Part 26

The superstitious fear Indians have of the dead or spirit of the dead may be observed from the following narrative by Swan. It regards the natives of Washington Territory:

My opinion about the cause of these deserted villages is this: It is the universal custom with these Indians never to live in a lodge where a person has died. If a person of importance dies, the lodge is usually burned down, or taken down and removed to some other part of the bay; and it can be readily seen that in the case of the Palux Indians, who had been attacked by the Chehalis people, as before stated, their relatives chose at once to leave for some other place. This objection to living in a lodge where a person has died is the reason why their sick slaves are invariably carried out into the woods, where they remain either to recover or die. There is, however, no disputing the fact that an immense mortality has occurred among these people, and they are now reduced to a mere handful.

The great superstitious dread these Indians have for a dead person, and their horror of touching a corpse, oftentimes give rise to a difficulty as to who shall perform the funeral ceremonies; for any person who handles a dead body must not eat of salmon or sturgeon for thirty days. Sometimes, in cases of small-pox, I have known them leave the corpse in the lodge, and all remove elsewhere; and in two instances that came to my knowledge, the whites had to burn the lodges, with the bodies in them, to prevent infection.

So, in the instances I have before mentioned, where we had buried Indians, not one of their friends or relatives could be seen. All kept in their lodges, singing and drumming to keep away the spirits of the dead.

According to Bancroft--

The Tlascaltecs supposed that the common people were after death transformed into beetles and disgusting objects, while the nobler became stars and beautiful birds.

The Mosquito Indians of Central America studiously and superstitiously avoid mentioning the name of the dead, in this regard resembling those of our own country.

Enough of illustrative examples have now been given, it is thought, to enable observers to thoroughly comprehend the scope of the proposed final volume on the mortuary customs of North American Indians, and while much more might have been added from the stored-up material on hand, it has not been deemed advisable at this time to yield to a desire for amplification. The reader will notice, as in the previous paper, that discussion has been avoided as foreign to the present purpose of the volume, which is intended, as has been already stated, simply to induce further investigation and contribution from careful and conscientious observers. From a perusal of the excerpts from books and correspondence given will be seen what facts are useful and needed; in short, most of them may serve as copies for preparation of similar material.

To assist observers, the queries published in the former volume are also given.

1st. NAME OF THE TRIBE; present appellation; former, if differing any; and that used by the Indians themselves.

2d. LOCALITY, PRESENT AND FORMER.--The response should give the range of the tribe and be full and geographically accurate.

3d. DEATHS AND FUNERAL CEREMONIES; what are the important and characteristic facts connected with these subjects? How is the corpse prepared after death and disposed of? How long is it retained? Is it spoken to after death as if alive? when and where? What is the character of the addresses? What articles are deposited with it; and why? Is food put in the grave, or in or near it afterwards? Is this said to be an ancient custom? Are persons of the same gens buried together; and is the clan distinction obsolete, or did it ever prevail?

4th. MANNER OF BURIAL, ANCIENT AND MODERN; STRUCTURE AND POSITION OF THE GRAVES; CREMATION.--Are burials usually made in high and dry grounds? Have mounds or tumuli been erected in modern times over the dead? How is the grave prepared and finished? What position are bodies placed in? Give reasons therefor if possible. If cremation is or was practiced, describe the process, disposal of the ashes, and origin of custom or traditions relating thereto. Are the dead ever eaten by the survivors? Are bodies deposited in springs or in any body of water? Are scaffolds or trees used as burial places; if so, describe construction of the former and how the corpse is prepared, and whether placed in skins or boxes. Are bodies placed in canoes? State whether they are suspended from trees, put on scaffolds or posts, allowed to float on the water or sunk beneath it, or buried in the ground. Can any reasons be given for the prevalence of any one or all of the methods? Are burial posts or slabs used, plain, or marked, with flags or other insignia of position of deceased. Describe embalmment, mummification, desiccation, or if antiseptic precautions are taken, and subsequent disposal of remains. Are bones collected and reinterred; describe ceremonies, if any, whether modern or ancient. If charnel houses exist or have been used, describe them.

5th. MOURNING OBSERVANCES.--Is scarification practiced, or personal mutilation? What is the garb or sign of mourning? How are the dead lamented? Are periodical visits made to the grave? Do widows carry symbols of their deceased children or husbands, and for how long? Are sacrifices, human or otherwise, voluntary or involuntary, offered? Are fires kindled on graves; why, and at what time, and for how long?

6th. BURIAL TRADITIONS AND SUPERSTITIONS.--Give in full all that can be learned on these subjects, as they are full of interest and very important.

In short, every fact bearing on the disposal of the dead; and correlative customs are needed, and details should be as succinct and full as possible.

One of the most important matters upon which information is needed is the “why” and “wherefore” for every rite and custom; for, as a rule, observers are content to simply state a certain occurrence as a fact, but take very little trouble to inquire the reason for it.

Any material the result of careful observation will be most gratefully received and acknowledged in the final volume; but the writer must here confess the lasting obligation he is under to those who have already contributed, a number so large that limited space precludes a mention of their individual names.

Criticism and comments are earnestly invited from all those interested in the special subject of this paper and anthropology in general. Contributions are also requested from persons acquainted with curious forms of burial prevailing among other tribes of savage men.

The lithographs which illustrate this paper have been made by Thos. Sinclair & Son, of Philadelphia, Pa., after original drawings made by Mr. W. H. Holmes, who has with great kindness superintended their preparation.

FOOTNOTES:

INDEX.

Abiquiu, Ancient cemetery of 111 Acaxers and Yaquis, cairn burial 143 “Adjedatig” 197 Aerial burial in canoes, Chinooks 171 ---- sepulture, 152 Alaric’s burial 181 Alaska cave burial 129 Alaskan mummies 134, 135 Alden, E. H., Scaffold burial 161 Aleutian Islanders, embalmment 135, 136 Algonkins, Burial fires of the 198 Alibamans, Aquatic burial of suicides by 180 Allen, Miss A. J., Burial sacrifice 189 Ancient burial customs of barbaric tribes 152 ---- cemetery of Abiquiu 111 ---- nations, Tree burial of 165, 166 Ancients, Curious mourning observances 165, 166 Antiquity of cremation 143 Apingi burial 125, 126 Aquatic burial, Alibamans, of suicides 180 ---- Cherokees 180 ---- Chinooks 180 ---- Gosh-Utes 181 ---- Hyperboreans 180 ---- Ichthyophagi 180 ---- Itzas 180 ---- Kavague 180 ---- Lotophagians 180 ---- Obongo 180 Ascena or Timber Indians 103 Atwater, Caleb, Burial mounds 117 Australian scaffold burial 167 Aztecs and Taracos, Burial sacrifice 190 Baldwin, C. C., Pottawatomie surface burial 141 Balearic Islanders, Cairn burial 143 Bancroft, H. H., Burial sacrifice 190 ----, Canoe burial in ground 112 ----, Costa Rica hut burial 154 ----, Doracho cist burial 115 ----, Esquimaux burial boxes 155 ----, Mourning, Central Americans 185 ----, Pima burial 98 ----, Superstitions regarding dead 201 Barbaric tribes, Ancient burial customs of 152 Barber, E. A., Burial urns 138 ----, Partial cremation 151 Bari of Africa, burial 125 Bartram, John, Cabin burial 122 ----, Choctaw ossuary 120 ----, Partial scaffold burial 169 Bechuana burial 126 Beckwourth, James, Crow mourning 183 Beechey, Capt. F. W., Lodge burial 154 Beltrami, J. C., Burial feast 190 ----, Burial posts 197 Benson, H. C., Choctaw burial 186 Bessels, Dr. Emil, Esquimaux superstition 198 Beverly, Robert, Virginia mummies 131 Birgan, Meaning of word 93 Blackbird’s burial 139 Blackfeet burial lodges 154 ---- cairn burial 143 ---- tree burial 161 Bonaks, Cremation 144 Bone cleaning of the dead 168 Boner, J. H., Moravian mourning 166 Bossu, M., Burial denied to suicides 180 Boteler, Dr. W. C., Oto burial ceremonies 96 Box burial, Creek, Choctaw, and Cherokee 155 ----, Esquimaux 155, 156 ----, Indians of Talomeco River 155 ----, Innuits and Ingaliks 156, 158 ----, Kalosh 156 Bransford, Dr. J. C., U.S.N., Burial urns discovered by 138 Brebeuf, Pere de, Burial feast 191 Brice, W. A., Surface burial 141 Brinton, Dr. D. G., Burial of collected bones 170 Bruhier, J. J., Corsican customs 147 ---- Persian burial 103 Brule Sioux, tree and scaffold burial 158, 160 Burchard, J. L., Pit burial 124 Butterfield, H., Shoshone cairn burial 143 Burial, Apingi 125, 126 ----, Aquatic 180 ---- canoes and houses 177-179 ----, Bari of Africa 125 ----, Bechuanas 126 ---- beneath or in cabins, wigwams, or houses 122 ----, Box 155 ----, Carolina tribes 93 ----, Caddos 103 ----, Cairn 142 ----, Cairn, Ute 142 ---- case, Cheyenne 162, 163 ----, Cave 126 ----, Chieftain, of the 110, 111 ----, Classification of 92-93 ----, Damara 126 ---- dance, Yo-kaí-a 192, 194 ---- dances 193 ---- feast, Description of, by Beltrami 190, 191 ---- ----, Hurons, of the 191 ---- feasts 190 ---- ----, superstitions regarding 191 ---- fires, Algonkins 198 ---- ----, Yurok 198 ---- ----, Esquimaux 198 ---- food 192 ---- games 195 ----, Grave 101 ----, Ground, in canoes 112 ---- in logs 138, 139 ---- in mounds 115 ---- in standing posture 151, 152 ----, Indians of Virginia 125 ----, Iroquois 140 ----, Kaffir 126 ----, Klamath and Trinity Indians 106, 107 ----, Latookas 126 ----, Lodge 152 ---- lodges, Blackfeet 154 ---- ----, Cheyenne 154 ---- ----, Shoshone 153, 154 ----, Muscogulges 122, 123 ----, Meaning and derivation of word 93 ----, Moquis, 114 ----, Navajo, 123 ----, Obongo, 139, 140 ---- of Alaric, 181 ---- of Blackbird, 139 ---- of De Soto, 181 ---- of Long Horse, 153 ---- of Ouray, 128 ----, Parsee, 105, 106 ----, Pit, 93 ----, Pitt River Indians, 151 ---- posts, Sioux and Chippewa, 197, 198 ----, Round Valley Indians, 124 ---- sacrifice, Aztecs and Tarascos, 190 ---- ----, Indians of Northwest, 180 ---- ----, Indians of Panama, 180 ---- ----, Natchez, 187, 189 ---- ----, Tsinūk, 179 ---- ----, Wascopums, 189, 190 ----, Sacs and Foxes, 94, 95 ---- scaffolds, 162 ---- song, Schiller’s, 110, 111 ---- ---- of Basques and others, 195 ---- superstitions, Chippewas, 199, 200 ---- ----, Indians of Washington Territory, 201 ---- ----, Karok, 200 ---- ----, Kelta, 200 ---- ----, Modocs, 200, 201 ---- ----, Mosquito Indians, 201 ---- ----, Tlascaltecs, 201 ---- ----, Tolowa, 200 ----, Surface, 138, 139 ----, Urn, 137 ---- ---- and cover, Georgia, 138 ---- ----, New Mexico, 138

Cabins, wigwams, or houses, Burial beneath or in, 122 Caddos, Burial, 103 Cairn burial, Acaxers and Yaquis, 143 ----, Balearic Islanders, 143 ----, Blackfeet, 143 ----, Esquimaux, 143 ----, Kiowas and Comanches, 142, 143 ----, Pi-Utes, 143 ----, Reasons for, 143 ----, Shoshonis, 143 Calaveras Cave, 128, 129 California steatite burial urn, 138 Campbell, John, Burial songs, 195 Canes sepulchrales, 104 Canoe burial in ground, 112 ---- ----, Mosquito Indians, 112, 113 ---- ----, Santa Barbara, 112 ----, Clallam, 173, 174 ----, Twana, 171, 173 Canoes and houses, Burial, 177-179 Canoes, Superterrene and aerial burial in, 171 Caraibs, Verification of death, 146 Carolina tribes, Burial among, 93 Catlin, George, Burial of Blackbird, 139 ----, Golgotha of Mandans, 170 ----, Mourning cradle, 181 Cave burial, 126 ----, Alaska, 129 ----, Calaveras, 128, 129 ----, Utes, 127, 128 Cherokee aquatic burial, 180 Cheyenne burial case, 162, 163 ---- lodges, 154 Chillicothe mound, 117, 118 Chinook aerial burial in canoes, 171 ---- aquatic burial, 180 ---- mourning cradle, 181, 182 Chippewa burial superstitions, 199, 200 ---- mourning, 184 ---- scaffold burial, 161, 162 ---- widow, 184, 185 Choctaw mound burial, 120 ---- scaffold burial, 169 Choctaws funeral ceremonies, 186 Cist burial, Doracho, 115 ---- graves, Kentucky, 114, 115 ---- ----, Indians of Illinois, 114 Cists or stone graves, 113 ----, Solutré, 113 ----, Tennessee, 113 Clallam canoe burial, 173, 174 ---- house burial, 175 Classification of burial, 92 Cleveland, Wm. J., Tree and scaffold burial, 158 Collected bones, Interment of, 170 Comanche inhumation, 99, 100 Congaree and Santee Indians, embalmment 132, 133 Corsican funeral custom 147 Cox, Ross, Cremation 144 Coyotero Apaches, Inhumation 111, 112 Cradle, mourning, Illustration of 181 Crock, Choctaw, and Cherokee box burial 155 Creeks and Seminoles, Inhumation 95, 96 ----, “Hallelujah” of the 195 Cremation, Antiquity of 143 ----, Bonaks 144 ---- furnace 149 ----, Indians of Clear Lake 147 ----, Indians of Southern Utah 149 ---- mound, Florida 148, 149 ----, Nishinams 144 ----, Partial 150, 151 ----, Se-nél 147, 148 ----, Tolkotins 144-146 Crow lodge burial 153 ---- mourning 183, 184 Curious mourning observances of ancients 165, 166 Curtiss, E., Exploration by 115, 116

Dakhnias 104 Dall, W. H., Burial boxes 156 ----, Cave burial 129 ----, Mummies 134 Damara burial 126 Dance for the dead 192 Dances, Burial 192 Danish burial logs 139 Dead, Dance for the 192 Delano, A., Tree burial 161 Description of burial feast 190, 191 De Soto’s burial 181 Devouring the dead, Fans of Africa 182 ----, Indians of South America 182, 183 ----, Massageties, Padæns, and others 182 Dolmens in Japan 115 Doracho cist burial 115 Drew, Benjamin, Schiller’s burial song 110 Dumont, M. Butel de, House burial 124

Eells, Rev. M., Canoe burial 171 Embalmment, Aleutian Islanders 135, 136 ----, Congaree and Santee Indians 132, 133 ----, or mummification 130 Engelhardt, Prof. C. 139 Esquimaux box burial 155, 156 ---- burial fires 198 ---- cairn burial 143 ---- lodge burial 154 European ossuaries 191 Excavation of Indian mound, North Carolina 120-122

Fans of Africa devour the dead 182 Feasts, Burial 190 Fires, Burial 198 Fiske, Moses, Cists 113 Florida cremation mound 148, 149 ---- mound burial 119, 120 Food, Burial 192 Ford, Lieut. Geo. E., U.S.A., Cabin burial 123 Foreman, Dr. E., Burial urns 138 ---- Cremation 149 Foster, J. W., Urn burial 137 ---- Cremation 150 Funeral ceremonies, Choctaws 186 ----, Twanas and Clallams 176 ---- custom, Corsican 147 Furnace, Cremation 149

Gageby, Capt. J. H., U.S.A., Box burial 155 Games, Burial 195 Gardner, Dr. W., U.S.A., Theory of scaffold burial 167 Ghost gamble 195-197 Gianque, Florian, Mound burial 120 Gibbs, George 106 ----, Burial canoes and houses 177 Gilbert, G. K., Klamath burial 147 ---- Moquis burial 114 Gillman, Henry, Exploration of mound 148 Given, Dr. O. G., Cairn burial 142 “Golgothas,” Mandans 170 Gosh-Utes, Aquatic burial amongst 181 Grave burial 101 Gregg, Dr. P., Surface burial 140 Grinnell, Dr. Fordyce, Comanche inhumation 99 ---- Wichita burial customs 102 Grossman, Capt. F. E., Pima burial 98 Gros Ventres and Mandans, Scaffold burial 161