And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
"Journey to the beyond'
BY JODI RAVE Lincoln Journal Star
http://www.journalstar.com/stories/neb/stox
(produced here in entirety for those without web access)
WINNEBAGO --
In a cedar-scented wake that started Monday night and met
the sunrise Tuesday,
scores of friends and family shared memories of the 103-year-old
woman they called a "blessing." Thunder Rumbling Woman's
simple coffin rested on the gym floor at the Blackhawk
Community Center, waiting for burial -- and passage to the
other side.
"It's the Winnebago tradition to prepare the spirit for the
journey to the beyond," said Barry Blackhawk, who was
raised by the oldest member of the Winnebago Tribe. "We
nourish the spirit because we feel she's here until we release
her." Minnie Grey Wolf Littlebear, whose Indian name was
Thunder Rumbling Woman, died Sunday. She was the oldest
descendant of Chief Little Priest, one of the tribe's most
respected warriors.
Blackhawk was among some 150 relatives gathered at the
community center Monday for a wake in the tradition of the
Native American Church.
More than 400 people filled the center in this northeast
Nebraska town for the funeral Tuesday afternoon.
Tribal members said the last funeral to touch so many was that
of Reuben Snake, a former tribal chairman and American
Indian religious freedom icon, who died in June 1993.
Tuesday's turnout was an expression of native people's strong
belief in the extended family, said Esther Russell, also raised
by "Grandma." In 58 years of marriage, Littlebear gave birth to
but one child, who died in infancy.
That didn't matter. She still left behind 337 grandchildren --
including three great-great-great-grandchildren. In the Indian
way -- without the requirement of blood ties -- Littlebear built
a family.
"She raised me from the time I was 2 years old," Russell said.
She wanted a simple funeral -- no fancy coffins.
"She said, "I'm old. I'm tired. I want my body to disintegrate
as soon as possible,'" Russell said.
They honored her wishes.
Her pressed-wood coffin -- draped in a Pendleton blanket --
was placed in a black clapboard wagon drawn by two paints.
Her departure from this world resembled her entrance.
She was born in a wigwam in July 1895 on the Winnebago
Reservation. Her family said she had little use for material
possessions.
"She would rather give than to receive," Russell said.
During Monday's wake, burning cedar filled the community
center -- the only building large enough for the gathering --
during prayer and songs.
Throughout the evening, relatives from the Four Directions
told story after story, recalling Littlebear's smile, humor and
their favorite memories.
"She was a mother to all of us," said George Hindsley Jr., of
Black River Falls, Wis. When visiting, "she would bring herself
over like a blessing." Said Elizabeth White: "She encouraged
me to be a praying woman. I thank her for that." Many
expressed sadness that a woman who held them in her prayers
was now gone, but they were grateful they knew her.
"You blessed these people on this reservation," Hindsley
prayed. "You let her live this long."
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Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
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