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TheMidewiwin (insyllabics:ᒥᑌᐧᐃᐧᐃᓐ, also spelledMidewin andMedewiwin) or theGrand Medicine Society is a religious society of some of the Indigenous peoples ofthe Maritimes,New England[citation needed] andGreat Lakes regions inNorth America. Its practitioners are calledMidew, and the practices ofMidewiwin are referred to asMide. Occasionally, maleMidew is calledMidewinini, which is sometimes translated into English as "medicine man".
Due to the body-part medialde' meaning 'heart' in theAnishinaabe language,Midewiwin is sometimes translated as 'The Way of the Heart'.[1][page needed] Minnesota archaeologist Fred K. Blessing shares a definition he received from Thomas Shingobe, aMida (aMidewiwin person) of theMille Lacs Indian Reservation in 1969, who told him that "the only thing that would be acceptable in any way as an interpretation of 'Mide' would be 'Spiritual Mystery'."[2][page needed] Fluent speakers of Anishinaabemowin often caution that many words and concepts have no direct translation in English.[1][page needed][3][page needed]
According to historian Michael Angel, theMidewin is a "flexible, tenacious tradition that provided an institutional setting for the teaching of the world view (religious beliefs) of the Ojibwa people".[4][page needed] Commonly among theAnishinaabeg,Midewin is ascribed toWenaboozho (Onaniboozh) as its founder. However, among theAbenakis, Midewiwin is ascribed toMateguas, who bestowed the Midewiwin upon his death to comfort his grieving brotherGluskab, who is still alive.[citation needed]Walter James Hoffman recorded that according to theMille Lacs Indians chiefBayezhig ('Lone One'),Midewiwin has its origin as:
| Noos | gaawiin | anishinaabewisii, | ayaawiyaan | manidoo | ningwisis. |
| My father | is not | an Indian not, | I am | a spirit | son. |
| Bi-mayaa minik | niiji- | manidoo | mayaa | zhigwa | ji-gi-aawiyan. |
| Insomuch | my fellow | spirit | clearly | now | as you are. |
| Noose, | zhigwa | asemaa | ji-atooyeg. | E-mikondem | mii | eta |
| My father, | now | tobacco | you shall put. | He mentions of | that | only |
| aabiding | ji-gashkitood | wenji- | bimaadizid | omaa | agaawaa |
| once | to be able to do it | why he shall | live | here | scarcely |
| bimaadizid | mii | omaa; | niiji- | manidoo | mayaa | zhigwa | ji-giiweyaan. |
| he lives | thus | here; | my fellow | spirit | clearly | now | I shall go home. |
This event is calledGwiiwizens wedizhichigewinid—Deeds of a Little-boy.
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Mide societies keepwiigwaasabak (birch bark scrolls) that preserve their teachings. They have degrees of initiations and hold ceremonies. They are often associated with the Seven Fires Society, and other Indigenous groups or organizations. TheMiigis shell, orcowry shell, is used in some ceremonies, along with bundles, sacred items, etc. There are many oral teachings, symbols, stories, history, and wisdom passed along and preserved from one generation to the next by these groups.
Whiteshell Provincial Park (Manitoba) is named after thewhiteshell (cowry) used inMidewiwin ceremonies. This park contains somepetroforms that are over 1000 years old, or possibly older, and therefore may predate some aboriginal groups that came later to the area. TheMidew society is commemorated in the name of theMidewin National Tallgrass Prairie (Illinois).
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The Mide practitioners are initiated and ranked by degrees. Much like the apprentice system,masonic degrees, or anacademic degree program, a practitioner cannot advance to the next higher degree until completing the required studies, experiences and ceremonies required of that degree. Only after successful completion may a candidate be considered for advancement to the next degree. Of course, from Anishinaabe perspective, there is no level system that can equate to Native Way; it is a projection of thinking. In other words, it is only a general representation in English of complex abstract ideas in Anishinaabemowin.
The accounts regarding the extended Fourth Degrees vary from region to region. AllMidewiwin groups claim the extended Fourth Degrees are specialized forms of the Fourth Degree. Depending on the region, these extended Fourth DegreeMidew can be called "Fifth Degree" up to "Ninth Degree." In parallel, if the Fourth DegreeMidew is to adoctorate degree, the Extended Fourth DegreeMidew is to a post-doctorate degree. TheJiisakiwinini is widely referred to by Elders as the "highest" degree of all the medicine practitioners in theMide, as it isspiritual medicine as opposed to physical/plant based medicine.[5]
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Themidewigaan ('mide lodge'), also known asmide-wiigiwaam ('midewigwam') when small ormidewigamig ('mide structure') when large, is known in English as the Grand Medicine Lodge and is usually built in an open grove or clearing. Amidewigaan is a domed structure with the proportion of one unit in width by four units in length. Though Hoffman records these domed oval structures measuring about 20 feet (6.1 m) in width by 80 feet (24 m) in length, the structures are sized to accommodate the number of invited participants, thus manymidewigaan for smallmide communities in the early 21st century are as small as 6 feet (1.8 m) in width and 24 feet (7.3 m) in length and larger in those communities with moremide participants. The walls of the smallermide-wiigiwaam consist of poles and saplings from 8 to 10 feet (2.4 to 3.0 m) high, firmly planted in the ground, wattled with short branches and twigs with leaves. In communities with significantly largemide participants (usually of 100 people or more participants), themidewigamig becomes a formal and permanent ceremonial building that retains the dimensions of the smallermide-wiigiwaam; amidewigamig might not necessarily be a domed structure, but typically may have vaulted ceilings.
Design of thejiisakiiwigaan ('juggler's lodge' or 'Shaking Tent' or traditionally 'shaking wigwam') is similar in construction as that of themide-wiigiwaam. Unlike amide-wiigiwaam that is an oval domed structure, thejiisakiiwigaan is a round high-domed structure of typically 3 feet (0.91 m) in diameter and 6 feet (1.8 m) in height, and large enough to hold two to four people.
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Calledwiigwaasabakoon in theOjibwe language, birch bark scrolls were used to pass on knowledge between generations. When used specifically forMidewiwin ceremonial use, thesewiigwaasabakoon used as teaching scrolls were calledMide-wiigwaas ('Medicine birch [bark scroll]'). Early accounts of theMide from 19th-century books describe a group of elders that protected the birch bark scrolls in hidden locations. They recopied the scrolls if any were badly damaged, and they preserved them underground. These scrolls were described as very sacred and the interpretations of the scrolls were not easily given away. The historical areas of the Ojibwe were recorded, and stretched from the east coast all the way to the prairies by way of lake and river routes. Some of the first maps of rivers and lakes were made by the Ojibwe and written on birch bark.
"The Teachings of the Midewiwin were scratched on birch bark scrolls and were shown to the young men upon entrance into the society. Although these were crude pictographs representing the ceremonies, they show us that the Ojibwa were advanced in the development of picture 'writing.' Some of them were painted on bark. One large birch bark roll was 'known to have been used in the Midewiwin at Mille Lacs for five generations and perhaps many generations before',[6] and two others, found in a seemingly deliberate hiding place in the Head-of-the-Lakes region of Ontario,[7] were carbon-dated to about 1560 CE +/-70.[8] The author of the original report on these hidden scrolls advised: "Indians of this region occasionally deposited such artifacts in out-of-the-way places in the woods, either by burying them or by secreting them in caves. The period or periods at which this was done is far from clear. But in any event, archaeologists should be aware of the custom and not overlook the possibility of their discovery."[7]
Teaching stones, known in Ojibwe as eitherGikinoo'amaagewaabik orGikinoo'amaage-asin, can be eitherpetroglyphs orpetroform.
The Seven Fires prophecy was originally taught among the practitioners ofMidewiwin. Each fire represents a prophetical age, marking phases or epochs ofTurtle Island. It represents key spiritual teachings for North America and suggests that the different colors and traditions of humans can come together on the basis of respect. TheAlgonquins are the keepers of the seven fires prophecywampum.
