Post by Okwes on Apr 14, 2008 12:23:38 GMT -5
Ghosts May Come Back In Soo-Koo'-Me The Owl - Miwok
The Middle Mewuk of Tuolumne River say:
When a person dies, Oo'leus the heart-spirit remains in the dead body for
four days. During these four days everyone is quiet and the children are not
allowed to run about or make a noise. On the morning of the fourth day the
people sprinkle ashes on the ground over the buried basket of burnt
bones--or over the grave if the corpse were buried instead of burned. On
that day the heart spirit leaves the body in the invisible form of Hinnan
Soos the Wind Spirit, or Soo-les'-ko the Ghost, and proceeds westward. That
night it may come back in Soo-koo'-me the Owl, or in some other animal; so
look out.
Some Ghosts are good, others bad. At last they all go to the ocean and cross
over on a long pole to the Roundhouse of the dead, where they remain.
The Dawn of the World; Myths and Weird Tales Told by the Mewan [Miwok]
Indians of California; Collected and Edited by C. Hart Merriam; Cleveland:
Arthur H. Clarke Co., [1910] ] and is now in the public domain
The Middle Mewuk of Tuolumne River say:
When a person dies, Oo'leus the heart-spirit remains in the dead body for
four days. During these four days everyone is quiet and the children are not
allowed to run about or make a noise. On the morning of the fourth day the
people sprinkle ashes on the ground over the buried basket of burnt
bones--or over the grave if the corpse were buried instead of burned. On
that day the heart spirit leaves the body in the invisible form of Hinnan
Soos the Wind Spirit, or Soo-les'-ko the Ghost, and proceeds westward. That
night it may come back in Soo-koo'-me the Owl, or in some other animal; so
look out.
Some Ghosts are good, others bad. At last they all go to the ocean and cross
over on a long pole to the Roundhouse of the dead, where they remain.
The Dawn of the World; Myths and Weird Tales Told by the Mewan [Miwok]
Indians of California; Collected and Edited by C. Hart Merriam; Cleveland:
Arthur H. Clarke Co., [1910] ] and is now in the public domain