146 THE WINNEBAGO TRIBE [eth. avn. 37 



mourner's hair, give him presents, and tell him that he is now 

 free to cease mourning and to marry if he wishes. 



In former times the period of mourning is supposed to have lasted 

 four yeai-s. 



When a person is in mourning he always cuts his hair short and 

 does not comb his hair. In former times people often mutilated 

 themselves by cutting off either entire fingers or finger joints. 



The overseer always takes all the belongings of the deceased, but 

 he must give the latter's relatives an equal amount of new material. 



Funeral Customs of the Thunderbird Clan 



(first version) 



Informant, member of the clan. When a member of the clan 

 dies they send after a man of the Thunderbird clan who is to speak 

 to the corpse, paint it, and give him a war club to take along with 

 him (to the land of the spirits). Then they go after a man from the 

 lower phratry to bury him, for these clans (of the lower phratry) 

 belong on earth and they have the right to dig into the ground and 

 bury people. 



When the one who is to be the general overseer arrives and arranges 

 everything, he prepares the corpse, putting a sack of tobacco in 

 one hand and a war club in the other. Then he paints him. He 

 paints the forehead with a red and a black mark and paints the lower 

 part of the face to the end of the nose with scattered dots. He paints 

 the jaw red and he makes a red mark across the mouth and the 

 throat. Then he speaks as follows: 



You have departed at this (young) age. You have taken your relatives by sur- 

 prise and have left them a long part of your life (i. e., you have lived but a small part 

 of your apportioned share of years). As you go to spirit land, you will find on the 

 road many feathers, many good plants, and many good kinds of clay, scattered around, 

 the blue clay, the red clay, and the white clay. You will also find the sweet-smelling 

 plants and good life. For all these things do you ask. If anything comes across 

 your path, throw it behind you without looking around. In four days you will de- 

 part and objects with which to mediate between us and the spirits will soon be fur- 

 nished you. For four nights your people will tell you what to do and when they hear 

 you singing on the road they will know that it is you. There (in spirit land) you 

 will go to live and the songs that I will sing you will sing as you travel on your road. 



Then he sings (the four clan songs). 



When the gravediggers are finished they take the body and carry 

 it to the grave, the mourners following. They take the body to 

 the grave and there lower it. 



Death and Funeral Customs of the Thunderbird Clan 



(second version) 



Informant, member of the clan. When a member of the Thunder- 

 bird clan dies, the clansmen discuss what is to be done for the spirit 



