Chief Joseph's Medicine Bag




Chief Joseph

 

A recent story I read about the contents of Chief Joseph’s medicine bag got me reflecting on medicine bags in general.  I had some personal experience with the medicine bag, having sported one myself for most of the nineties.  I met a mountain man my first summer out of high school.  Sporting buckskins and a flowing beard, he told me of the powwow circuit he traveled and showed me the medicine bags that he made and sold, more or less covering his travel expenses.  He sold me what I consider a starter kit, a basic fringed leather pouch on a string containing five essential types of medicine.  He stressed that I not show anyone the contents of my pouch or its medicine would be lost, and I stuck to this rule, until I had kids who insisted I let them explore its contents.  I didn’t wear my bag around my neck, but hung it proudly from my rear view mirror.  I feel it kept me safe in my youthful exploits.  

A Native American medicine bag was and is very personal in nature.  Its supernatural power, or medicine, is meant to protect the owner of the bag.  Its contents are considered sacred and include such things as herbs, stones, gems, minerals, bones, feathers, claws, teeth, etc.  Each of these items has special meaning and power.  Today’s medicine bags can also contain modern items that are meaningful to the owner such as photos, coins, etc.  For the life of me, I can’t seem to recall the contents of my bag other than the button made from antler “that I might always have clothing”.  It must have been powerful medicine because I always went about fully clothed. 

So what did the US Cavalry find in Chief Joseph’s medicine bag when they captured him in 1877?  Surprisingly, an Assyrian cuneiform tablet.  This piece of baked clay, measuring no more than one square inch, was determined to be a bill of sale dating to 2042 BC.  It reads "Nalu received 1 lamb from Abbashaga on the 11th day of the month of the festival of An, in the year Enmahgalanna was installed as high priestess of Nanna".

Mary Gindling of History Mysteries writes:  "The chief said that the tablet had been passed down in his family for many generations, and that they had inherited it from their white ancestors. Chief Joseph said that white men had come among his ancestors long ago, and had taught his people many things. His story echoes those told by Native Americans in both North and South America about white culture bringers. But in this case, Joseph had a souvenir to demonstrate the truth of his story."

I don’t know what else was in the bag, at least history seems to have kept that secret and sacred.  The tablet is rumored to be archived at the museum at West Point in Virginia. As for the bag itself, Benjamin Daniali of AssyriaTimes.com, believes the insignia on Chief Josephs’s bag to be the Star of Ashur, the same insignia used by ancient Mesopotamians and still found on the Assyrian flag.  



Chief Joseph's Medicine Bag

Assyrian Flag

My research of medicine bags eventually led me to Wikipedia where I learned that medicine bags should not be confused with bandolier bags, most frequently associated with the Anishinaabe people, which includes the Ojibwe.  While a medicine bag is meant to be worn across the shoulder (this I did not know—I wore mine around my neck before it replaced my graduation tassel on my rear view mirror), the bandolier is worn across the shoulder, to the side, or in front like an apron.  It is actually quite a stylish looking accessory and I think I would prefer the bandolier as a replacement pouch.  In fact, genetics might dictate that I choose the bandolier.  You see, I may be of Ojibwe descent.  The lineage here is almost as sketchy as the contents of my medicine bag.   My great-grandfather on my father’s side who was adopted.  As I was searching for his birth roots, I came across the usual stumbling blocks, the church that could have held clues in its archives but had burned down and the family friend who when asked what he knew of my great grandfather’s birth family mailed me a genealogical gold mine of Ojibwe royalty and then died before I had a chance to interrogate him.  I still don’t know how my family line ties into this Ojibwe line, but maybe I can keep a copy of it in my bandolier bag.  

Bandolier Bag

photo courtesy of Children's Museum of Indianapolis

To read more about Chief Joseph's cuneiform tablet, visit: Chief Joseph Carried the Star of Ashur, Benjamin Daniali, 4/25/12 http://www.assyriatimes.com/engine/modules/news/article.php?storyid=3461