.MTA1Mg.NzA0NTc

From Newberry Transcribe
Jump to navigation Jump to search

116 P 31 118 Among the Creeks, when a person dies all in the house are supposed to be unclean. The corpse is buried in the ground, directly under where the bed stood on which the person expired: and when one dies from home, the corpse is taken home, & buried under where the deceased used to sleep. But when a priest or counsellor dies the corpse is buried under his seat in the council house. After buryal, all women must go to a stream and bathe as among the Cherokees, then drink and rub themselves with the juice, or tea of the small willow roots, and after a certain time are clean. --

Among the Creeks when a husband dies, the widow must remain single four months. During this time, she neither combs her hair, nor anoints it. She neither washes her face nor her apparel. At the end of four months, her former husband's brother, or if he had no brother, his nighest kinsman, may marry her, but no other. This is done in the following manner. The brother, or nearest kinsman of the deceased, notifies his mother or sister, or nighest female relative of his intention to take his brother's widow. His mother, or sister, as the case may be, takes a new suit of clothes, goes to the widow, combs her hair, washes her, changes her dress, and take her to the Town house, and delivers her to the man who is to be her husband. This is followed by a public dance to confirm the union. 
 Nearly the same rules are to be observed by the man when his wife dies. He mourns four months, without dressing his hair, washing or painting his face, or changing his clothes. At the end of four months, he may marry his deceased wife's sister, or nearest relative in case she has no sister, and the marriage is effected as before, only the woman who is to be his wife, sends her brother on to comb his hair wash, dress, & present him to her at the council house. 
 But in case a man has two wives, and one dies, the surviving wife unites with him in mourning for the deceased, and both continue in the state two months. During this time they observe all the rules of mourning and have no intercourse with each other, as husband and wife. 

Should a widow or widower violate any of the rules of mourning, the women in the town are authorized, i.e. are supposed to have the right of punishing the culprit with slapping and wipping?. So also, if a man, having one wife, takes another to the injury of the first, i.e. so as to unclear any right of his first wife: or if a man leaves his wife and