Walter James Hoffman prepared this study for the Bureau of Ethnology, a late nineteenth century ethnographic account of the Midewiwin, the Ojibwe, or Anishinaabe, grand medicine society, based on his fieldwork. Its value is that it is a detailed firsthand documentary record of Midewiwin ceremonial practice made at the time of fieldwork, a period with few other written accounts of the society. Its limit is the reason for its tier two placement: Hoffman wrote as an outside government ethnographer, not from within the tradition, and some of his readings have since been revised by later Ojibwe and Anishinaabe scholarship, so a claim resting on his interpretation should be checked against that more recent, community grounded scholarship.
Facts
Assessment
Reliability Tier2
Walter James Hoffman's Bureau of American Ethnology study, a government ethnographer's firsthand documentary record written from outside the tradition and since revised by later Ojibwe and Anishinaabe scholarship, hence the middle tier. NotesWalter James Hoffman's late-nineteenth-century ethnographic study of the Midewiwin, the Ojibwe (Anishinaabe) grand medicine society, prepared for the Bureau of Ethnology. Use for documented Midewiwin ceremonial practice as recorded at the time of fieldwork; a period ethnography by an outside observer, not the tradition's own contemporary voice, and some readings have been revised by later Ojibwe and Anishinaabe scholarship.
Citation
AuthorWalter James Hoffman
PublisherBureau of American Ethnology, Government Printing Office
Publication Year1891
URLhttps://archive.org/details/b24883670
Source TypeEthnography
Claims Backed By This Source (26 claims)
This source backs 26 claims across the atlas. As facts: 17 well-attested. Plus 9 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Sources, 8 claims: 8 well-attested.
- Deities, 4 claims: 1 well-attested, 3 general references.
- Cultures, 3 claims: 2 well-attested, 1 general references.
- Languages, 3 claims: 2 well-attested, 1 general references.
- Articles, 2 claims: 2 well-attested.
- Culture Groups, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.
- Religions, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.
- States & Territories, 2 claims: 2 general references.
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