies , 25 A child's first clothes 26 A child's first actions, first word, first step, first portage, and first tooth. 27 Nursing and weaning 28 Nursing 28 Weaning 29 Atypical conditions 30 Twins and triplets 30 Sick babies 31 Deformed babies 32 Incest 32 Illegitimacy 32 Slaves, servants, and adopted persons 33 Naming the child 35 Various names 35 Origin of names 35 The namesake 37 Ceremonial 38 III IV CONTENTS Page Prepuberty fasts 39 Age of boy and girl 39 Selection of fasters 39 Significant dreams 40 Manner of fasting 40 Purpose of fasting 44 Personal accounts of dreams 47 Puberty customs 49 Boys' puberty customs 49 Girls' puberty rite 50 Training children 55 Type of education 55 Methods 55 Instructors 56 Time of instructions 57 Reward and punishment 58 Discovering righteous children 59 Religion and supernatural powers 60 The Supreme Being 60 Minor deities 60 Tobacco as a ceremonial offering 62 The Mide'wiwin 63 "Grand medicine," or powers of members of the Mide'wiwin 71 "Tipi shaking" 75 Belief in life after death 78 Life after death 78 Death 78 Interment 80 Graves 82 Ofiferings for the dead (cibenaki'win) 83 Burials 84 Mourning 86 Health measures 87 Shamanistic powers 88 Herbs, roots, bark 90 Tattooing (aja'sowin) 93 Bloodletting (pa'paicoang) 95 Sweating 96 Preventive measures 96 Moral training 97 Kindness 97 Stealing 98 Lying and boasting 99 Talebearing 99 Quarreling 99 Intoxicants, suicide, cannibalism, revenge 101 Mental training 102 Counting time 102 Linear measurements and counting numbers 103 Directions 105 Interpretation of natural phenomena 106 Language 107 CONTENTS V Page Diversions 109 Children's play 109 Games and gambling 110 Dances 112 Visiting 114 Vocational training and domestic economy 115 Canoe making 115 Snowshoes and toboggans 117 Bows and arrows . 118 Hunting 119 Fishing . 125 Clothing-_ 129 Birchbark containers and bulrush mats 133 Dwellings 137 Fuel, fireplaces, and lighting 141 Gardening 144 Food: preparation and storage 144 Bands, chiefs, and councils 150 Marriage customs 153 Gentes 153 Courting 156 Marriage 158 Love charms 160 Polygamy . 161 Successive marriages 161 Separations 162 Infidelity 162 Summary 162 List of some plants used by the Chippewa 173 Bibliography 173 Index 189 ILLUSTKATIONS ^ PLATES (All plates facing page 188) 1. Informants, Red Lake Reservation, 1933. 1, John Baptist Thunder and daughter Jane Bonga. 2, Charley Johnson. 3, Angeline Highlanding. 4, Ella Badboy. 2. Mothers carrying babies in cradleboard. 1, Mrs. Howard Pete, Vermilion Lake Reservation, 1939. 2, Woman in Ponemah village, Red Lake Reser- vation, 1933. 3, Baby ready for cradleboard, Mille Lacs Reservation, 1940. 3. Mildred Hill putting son Jimmy to sleep in a hammock, Mille Lacs Reserva- tion, 1940. 1 and 2, Preparing hammock. 3, Baby asleep in hammock. Notice netting over hoop as a protection against flies and insects. 4, Baby after its nap. Notice stick holding ropes apart at head end. 4. Mille Lacs Reservation baby transported on mother's back, 1940. 1, Swinging to mother's back. 2, Carrying baby on back. 3, Dropping baby off back. 5. Chippewa children. 1 and 2, White Earth Reservation, 1938. 3, Red Lake Reservation, 1933. 6. Mide'wiwin celebration, White Earth Reservation, 1938. 1, Man and woman dancing. 2, Old people resting between dances. 7. Chippewa burials. 1, Burials near home, Red Lake Reservation, 1933. 2, Mide'wiwin cemetery, White Earth Reservation, 1938. 3, Mide'wiwin cemetery, Lac Courte Orielle Reservation, 1935. 8. Chippewa burials. 1, Grave with cloth covering. Red Lake Reservation, 1933. 2, Burials near home, Lac du Flambeau Reservation, 1935. 9. Burials, Mille Lacs Reservation, 1940. 1, Cemetery. 2, Birchbark covering. 3, Notice small platform. 4, Birchbark covering weighted down with stones. Notice do'dam marker in foreground to right. 10. Children enjoying recreation of the traditional type. 1, Rabbit dance. White Earth Reservation, 1938. 2, Side dance, White Earth Reservation, 1938. 3, Squaw dance. White Earth Reservation, 1938. 4, Moccasin game, Ver- milion Lake Reservation, 1939. 11. Pow-wow participants, Red Lake Reservation, 1933. 1, Wife of Amos Big Bird. 2, Amos Big Bird. 12. Dance hall, Red Lake Reservation, 1933. 1, Interior. 2, Exterior. 13. Making birchbark canoe, Mille Lacs Reservation, 1940. 1, Boiling spruce resin for mending cracks in birchbark. 2, Frying boiled spruce resin mixed with charcoal in grease. 3, Split roots of spruce used in sewing. 4, Pre- paring ground by leveling it. 14. Making birchbark canoe, Mille Lacs Reservation, 1940 (continued). 1, Plac- ing birchbark. 2, Shaping canoe by means of poles and framework for bow or stern. 3, Placing bark into position by means of second set of poles. 15. Making birchbark canoe, Mille Lacs Reservation, 1940 (continued). 1, Framework for either bow or stern. 2, Binding edges with split roots of spruce. 16. Making birchbark canoe, Mille Lacs Reservation, 1940 (continued). 1, Canoe ready for gunwales, ribs, flooring, and binding of edges. 2, Filling cracks in bark with pitch. 3, Placing ribs and flooring. vn Vni ILLUSTRATIONS I 17. Making birchbark canoe, Mille Lacs Reservation, 1940 (continued). 1, Canoe ready for use. 2, Transporting canoe. 3, Canoe on exhibition at Mille Lacs Indian Trading Post, Onamia, Minn. 18. Man's snowshoes collected on Lac Courte Orielle Reservation, 1935. 19. Josephine Gurneau making cord of basswood fiber. Red Lake Reservation, 1933. 1, Rolling strands of basswood fiber. 2, Softening strands by moistening. 20. Fishing. 1, Fish nets being hung to dry, Red Lake Reservation, 1933. 2, Shuttle and sample of fish net made on Red Lake Reservation, 1933. 21. Fishing. 1, A haul of fish. Red Lake Reservation, 1932. 2, Fish nets drying, L'Anse Reservation, 1935. 22. Emma Martin tanning deer hide, Lac Courte Orielle Reservation, 1935. 1, Wringing hide after soaking. 2, Last wringing of hide. 3, Second scrap- ing of hide. 4, Stretching hide. 23. Emma Martin tanning deer hide, Lac Courte Orielle Reservation, 1935 (con- tinued). 1, Hide stretched for final scraping. 2, Final scraping of hide. 3, Smoking hide. 24. Birchbark receptacles. 1, Anna Knott making wild-rice winnowing trays and teaching daughter to make them, Vermilion Lake Reservation, 1939. 2, Nonleakable birchbark receptacles, Red Lake Reservation, August 1933. 3, a, Work basket ; &, makok' ; c, winnowing basket. 25. Mary Gurneau making nonleakable birchbark receptacle, Red Lake Reserva- tion, August 1932. 1, Holding bark over fire. 2, Fastening folded end. 3, Folding opposite end. 4, Completed receptacle. 26. Wigwams. 1, Mishiman and wife and their wigwam covered with birch- bark and bulrush mats, Lac Courte Orielle Reservation, 1935. 2, Wigwam entirely covered with bark. Red Lake Reservation, 1932. 27. Wigwams. 1, White Earth Reservation, 1938. 2, Lac du Flambeau Reserva- tion, 1935. 3, Lac du Flambeau Reservation, 1922. 28. Wigwams, Mille Lacs Reservation, 1940. 1, Coverings of cattail mats, tar paper, and flattened cardboard boxes. 2, Wigwam frame. 3, Coverings of cattail mats and birchbark. 4, Coverings of elm bark and birchbark. 29. Tipi. Women packing wood. Red Lake Reservation. 1, Tipi covered with birchbark—entrance view, Mille Lacs Reservation, 1940. 2, Same as 1; rear view. 3, Nancy Cain, 1939. 4, Mrs. Peter Everywind, 1932. 30. Fireplaces. Collecting herbs. 1, Mabel Daisy, Red Lake Reservation, 1932. 2, Red Lake Reservation, 1933. 3, Gathering medicinal herbs, roots, and bark, Lac Courte Orielle Reservation, 1935. 31. Fireplaces. 1 and 2, Lac du Flambeau Reservation, 1935 and 1934. 3, Mille Lacs Reservation, 1940. FIGURES Page 1. Map of the Chippewa (Ojibwa) reservations xvm PREFACE The purpose of this study is to record the customs and beliefs of the primitive Chippewa Indians of the United States as evidenced in the development and training of the child. Childhood among the pri- mitive Chippewa began with birth and ended with puberty. It was divided into two periods. The period from birth to the event of walking was called dakabi'naaswan; the period from the event of walking to puberty, abanod'ji. From the event of walking to puberty, a boy was called kwiwi'sens ; a girl, ekwe'sens. A child's age was not counted by years. Before it reached the dawn of reason, it might be described as having been "just old enough to remember," or "before it had any sense." Children between the age of reason and puberty were designated as having been "so high"—a gesture of the hand indicating the height.