Image Missing: Hearst Museum object titled String, accession number 1-9965, described as Mourning string, consisting of a string with 7 tiny cloth bags said to contain medicine roots. Tied about owner's neck at funeral of her husband by her sister-in-law. Custom required that it remain there until it wore off or until the woman attended a mourning ceremony. During this period, she was prohibited from remarrying or even associating much with men and was kept entirely secluded, with a single woman attendant, for the first few months after her husband's death. This custom was observed by women of high rank only.