486 A STUDY OF SIOUAN CULTS. 



ghost can ride the ghost of the horse and use all the articles carried by 

 that animal. 



§ 272. Why the Teton stopped burying in the ground. — Long ago the 

 people buried some men on a hill and then removed camp to another 

 place. Many winters afterwards a man visited this burial place, but all 

 traces of the graves had disappeared. So many men came and dug 

 far down into the hill. By aad by one said, " A road lies here." So 

 they dug in that direction and made a fire underground. And there 

 they found a tunnel lai-ge enough for men to walk in by stooping, with 

 many similar intersecting ones. They followed the main one and final- 

 ly came to a place whither a strange animal, the Wahayksira, had 

 dragged the corpses. For this reason the Lakota became unwilling to 

 lay their dead in the ground, so they began to bury on scaffolds which 

 could not be reached by beasts of prey. At the jiresent day the Teton 

 gives three reasons for not burying in the ground : ( I ) Animals or per- 

 sons might walk over the graves; (2) the dead might lie in mud and 

 water after rain or snow; (3) wolves might dig up the bodies and 

 devour them. 



§ 273. Importance of tattooing. — In order that the ghost may travel 

 the ghost road in safety it is necessary for each Lakota during his life 

 to be tattooed either in the middle of the forehead or on the wrists. In 

 that event his spirit will go directly to the " Many Lodges." The other 

 spirit road is said to be short, and the foolish one who travels it never 

 reaches the "Many Lodges." An old woman sits in the road and 

 she examines each ghost that passes. If she can not find the tattoo 

 marks on the foreliead, wrists, or chin, the unhappy ghost is pushed 

 from a cloud or cliff and falls to this world. Such is the lot of the 

 ghosts that wander o'er the earth. They can never travel the spirit 

 road again; so they go about whistling, with no fixed abode. 



§ 274. If a quiet and well-behaved person dies his ghost is apt to be 

 restless and cause trouble, but the ghost of a bad person who dies a 

 natural death is never feared. The ghost of a murdered person is 

 always dangerous. 



§ 275. If a ghost calls to a loved one and the latter answers, he or she 

 is sure to die soon after. If some one is heard weeping outside of a 

 lodge, it is a sign that a person dwelling in that lodge is doomed to 

 die. If a^ sister dies, she has a strong desire to return and carry off' 

 a beloved brother. So in the event of a death in the family a gun is 

 fired or medicine is thrown on a fire to raise a smoke. If one who is 

 alone encounters a ghost, the latter will be apt to pull his mouth and 

 eyes until they are crooked. This danger is encountered only by one 

 who has dreamed of a ghost. He who has been harmed by a ghost 

 always faints, and it is long before he revives. Mothers scare bad 

 children by saying, " Well, wait a bit and I will tell a ghost to come 

 and carry you off." Some one who has dreamed of ghosts will draw 

 one on a skin, etc., to frighten the children. Such a person is said to 



