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The Salteaux form a branch of the Ojibwa-speaking peoples of Manitoba, Canada. The conjuring performance is well described. The conjurer goes into the conjuring lodge which is barrel or perhaps bullet shaped after the poles are covered with bark. It is about five feet high and about five feet across. While he is in the lodge it shakes in all degrees of violence. Varying voices come from the lodge in which the conjurer is alone communing with the spirits. Human desires and needs are communicated to the spirits. Predictions for the future, solutions of problems, guidance and advice in hunting and illness are given forth from the lodge. True conjurers develop at puberty through a dream blessing and supernatural revelation. Apparently the conjurer is a man of talent. Illness often is interpreted as the result of some misdeed by the individual or a parent. Conjuring must not be done unless there is a real need for it and the conjurer cannot make a living from it because the fee is so small. The false conjurer is apparently punished when some day his child falls ill and no one is able to effect a cure. Conjurers also may evoke spirits of the dead. It seems that some of the methods of vaudeville—magic and ventriloquism are used to enhance the performance. Conjuring is a serious institution and true conjurers are sincere. It serves as an integral part of the social structure. The author says its occurrence is an index of the vitality of the native beliefs, attitudes, and values despite a veneer of acculturation.
The volume is well documented. Psychiatrists will find it interesting reading.