166 MORTUARY CUSTOMS OP NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS

in sparsely-

wooded

localities,

preferred the

other. If

we consider that the Indians were desirous of preserving

their

dead as long

as possible,

the

factof their

dead being placed

in trees

and

scaffolds

would

lead to

the supposition that those

living

on the

plains

were

well

aware of the desiccating property of the dry

airof

that

arid region.

This

desiccation

would pass

for

a kind of mummification.

The

particular

part of the mourning ceremonies, which consisted

in

loud

cries

and lamentations, may have had

in early

periods of time a greater

significance

than that of a mere expression of

grief

or woe, and on

this

point Bruhier* seems quite

positive,his interpretation

being that such

cries

were intended

to

prevent premature

burial.

He ^gives some

interesting

examples, which may be admitted here:

The

Caribslamentloudly, theirwailingsbeinginterspersedwith comical remarks andquestionstothe deadas to

why

he preferredtoleave thisworld,having every- thingto

make

^lifecomfortable.

They

placethe corpse on alittle seat ina ditchor gravefouror five feetdeep,andfortendays theybring food,requesting the corpseto eat. Finally,being convinced thatthedeadwillneither eatnor returntolife,they throwthe foodontheheadofthe corpseandfill

up

the grave.

When one died among the Komans, the nearest

relatives

embraced the body,

closed

the eyes and mouth, and when one was about

to diere-

ceived the

last

words and

sighs,

and then loudly

called

the name of the dead,

finally

bidding an eternal

adieu.

This ceremony of

calling

the deceased by name was known as the

conclamation,

and was a custom

anterior

even

to

the foundation of Rome. One dying away from home was immediately removed

thither,in

order that

this

might be performed with greater

propriety.

In Picardy,

as late

as

1713,

the

relatives

threw themselves on the corpse and with loud

cries calledit

by name, and up

to

1855 the Moravians of Pennsylvania,

at

the death of one of

their

num-

ber,

performed mournful musical

airs

on brass instruments from the

village

church

steeple

and again

at

the

grave.t

This custom, however, was probably a remnant of the ancient

funeral

observances, and not

to

prevent premature

burial, or,

perhaps, was intended

to

scare away bad

spirits.

W.

L.

Hardistyf gives a curious example of

log-burial intrees, relat-

ing

to

the Loucheux of

British

America

:

They

inclosethe

body

ina neatly-hollowed piece of wood, and ^secureit totwoor moretrees,aboutsix feetfromtheground.

A

^logabouteightfeetlongisfirstsplit in two,

and

eachofthe parts carefullyhollowedouttothe required size.

The

bodyis

then inclosedand the

two

pieces well lashed together,preparatoryto beingfinally secured, asbeforestated,tothe trees.

The American Indians

are

by no means ^the only savages employing

scaffolds

as places of deposit

for

the dead,

^for

Wood§ ^gives a number

of

examples of

this

mode of

burial.

*L'incertitudedes signesdelaMort,1742, tomei, p.475, et seq.

t

The

^writerisinformed

by

Mr.

John Henry

Bonerthatthiscustomstillprevailsnot only inPennsylvania,butattheMoraviansettlementof Salem, N.C.

tRep. SmithsonianInst., 1SG(5,p. 319.

§ UncivilizedRacesoftheWorld, 1S74,v. ii,\i.774,eteeq.

SARROW.|

SCAFFOLD BURIAL ^SIOUX. 167

Insomeparts of Australia thenatives,instead ofconsumingthebody

by

fire,or hid- ingit in caves orin graves,

make

ita peculiarly conspicuous^object. Shouldatree growfavorablyfor theirpurpose,theywillemployitas thefinalresting placeforthe deadbody. Lyinginitscanoe ^coffin,

and

socovered overwithleavesandgrassthat

itsshapeisquitedisguised,thebodyis liftedinto a convenient fork of the ^tree aud lashed to the boughs

by

nativeropes.

No

further careis taken ^{of it,} and ^{if in} process oftimeitshouldbo

blown

out of thetree,no one^willtake the trouble ofre- placingit.

Shouldnotreebe growiugintheselected spot,anartificialplatformis

made

^forthe body,

by

fixingtheendsof stoutbranchesintheground andconnecting

them

at their topsbysmaller horizontal branches. Such are the curious tombs

which

are repre- sentedin theillustration. ^{* * '} These strange tombsare mostly placed

among

the reeds, sothat nothing can be more mournful than the soundof the

wind

asit

shakes the reedsbelowthebranchinwhich the corpse is lying.

The

object ofthis aerial

tomb

isevidentenough, namely,toprotectthe corpsefromthe dingo,ornative dog. That the ravensandother carrion-eating birds should

make

a banquet

upon

thebodyof thedead

man

does not seem totroublethe survivors intheleast, audit

oftenhappensthatthetraveleristold

by

thecroakofthe disturbed ravens that the bodyofadeadAustralianislyingiuthebranchesoverhishead.

The

aerialtombsaremostly erectedforthe bodies of old

men who

havediedanatural death^; but

when

a

young

warrior has fallen in battle the bodyistreated inavery differentmanner.

A

^{moderatelyhigh}platformiserected,and

upon

thisisseated the bodyofthedeadwarriorwiththe face toward the rising sun.

The

legsare crossed audthearms kept extended

by means

ofsticks.

The

fatisthen removed, andafter beiug

mixed

withred ochreisrubbedover the body,whichhas previouslybeen care- fullydenuded ofhair, asis done in the ceremonyofinitiation.

The

legs and arms arecoveredwithzebra-like stripesofred, white, andyellow, audtheweapousofthe dead

man

^arelaidacross his lap.

The body

beingthus arranged, fires are lighted under the platform,

and

kept

up

for ten daysormore, duringthewholeof

which

time the friends

aud

mourners re-

main

by

thebody,

and

are notpermitted tospeak. Sentinelsrelieve each other at appointedintervals,theirdutybeingto seethat the firesare notsufferedtogoout, andtokeeptheflies

away

by

waving

leafyboughsorbunchesof

emu

feathers.

When

abody has been treatedin this

manner

it becomes hard

and

mummy-like, and tho strongestpointisthat thewilddogswillnottouchitafterithasbeensolongsmoked.

Itremaiussittingontheplatform for

two months

orso, and^isthen taken

down and

buried, withtheexception of the skull,

which

is

made

into a driukiug-cup for Uio nearestrelative. ^* * *

This mode

of

mummifying resembles somewhat that already described

as

the process by which the Virginia kings were preserved from decom-

position.

Figs.

21 and 22 represent the Australian

burials described,

and are

after

the

original

engravings

iu

Wood's work. The one representing

scaffold-burial

resembles

greatly

the

scaffolds

of our own

Indians.

With regard

to

the use of

scaffolds

as places of deposit

for

the dead, the following

theories

by Dr. W. Gardner, United

States

Army, are given

:

If

we come

^toinquire

why

theAmericanaboriginesplaced thedeadbodies oftheir relativesandfriends intrees,or

upon

scaffoldsresemblingtrees, insteadofburying

them

inthe ground, orburning

them

aud preservingtheirashesin urns, Ithink

we

can answerthe inquiry

by

recollectingthat mostifnotallthetribesofAmericanIn- dians,aswellasothernations of a highercivilization,believedthat the

human

soul, spirit,orimmortalpart

was

of the form andnature of a^bird,andastheseare essen-