The Funeral Customs and Wake of the Thunderbird Clan

narrated by a member of the clan

Hōcąk-English Syllabic Interlinear Text

(53) And when he was ready, they did it. The mourner placed something before them, and as he was worried about things that he was doing, also they arrived there. His clothing, if it was good, they put it on him. They also offered necklaces to fill his neck. And yellow baskets, also wampum as well as rings, and then they laid him in the box. Then he dug the grave. They returned. They mourned, (54) and they caused everyone to blacken their faces with ash. And they went back to give the body a funeral. They went after the body, and caused them to start for the grave. Afterwards, the mourners cried, and it was done.

They left. And they came with the body at the grave. In front, they laid the body in the grave. And the mourners did this: they jumped over the center of the grave. (55) He was followed, and everyone raced after him strung out. They started back to return to the lodge. As they started back to the lodge, not one of them looked back. The body of the funeral, the body was buried, it went under. He continued to go about doing it (inviting people), warriors in particular, and then in the evening those in mourning made well cooked food. And it was when the sun went down that those in mourning did this. He put a piece of hardwood (56) over there at the end where lay the ghost bed, enough for the fire to blaze up. It blazed up where the sun rises, then he returned. He attended to the food pertaining to the body in the grave. He changed the matting, and thus he did. Then the (chief) mourner said,

Relatives, inasmuch as you have remained there, I greet you! Jagú, I am well, and we greet you! Because walking has tired me (?), I am capable of being still. (57) My good relatives, after I have done (what was necessary), you have come to visit me, and I have tried to prepare cooked food for the child who was lost, a little something which is well cooked, as he was one of the bodies being buried, as he is going to be there thus, is why I am saying this. We greet you.

Then he took out the tobacco and the water for the soul of the one who was buried, and to someone who speaks to the soul, (58) there he gave him his pipe together with the water, and he (the recipient) said,

As the pipe was given to me, we greet you. ... hagagasgeižą, how carefully you did, and I have been hit hard, to greet, to moan; but thus they are responding. However, it overcame me, as they say, "soul falling." It is holy. So it is said how it is not good to feel good, but I am saying it. They have said to their own that (59) if something is substituted for the proper thing, it would not have caused the soul to lose its way, they said to their own. So I shall mourn very well the departed. To those seated, I greet you!

And taking up his pipe, he sat down. Arm by arm he sat, and there he sent it (the pipe) behind him passing it by hand. And he yelled, saying,

Hohó! Here's the tobacco. You will be someone far away, (but for now) (60) you stand posing behind me. The pipe you have along with you that you might have good smoke. They well prepared good food for lunch, and you will have it along with you as you go, but four nights you will have to remain. And here it is. As you go, once you leave, we ask you to act as a mediator. You have made your relatives to be pitied. So try to leave behind what you have left undone. (61) Wars, goods, life, as much as you have left undone, these are the sorts of things that you ask for, and do not cause any of your brothers and parents to have a premonition that you will return. No one near to you will (soon) follow you. These are the sort of things to ask for as you go. Hąhó,

he said, and he lit the pipe. This meal, which was to be passed around while they were seated, (62) when it had reached him, work went quickly. It was being passed around, and they ate it. They were finished eating, then they did it for the soul of the one who was buried. They did tobacco, then he also takes the pipe and gives it to a warrior who is sitting there. (He will tell) the soul the route he will be taking. He said, "Hąhó," the warrior said. Then he said,

Relatives, I greet you all. (63) What good we are doing, and I have called by ceremonial greeting all that there were, but responding thus, I say this because it is customary. Then I will tell it to the departed very well. He will be walking the road made for him, where, if he goes, he will be very well conducted, thus I will tell him. Then not much of anything will he misplace. The extent he is going, this I will tell him. (64) If I exaggerate there, I will cause the ghost to stumble, they say. Therefore, I will not do that. I will tell the War Controllers. I will tell the ghosts precisely the route they are going. Not again will I tell a second time the history of those who were killed. I will tell only those of my own whom I killed. I am completely in charge of them. (65) I myself, being completely in command of them, in this way I am doing it, I will command them. They will carry the pipe, the food, and the fire for him. They were leading him by the arm as they went, there where they would take him. We greet you!"

he said, and if he had done war, he told of these things. When he had done everything, having told it and so forth. About the time when he stops his stories, around two or three o’clock, and when he stops, (66) they dispersed. Thus they did for three nights. Always in the evening, they placed a little ember there. As he would be walking, he would take this fire, so how it was, these are the things they did. After three [nights], the fourth night they told many. They prepared plenty of food to serve all the brave men. (67) And the relatives of the mourners also came bringing things for the Ghost Games. So they did, and after they enjoyed them, they had something done for these [mourners]. And then, because it was the fourth night, they came to take the fourth fire there. And again, the food was ready. And at the ghost mound, again he spoke,

Mourners, we greet you! Relatives, what good did I do (68) with our greeting you? And I am, relatives, being badly burdened. It is good that you have acknowledged me; I am strengthened by your acknowledgment. You are telling me that I should try to live. You have brought me back to my senses. Thus I will do. You will not cause me to be lifted over it. You have done well, relatives, by coming by to visit me, and whatever anyone brings back to their lodge when you leave, (69) then this night is the last night, and our warriors will bring their own [stories] to stay up all night, and you who remain are going to make noise laughing at one of the things that's funny, and I will also make myself laugh. Without trouble, you can make noise, as I will be enjoying it myself as well. Because you hear this from me, is why I say it. Relatives we greet you!

Then the one who is to address the ghost speaks.

(70) We have sent forth greetings to you. Indeed it is so, hagagasgeižą, but now he is going to be told when they drive this life, and how the ghost is going to be hanging around, in order that I not cause the ghost to lose its way. As they say on occasions like this, for whomever it is, (71) "would that it were not so". The starting point to depart would not be used. So my grandfather brought this to me, the matter of where they [the ghosts] should be over there, and my father was saying there that it was left to me [what] I should say. So he will tell to himself the correct ghost-road. I will not cause him to stumble. Then I shall breathe [upon the ghost]. Everyone will do the same. (72) It is said that those they do not say it, when he asks for long life, they do not usually say that he gets it. Everyone will say, "Ho!" to themselves, and then, "Ha!" then everyone will utter it. I mean at the end of it.

And he said, calling out for a long time, "Ho-o-o-o-o-o!" he said mightily, and he said,

You seem to be standing afar off! You seem to be standing afar off! I see [you] right behind. Here is the tobacco. (73) And these you take along as you go: the pipe and the fire are so that you have it along with you as you go, and the food items that your relatives have prepared for you. Once you go, not far from your starting point, you will come to a wide road to step on. If you go this way, the first thing that will happen is that something will cut across the ground. (74) You will take your warclub and strike it. You will throw it behind you and go on. Do not look back and go on. You will come there to goods, again throw them behind you. Again, as you go along, you will come across animals. (75) Again, do not look behind you, you will throw them and go on. You will be the cause of them coming to earth, war, life, things of the water, animal food; and when you go there, you will not have gone far.

There you will come to an oval lodge. (76) This one will be informing you. "Grandson, what it is your name?" she will ask. You will tell her, "Grandmother, when I was about to start, they said that I was given this mediator. You may do the pipe I came with. Grandmother, because I already made my parents, my brothers, and my relatives lonesome, wars as well as honors are wished for. Because I have already made them pitiable, (77) they ask for whatever life I left behind. And the last they asked that they not travel [on this road] for some time. And people ask for all such things that these reach there again. This is what I was told, grandmother. When I was about to start, they told me that my steps should be in the four blue clay marks that will be imprinted on the road, into the blue clay imprinted on the road I will be going, grandmother."

(78) "Hąhą́, my dear little grandson, you are young, but you are wise. It is good. I will boil something for you," she said, and she will put on the kettle. She will boil rice. If you eat it, your head will ache. Then she will say to you, "Grandson, you have a headache. Let me cup it for you," she will say. There she cups it, cracking your head open (79) and taking your brains out. Once that happens, you will forget what is here on earth. You will not worry about your relatives. You will become like one of the various Spirits. Your thoughts as far as they will extend is to the surface of the earth. You will return to the various Spirits. From now on, the rice that she will boil for you will be lice. (80) So you will be through with all bad things there.

Then you will go on. You will step into the four steps. There it will become a forked road. It is best [to step into] the blue clay that is imprinted. All your relatives were there. Then you will go onward. As you go along, there you will encounter the fire that crisscrosses itself from one end of the earth to the other. There is a bridge that you will not be able to walk yourself across it at all well. (81) The bridge will be swinging continuously, but you will cross over it safely. They will take you over. The ones they told you about, these will take you over, and care for you. We have told you of it thoroughly. When one of the ghosts is lost, if he lies about what he is telling him, when he falls there, his soul burns. You will pass through this very well. (82) And as you go on, there they will come out to meet you. When you arrive there in the village, when you arrive at the chief's place, with what things they gave you to work with, there you will make your requests. The tobacco, the food, the goods, there you may attend to them. Again you will say all the other things that were mentioned. There things in a long lodge there they are looking after, there you will enter. Ho, ha!

Commentary

"Holy One (Raǧogega)" — a Thunderbird Clan name honoring the Thunderbird protagonist of the waiką́ "Holy One and His Brother". The story relates how the younger brother of Holy One was killed and skinned by the Waterspirits, and how Holy One was able to bring him to life from his rolled up skin. However, his brother was unable to return to the land of the living and was the first to go to the land of the dead. Of his brother, it is said, "His brother himself is the chief of this very village of the ghosts. He is not just a spirit. He is also in the flesh. Where the sun goes down, there he is the Ghost Controller." This is why the raconteur has chosen the name Raǧogega for the older brother of the child who died.

"someone" — a messenger would be sent to a clan from the opposite moiety. Only the Lower or Earth Moiety has the right to dig in the ground, and therefore, it falls to them to create the grave and its accouterments.

Reformed Church

Ghost Houses in a Cemetery Near Black River Falls, 1921

"ghost house" — a miniature house constructed over a grave.

"it was done" — that is, the preparation was done, but the actual burial has not take place at this point.

"they have said" — Paul Radin remarks: "This and what follows is the customary ceremonial modesty."¹

"the soul to lose its way" — Radin: "It is believed that if the chief speaker makes a mistake or exaggerates while thus addressing the spirit. of the deceased, the latter will lose his way in his journey to spirit land."²

"a mediator" — Radin adds parenthetically, "between the spirits and us."³

"I will cause the ghost to stumble" — Radin says, "It is believed that a warrior is in control of the spirits of all the people he has killed. His function at the wake is to put these spirits at the disposal of the dead man, to guide him, and to take care of him."⁴

"he told of these things" — the "translation" here inserts a comment: "he would tell of his war path which lasts sometimes two and three hours."

"ember" — naų́ste (or ną̄’ų́ste), which McKern says also means, "big stick of dry wood for fire, slippery elm preferred – will last all night." Under ną̄’ų́ste, White Eagle says that it is a "partly burned piece of wood, used to transfer fire (larger pieces of wood in the fire, around which the fire is burning)," and Miner says that a ną̄’úste is a "partly burned piece of wood, used to transfer fire." It's rather odd to speak of placing a small ember, as embers are by nature small to begin with. Furthermore, an ember would very soon burn out. So it is highly likely that a piece of elm lit at the end is fixed at the end of the grave, especially in light of what is said above on page 56: "He put a piece of hardwood over there at the end where lay the ghost bed, enough for the fire to blaze up."

"Ghost Games" — wanąǧí ki’ų, translated by Radin as "mourning games," but wanąǧí literally means "ghost". In another account of the funeral wake, it is said,

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 again for coming, and the wake was over.⁵

"the ghost mound" — wanąǧí xerá, the grave.

"what good did I do with our greeting you" — Radin translates this as, "I know that I am not performing any great action in greeting you." He comments: "1. e., if I were a great man and this were a ceremony of rejoicing, then a greeting would mean something. This is another example of ceremonial modesty."⁶

"this one" — the old woman is known as "Old Woman" (Hitokénįgeną́ka), or "Spirit Woman" (Hinųkxop’ini).

"mediator" — Earthmaker gave to mortal men a special gift by which they could induce the Spirits to grant them their favors. This gift was the very addictive tobacco plant. All Spirits crave tobacco, and by the decree of Earthmaker, only humans can provide it. So tobacco becomes a mediator between the world of mortals, and the eternal world of the Spirits. In acts of supplication, it is traditional to present the pipe stem to the recipient, and if he accepts it, it signifies the acceptance of the petition. Therefore, tobacco smoking acts as a mediator between the suppliant and the recipient of the petition. Smoke is especially paradigmatic of this process. Offerings are made into the fire in order that they be carried to the spirits in the rising smoke. So the smoke itself is a messenger and mediator between the human and the divine.

"whatever life I left behind" — Radin says, "The deceased had apparently died young, and what he desires is that the difference between his years and the normal length of life be distributed among his relatives. He means not only the actual years but also whatever he would have accomplished in those years."⁷

© National Museum of the American Indian, NMAI_135667		Wellcome Library, London
A Hōcąk Cupping Horn Made of Cow Horn		A Copper and a Horn Cup from India

"cup" — as the name suggests, the cup is a medical appliance that in recent times was literally a cup, but in earlier times could be a gourd or an animal horn. This practice was probably borrowed from Western medicine. The practice of cupping predates the humor theory, and was used in ancient Egypt to draw evil spirits from the head.

The ancient Greeks used a gourd for cupping, and at the apex of the gourd was a small aperture where the lips could be applied for producing a vacuum. It was Hippocrates himself who gave instructions for the shape and application of the cups. He recommended that they should be small in diameter, conical in shape and light in weight, especially when the disease being treated was deep seated. If the disease were nearer the surface, the cups were to be wider.⁸

There were two forms of cupping, called "wet cupping" and "dry cupping." The former involved making an incision on the area to be cupped so that the device would literally draw out blood; in the latter, the object was to cause a blister, which represented the displacement of the blood to a desired innocuous site. In recent times, when glass cups were used, the standard procedure was that

... both the site and the cup were warmed in water. Cups were then placed on the skin with one edge raised approximately one and a half inches. It was usually the lighted torch that was then placed under the center of the glass for two seconds and then quickly withdrawn to create a vacuum. The vacuum created would also pull the glass away from the operator’s fingers. The skin then rose slowly into the glass, occupying one-third of the volume. The glass was left on for a minute then removed ...⁹

It is this form of the medical practice that was borrowed by the Hōcągara, although where glass cups were unavailable, they might well have resorted to such expediencies as gourds and horns. This speculation receives support from Schoolcraft who describes the use of cupping among the Hōcągara:

They frequently cup a patient for headache, and other local pains. The operation is performed by scarifying with a flint, knife, or lancet, and applying the tip of the horn of the ox or buffalo; a vacuum is next produced by the operator applying his mouth to the small end of the horn, and exhausting the air; the operation is thus performed as efficaciously as by the use of cupping-glasses.¹⁰

StarryNight Software

The Cygnus Rift in the Milky Way

"a forked road" — it is said that on the road to Spiritland, there is a fork the left branch of which leads to the realm of the Devil, Herešgúnina. Lankford has argued convincingly that this bifurcation of the way represents the split in the Milky Way that occurs at the site of the star Deneb (the Cygnus Rift), the Galaxy being the celestial pathway of the dead.¹¹ See the Commentary to "The Dipper."

"blue clay" — mą̄nį́co, which means "blue or green clay," the word co denoting the spectrum from blue through green. Given the configuration of the Milky Way, the identity of the four steps is clear enough, but why are they said to be blue? One possible explanation is the fact that that the bright star at the fork of the road, Deneb, is bluish-white. Perhaps the color of the star influenced the characterization of the clay imprints. More likely is the effects of airglow or the natural atmospheric scattering after sunset. In these cases, the "imprint" sections of the Milky Way may appear green or blue. This would occur only when this part of the Milky Way is near the horizon at sunrise in December or early January.

StarryNight Software

The Milky Way Bridge Just Pass the Crisscrossing Fire of the Ecliptic at Sunrise

"a bridge" — after the forked road at Deneb the departed soul comes across a fire that crisscrosses the whole earth. This strange phenomenon is seen just before he comes the bridge. The bridge is easy enough to identify. Not far after the fork in the Milky Way, moving in the same direction, one comes next to the Scorpius-Sagittarius Milky Way. This is where the ecliptic, the path of the Sun through the stars, passes. The ecliptic extends from one horizon to the next; in other word, it spans the whole earth. During one of the Bear Moons, the Sun crosses the Milky Way path down which the ghost is traveling. This is clearly the earth-spanning fire to which the account refers. Once the ecliptic is crossed, the soul encounters a split formed by the Great Rift in this region of the Milky Way. If the soul were to be in this area around the winter solstice, falling off the bridge, the "upper" part of the Milky Way, would result in the ghost being consumed by the Sun itself. Regardless of the time of year, this "bridge" will rotate during the course of the night, a property that would make any bridge highly precarious, to say the least. This picture of the journey to Spiritland implies an influence from the widespread view elsewhere that the departed soul leaves from a particular place on the Milky Way at a particular time of the year. This view would be inconsistent with the notion among Hōcągara that they soul departs after just four days from its death, and does not wait around for a particular time to enter the Milky Way trail.

"the ones they told you about" — in the warrior's speech, he mentioned those whom he had killed in combat (see above). These will now help the departed to cross over the bridge.

"his soul burns" — from about the winter solstice (Dec. 21, 1799), the Sun is beneath the bridge over the Great Rift, so that anyone falling from it would fall into the Sun (see above).

"the village" — this village would be below the horizon. If we go about as far south as we can, say Prophetstown in present day Illinois, the base of the bridge falls right on the horizon. The nearest star marking this extent of the Milky Way is γ2 Normæ, whose greatest altitude of 0° 46.677' is reached on 5 July 1800 at 2253:35 hrs. This is the opposite time of year from the time at which there is fire below the bridge. In January, the foot of the bridge's far side is below the horizon.

"Ho, ha" — the translator says, "the last utterance is where they all come in."

Notes to the Commentary

¹ Paul Radin, The Winnebago Tribe (Washington: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1923) 141.
² Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 141.
³ Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 142.
⁴ Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 142 nt 4.
⁵ Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 153.
⁶ Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 142 nt 5.
⁷ Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 143 nt 6.
⁸ Gunwant Sandhu, "Bleeding Out the Evil Spirits," in Proceedings of the 13th Annual History of Medicine Days, March 19-20, 2004. Ed. W. A. Whitelaw (Calgary: Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, 2004) 270-275 [271].
⁹ Sandhu, "Bleeding Out the Evil Spirits," 273.
¹⁰ Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, Information Respecting the History, Condition and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States, 4 vols. (Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Company, 1856) 4:242-243.
¹¹ George E. Lankford, Reachable Stars: Patterns in the Ethnoastronomy of Eastern North America (Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press, 2007) 224-225.

Source

Paul Radin, Winnebago Notebooks (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, n.d.) Winnebago V, #24: 52-82; Paul Radin, The Winnebago Tribe (Washington: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1923) 140-144.