﻿FLETCHER-LA 
  FLESCHH] 
  DEATH 
  AND 
  BURIAL, 
  CUSTOMS 
  589 
  

  

  All 
  of 
  these 
  symbolized 
  to 
  him 
  certain 
  faculties 
  and 
  powers 
  indi- 
  

   vidualized, 
  so 
  to 
  speak, 
  in 
  the 
  eagle, 
  the 
  wolf, 
  the 
  elk, 
  the 
  earth, 
  

   the 
  rock, 
  the 
  water, 
  the 
  tree, 
  the 
  thunder, 
  the 
  lightning, 
  and 
  the 
  

   winds. 
  All 
  these 
  forms, 
  he 
  believed, 
  exist 
  in 
  the 
  realm 
  of 
  the 
  

   dead 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  in 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  living 
  and 
  the 
  life 
  which 
  informs 
  

   them, 
  like 
  that 
  which 
  informs 
  man, 
  is 
  continuous 
  and 
  unbroken, 
  

   emanating 
  from 
  the 
  great 
  mystery, 
  Wako 
  n 
  'da. 
  

  

  The 
  Omaha 
  believed 
  also 
  that 
  under 
  certain 
  conditions 
  the 
  realm 
  

   of 
  the 
  dead 
  is 
  accessible 
  to 
  the 
  living. 
  For 
  instance, 
  a 
  person 
  in 
  a 
  

   swoon 
  was 
  thought 
  to 
  have 
  died 
  for 
  the 
  time 
  and 
  to 
  have 
  entered 
  

   the 
  region 
  of 
  death. 
  It 
  was 
  said 
  of 
  one 
  who 
  had 
  fainted 
  and 
  recov- 
  

   ered 
  that 
  "he 
  died 
  [fainted] 
  and 
  went 
  to 
  his 
  departed 
  kindred, 
  but 
  

   no 
  one 
  would 
  speak 
  to 
  him, 
  so 
  he 
  was 
  obliged 
  to 
  return 
  to 
  life" 
  

   [recovered 
  consciousness]. 
  It 
  was 
  further 
  explained: 
  "If 
  liis 
  rela- 
  

   tives 
  had 
  spoken 
  to 
  him 
  he 
  would 
  never 
  have 
  come 
  back 
  but 
  would 
  

   have 
  had 
  to 
  stay 
  with 
  the 
  dead." 
  It 
  seems 
  probable 
  that 
  the 
  stories 
  

   told 
  by 
  certain 
  persons 
  who 
  had 
  swooned 
  as 
  to 
  what 
  they 
  saw 
  in 
  

   visions 
  have 
  had 
  much 
  to 
  do 
  in 
  forming 
  the 
  Omaha 
  imagery 
  of 
  the 
  

   other 
  world. 
  It 
  will 
  be 
  recalled 
  that 
  the 
  sign 
  of 
  the 
  tabu 
  was 
  put 
  

   on 
  the 
  dead 
  in 
  order 
  that 
  they 
  might 
  be 
  recognized 
  by 
  their 
  rela- 
  

   tives, 
  as 
  on 
  the 
  feet 
  of 
  a 
  dead 
  member 
  of 
  the 
  We'zhi 
  n 
  shte 
  gens, 
  moc- 
  

   casins 
  made 
  from 
  the 
  skin 
  of 
  the 
  male 
  elk 
  to 
  whom 
  before 
  his 
  death 
  

   the 
  animal 
  was 
  tabu.° 
  These 
  and 
  like 
  customs 
  confirm 
  the 
  general 
  

   statement 
  that 
  life 
  and 
  its 
  environment 
  beyond 
  the 
  grave 
  were 
  

   thought 
  to 
  be 
  conditioned 
  much 
  as 
  on 
  the 
  earth, 
  except 
  that 
  the 
  

   future 
  slate 
  was 
  generally 
  regarded 
  as 
  being 
  happier 
  and 
  freer 
  from 
  

   sickness 
  and 
  want. 
  It 
  was 
  said 
  that 
  there 
  are 
  seven 
  spirit 
  worlds, 
  

   each 
  higher 
  than 
  the 
  one 
  next 
  preceding, 
  and 
  that 
  after 
  people 
  have 
  

   lived 
  for 
  a 
  time 
  in 
  one 
  world 
  they 
  die 
  to 
  that 
  world 
  and 
  pass 
  on 
  

   to 
  the 
  one 
  next 
  above. 
  When 
  asked 
  if 
  death 
  in 
  the 
  next 
  world 
  does 
  

   not 
  cause 
  the 
  same 
  sorrow 
  that 
  it 
  does 
  here, 
  the 
  reply 
  was: 
  "It 
  is 
  

   not 
  the 
  same 
  as 
  here, 
  for 
  the 
  people, 
  having 
  once 
  passed 
  through 
  

   death 
  and 
  rejoined 
  their 
  kindred, 
  recognize 
  that 
  the 
  parting 
  is 
  only 
  

   temporary 
  and 
  so 
  they 
  do 
  not 
  grieve 
  as 
  we 
  do 
  here." 
  

  

  There 
  was 
  no 
  belief 
  among 
  the 
  Omaha 
  in 
  a 
  multiplicity 
  of 
  souls 
  — 
  

   "man 
  has 
  but 
  one 
  spirit" 
  the 
  old 
  men 
  declared 
  — 
  nor 
  has 
  any 
  trace 
  

   of 
  belief 
  in 
  metempsychosis 
  or 
  in 
  metamorphosis 
  been 
  discovered 
  

   among 
  this 
  people. 
  

  

  a 
  The 
  statement 
  has 
  been 
  made 
  (11th 
  A 
  nn 
  Eep. 
  Bur. 
  Elhnol, 
  542), 
  " 
  In 
  two 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  gentes 
  of 
  

   the 
  Omaha 
  (the 
  Inke-sabS 
  and 
  Qaxiga) 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  belief 
  that 
  the 
  spirits 
  of 
  deceased 
  members 
  of 
  ihose 
  

   gentes 
  return 
  to 
  the 
  buffaloes. 
  - 
  ' 
  and 
  the 
  buffalo 
  is 
  spoken 
  of 
  as 
  "the 
  eponymic 
  ancestor." 
  The 
  writer 
  

   here 
  cited 
  fell 
  into 
  the 
  error 
  of 
  regarding 
  the 
  animal 
  which 
  furnished 
  the 
  peculiar 
  symbol 
  in 
  the 
  rites 
  of 
  

   these 
  kinship 
  groups 
  as 
  the 
  progenitor 
  of 
  the 
  members 
  of 
  the 
  groups. 
  No 
  such 
  confusion 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  

   existed 
  in 
  the 
  Omaha 
  mind. 
  Men 
  were 
  not 
  believed 
  to 
  be 
  descended 
  from 
  animals, 
  if 
  the 
  expressions 
  

   "Buffalo 
  people," 
  "Elk 
  people," 
  " 
  Deer 
  people," 
  or 
  "Thunder 
  people,'' 
  were 
  used, 
  these 
  descript 
  Lve 
  term 
  

   were 
  not 
  employed 
  in 
  a 
  literal 
  sense 
  but 
  as 
  tropes. 
  

  

  