Солтүстік Американың ежелгі діні

Indigenous religion of North America

The Midewiwin (in syllabics: ᒥᑌᐧᐃᐧᐃᓐ, also spelled Midewin and Medewiwin) or the Grand Medicine Society is a religion of some of the Indigenous peoples of the Maritimes, New England and Great Lakes regions in North America. Its practitioners are called Midew, and the practices of Midewiwin are referred to as Mide. Occasionally, male Midew are called Midewinini, which is sometimes translated into English as "medicine man".

Design of the jiisakiiwigaan ('juggler's lodge' or 'Shaking Tent' or traditionally 'shaking wigwam') is similar in construction as that of the mide wiigiwaam. Unlike a mide wiigiwaam that is an oval domed structure, the jiisakiiwigaan is a round high domed structure of typically 3 feet (1 m) in diameter and 6 feet (2 m) in height, and large enough to hold two to four people.

Jiisakiiwin (Shaking tent)—ceremony conducted by a Shaking tent seer (jaasakiid; a male jaasakiid known as a jiisakiiwinini or a female jaasakiid known as a jiisakiiwikwe), often called a juggler in English, who would enter the tent to conjure spirits and speak beyond this world. Bagisewin (Present)—custom at the end of a wedding ceremony in which the bride presents wood at the groom's feet as a wedding present. Ishkwaandem wiikwandiwin (Entry way Feast)—A ceremony performed by women who took a piece of wood out to the bushes to offer it to Gichi manidoo, and brought something back as well. This ceremony represents the woman as Mother Earth whom asked for blessing from Gichi manidoo so that the home would be safe and warm.

Called wiigwaasabakoon in the Ojibwe language, birch bark scrolls were used to pass on knowledge between generations. When used specifically for Midewiwin ceremonial use, these wiigwaasabakoon used as teaching scrolls were called Mide wiigwaas ('Medicine birch [bark scroll]'). Early accounts of the Mide from 19th century books describe a group of elders that protected the birch bark scrolls in hidden locations. They recopied the scrolls if any were badly damaged, and they preserved them underground. These scrolls were described as very sacred and the interpretations of the scrolls were not easily given away. The historical areas of the Ojibwe were recorded, and stretched from the east coast all the way to the prairies by way of lake and river routes. Some of the first maps of rivers and lakes were made by the Ojibwe and written on birch bark. "The Teachings of the Midewiwin were scratched on birch bark scrolls and were shown to the young men upon entrance into the society. Although these were crude pictographs representing the ceremonies, they show us that the Ojibwa were advanced in the development of picture 'writing.' Some of them were painted on bark. One large birch bark roll was 'known to have been used in the Midewiwin at Mille Lacs for five generations and perhaps many generations before', and two others, found in a seemingly deliberate hiding place in the Head of the Lakes region of Ontario, were carbon dated to about 1560 CE +/ 70. The author of the original report on these hidden scrolls advised: "Indians of this region occasionally deposited such artifacts in out of the way places in the woods, either by burying them or by secreting them in caves. The period or periods at which this was done is far from clear. But in any event, archaeologists should be aware of the custom and not overlook the possibility of their discovery."

Teaching stones, known in Ojibwe as either Gikinoo'amaagewaabik or Gikinoo'amaage asin, can be either petroglyphs or petroform.

The seven fires prophecy was originally taught among the practitioners of Midewiwin. Each fire represents a prophetical age, marking phases or epochs of Turtle Island. It represents key spiritual teachings for North America, and suggests that the different colors and traditions of humans can come together on a basis of respect. The Algonquins are the keepers of the seven fires prophecy wampum.