92 MOURNING— CHOCTAWS. 



place made vacant by the demise of her husband — a reminder of her widow- 

 hood. She is therefore for a term of twelve moons not permitted to wear 

 any finery, neither is she permitted to slicken up and comb her head ; this 

 to avoid attracting attention. Once in a while a female relative of deceased, 

 commiserating with her grief and sorrow, will visit her and voluntarily 

 proceed to comb out the long-neglected and matted hair. With a jealous 

 eye a vigilant watch is kept over her conduct during the term of her widow- 

 hood, yet she is allowed the privilege to marry, any time during her 

 widowhood, an unmarried brother or cousin, or a person of the same Dodem 

 [sic] (family mark) of her husband. 



" At the expiration of her term, the vows having been faithfully perform- 

 ed and kept, the female relatives of deceased assemble and, with greetings 

 commensurate to the occasion, proceed to wash her face, comb her hair, and 

 attire her person with new apparel, and otherwise demonstrating the release 

 from her vow and restraint. Still she has not her entire freedom. If she 

 will still refuse to marry a relative of the deceased and will many another, 

 she then has to purchase her freedom by giving a certain amount of goods 

 and whatever else she might have manufactured during her widowhood in 

 anticipation of the future now at hand. Frequently, though, during widow- 

 hood the vows are disregarded and an inclination to flirt and play courtship 

 or form an alliance of marriage outside of the relatives of the deceased is 

 being indulged, and when discovered the widow is set upon by the female 

 relatives, her slick braided hair is shorn close up to the back of her neck, 

 all her apparel and trinkets are torn from her person, and a quarrel fre- 

 quently results fatally to some member of one or the other side." 



The substitution of a reminder for the dead husband, made from rags, 

 furs, and other articles, is not confined alone to the Chippewas, other tribes 

 having the same custom. In some instances the widows are obliged to 

 carry around with them, for a valuable period, a bundle containing the bones 

 of the deceased consort. 



Benson* gives the following account of their funeral ceremonies, 

 embracing the disposition of the body, mourning- feast and dance : 



" Their funeral is styled by them 'the last cry.' 



'Life ataoDg the Choetaws, 18G0, p. 294. 



