224 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



and found him with blackened face, after the manner of his people 

 when in grief. The burial of his wife was according to the ways of the 

 white man but the native custom of four feasts was observed. There 

 was no singing until the fourth night when the spirit of the dead was 

 believed to start on its journey. During the four days that followed 

 Mrs. Thunder's death her cooking fire was kept burning in her wig- 

 wam and it was with charcoal from this fire that her husband black- 

 ened his face. 



The gathering on the fourth night was attended by the writer, who 

 remained until midnight. The later events were described by Sam 

 Carley (fig. 197), brother of Jasper Blowsnake, and a leader in the 

 native rites. He said that a feast was served, and after the people were 

 seated Andrew Black Hawk, a relative, talked to the spirit of Mrs. 

 Thunder. He told her that she would follow a trail to a wigwam (rep- 

 resenting the earth) where she would find an old woman (our earth 

 mother). This woman would say " You are going to leave your earth 

 mother and begin a spirit life." Then the old woman would tell of a 

 blazing thicket, an enemy who would spit upon her, and finally a great 

 darkness beyond which she would find her deceased relatives and be 

 welcomed to the spirit village. She was told to go bravely through 

 these difficulties. It is the belief of the Winnebago that the spirit of 

 a slain enemy is at the command of its conqueror and at this feast four 

 Winnebago who had served in the United States Army during the 

 World War commanded the spirits of their slain enemies to attend 

 the spirit of Mrs. Tom Thunder on its journey, to assist it in every 

 way and provide warmth, food, and light for it at night. 



As the edge of the sun appeared above the horizon the women began 

 to play the bowl-and-dice game, given to Indian women by the spirit 

 women in the eastern sky. While they were playing, the spirit of Mrs. 

 Thunder went away. 



The next morning her cooking fire had been obliterated, the cover 

 was gone from her wigwam, and someone was swinging a baby in a 

 little hammock, suspended from the framework of the wigwam. 



Two songs of the fourth-night feast for the dead were recorded, as 

 well as songs of the Winnebago Medicine Lodge, the buffalo feast, 

 and the night-spirit bundle. Among the songs of games and dances 

 were those of the fish dance and the wild goose, commonly known 

 as the swan dance. The latter is danced by women and was witnessed 

 at Stand Rock (fig. 191). Mrs. Henry Thunder (fig. 198) is fre- 

 quently a leader in this dance, taking the position at the point of its 

 wedge formation. 



