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Show 100 GHOST GAMBLE- SIOUX. the same time in unison. Several may sing the same song and at the same time, but each begins and finishes when he or she may wish. Often for weeks, or even months, after the decease of a dear friend, a living one, usually a woman, will sit by her house and sing or cry by the hour; and they also sing for a short time when they visit the grave or meet an esteemed friend whom they have not seen since the decease. At the funeral both men and women sing. No. I l l have heard more frequentl} r some time after the funeral, and No. 12 at the time of the funeral, by the Twanas. ( For song see p. 251.) The words are simply an exclamation of grief, as our word ' alas'; but they also have other words which they use, and sometimes they use merely the syllable la. Often the notes are sung in this order, and sometimes not, but in some order the notes do and fa, and occasionally mi7 are sung." GAMES. It is not proposed to describe under this heading examples of those athletic and gymnastic performances following the death of a person which have been described by Lafitau, but simply to call attention to a practice as a secondary or adjunct part of the funeral rites, which consists in gambling for the possession of the property of the defunct. Dr. Charles E. McChesney, U. S. A., who for some time was stationed among the Wah-peton and Sisseton Sioux, furnishes a detailed and interesting account of what is called the " ghost gamble." This is played with marked wild-plum stones. So far as ascertained it is peculiar to the Sioux. " 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 play era are called in one at a time, and play singly against the ghost's |