Ancient Wisdom Atlas

Motif

Dead children return from water to instruct the living

dead_children_return_from_water_to_instruct_the_living

A motif of the Restless Dead, Haunting, and Vengeance family. Every row below is a tagged passage; each rests on a quote in its source text.

1 occurrences

1 traditions


native american great lakes

  • The Ritual and Significance of the Winnebago Medicine Dance D. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RITUAL 168 / B. DESCRIPTION OF THE OJIBWA MIDEWIWIN / C. DESCRIPTION OF THE MENOMINEE MIDEWIWIN / D. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RITUAL; lines 1658-1739 confidence: medium

    Four waves sweep the children away from the lake shore; they later emerge from the lake, say they are dead but content, and tell the parents to end mourning, return to the tribe, and form a society by selling powers.

    After being killed and swept away by waves, the four children emerge from the lake, declare themselves dead but content, and instruct the parents to stop mourning, return to the tribe, and form a society.

    read in the book