Adults were buried in or near the house, after which all the mats were taken down from the house, leaving only the frame remaining, and it was abandoned forever.[524] The company of friends and relatives would gather around the corpse as it lay at the grave’s edge and lament copiously.[525] They would continue to mourn thus for many days; the length of mourning increased with the importance of the deceased. In the case of a very important person, such as a sachem, the period of mourning might last for a year.[526] The black face paint was worn throughout the period of mourning, and it was often seen to be caked by tears.[527] Upon the death of a child, the father might cut off his proud long hair and inflict wounds upon his body.[528] The anniversary of the death was kept by a brief period of renewed mourning, the face again being blackened.[529] The name of a deceased person was not to be mentioned again. If anyone living had a similar name, he would change it.[530] Concern was also shown for the family of the deceased. Friends would often visit offering words of consolation “... which they express by stroking the cheeke and head of the father or mother, husband or wife of the dead”.[531] Widows or widowers, left then without a house, would take up residence with a related family or perhaps move about among the homes of their relatives for a time, where they were comforted.[532] RELIGIOUS BELIEFS[A] The world of the Wampanoags was well-populated with supernatural beings and forces. Of these, one was a sort of generalized power, called _Manitou_.[533] Many early observers of the Indians of northeastern North America, where this concept is widespread, developed the mistaken idea that “Manitou” referred to an anthropomorphic supreme being. Actually, Manitou is a force rather than a person. It could perhaps best be likened to that force for good luck that many Europeans think can be found in horse shoes, four-leaf clovers, etc. thus, when a Wampanoag performed an exceptional feat he was said to have Manitou, or supernatural power. Likewise, certain objects, animals, and physical features on the landscape were thought to have Manitou in them, because someone had had good luck right after seeing or touching them. This could have happened so far in the past that it was remembered only in mythology. Or, perhaps the whole incident was a vision in a dream.[534] A related concept is something that can be called animal spirits.[535] These were supernaturals in animal form, who could interfere in the lives and fates of human beings. Whether the power of these animals was identical to Manitou is not known, and it is quite possible that the relationship was not too clearly worked out in the minds of the Indians either.