420 A STUDY OF SIOUAN CULTS. 



of Frank La Flfeclie are giveu iu the Jour. Amer. Folk-Lore, vol. ii, No. 

 4, PI). 10,11: 



There are ii variety of beliefs concerning the immediate action of the spirit upon 

 its withdrawal from the body. Some think that the soul at ouce starts upon its 

 journey to the spirit laud; others, that it hovers about the grave as if reluctant to 

 depart. Because of this latter belief, food and water are placed at the head of the 

 grave for several days after the burial. The spirit is supposed to partake of this 

 food. No Indian would touch any article of food thus exposed ; if he did, the ghost 

 would snatch away the food and paralyze the mouth of the thief, and twist his face 

 out of shape for the rest of his life ; or else he would be purs\ied by the ghost, and 

 food would lose its taste, and hiinger ever after haunt the offender. There is a be- 

 lief in the tribe that before the spirits finally dep.art from men who died of wounds 

 or their results, they float toward a cliff overhanging the Missouri, not far from the 

 present Santee Agency, in Nebraska, and cut upon the rocks a picture showing forth 

 their manner of death. A line in the picture indicates the spot where the disease 

 or wound was located which caused the death. After this record is complete, the 

 spirit flies off to the land of the hereafter. It is said that these pictures are easily 

 recognized by the relatives and friends of the deceased. This place is known as 

 lri-g<ta"'-xe 3[i-:>ia-xai da",' or, Where the spirits make pictures of themselves. A 

 suicide ceases to exist; for him there is no hereafter. A man struck by lightning is 

 buried where he fell, and iu the position in which he died. His grave is filled with 

 earth, and no moiind is raised over one who is thus taken from life. 



In 1873 some of the Pouka said they had the following beliefs con- 

 cerning a murderer: (1) The ghosts surround him and keep up a con- 

 stant whistling; (2) he can never satisfy his hunger, though he eat 

 much food; (3) he must not be allowed to roam at large lest high 

 ■winds ari.se. 



It is important to compare this whole section with the Dakota beliefs 

 found in §§ 266-278. 



The author was told by the Omaha that when a man was killed by 

 lightning, he ouglit to be buried face downwards, and the soles of his 

 feet had to be slit. When this was done, the spirit went at once to the 

 spirit land, without giving further trouble to the living. In one case 

 (that of a Weii"cte man, Jadegi, according to George Miller and Frank 

 Le Fleche)^ this was not done, so it was said that the ghost wnlJced, 

 and he did not rest in peace till another person (his brother) was slain 

 by lightning and laid beside him. 



When Joseph La Fleche and Two Crows heard what Frank had told 

 about the Milky Way, etc., they remarked, " We have never been to the 

 spirit land, so we can not tell what is done there. No one has ever 

 come back and told us." All that they had ever heard was the old 

 story about the forked road. 



§ 69. Gahige, the late chief of the Inke-sabfi (a buffalo gens), told the 

 aiithor about the address made to a member of his gens, when dying. 

 According to him, the person was addressed thus : "You are going to the 

 animals (the buflalos). You are going to your ancestors. Anita du- 

 baha line (which may be rendered. You are going to the four living ones, 



• TLi.s name is given iu tbo notation of the Bureau of Ethnology, not aa published by Mr. LaFleche. 

 'See Jour. Am. Folklore, Vol. n, No. 6, p. )90. 



