medicine pouch

    Article

    Also called a medicine bundle, a medicine pouch is a traditional Native American container for various items that have totemic, spiritual, or supernatural power. The Navajo word for medicine pouch is jish, which is not only a container for ceremonial goods but also describes the ceremonial goods themselves. Medicine pouches often contain pollen, which is used in rituals and chants.

    Photo Credit

     
    "Navajo medicine pouch, circa 1900." (1996_46_11). Farmington Museum, farmington, New Mexico. All Rights Reserved. Use with permission only.

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    References

     
    Frisbie, Charlotte Johnson
         1978   Burial as a Disposition Mechanism for Navajo Jish or Medicine Bundles. American
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    Frisbie, Charlotte J.
         1987   Navajo Medicine Bundles or Jish : Acquisition, Transmission, and Disposition in the
             Past and Present. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press.

    Frisbie, Charlotte Johnson
         1982   Talking about and Classifying Navajo Jish or Medicine Bundles. Navajo Religion and
             Culture: Selected Views. Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press.

    Harrington, Mark Raymond
         1914   Sacred Bundles of the Sac and Fox Indians. Anthropological Publications.
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    Kohl, Johann Georg, and Lascelles Wraxall, Sir
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    Newcomb, Franc Johnson, Stanley A. Fishler, and Mary C. Wheelwright
         1956   Study of Navajo Symbolism. Cambridge: The Museum.

    Wissler, Clark
         1912   Ceremonial Bundles of the Blackfoot Indians. Anthropological Papers. New York: The
             Trustees.