Winnebago, Indigenous peoples -- Rites and ceremonies, Winnebago -- Rites and ceremonies 

""The Road of Life and Death" was the most sacred ritual of the Winnebago Indians of Wisconsin. In it the medicine men attempted to find a refuge place for their fellow tribesmen, disoriented by their obsession with war and threatened with annihilation by the Europeans. Its teachings deal with the journey from this world to the next. Using an old belief in reincarnation, the Winnebago interpreted life as a mystical road from earth to heaven and back again ad infinitum. The requirements for success were humility, piety, a sense of proportion, and love for one's fellow men.

The Road of Life and Death is not merely a document of significance for a knowledge of the Indian mind but it is literature as well. Its importance for the history of religion cannot be overestimated. Through a series of coincidences, related herein, Dr. Radin, the noted anthropologist, was able to secure this ritual drama in its entirety and preserve it for mankind."--Book jacket.