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Blackfeet Medicine Pipes and Healing
The person whom the whites term
"medicine man" is called by the Blackfeet
Ni-namp'-skan. Mr. Schultz believes this
word to be compounded of nin'nah, man, and namp'-ski, horned
toad (Phrynosoma), and in this he is supported by Mr. Thomas
Bird, a very intelligent half-breed, who has translated a part
of the Bible into the Blackfoot language for the Rev. S. Trivett,
a Church of England missionary. These gentlemen conclude that
the word means "all-face man." The horned toad is called namp'-ski,
all-face; and as the medicine man, with his hair done up in a
huge topknot, bore a certain resemblance to this creature, he
was so named. No one among the Blackfeet appears to have any
idea as to what the word means.
The medicine pipes are really only pipe stems,
very long, and beautifully decorated with bright-colored
feathers and the fur of the weasel and other animals. It is
claimed that these stems were given to the people long, long
ago, by the Sun, and that those who own them are regarded by him
with special favor.
Formerly these stems were valued at from fifteen
to thirty head of horses, and were bought and sold like any
other property. When not in use, they were kept rolled up in
many thicknesses of fine tanned fur, and with them were
invariably a quantity of tobacco, a sacred whistle, two sacred
rattles, and some dried sweet grass, and sweet pine needles.
In the daytime, in pleasant weather, these sacred
bundles were hung out of doors behind the owners' lodges, on
tripods. At night they were suspended within, above the owners'
seat It was said that if at any time a person should walk
completely around the lodge of a medicine man, some bad luck
would befall him. Inside the lodge, no one was allowed to pass
between the fireplace and the pipe stem. No one but a medicine
man and his head wife could move or unroll the bundle. The man
and his wife were obliged always to keep their faces, hands, and
clothing painted with nits'-i-san, a dull red paint, made by
burning a certain clay found in the bad lands.
The Ni-namp'-skan appears to be a priest of the
Sun, and prayers offered through him are thought to be specially
favored. So the sacred stem is frequently unrolled for the
benefit of the sick, for those who are about to undertake a
dangerous expedition, such as a party departing to war, for
prayers for the general health and prosperity of the people, and
for a bountiful supply of food. At the present time these
ancient ceremonies have largely fallen into disuse. In fact,
since the disappearance of the buffalo, most of the old customs
are dying out.
The thunder is believed to bring the rain in
spring, and the rain makes the berries grow. It is a rule that
after the first thunder is heard in the spring, every medicine
man must give a feast and offer prayers for a large berry crop.
I have never seen this ceremony, but Mr. Schultz was once
permitted to attend one, and has given me the following account
of it. He said: "When I entered the lodge with the other guests,
the pipe stem had already been unrolled. Before the fire were
two huge kettles of cooked sarvis berries, a large bowlful of
which was soon set before each guest. Each one, before eating,
took a few of the berries and rubbed them into the ground,
saying, 'Take pity on us, all Above People, and give us good.'
"When all had finished eating, a large black
stone pipe bowl was filled and fitted to the medicine stem, and
the medicine man held it aloft and said: 'Listen, Sun! Listen,
Thunder! Listen, Old Man! All Above Animals, all Above People,
listen. Pity us! You will smoke. We fill the sacred pipe. Let us
not starve. Give us rain during this summer. Make the berries
large and sweet. Cover the bushes with them. Look down on us all
and pity us. Look at the women and the little children; look at
us all. Let us reach old age. Let our lives be complete. Let us
destroy our enemies. Help the young men in battle. Man, woman,
child, we all pray to you; pity us and give us good. Let us
survive.'
"He then danced the pipe dance, to be described
further on. At this time, another storm had come up, and the
thunder crashed directly over our heads.
"'Listen,' said the medicine man. 'It hears us.
We are not doing this uselessly'; and he raised his face,
animated with enthusiasm, toward the sky, his whole body
trembling with excitement; and, holding the pipe aloft, repeated
his prayer. All the rest of the people were excited, and
repeatedly clasped their arms over their breasts, saying: 'Pity
us; good give us; good give us. Let us survive.'
"After this, the pipe was handed to a man on the
right of the semi-circle. Another warrior took a lighted brand
from the fire, and counted four coups, at the end of each coup
touching the pipe bowl with the brand. When he had counted the
fourth coup, the pipe was lighted. It was then smoked in turn
around the circle, each one, as he received it, repeating a
short prayer before he put the stem to his lips. When it was
smoked out, a hole was dug in the ground, the ashes were knocked
into it and carefully covered over, and the thunder ceremony was
ended."
In the year 1885, I was present at the unwrapping
of the medicine pipe by Red Eagle, an aged Ni-namp'-skan since
dead. On this occasion prayers were made for the success of a
party of Piegans who had started in pursuit of some Crows who
had taken a large band of horses from the Piegans the day
before. The ceremony was a very impressive one, and prayers were
offered not only for the success of this war party, but also for
the general good, as well as for the welfare of special
individuals, who were mentioned by name. The concluding words of
the general prayer were as follows: "May all people have full
life. Give to all heavy bodies. Let the young people grow;
increase their flesh. Let all men, women, and children have full
life. Harden the bodies of the old people so that they may reach
great age."
In 1879, Mr. Schultz saw a sacred pipe unwrapped
for the benefit of a sick woman, and on various occasions since
he has been present at this ceremony. All accounts of what takes
place agree so closely with what I saw that I give only one of
them. Mr. Schultz wrote me of the first occasion: "When I
entered the lodge, it was already well filled with men who had
been invited to participate in the ceremony. The medicine man
was aged and gray-headed, and his feeble limbs could scarcely
support his body. Between him and his wife was the bundle which
contained the medicine pipe, as yet unwrapped, lying on a
carefully folded buffalo robe. Plates of food were placed before
each guest, and after all had finished eating, and a common pipe
had been lighted to be smoked around the circle, the ceremony
began.
"With wooden tongs, the woman took a large coal
from the fire, and laid it on the ground in front of the sacred
stem. Then, while every one joined in singing a chant, a song of
the buffalo (without words), she took a bunch of dried sweet
grass, and, raising and lowering her hand in time to the music,
finally placed the grass on the burning coals. As the thin
column of perfumed smoke rose from the burning herb, both she
and the medicine man grasped handfuls of it and rubbed it over
their persons, to purify themselves before touching the sacred
roll. They also took each a small piece of some root from a
little pouch, and ate it, signifying that they purified
themselves without and within.
"The man and woman now faced each other and again
began the buffalo song, keeping time by touching with the
clenched hands the right and left alternately the wrappings of
the pipe, occasionally making the sign for buffalo. Now, too,
one could occasionally hear the word Nai-ai'1
in the song. After singing this song for about ten minutes, it
was changed to the antelope song, and, instead of touching the
roll with the clenched hands, which represented the heavy tread
of buffalo, they closed the hands, leaving the index finger
extended and the thumbs partly open, and in time to the music,
as in the previous song, alternately touched the wrappers with
the tips of the left and right forefinger, the motions being
quick and firm, and occasionally brought the hands to the side
of the head, making the sign for antelope, and at the same time
uttering a loud 'Kuh' to represent the whistling or snorting of
that animal.
"At the conclusion of this song, the woman put
another bunch of sweet grass on a coal, and carefully undid the
wrappings of the pipe, holding each one over the smoke to keep
it pure. When the last wrapping was removed, the man gently
grasped the stem and, every one beginning the pipe song, he
raised and lowered it several times, shaking it as he did so,
until every feather and bit of fur and scalp hung loose and
could be plainly seen.
"At this moment the sick woman entered the lodge,
and with great difficulty, for she was very weak, walked over to
the medicine woman and knelt down before her. The medicine woman
then produced a small bag of red paint, and painted a broad band
across the sick woman's forehead, a stripe down the nose, and a
number of round dots on each cheek. Then picking up the pipe
stem, which the man had laid down, she held it up toward the sky
and prayed, saying, 'Listen, Sun, pity us! Listen, Old Man, pity
us! Above People, pity us! Under Water People, pity us! Listen,
Sun! Listen, Sun! Let us survive, pity us! Let us survive. Look
down on our sick daughter this day. Pity her and give her a
complete life.' At the conclusion of this short prayer, all the
people uttered a loud m-m-m-h, signifying that they took the
words to their hearts. Every one now commenced the pipe song,
and the medicine woman passed the stem over different parts of
the sick woman's body, after which she rose and left the lodge.
"The medicine man now took a common pipe which
had been lighted, and blew four whiffs of smoke toward the sky,
four toward the ground, and four on the medicine pipe stem, and
prayed to the Sun, Old Man, and all medicine animals, to pity
the people and give them long life. The drums were then
produced, the war song commenced, and the old man, with a rattle
in each hand, danced four times to the door-way and back. He
stooped slightly, kept all his limbs very rigid, extending his
arms like one giving a benediction, and danced in time to the
drumming and singing with quick, sudden steps. This is the
medicine pipe dance, which no one but a pipe-owner is allowed to
perform. Afterward, he picked up the pipe stem, and, holding it
aloft in front of him, went through the same performance. At the
conclusion of the dance, the pipe stem was passed from one to
another of the guests, and each one in turn held it aloft and
repeated a short prayer. The man on my right prayed for the
health of his children, the one on my left for success in a
proposed war expedition. This concluded the ceremony."
Disease among the Blackfeet is supposed to be
caused by evil spirits, usually the spirits or ghosts of enemies
slain in battle. These spirits are said to wander about at
night, and whenever opportunity offers, they shoot invisible
arrows into persons. These cause various internal troubles, such
as consumption, hemorrhages, and diseases of the digestive
organs. Mice, frogs, snakes, and tailed batrachians are said to
cause much disease among women, and hence should be shunned, and
on no account handled.
Less important external ailments and hurts, such
as ulcers, boils, sprains, and so on, are treated by applying
various lotions or poultices, compounded by boiling or
macerating certain roots or herbs, known only to the person
supplying them. Rheumatic pains are treated in several ways.
Sometimes the sweat lodge is used, or hot rocks are applied over
the place where the pain is most severe, or actual cautery is
practised, by inserting prickly pear thorns in the flesh, and
setting fire to them, when they burn to the very point.
The sweat lodge, so often referred to, is used as
a curative agent, as well as in religious ceremonies, and is
considered very beneficial in illness of all kinds. The sweat
lodge is built in the shape of a rough hemisphere, three or four
feet high and six or eight in diameter. The frame is usually of
willow branches, and is covered with cow-skins and robes. In the
centre of the floor, a small hole is dug out, in which are to be
placed red hot stones. Everything being ready, those who are to
take the sweat remove their clothing and crowd into the lodge.
The hot rocks are then handed in from the fire outside, and the
cow skins pulled down to the ground to exclude any cold air. If
a medicine pipe man is not at hand, the oldest person present
begins to pray to the Sun, and at the same time sprinkles water
on the hot rocks, and a dense steam rises, making the
perspiration fairly drip from the body. Occasionally, if the
heat becomes too intense, the covering is raised for a few
minutes to admit a little air. The sweat bath lasts for a long
time, often an hour or more, during which many prayers are
offered, religious songs chanted, and several pipes smoked to
the Sun. As has been said, the sweat lodge is built to represent
the Sun's own lodge or home, that is, the world. The ground
inside the lodge stands for its surface, which, according to
Blackfoot philosophy, is flat and round. The framework
represents the sky, which far off, on the horizon, reaches down
to and touches the world.
As soon as the sweat is over, the men rush out,
and plunge into the stream to cool off. This is invariably done,
even in winter, when the ice has to be broken to make a hole
large enough to bathe in. It is said that, when the small-pox
was raging among these Indians, they used the sweat lodge daily,
and that hundreds of them, sick with the disease, were unable to
get out of the river, after taking the bath succeeding a sweat,
and were carried down stream by the current and drowned.
It is said that wolves, which in former days were
extremely numerous, sometimes went crazy, and bit every animal
they met with, sometimes even coming into camps and biting dogs,
horses, and people. Persons bitten by a mad wolf generally went
mad, too. They trembled and their limbs jerked, they made their
jaws work and foamed at the mouth, often trying to bite other
people. When any one acted in this way, his relations tied him
hand and foot with ropes, and, having killed a buffalo, they
rolled him up in the green hide, and then built a fire on and
around him, leaving him in the fire until the hide began to dry
and burn. Then they pulled him out and removed the buffalo hide,
and he was cured. While in the fire, the great heat caused him
to sweat profusely, so much water coming out of his body that
none was left in it, and with the water the disease went out,
too. All the old people tell me that they have seen individuals
cured in this manner of a mad wolf's bite.
Whenever a person is really sick, a doctor is
sent for. Custom requires that he shall be paid for his services
before rendering them. So when he is called, the messenger says
to him, "A presents to you a horse, and asks you to come and
doctor him." Sometimes the fee may be several horses, and
sometimes a gun, saddle, or some article of wearing-apparel.
This fee pays only for one visit, but the duration of the visit
is seldom less than twelve hours, and sometimes exceeds
forty-eight. If, after the expiration of the visit, the patient
feels that he has been benefited, he will probably send for the
doctor again, but if, on the other hand, he continues to grow
worse, he is likely to send for another. Not infrequently two or
more doctors may be present at the same time, taking turns with
the patient. In early days, if a man fell sick, and remained so
for three weeks or a month, he had to start anew in life when he
recovered; for, unless very wealthy, all his possessions had
gone to pay doctor's fees. Often the last horse, and even the
lodge, weapons, and extra clothing were so parted with. Of late
years, however, since the disappearance of the buffalo, the
doctors' fees are much more moderate.
The doctor is named I-so-kin-[)u]h-kin, a word
difficult to translate. The nearest English meaning of the word
seems to be "heavy singer for the sick." As a rule all doctors
sing while endeavoring to work their cures, and, as helpers, a
number of women are always present. Disease being caused by evil
spirits, prayers, exhortations, and certain mysterious methods
must be observed to rid the patient of their influence. No two
doctors have the same methods or songs. Herbs are sometimes
used, but not always. One of their medicines is a great yellow
fungus which grows on the pine trees. This is dried and
powdered, and administered either dry or in an infusion. It is a
purgative. As a rule, these doctors, while practicing their
rites, will not allow any one in the lodge, except the immediate
members of the sick man's family. Mr. Schultz, who on more than
one occasion has been present at a doctoring, gives the
following account of one of the performances.
"The patient was a man in the last stages of
consumption. When the doctor entered the lodge, he handed the
sick man a strip of buckskin, and told him to tie it around his
chest. The patient then reclined on a couch, stripped to the
waist, and the doctor kneeled on the floor beside him. Having
cleared a little space of the loose dirt and dust, the doctor
took two coals from the fire, laid them in this place, and put a
pinch of dried sweet grass on each of them. As the smoke arose
from the burning grass, he held his drum over it, turning it
from side to side, and round and round. This was supposed to
purify it. Laying aside the drum, he held his hands in the
smoke, and rubbed his arms and body with it. Then, picking up
the drum, he began to tap it rapidly, and prayed, saying:
'Listen, my dream. This you told me should be done. This you
said should be the way. You said it would cure the sick. Help me
now. Do not lie to me. Help me, Sun person. Help me to cure this
sick man.'
"He then began to sing, and as soon as the women
had caught the air, he handed the drum to one of them to beat,
and, still singing himself, took an eagle's wing and dipped the
tip of it in a cup of 'medicine.' It was a clear liquid, and
looked as if it might be simply water. Placing the tip of the
wing in his mouth, he seemed to bite off the end of it, and,
chewing it a little, spat it out on the patient's breast. Then,
in time to the singing, he brushed it gently off, beginning at
the throat and ending at the lower ribs. This was repeated three
times. Next he took the bandage from the patient, dipped it in
the cup of medicine, and, wringing it out, placed it on the sick
man's chest, and rubbed it up and down, and back and forth,
after which he again brushed the breast with the eagle wing.
Finally, he lighted a pipe, and, placing the bowl in his mouth,
blew the smoke through the stem all over the patient's breast,
shoulders, neck, and arms, and finished the ceremony by again
brushing with the wing. At intervals of two or three hours, the
whole ceremony was repeated. The doctor arrived at the lodge of
the sick man about noon, and left the next morning, having
received for his services a saddle and two blankets."
"Listen, my dream " This is the key to most of
the Blackfoot medicine practices. These doctors for the most
part effect their cures by prayer. Each one has his dream, or
secret helper, to whom he prays for aid, and it is by this help
that he expects to restore his patient to health. No doubt the
doctors have the fullest confidence that their practices are
beneficial, and in some cases they undoubtedly do good because
of the implicit confidence felt in them by the patient.
Often, when a person is sick, he will ask some
medicine man to unroll his pipe. If able to dance, he will take
part in the ceremony, but if not, the medicine man paints him
with the sacred symbols. In any case a fervent prayer is offered
by the medicine man for the sick person's recovery. The medicine
man administers no remedies; the ceremony is purely religious.
Being a priest of the Sun, it is thought that god will be more
likely to listen to him than he would to an ordinary man.
Although the majority of Blackfoot doctors are
men, there are also many women in the guild, and some of them
are quite noted for their success. Such a woman, named Wood
Chief Woman, is now alive on the Blackfoot reservation. She has
effected many wonderful cures. Two Bear Woman is a good doctor,
and there are many others.
In the case of gunshot wounds a man's "dream," or
"medicine," often acts directly and speedily. Many cases are
cited in which this charm, often the stuffed skin of some bird
or animal, belonging to the wounded man, becomes alive, and by
its power effects a cure. Many examples of this might be given
but for lack of space. Entirely honest Indians and white men
have seen such cures and believe in them.
1: My shelter; my covering; my robe.
The books presented are for their
historical value only and are not the
opinions of the Webmasters of the site.
Handbook
of American Indians, 1906
Index of Tribes or Nations
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