Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-07-28

Hindoo was burnt on the funeral pile OF
her husband. There are Indian officials
still alive who have attended at the
ceremony on the part of the Govern
ment to make sure that the woman as
scented. Now that the British law, q
law about half a century old, has
forbidden the self-immolation, the
widow is practically condemned for the
rest of her life to humiliation and SER
vitude. It is most singular to find among
these Indian tribes the traces of a sim
liar course of reform. 1t a not be
doubted that at one time the widow was
burnt or buried with her husband. But
the spontaneous change of ideas has
modified the institution. The widow is
no longer burnt, but among certain
tribes Ito keep up the principle) she is
subjected to a process of $50 to speak)
singeing. Here is a somewhat ropulsive
picture of what goes on among the In
dians of Oregon:
"During the nine days the corpse Is
laid out, the widow of the deceased is
obliged to sleep by its side from sunset
to sunrise, and from this custom there
is no relaxation, even during the hottest
days of summer. While the doctor is
performing his last operations she must
lie on the pile, and after the fire is APP
piled she cannot stir till the doctor or
ders her to be removed, which, how
ever, is never done till her body is COW
cred with blisters. After being placed
on her legs, she is obliged to pass her
hands gently through the flame. When
the friends of the deceased observe the
sinews of the arms and legs beginning
to contract, they compel the unfortu-
nate widow to go again on the pile, and
by dint of hard pressing to straighten
those members"
Having, however, under the modified
custom escaped from actual burning,
she is condemned to some years of cruel
humiliation, in some respects c~uriously
like that which the Hindoo widow is
understood still to suffer. "She is now
considered and treated as a slave. She
must obey the orders of all the women
and even of the children belonging to
the village" If weeds appear on her
husbands grave she must root them up
and always with her fingers. But her
most remarkable duty consists in her
having to collect the larger bones of her
husbands corpse, to roll them in an
envelope of birch bark, and to carry
them for some years on her back.
Many widows commit suicide under
this complication of cruelty, but if the
faithful widow lives and perseveres for
three or four years, her husbands
friends and relatives agree to liberate
her from servitude. There is a great
feast; speeches are made in her honor;
her husbands bones are buried; and, if
she pleases, she can marry again. Few
widows, however, significantly adds the
observer, are willing again to encoun-
ter the risk.
Among several tribes the widow of
an Indian merely carries about with
her a roll of bark or cloth without any
Enclosure. This is called her "hus-
band" 1t is fastened to her side and
she retains it night and day for two
years, at the close of which she may
throw it off and marry again. It
amounts to no more than the European
Widows cap. At the same time it un-
doubtedly represents the roll of bark
containing the husbands bones. All
these cruel rights have, by the natural
Transformation OF usage, died down to
this innocent survival London
Times.