154 MORTUARY CUSTOMS OF NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS

The

Shoshones living on Independence Creek and on the eastern banks ofthe

Owyhee

River,upper portion ofNevada,did not burytheir dead atthetimeof

my

visitin 1871.

Whenever

^the persondied, hislodge (usually constructed of polesand branchesof Salix)

was

demolishedandplacedinone confusedmassover hisremains,

when

the

band removed

a shortdistance.

When

^theillnessisnot toogreat,ordeath sudden, thesickpersonis

removed

toa favorableplace,somedistancefromtheirtem- porarycampingground,so astoavoid the necessity oftheir

own

removal. Coyotes,ra- vens,

and

othercarnivora soon remove ^all the flesh, so that there remains nothing but the bones,and eventhese are scatteredbythe wolves.

The

IndiansatTuscarora, Nevada,statedthat

when

it

was

possible,andthattheyshould

by

chance meetthebony remainsofanyShoshone,they

would

buryit,butin

what manner

Ifailed to discover, astheywere veryreticent,and avoided givinganyinformation regarding the dead.

One

corpse

was

foundtotallydriedandshrivelled,

owing

tothedryness of the atmos- pherein thisregion.

Capt.

F.

W. Beecbey*

describes

a curious mode

of burial

among

tbe

Esquimaux ^{ou tbe west}

^coast

^of Alaska, wbich appears

to

be somewbat

similar to lodge-burial.

Figure

¹1, after bis illustration, affords

a good

idea

of these

burial receptacles.

Nearus there

was

a burying-ground, which, in addition to

what we

hadalready observedatCape Espenburg,fnrnishedseveral examplesof the

manner

inwhichthis tribeofnatives disposeoftheirdead. In

some

instancesa platform

was

constructed ofdrift-wood, raisedabout

two

feetand a quarterfromthe ground,upon whichthe body

was

placed, with^its head to the westward, and a double tent ofdrift-wood erectedoverit;the inneronewithsparsaboutsevenfeetlong,and theouter one with somethatwerethreetimes that length.

They

wereplacedclose together,andatfirst

nodoubtsufficientlysotoprevent the depredationsoffoxesand wolves;buttheyhad yieldedat last;and allthebodies,and eventhe hides thatcoveredthem, hadsuffered bythese rapaciousanimals.

In thesetentsof tbedead there were nocoffins or planks,as at

Cape

Espenburg;

the bodieswere dressed in a frock

made

ofeider-duckskins,with one ofdeer-skin overit,

and

were covered with a sea-horsehide, such as thenatives use for their buidars. Suspendedtothe poles, and on thegroundnearthem,were several Esqui

maux

implements, consisting of

wooden

trays, paddles,and a tamborine,which,

we

were informedaswellassignscouldconveythe

meaning

of thenatives,wereplaced thereforthe use of the deceased, who, iu the next world (pointing to the western sky)ate,drank,

and

sangsongs.

Having

nointerpreter, this

was

all the information

Icould obtain; butthecustomofplacing such instruments around the receptacles of thedead isnot unusual,and inall probability the

Esquimaux may

^believethat

thesoulhasenjoymentsinthenextworldsimilar tothosewhichconstitute theirhap- pinessinthis.

The

Blackfeet,

Cheyennes, aud Navajos

also

bury

ⁱⁿlodges,

and

the

Indians of Bellingham Bay, according

to

Dr.

J.F.

Hammond, U.

S.A.,

place

their

dead

in

carved wooden sarcophagi,

inclosing

these with a rectangular

tent

of some white

material.

Some of the

tribes

of the northwest coast bury

in

houses

similarto

those shown

ⁱⁿ

Figure

12.

Bancroftt

states

that

certain

of the Indians of Costa

Kica,

when a death

occurred,

deposited the body

in

a small hut constructed of

plaited

palm

reeds.

In

thisitis

preserved

for

three

years,

food being

supplied,

*Narrative ofa

Voyage

tothePacific, 1831, vol.^i,p. 332.

tNat. Racesof Pac.States, 1871, vol. i, p.780.

tabrow.I

BOX-BURIAL ESQUIMAUX. ^5

:ind

on each anniversary of the death

^itis

redressed aud attended

to

amid

certain

ceremonies. The

writer

has been

recently

informed that a

simi- lar

custom prevaded

ⁱⁿ

Demerara. No authentic accounts are known

of

analogous modes

of burial

among the peoples of

the

Old World,

^al-

though

quite

frequently the dead were

interred

beneath the

floorsof their

houses, a custom which has been ^followed by the Mosquito Indians

of

Central America and one or two

of

our own

tribes.

BOX-BURIAL.

Under

^this

^head may be placed those examples furnished by

certain tribes

on the northwest coast who used as

receptacles for

the dead won-

derfully

carved, large wooden

chests,

these being supported upon a low platform or

resting

on the ground. In shape they resemble a small house with an angular

roof,

and each one has an opeuing through which food may be passed

to

the

corpse.

Some

of

the

tribes

formerly

living in

New York used boxes much

^re-

sembling those spoken

of,

and the Greeks, Choctaws, and Cherokees

did

the same.

Capt.

J.

H. Gageby, United States Army,

furnishes

the following

re- lating to

the Creeks

in

Indian

Territory:

* * * areburiedouthesurface,inaboxorasubstitute

made

ofbranchesoftrees, coveredwithsmall branches, leaves,audearth. I haveseenseveraloftheir graves, whichafterafewweeks had become uncovered and theremainsexposedtoview. I

sawinoneCreek grave(a child's)a small

sum

ofsilver; inanother(adultmale)some implementsofwarfare,

bow

and arrows.

They

are all interredwiththe feetofthe corpsetotheeast. In the

mourning

ceremonies of the Creeks thenearer relatives smearedtheirhairandfaceswithacomposition

made

ofgrease audwood-ashes,and would remainⁱⁿthat conditionforseveral days, and probablyamonth.

Josiah

Priest*

gives an account of the

burial repositories

of a

tribe

of

Pacific

coast Indians

living

on ^the Talomeco

River,

Oregon. The

writer believesit to

be

entirely unreliable

and gives

it

place as an

ex-

ample

of credulity

shown by many

writers

and readers

:

The

corpsesof theCaciquesweresowell

embalmed

that there

was

no bad smell

;

theyweredepositedinlargo

wooden

coffins,well constructed,audplacedupon benches

two

feetfromtheground. In smallercoffins,andinbaskets,theSpaniardsfoundthe clothes of the deceased

men

aud

women,

and so

many

pearlsthat they distributed

them among

theofficersandsoldiers

by

handsfulls.

In Bancroft! may be found the following account of the

burial

boxes of the Esquimaux

:

The

Eskimos donotasaruleburytheirdead,butdouble thebody

up

and place it

ontheside inaplankbox,whichiselevated threeorfour feetfrom the ground and supported

by

four posts.

The

grave-box is often covered with painted figures of

»Am.

Antiq.andDiscov., 1838,p. 286.

tNat.Racesof Pac.States, 1874, vol. i, p. U9.