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Funeral Rites
Duties
of the Clan Mother and Chief
It's the clan mother's duty when her chief becomes ill and may not recover from his illness to dehorn her chief before death.
If for some reason the clan mother is not able to dehorn her chief before death, then it can be done at the time of death. She is responsible to see that her chief is dressed in native clothes. Then he will be dehorned by any man that is not a chief in her nation. All the chiefs in her nation shall be present. The chiefs will send a runner to convey the message. He would take the notification of death wampum, the purple string, that will be taken across the "fire".
Once the nations across the fire, either the Younger Nations or the Elder Nations, are notified then they are responsible to appoint a speaker for the day of the chief's funeral.
At the time of burial when the speaker finishes his speech, the head chief of the Clear-minded will say to the clan mother, we are going to come in three days time to condole for you. 'Are you prepared?'
The clan mother will answer and say that she will be ready to have a small condolence in three days.
The clan mother should elevate a new chief in three days time to fill the empty seat.
The clan mother must always possess the two strings of wampum for the sachem; one string of white wampum beads and one string of purple wampum beads. When the chief dies, the purple wampum beads will be used to notify the other side of the "fire" that there is a death of a chief. The short string of purple wampum beads is called the "notification of death". Once this string goes across the fire it will remain on the other side until the clan mother nominates or chooses someone to become the chief in her clan and nation. |