construction made connections to the spirit world or to the traditions and
values of the past, e.g. starting from the east, searching for ‘special’ rocks
for heating in the sacred fire (possibly rocks from a place associated with
grandfathers), smudging the outside of the lodge and the heated rocks
before they were taken inside (see next section for discussion of smudging).
Subsequent steps after closing the ‘door’ (flap) include:
- creating steam by pouring water (sometimes a sacred water) on the hot
rocks (viewed as helping to effect purification of the body and spirit) - prayers to the spirits said by the conductor of the ceremony
- the participants – who are seated on the earth in a circle around the
rocks – raising in turn personal or community issues.
It is a place where people can express themselves knowing that people listen.
Although the conductor may not be a shaman, special ‘powers’ may be
brought into a ceremony. Sometimes this is done in ways used only occa-
sionally, perhaps throwing a particular herb or medicine on the heated
rocks. One instance has been the use of ‘seven sorts’ medicine in sweat lodge
ceremonies at the Conne River reserve. It is a symbolic way of connecting
to the past. One oral account reported:
One of the old-time favourite medicines is seven sorts – it’s like
molasses. Put it on a cloth, like a plaster, for cuts, and aches and
pains, but I’ve also used in the sweat lodge ceremony in a spiritual
way by putting it on the hot rocks to become part of the steam; it
helps to link with the traditional healing of the past. It seems to be
magical; if the pain moves then the seven sorts follows the pain.^3The ingredients were learned from elders (the oral tradition): often cherry
bark, pussy-willow bark and aspen or wild wittie bark, the roots of yellow
root and beaver root, the entire boughs of ground juniper and the buds of
the balsam. They were boiled together, the solid pieces removed, and the
liquid boiled down to the thickness of molasses.
The story of seven sorts is of special interest for its associations with
magic, a reminder of the persistence of traditional practices generally viewed
as folklore. The earliest recorded account of seven sorts is possibly in an
1896 article titled ‘Micmac Magic and Medicine’. The author states that it
illustrates the ‘mystic’ of [Indian] medicinal herbs, the ‘magical’ associations
were linked to the way the seven constituents were collected during a partic-
ular season (in the autumn), the order of collection, and for the barks to be
taken from particular sections of trunk when each was in sunlight; impor-
tant, too, was the power attributed to the number seven.^33 Although move-
ment of the seven sorts to follow the pain is not mentioned in the article,
58 |Traditional medicine