The tribal designation Menominee is from the Anishinaabe (Ojibwa, Chippewa) and refers to the wild rice which was an important part of the Menominee diet. They call themselves Macmaceqtaw, which means “The People who Live with All Seasons.” For the past 10,000 years or so they have lived in an area which is now called Minnesota and Wisconsin.
S. Verna Fowler writes in the Encyclopedia of North American Indians:
“As descendants of Copper Culture people, an ancient indigenous cultural tradition, they are Wisconsin’s oldest continuous residents and one of the few tribes east of the Mississippi that inhabit part of their ancestral land.”
The Menominee language belongs to the Central Algonquian language sub-family and is, therefore, related to Miami, Illinois, Shawnee, Sauk, Fox, Kickapoo, Potawatomi, Ojibwa, Cree, Montegnais, and Naskapi.
Subsistence
One of the important Menominee foods was wild rice (Zizania aquatica, which is a kind of grass rather than rice) which is found in the shallow areas of small lakes and ponds. In their book Native American Heritage, Merwyn Garebarino and Robert Sasso report:
“Wild rice is hard to reap because the grains scatter at a touch. The harvester has to catch the grain as soon as it matures, for it quickly falls into the water and is lost.”
In his book Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes, Carl Waldman describes the Menominee practice of harvesting wild rice this way:
“First, the women would bend the tops of the tall aquatic grass over the canoe’s sides. Then they would hit the heads with a paddle, knocking the seeds into the boat’s bottom. The seeds could then be dried in the sun or by fire to open the hulls; next they were stamped on or pounded; and finally they were winnowed in a birchbark tray, in the wind, to separate the hulls from the grain.”
To process the wild rice, they dug a pit and then placed a deer skin or mat in the pit. The rice would then be placed on top of this. To separate the grain from the chaff, the women and children would then dance on the rice. Once dried, the rice would be stored in pits for winter use.
Among the Menominees, the people would elect a special rice chief and a rice council to oversee the harvesting of the wild rice.
Canoes were used for gathering wild rice, for fishing, and for transportation. The Menominees used both dugout and birchbark canoes with the dugout canoe being more common.
Among the Menominees, fishing was an important economic activity for the men in the fall.
The Menominees also did some farming which supplemented hunting and gathering. They grew squash, beans, and maize (corn).
Housing
One of the traditional houses among the people of this region is the wigwam. In his book The American Indian, Colin Taylor writes:
“The domed wigwam consisted of a framework made of flexible poles or saplings of ironwood or elm which were pushed into the ground and then bent over, producing a series of arches. Horizontal encircling poles were then lashed to the vertical poles with basswood fiber producing a net-like framework.”
The wigwam frame was then covered with sheets of bark.
During the winter, the Menominees lived in wigwams as the domed shape retained heat. Rectangular houses with a peaked roof were used in the summer.
Clothing and adornment
Among the Menominees, the men wore breechclouts with flaps which hung down to mid-thigh in front and in back. It was not uncommon for women to go bare breasted in warm weather and to wear a poncho in cooler weather. Carl Waldman reports:
“Both men and women decorated their clothing with painted designs, porcupine quills, and, after the white traders arrived, beadwork.”
Both Menominee men and women wore jewelry made from copper or shells. In her book Encyclopedia of American Indian Costume, Josephine Paterek reports:
“Both sexes pierced the earlobes in several places so that dangling ornaments could be placed in each hole.”
Social Organization
As with other people in the Great Lakes region, the most important aspect of Menominee social organization was the patrilineal clan. The clan is a formal, named social group and within the Menominees, each person belongs to the father’s clan (i.e., the clans are patrilineal). Since all members of a particular clan are considered to be related, marriage within the clan is considered incest.
Traditional Menominee society was organized around five clans: (1) Bear, which assumed the civil duties necessary for the harmonious functioning of the people; (2) Eagle, which assumed leadership during times of war (the Eagle clan was also involved with fire and camp labor); (3) Wolf, which was involved with hunting; (4) Crane, which handled construction; and (5) Moose, which provided camp security and coordinated the harvest and distribution of the wild rice.
With regard to government, each clan also selected a clan leader to sit on the village council.
Among the Menominees, the clans formed two groups which anthropologists call moieties. Each moiety was composed of two or more clans.
While the daily tasks associated with Menominee life were often separated by gender, Menominee women often performed many “male” roles. According to anthropologist Louise Spindler, in her chapter on the Menominees in the Handbook of North American Indians:
“If she fished well or raced or hunted or danced like a male, she was highly respected.”
War leaders were men who were called upon in a dream or vision to lead a war party. With regard to the Menominee, Merwyn Garebarino and Robert Sasso report:
“War leaders directed hostilities, holding their leadership only as long as the conflict lasted. To gather followers, they relied on their reputations as warriors and their charismatic personalities.”
Religion
Religion was enmeshed with other aspects of the culture and was not seen as a distinct part of life. From the traditional viewpoint, there is no clear boundary between the natural and the supernatural. Spiritual power is often seen as a gift which is bestowed upon human beings by spirit teachers or guardians. Louise Spindler reports:
“The fundamental relationships that existed between the Menominee and the supernatural can only be understood in terms of power and power gaining. The emphasis was upon securing a guardian spirit to obtain power, and the central experience of Menominee religion was the dream revelation.”
Visions were of great importance as visions provide individuals with the guardian spirit or tutelary spirit who will guide them for the rest of their lives.
The Menominees would engage in vision quests to obtain spiritual power. The vision quest would often entail going to a remote spiritual location and remaining there while fasting. The vision often comes in the form of a particular animal who gives special instructions on how to live, teaches special songs, and shows how to use special medicines. This animal or guardian spirit becomes the person’s personal Manitou. Often the person then carries a representation of this spirit which represents the essences of the spiritual power.
Both boys and girls go on the vision quest. Training for the vision quest would begin in early childhood with short fasts of a day or two accompanied with instructions. At puberty, the vision quest could last as long as ten days. Traditionally, they would build a small lodge in a secluded place and remain there until the vision appeared. The vision would later be interpreted by a medicine person who would tell the supplicant what powers had been given and what obligations had been incurred.
For the Menominees, the power obtained through visions and dreams is incremental and can be increased through additional visions or dreams. In addition, this sacred power can also be increased by buying or inheriting songs, rituals, or sacred objects from another person.
One of the important roles of the guardian or tutelary spirit is to provide cooperation in hunting. Hunting dreams came to both men and women. This spirit can also provide the individual with the ability to make prophesies and/or the power to cure.
One of the spiritual themes that is encountered in this culture area is a kind of duality which is important in maintaining spiritual balance and harmony. In an article in American Indian Art, Lois Dubin and Paige Bardolph explain:
“In the Great Lakes region, Native cultures believe that opposing forces of two great spirit beings—Thunderbird of Upper World and Underwater Panther of Lower World—need to be reconciled for cosmic unity, and humans must maintain this equilibrium.”
The pipe is also an important part of spirituality as it traditionally bridged the world between the human and the supernatural worlds. The smoke from the pipe was a way of communicating with the spirits. The pipe bowls, usually carved from stone, were sometimes carved in spiritual effigies. Carl Waldman reports:
“The Menominees thought that tobacco not only made a good ritualistic offering to Manitou, the Great Spirit, but that it also increased an individual's intelligence for problem-solving and decision-making.”
Ceremonies
The Menominee Medicine Lodge is a ceremonial system which was borrowed from the Ojibwa. The purpose of the ceremony is to ensure the good health of those who belong to the lodge and to provide them with spiritual protection. Each member of the lodge—both male and female—has their own medicine bag which is filled with small packages of herbal medicines. Anthropologist Louise Spindler reports:
“All medicines and power were declared to be benevolent and protective.”
The Drum Dance or Dream Dance is a ceremony which has been adopted from the Plains tribes and was based on the Omaha Grass Dance. According to the Menominees, the Dream Dance originated in a spiritual revelation given to a Sioux woman.
The drum is the central element of the ceremony. Anthropologist Louise Spindler writes:
“Although it incorporated Christian elements with aboriginal elements, it is essentially native North American in pattern and has been invested with characteristic Menominee attitudes and values.”
While the original Menominee War Dance had been lost, the Chippewa gave this ceremony and its songs to the Menominees in 1925. According to Louise Spindler:
“It is performed for men being drafted and participating in contemporary wars.”
The Shaking Tent ceremony was not a community ceremony, but an individual healing ceremony. Working inside a small birchbark lodge, the medicine person would consult with the spirit world to find the cause of a person’s illness and an appropriate cure. During the ceremony, the structure would shake (hence, the designation “Shaking Tent”) and howling noises would be heard.
Tribal Profiles
At the beginning of the European invasion of North America, there were several hundred culturally, politically, and linguistically distinct American Indian tribes. Today, most Americans can name only a handful of these tribes and most people are unaware that not all Indian tribes are the same. This is the 37th Indians 101/201 tribal profile. Some other profiles:
Indians 101: A Very Brief Overview of California's Achumawi Indians
Indians 101: A Brief Overview of the Assiniboine Indians
Indians 201: A very short overview of the Chickasaw Indians
Indians 101: A very short overview of California's Chumash Indians
Indians 201: A short overview of the Duwamish Indians
Indians 101: A very short overview of the Havasupai Indians
Indians 101: A Brief Overview of the Illinois Indians
Indians 101: A Very Short Overview of the Ottawa Indians