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girl (10-16 years old) hid from U.S. soldiers in a lake. Because of the
soldiers' continued presence, she was trapped there for ten days,
after which time she was rescued by the Great Spirit. At the
time of the rescue, she was given full instructions for a dream
dance, which she was to return and teach her people. She
related her experience to the head men of the tribe, and her
experience was set down as direct revelation. A ceremony was
immediately made in accordance with her directions, and the
cult spread from tribe to tribe. According to Barrett, it
superseded almost completely the older ceremonies of similar
nature.
The Dream Dance was practiced for many years in the same manner, but approximately ten years prior to Barrett's study (that is, around 1900) the visions of a young Chippewa girl living in Whitefish, Wisconsin, introduced new features to the ceremony. The book with her recorded visions was entrusted to Mr. Barrett to be read. In her first vision the young girl was told by the Great Spirit that the people must not drink or gamble. In the second vision she was taken directly to the abode of the Great Spirit himself and was shown the ceremonial offerings from times past. The Great Spirit commanded the people to respect the cross, to offer tobacco and other commodities regularly to it, and to observe strictly the regulations of the dance. Thus a large cross was introduced to the ceremonial ground of the Chippewa ritual, which is one distinguishing feature, for the Menominee ritual uses no cross. In virtue of these revelations Whitefish emerged as a kind of Mecca for the devotees of the Dream Dance. People came to Wisconsin from considerable distances, even as far away as Oklahoma, to participate in the annual ceremony usually held in early July. It lasted nine days. The purpose of the Dream Dance was for the worship of the Great Spirit and the propagation of the doctrine of universal peace and brotherhood. The primary sacred objects were the drum (called the grandfather) and the calumet (pipe), which served as the sacrificial altar (the smoke of the tobacco was supposed to carry the invocations to the Great Spirit). The cult was non-esoteric; any person was welcome. Barrett was treated with great cordiality. Although there was nothing in the ceremony related to trances or hypnosis (as there was in the Ghost Dance), when an individual had a significant dream or vision relating, for instance, to the direction his life should take, this was announced publicly during the oration period on the third day (the most important of the nine days) by a tribal elder in order that there might be community recognition and response. 125 |