In 1974 Odjig created a number of erotic pictures for a compilation of First Nations tales gathered by Dr. Herbert Schwarz for his publication, Tales from the Smokehouse (Edmonton: Hurtig, 1976). Medicine Dream and its accompanying text can be found on pages 43-48. What is depicted in the present image is the young woman who dreamed that she happened upon a bag floating in the water, sent to her by her spirit guide. She recounts the below to Short Arrow, the story's hero. 

"I hurried to pull it from the river, and I untied the cords eagerly. Great was my surprise when I found that it was full of male private parts. I pulled them out from the bag and spread them on the grass. There must have been at least a dozen-all sizes and shapes. They were all so lovely that I ran my hands from one to the other and every time I put my hands on one it came to life and became big and swollen. They looked so beautiful that I wanted them all. I was hot and restless and finally I could wait no more, so I picked up the one nearest to me and had intercourse with it. I never expected to have such powerful medicine inside of me! However, the penis soon tired and, to my dismay, lost its medicinal power. I moved to the next one-a really big one, and when I caressed it, it got bigger still and soon, deep inside me, it released its medicinal power and set me all on fire. After a time it shrank too, and left me. But there were more. And so with great pleasure I spent the whole day. I moved from one penis to another, fondling, caressing and having intercourse with them. With all that pleasant exercise I was flushed and tired. Never had I achieved such contentment before; the medicine that I discovered in my dream was certainly powerful. It gave me strength and uplifted my soul. Towards the end of the day I approached the only male organ that I had not yet had intercourse with. All the others were stretched out limply on the ground. The last one was not a particularly big one but it was not small either; it was about medium size, and when I stroked it with my fingers it shot up with great spirit and proceeded to have intercourse with me. And as I experienced its powers, I wished that I could keep this one with me forever. Then I awoke from my dream."

We later discover that the male genitalia that she had wished to keep was that of Short Arrow.

Following a 2008 exhibition of her works at the Canadian Museum of History (formerly the Canadian Museum of Civilization), Odjig commented of the erotically charged images, “People were shocked at the time, although things have changed now. The native community was the least shocked of all, though. We were brought up as children to accept these things. Sexual matters were part of life."