dawn lippiatt

 

Death ends a life, but it does not end a relationship, which struggles on in the survivor's mind tow some resolution which it may never find.

Robert Anderson, from the film, I Never Sang For my Father

Of all the objects in the main collection, I found the depiction of a native American widow, the most alluring. The image provides a fascinating insight into the ritual of bereavement within Chippewa cult - for in her arms, she carries the mourning badge/bundle of her husband. According to custom corpse is openly mourned for 4 days. Before it is buried the wife saves a lock of his hair, and wrap around a birch plank. This provides the nucleus of the bundle, which is then covered by his best cloth most precious bead-work and leather.

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I visited a lodge today, where I saw one of these badges. The size varies according to the quantity of clothing, which the widow may happen to have. It is expected of her to put up her best, and wear her worst. The "husband" I saw just now, was thirty inches high, and eighteen inches in circumference. Sketches of a tour to the lakes: of the character and customs of the Chippeway Indians, and of incidents connected with the Treaty of Fond du Lac. By Thomas L. McKenney 1827

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The widow then carries the bundle home and “nurtures” it for a minimum of a year. It will never leave her side, she will sleep next to it and will even offer it scraps of food. The bundle will increase in size she wraps anything precious that she makes or earns over the following year. Her role is to maintain a pristine cared for badge of mourning, meanwhile the widow refrains from bathing and caring for own appearance. Finally, at the end of her bereavement the widow takes the spirit bundle to the father of her dead husband where she may exchange the bundle for her freedom to marry again.