The Opelousas courier., 1900-12-29
MEDICINE MEMS LORE
A Secret Formula That Is Known Only ss
OHe Man,

Ose Man.
Mrs. Harriet Maxwell Converse
honorary chief Of the 1roQuois Indians,
who has just returned from a u
| Gil meeting of that tribe at Cattarau'
gus, has succeeded in inducing the
dams to make their knowledge OF
herbs Of financial use by preparing
their medicines for sale. AS honorary
| chief, Mrs. Converse attends the coun-
Gil twice u year and is q member OF the
secret medicine society, which sits in
the lodge four times q year-Wnen
strawberries ripen, when the deer puts
on its summer coat, when the last
fruit is ripe, and when the deer puts
on it's winter coat. This society exists
in every North American Indian tribe.
Heretofore the Indians have stead
fastly refused to make their medicines
for sale to the white people, but Mrs.
Converse thinks that the opening OF
a new industry among them is OF
great Importance in their future de
velopment. Their medical formulas
are unwritten and are passed down
orally from generation to generation.
The Indians gather just enough OF
the barks and roots for their w re
quirements. The gathering Of these
herbs is q matter almost Of instinct
with them. The Indian child knows
just what to do for a cut Dr. the sting
of q bee. The little ones even OF the
almost civilized tribes are taken into
the woods every spring and fall and
taught the values and distinguishing
characteristics of the medicinal herbs.
The Indians have one medicine whose
ingredients are said to be known by
only one person now living-a white
haired old medicine mar on the Allie
gheny reservation. This is known as
the sacred medicine, and tradition
says that a medicine chief was one
dark night guided out to the woods by
the Great Spirit and directed to gath
er certain roots, twigs, plants and
barks. When properly mixed by the
medicine man, who was inspired by
the Great Spirit, these constituted the
secret medicine. That favored chief
never wrote down the formula, but
kept it in his mind until he grew old,
when he made it known to his son,
and thus has it come down to the
present time.
1t is thought by many distant tribes
that the secret Of making this medi-
cine is lost, and Mrs. Converse says
that undoubtedly non has been made
for a century. There is about a pound
remaining Of the quantity then made,
but SO sparingly is it used that it is
expected to last for forty or fifty years.
1t is in the form Of a powder, and is
kept in bags made of the ears OF deer.
The medicine chief of the C~attaraugus
possesSor of the secret formula Is sup
posed to give it to his probable sue
cessoP when he feels that his life is
nearly ended.
Another secret Of theirs is the prepa-
ration Of parched corn. Their runners
in old times lived on it exclusively on
their journeys, and found a small por-
ton sufficient for their longest runs
that often covered days. They carried
perhaps a pound Of it in a little pouch
around the waist, and when hungry
would mix a tiny ball Of it with water
from spring or river, throw it into the
mouth and run on.
The tribe is to have an exhibit at
the P:in-American Exposition, to be
held in Buffalo next year, and the In
dams will prepare the corn exactly as
they DO in their forest homes.-New
York Tribune.