RADiN] BURIAL AND FUNERAL CUSTOMS 153 



the settingsun. On yourway stands the lodge of Herecgu'nina, and his fire. Those 

 who have come (the souls of brave men) from the land of the souls to take you back 

 will touch you. There the road will branch off toward your right and you will see the 

 footprints of the day on the blue sky before you. These footprints represent the foot- 

 prints of those who have passed into life again. Step into the places where they 

 have stepped and plant your feet into their footprints, but be careful you do not miss 

 any. Before you havegone very tar, you will come into a forest of wacke'ja" l^roken Ijy 

 open prairies here and there. Here, in this beautiful country, these souls whose duty 

 it is to gather other souls will come to meet you. Walking on each side of you they 

 will take you safely home. As you enter the lodge of the Earthmaker you must hand 

 to him the sacrificial offerings. Here the inquiry that took place in the first lodge 

 will be repeated and answered in the same manner. Then he will say to you, "All 

 that your grandmother has told you is true. Your relatives are waiting for you in 

 great expectation. Your home is waiting for you. Itsdoor will be facing the mid-day 

 sun. Here you will find your relatives gathered. Inasmuch, then, as our ruler will 

 nod assent and express his approval by word of mouth, so shall we now dothesame." 



At this word all those assembled at the wake shout, Ho-ha! 



Then a warrior told his war experiences and after thanking the 

 people passed the tobacco to the next warrior, who in turn related 

 his war experiences. 



The amount of gifts was then figured out and they tried to arrange 

 matters so that the warriors were through with their stories about 

 midnight. At midnight games were played with the donations as 

 prizes. The gifts generally consisted of twelve 3-yard pieces of 

 calico or money equal to that amount of calico; twelve strings of 

 beads, etc. These were the gifts used as prizes. Other donations 

 of food were made for the four nights' feast. A. W. was in charge 

 of the games and he likewise designated what games were to be 

 played. As they generally play the games the deceased was fond 

 of so in this case they played the moccasin game and cards. After 

 the donations were exhausted and the games finished a brave man 

 was called upon to give a war whoop in thankfulness for the sun, 

 and also to all the spirits above and below. Then A. W. greeted and 

 thanked the guests agam for coming, and the wake was over. 



In olden times the widow was supposed to continue single for 

 four years. She is strongly admonished, nevertheless, not to con- 

 tinue in low spirits, and to consider herself free to act in anv way 

 that will make her happy. She is told to play games or dance, or in 

 fact do anything that wUl make her forget her sorrow, and she is 

 told that no one will hold her conduct against her as disrespectful to 

 the deceased. As this admonition is given to her h\ the sister or 

 aunt of the deceased's husband, the only people who could properly 

 reproach her — namely, the members of her husband's clan — it has aU 

 the more weight. The prohibition of weeping is further strengthened 

 by the fact that it is customary to say that any woman who weeps 

 too profusely at the death of her husband is in reality thinking, in 

 1S6S23— 22 11 



