An Introduction to the mortuary customs of the North American IndiansYarrow, H. C. (Harry Crécy)
History
An Introduction to the mortuary customs of the North American Indians
Yarrow, H. C. (Harry Crécy)
Indians of North America -- Funeral customs and rites
"After the death of a wealthy Indian the near relatives take charge of
the effects, and at a stated time--usually at the time of the first
feast held over the bundle containing the lock of hair--they are
divided into many small piles, so as to give all the Indians invited
to play an opportunity to win something. One Indian is selected to
represent the ghost, and he plays against all the others, who are not
required to stake anything on the result, but simply invited to take
part in the ceremony, which is usually held in the lodge of the dead
person, in which is contained the bundle inclosing the lock of hair.
In cases where the ghost himself is not wealthy the stakes are
furnished by his rich friends, should he have any. The players are
called in one at a time, and play singly against the ghost's
representative, the gambling being done in recent years by means of
cards. If the invited player succeeds in beating the ghost he takes
one of the piles of goods and passes out when another is invited to
play, etc., until all the piles of goods are won. In cases of men only
the men play and in cases of women the women only take part in the
ceremony."
Before the white men came among these Indians and taught them many of
his improved vices this game was played by means of figured plum
seeds, the men using eight and the women seven seeds figured as
follows:
"Two seeds are simply blackened on one side the reverse containing
nothing. Two seeds are black on one side with a small spot of the
color of the seed left in the center, the reverse side having a black
spot in the center, the body being plain. Two seeds have a buffalo's
head on one side and the reverse simply two crossed black lines. There
is but one seed of this kind in the set used by the women. Two seeds
have half of one side blackened and the rest left plain so as to
represent a half moon, the reverse has a black longitudinal line
crossed at right angles by six small ones. There are six throws
whereby the player can win and five that entitle him to another throw.
The winning throws are as follows, each winner taking a pile of the
ghost's goods:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account