The Midewiwin Ceremony Analysis - Essay Example

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The Midewiwin Ceremony

The Midewiwin is a Grand Medicine Society whose name comes from the Native American language. The Midewiwin is a highly secretive society made up of tribal groups and includes the Ojibwa, Chippewa, Otta, and Potawatomi. As explained by the Ojibwa, the ceremony came into existence when the Mi” nabo’zho – Great Rabbit the servant of Dzhe Man’ido the Good spirit, observed the helplessness of the Anishinaabe (the original people who started performing the rituals of the ceremony), and wanted to empower them with means to fight hunger and diseases (Trafzer, 2000). According to Grim (1987), the ceremony was seasonal and took place during spring or late summer, with the exemption of an acute need. As Pratt (2007) outlines, the ceremony is believed to take place in eight stages but four are the highest and shrouded in complete secrecy. Individuals acquire great powers upon the completion of each stage, but the stages demand heavy costs (Waldram, Herring & Young, 2006), which make several individuals, undertake only the first stage. Members rise from one stage to the other through making offerings to the older members and undertaking moral instructions and lessons on uses of medicines. Initiated members understand the various herbs used in the healing process and the nature of poisonous herbs. Each member owns a medicine bag containing the sacred objects used during the healing process.

Where is the Ceremony performed, by who, and how often?

The Midewiwin ceremony is both a healing and initiation ceremony, performed by ritual officers selected among the initiates (Grim, 1987). The Anishinaabeg community holds formal Midewiwin ceremonies during spring or late summer of every year (Miller, 2010). Generally, the ceremonies coincides with important events that attracts large gatherings of people thus the notion that the ceremonies occur during large events. In some regions, the ceremonies take place during the spring-fishing gathering, which hosts the largest crowds of the Ojibwa community (Peers, 1994). Apart from the annual performance of the ceremony, Miller says, it is also allowed in time of acute need such as serious illness, during the preparation ceremony for the proper burial of the dead, or to end a mourning period. During gatherings, new members both men and women are admitted to start the formal initiation to the eight ranks of the society. Pratt (2007) further explains, in the duties and responsibilities of the priests and the shaman are distinct. The priest is the custodian of the ceremony and they secure this position acquired knowledge and experience, while the Shaman is revered as the creator of the ritual. The shaman secures this position through their ability to invoke the supernatural powers into the human world (Nagle, Killcoyne & Russo, 2015).

Healing purpose of the Midewiwin Ceremony

The Midewiwin healing ceremony has two purposes, one to cure individuals of a serious illness and two to initiate the patient into the group (Howey, 2012). During the initiation ceremony, the Midewiwin allows several days into the healing ritual, and the patient should be cured at the end of these days (Pratt, 2007). On the last day, a public ceremony is set up and the person performing the ritual shoots the patient with migis shells meant to improve the strength of the patient and give them lasting health. Throughout the healing process, the patient undergoes several preparations to be able to join the sacred society and begin the initiation process to acquire the powers of the group. This is part of the initiation rituals, where some teachings cannot be expressed, but can only be experienced. As soon as the patient vomits the migi, which now belonged to them, they began a life enriched with teachings and changes experienced through the rebirthing ceremony. As Miller (2010) affirms, the other common form of healing ceremony is healing of the sick. The person in charge goes to the residence of the patient and starts singing, speaks to the good spirit regarding the herbal medicine he is about to administer, while walking around the residence. He then administers the medicine to the patient after which the healer accepts gifts on behalf of the spirit through singing and displaying the gifts to the spirit. The healer continues administering treatment to the patient without repeating the ceremony but gifts are expected. In case the efforts of the healer prove ineffective, another healer is assigned to try their herbal medicine on the patient.

Who are the Participants of the Ceremony?

The grand medicine society is a highly structured society that is open to both men and women (Hartman & Tucker 2008). Members perform elaborate healing ceremonies to cure serious illnesses, ensure long-term health, and preserve the spiritual nature. The Midewiwin comprises of individuals who have been initiated into the highly secretive society in a ceremony that takes place in four most important stages. Basil Johnston as Cox (2012) affirms, best described the Midewiwin society. He explains that, the Midewiwin is a society where medicine men and women hold the knowledge of plants and their healing powers in high regards and seek to establish a relationship to preserve the plants. Traditionally, the Grand Medicine Society consists of members including Shamans, prophets, and seers among other people who have successfully undertaken the initiation (Hoffman 2005). The society is a centre of knowledge and social prestige, where initiates are not only expected to successfully carry out the healing process, but also obtain food for the tribe and win during times of war.

What is the Process of the Midewiwin Ceremony?

As Vizenor (1993) narrates, when an individual is interest in joining the Midewiwin, they submit their application to the leader of the society accompanied by asemaa, tobacco and other valuable accessories needed for the initiation ceremony to start. The leaders then discuss their application based on their merits and virtues, necessary to warrant their admission to begin the initiation rites. If the leaders agree to admit the applicant, a day set to perform the solemn rights of the initiation and the individual notified to prepare for the ceremony through recanting and rehearsals of the necessary chants. On the sixth day, the parties assemble at the scene to solemnize the ceremony and begin the rituals. The rituals take place amidst thorough preparations, offerings to the Good Spirit and songs that can be heard several miles away. The leaders then sing songs and one leader takes the miigis shell, which is the emblem of the midewiwin ceremony and holds it in their palm while circling to the left uttering some exclamations. He continues with this procedure until he gets to a certain spot, stops, and turns to address the person undertaking the initiation. After this, the leaders assemble and converse in a language only understood by members of the high ranks of the Midewiwin society. The rites, are perpetuated by the purest and most ancient idioms in their language, but vary from region to region (Alice Palmer Henderson, n.d). After the completion of the ceremony, the members are expected to own a medicine bag, which carries the sacred objects. In an elaborate ceremony, during the initiation period, the patients or the initiate is shot with the bag containing the sacred white shell. At the end of the ceremony, the initiate spits the shell out of their mouth as an indication that the supernatural power of the shaman has been invoked into their body.

Other interesting facts surrounding the Midewiwin Ceremony

Preserving the Midewiwin ceremony was not an easy struggle (Angel, 2002). Several attempts were made to eliminate the traditions and wipe away the ceremonies by the Christian missionaries. One technique used was alienating the leaders from their followers and later attempting to convert the leaders to Christianity (Peer, 1994). The other was attempts to discredit the powers and authority of the leaders. Although some Midewiwians gave in to pressure, converted to Christianity, Peers affirms that, the ceremonies continued to be practiced, and the traditions and cultures did not fade into oblivion as many anticipated. Another interesting fact about the Midewiwin ceremonies is that songs were derived from dreams and they all represented some magical purposes such as ensuring success during war, invoking the supernatural spirits, or curing a serious illness (Ember & Ember, 1999). Diseases and illness were thought as an act of sorcery or improper conduct towards the supernatural powers (Pomedli, 2014). Healing powers were derived from dreams and visions and so was the knowledge about medicinal and poisonous plants (Compton's Learning Company., & Encyclopaedia Britannica, inc., 2010). When death occurs, the corpse is cleaned and dressed in fine clothes before burial in a shallow grave (Sweet, 1997). The Midewiwian believe that upon death, souls of the deceased travelled westwards, a journey of four days into the sky. Friends and relatives attend the funeral ceremony, a Mide priest conducts the ceremony and addresses the deceased and offers tobacco to the spirits in an attempt to appease them to accept the spirit of the deceased. After the conclusion of the ceremony, the body is removed from the shallow grave, through a hole in the west side of the grave and taken to the gravesite to be buried with all the possessions the individual owned. The failure to use the door of the shallow grave is out of fear that the soul of the departed would return through the door to haunt the living.