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Glossary A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Medicine Wheel Medicine Wheels are a rare and mysterious cultural feature found throughout the Canadian Plains as well as Montana and northern Wyoming. Imposing and visually impressive, evidence suggests that the medicine wheel served a variety of religious and ceremonial functions. Some medicine wheels date back 5,500 years. Structurally they reflect a diversity of form and size. The term “medicine wheel” has been used since the late 19th century to describe a wide variety of Aboriginal surface stone structures found on the northern plains. They generally feature a central cairn, or circle of stone, from the center of which radiates a series of rows of other stones. Though the true purpose of these stone constructions remains unknown, some Aboriginal groups believe that they symbolize and reflect the dynamics and meaning of the universe. Moose call A megaphone made of birch bark used by a hunter for attracting moose. Moss As in bog, swamp, peat, peat moss; a clump of plants having small, leafy, often tufted stem bearing sex organs at its tip; a clump of these plants; a mossy covering. Muskeg A marshy deposit of partly decayed vegetable matter characteristic of northern regions. |
