The culture of the Canadian Native People has a very rich history. They have inhabited Canadian lands for a very long time and have a very intricate social system. There also have been many wars between the different tribes and many artifacts have been lost in the process. Other attributes of the Native culture were lost to the ages for other reasons. One of such artifacts is the Medicine bundle. There are several types where each tribe has its way of making it. But the common features are present and thus can be traced. A Medicine bundle is exactly what it is called—it is a bundle of a few feathers wrapped in the skin of an animal. It also includes roots of certain plants and sometimes stone pipes inside a rawhide bag. Sometimes there would be bones and other amulets that were used in the healing process (Lokensgard 123). Every item in the bundle was very significant and had its meaning. Usually, it was not big, about the size of the length of a feather. The feathers were from different birds, depending on what kind of healing powers the bundle had to have. There was a special song that was connected to each unique bundle and the owner had to sing it every time.
The strict and fixed rules governed the sale of the bundle and very often it could not be sold at all because it was passed down to the next generation as an inheritance. The transferring of the bundle was a sacred moment and was accompanied by a ceremony. Upon the transfer, the person who received the bundle would have to learn the importance and significance of each item of the bundle. They even learned the stories that included the details of the visions that were connected to the origins of each item. The songs were an important aspect of the ritual and the bundle itself, as the quality, feeling, and uniqueness of the song established the bundle’s value and validity. The purpose of the bundle was to heal and be used for medical purposes. Usually, there was a ritual of song and dance by which the powers and magical healing properties of the bundle would be “called out.” Sometimes, when a bundle would get damaged or lose its powers, the items would be renewed and this was also a very careful and meticulous process (Hungrywolf 6). The history of the tribal leaders and chiefs has shown that the bundle was of great significance, to both the leaders and people of the tribe. The personal lives were connected to the bundle and thus made it more powerful. At one point, the museum of Canadian History wanted to display one of such bundles but the outrage of the Native people was great. They said that it would be wrong to display something so sacred and that it would demoralize them and their whole history. Not to mention that the spirits of the Medicine bundle would be greatly offended and this action could even bring negative things to the tribe. This shows that the bundle played a very significant role in the tribe. Even at the time it was no longer used, it was treated as a sacred object. The respect towards the Medicine bundle was one of the things that increased its healing power. The present-day Native people have the same kinds of Medicine bundles and have the same treatment of the traditions and rituals (Bell 204).
Works Cited
Bell, Catherine. First Nations Cultural Heritage and Law: Case Studies, Voices, and Perspectives, Vancouver, Canada: UBC Press, 2009. Print.
Hungrywolf, Adolf. The Blackfoot Papers, Victoria, Canada: Good Medicine Foundation, 2006. Print.
Lokensgard, Kenneth. Blackfoot Religion and the Consequences of Cultural Commoditization, Farnham, England: Ashgate Publishing, 2010. Print.