Indians of the Midwest

Ownership

Above: Meda meeting in secret, opening their medicine bundles. Drawing by Seth Eastman in Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, Historical and Statistical Information, Respecting the History, Condition and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States (Newberry Library, Ayer 250 .S3h 1851, v. 5, pl. 5). View catalog record

Native people in the Great Lakes area recognized individually-owned property. Women and men owned their own tools, clothing, ornaments, and any gifts of property they received. Ojibwa husbands and wives owned property separately but lent their possessions to each other. These ideas about gender and property contrasted with those in colonial and early 19th century America, where married women could not own property. Native children owned their toys and clothing, so parents did not have control over their children’s property.

What kind of property did they own?

Rush Mat, Sauk and Fox

Women made and owned these mats. This one is woven with nettle fiber cord and dyed with botanical substances from the forest. Rows of deer form the design. Photo courtesy of the Field Museum (#34989, neg. A110957c).

Woman Weaving Rush Mat

Shown here is Mrs. Gurneau at Red Lake, Minnesota making a floor mat. Women could work on these mats only early in the morning or evening when the air was moist so the reeds would not dry out and become brittle. Mrs. Gurneau made the bark frame herself. Frances Densmore, Chippewa Customs, 1929 (Newberry Library, Ayer 301 .A5 v. 86, pl. 1).

Woman's Pipe

Women's pipes were made of black stone, and men's of red stone. The stem was wood. This pipe is for everyday smoking (bark and/or tobacco) and is about 7 inches long. Pipes for formal use had longer stems, and ceremonial pipe stems could be 3 feet long, and they were elaborately decorated. Frances Densmore, Chippewa Customs, 1929 (Newberry Library, Ayer 301 .A5 v. 86, pl. 52a).

Knife case, Dakota Sioux

Men owned their knives and the cases (made by women and given to men). This case is decorated with bird quills. It is almost 10 inches long and a little over 3 inches wide at the top. It was collected by Frank Blackwell Mayer at the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux in 1851. Photo courtesy of the Field Museum (#12976, neg. A110272_Ac).

Bow and Bird Arrow

Men made and owned their bows and several different kinds of arrows, depending on the game they were hunting. The bird arrow was made of hickory and was used for hunting birds. Paul Radin, The Winnebago Tribe; 37th Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1915-16 (Newberry Library, Ayer 301 .A2, pg. 118, pl. 31).

Infant with Ornamented Cradle Board

Women made cradle pouches for babies before they were born, and the baby's navel cord was placed in a small bag and tied to the cradle, as were small toys, including strings of beads, little bones, shells, birchbark cones, and feathers. Men usually made the frame. The mother's in-laws brought her gifts and the father gave a feast for a spirit being as thanks for the healthy child. Paul Radin, The Winnebago Tribe; 37th Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1915-16 (Newberry Library, Ayer 301 .A2, pg. 121, pl. 42a).

Individuals also owned intangible property, often associated with power received in a dream vision. Youths fasted in isolation for a vision in which a spirit helper granted them various powers (in hunting, war, and curing, for example). Ojibwa girls also had dreams in which they acquired power. Associated with the power were objects (for example, a medicine bag), names, and songs given by the spirit helper that symbolized the power of the vision. The power was not effective without the supernatural connection with the spirit. And the owner had to feed the guardian spirit with tobacco and food to maintain the relationship.

Members of the Medicine Lodge (“meda” or “mide”) acquired a medicine bag and other objects upon initiation. They could pass the bag on to a new initiate (for a fee) or dispose of it whatever way they chose.

Some property was owned not by individuals but by groups. Individual clan members served as custodians of clan-owned medicine bundles. Among the Ojibwas, the Dream Dance ritual was owned by groups (possibly residential or family groups or villages). Sometimes, Ojibwa villages owned dances they purchased from other tribes: the village leader was the custodian of the dance.

Land and the resources on it were not “owned” by either groups or individuals. People had “use-rights” to places where they would garden, fish, harvest rice and berries, and tap for sugar. As long as they used these resources, they had a right to them. Villages that had use-rights in a territory permitted others to hunt, fish, and gather there. Even after Americans imposed allotments and legal title to land, the resources on the land continued to be viewed by Indians as associated with use-rights.

Native people valued property as a means of strengthening social bonds. It was never to be accumulated by individuals or groups while other community members went without. Food was always shared with kin and needy members of the community. When a man killed a deer, he shared the meat by hosting a feast. After a group hunt, the meat was divided among the hunters and their families. Community feasts were frequently held when food was harvested or spirit helpers honored. Clans regularly feasted each other. Tools, clothing, and other items were given to others as gifts, sometimes to reinforce friendship and sometimes to meet a kinship obligation.

Obligations to relatives continued after death. Family members dressed the corpse in fine clothing and jewelry and often buried his or her prized possessions with the deceased. Above the grave, many groups erected a grave house with a ledge where they brought tobacco and food to feed the soul of the deceased person for his or her four-day journey to the Afterlife. Property that might be useful for the journey might be left at the grave or buried: weapons, tools, moccasins, cooking and eating utensils. Food was brought to the grave subsequent to these mortuary rituals, as well. These gifts could be used in the Afterlife by the deceased to establish good relationships there. The bereaved would be helped to go on with their lives by annual or periodic attention from others, including gift-giving.

Learn more about mortuary ritual

Grave Post of Shing-Gaa-Ba-Wasin (The Image Stone), Ojibwa Warrior

On his carved post is his clan symbol, the Crane, upside down to indicate death. On the right are six horizontal "marks of honor" that indicate battles in which he distinguished himself. On the left, three horizontal bars represent three treaty councils in which he participated. Grave posts with an inverted clan symbol continued in use well into the latter half of the 20th century. Drawing by Seth Eastman in Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, Historical and Statistical Information, Respecting the History, Condition and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States (Newberry Library, Ayer 250 .S3h 1851, v. 1, pl. 50, no. 4).

Feeding the Dead

Scaffold burials were used, as well as interment, until lumber became available for grave houses. Relatives brought food to the soul (ghost or spirit) of the deceased. The ghost ate the spiritual essence of the food, and members of the community could take the food to eat. Food was offered each day during a four-day mortuary ritual, and families usually would bring food periodically for some time afterwards to maintain good relations with the soul of the deceased. Feeding the dead was common to virtually all the Great Lakes Native communities. Drawing by Seth Eastman in Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, Historical and Statistical Information, Respecting the History, Condition and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States (Newberry Library, Ayer 250 .S3h 1851, v. 1, pl. 3).

Ojibwa Grave Houses, 1925

This cemetery at Leech Lake shows the ledge on the grave house where food was placed, the grave posts, and some property left for the deceased. Before the 19th century, bodies were buried wrapped in bark and covered with a small mound or bark, or the body was put on a scaffold or in a log enclosure. The grave post with inverted clan symbol was placed by the grave. When lumber became available in the 19th century, grave houses with ledges for food offerings were commonly built over interments. Even Christian converts had this kind of burial. Photo by Huron Smith, courtesy of Milwaukee Public Museum.

Today, feasting and gift-giving are important rituals in Native communities. They serve to strengthen the bonds between living people and between the living and the dead. For example, the Ottawa hold “Ghost Suppers” once a year at several settlements. People come together to feast and honor their deceased relatives. At community powwows throughout the Midwest, families give away property to visitors to honor relatives participating in the powwow and to establish friendly relations with non-members of the community. Food also is often distributed to these visitors. And helping others with food and other kinds of economic assistance still is a central value in Indian communities.

Read the instructions a Ho-Chunk elder gave a youth about generosity. Note how generosity is supernaturally sanctioned.

My son, when you keep house, should anyone enter your home, no matter who it is, be sure to offer him whatever you have in the house. Any food that you withhold at such time will most assuredly become a source of death to you. . . . If you see an old, helpless person, help him with whatever you possess. Should you happen to possess a home and you take him there, he might suddenly say abusive things about you during the middle of the meal. You will be strengthened by such words. This same traveler may, on the contrary, give you something that he carries under his arms and which he treasures very highly. If it is an object without a stem [medicine plant], keep it to protect your home. If you thus keep it within your house, your house will never be molested by any bad spirits. Nothing will be able to enter your house unexpectedly. Thus you will live. From Paul Radin, The Winnebago, 37th Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1915-16, p. 170.

Bear Medicine Cloth

A man from Mille Lacs owned this medicine (the power to cure), which he received when he obtained a spirit helper in a vision. The bear spirit was his helper and he kept a representative drawing on a piece of cloth. The man’s wife became very ill, so he spread the cloth over her so that the strength of his bear spirit helper would transfer to her. She improved, then he put the cloth on the wall above her head until she recovered fully. This kind of personal medicine was owned by both men and women among the Ojibwa. Frances Densmore, Chippewa Customs, 1929 (Newberry Library, Ayer 301 .A5 v. 86, pg. 83, pl. 32a).

Winnebago Mide at Medicine Lodge

Here, the Mide or Meda, who cure patients and assist the souls of the dead in their journey to the Afterlife, are using their medicine bags as they conduct ceremonies in the Lodge. Painting by Seth Eastman in Mary H. Eastman, The American Aboriginal Portfolio (Newberry Library, Ayer 250.45 .E2 1853).

Meda meeting in secret, opening their medicine bundles

Each man owned his bundle. His right to do so was purchased when he was initiated into the Medicine Lodge. Drawing by Seth Eastman in Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, Historical and Statistical Information, Respecting the History, Condition and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States (Newberry Library, Ayer 250 .S3h 1851, v. 5, pl. 5).

Ho-Chunk Bear Clan Police, Black River Falls, Wisconsin, ca. 1900

These members of the Bear Clan are holding batons of authority, which were clan property. The Bear Clan has always been responsible for keeping order. They supervised hunts and camp movements, dealt with wrongdoers, and generally policed public gatherings. Each Ho-Chuck clan owned a war bundle (formerly owned by families and used for success in war, then gradually associated with the clan and used to pray for success in life generally). The Bear Clan owned a war bundle, war clubs, two crooks used in battle, and batons of authority. There are twelve clans and, today, seven or eight active war bundles. Photo by Charles Van Schaick, courtesy of Wisconsin Historical Society.

Ojibwa Dream Dance Drum, 1899

This is one of three drums at this ceremony at Lac Courte Oreilles. The drums were owned by residential communities on the reservation. Ojibwa groups transferred drums to groups from other tribes, including the Menominee, receiving gifts in return. The Menominees organized dream dance societies, each of which had a drum. The keeper of the society’s drum had to be qualified in the eyes of the society members. Courtesy of National Anthropological Archives (NAA INV 00255400).

Treaty of 1837

The Ojibwa groups who signed the treaty at St. Peters on July 29 insisted on retaining the right to hunt, fish, and gather throughout the area they ceded in Wisconsin and Minnesota. From Ratified Indian Treaties, National Archives Microfilm Publication (Newberry Library, Microfilm 152, roll 8).

Menominee Give-away

The photo was taken May 21, 2006 at the Woodland Bowl, Keshena, Wisconsin during the Annual Veterans Pow-Wow. Veterans, community members, and visitors all received gifts provided by the powwow organizing committee. Photo by Dale Kakkak, courtesy of College of Menominee Nation.

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