DENSMouKj CHIPPEWA MUSIC II 157 



When the painting of the faces was finished, White Feather thus 

 addressed all the mourners: 



Lift up your eyes. Look at your friends sitting around you so gaily arrayed. _ If 

 you still look down your sorrow will not leave you. Do not think so much about 

 your sorrow and that you, too, will soon die. It is true that we all must die, but we 

 shall meet afterward. You must not cling to your sorrow nor hold an unkind feeling 

 toward anyone. Have faith in yourselves and people will think more of you and 

 Manido^ will help you. There are no enemies around you. Think only of what is 

 good. 



The mourners were then led to their respective seats, those who 

 belonged to one of the drum parties being seated at the drum and the 

 others being placed with friends at the edge of the circle. From time 

 to time additional gifts were silently laid beside them, but they made 

 no response, sitting with downcast eyes or sadly touchmg the gay 

 little trinkets. 



On the evening of the day following the ceremony of Restoring 

 the Mourners the wrUer went again to the Lac du Flambeau village. 

 The Indian village is about 4 miles from the Government school, but 

 the drum could be heard distmctly and, as there was a full moon, it 

 was thought possible that the Indians were dancing outdoors. On 

 arriving at the village, however, the bright light in E'niwiib'e's 

 window and the sound of the drum indicated where the Indians 

 were gathered. The house is small and in beating the drum the In- 

 dians make little difference whether they are beneath a roof or the 

 dome of the sky. The four or five drummers, seated around the 

 warrior drum which would be presented to the Menominee, played 

 and sang right heartUy. A drum of similar type was on a table, 

 the decorations of the two mstruments forming spots of vivid color. 

 A few women were seated on the floor behind the drummers, with 

 heads bowed and their shawls held over their mouths as they sang 

 in a weird, high falsetto. From time to time the men sitting in 

 the room rose, and danced in their places with a bending of the 

 loiees and a rhythmic shifting of their weight from one foot to the 

 other. There were soft brown tints of unpainted wood, dull colors 

 of weatherworn garments, and a bit of brilliant green where 

 E'niwdb'e's familiar blanket hung against the wall. The dark faces 

 were grave with the import of the dance and the lamplight cast strange 

 shadows. It was a scene long to be remembered. Chippewa war 

 songs were sung durmg these dances. It was stated that all war 

 songs could not be used, but that the following three songs were 

 frequently sung at the dances preceding or foUowmg the presentation 

 of a drum. 



