FUNERAL CEREMONIES AND MOURNING OBSERVANCES

Though

some fewofthistribe

now

lay theirdeadinrude boxes,eitherburying

them

when

implementsfordigging can be had,or,

when

theyhave no

means

of

making

a grave,placing

them

ontop of theground oh some ^{hill orotherslight}elevation, yet thisisdoneinimitationotthe whites,audtheirgeneralcustom,asapeople,probably does notdifferinanyessential

way

from that oftheir forefathers for

many

genera- tions iuthepast. In disposing of the dead, they

wrap

the bodytighlly inblankets orrobes(sometimesboth),

wind

italloverwith thongs

made

of the hide ofsome^ani- mal,andplaceit, reclii^; igonthebackatfulllength,eitherinthebrauchesofsome tree oronascaffoldma'.eforthepurpose. Thesescaffoldsareabouteightfeethigh, and

made by

planting fourforkedsticks firmly intheground,oneateachcorner, and then placing othersacrossontop,so as toforma^floor, on whichthebody^issecurely fastened. Sometimes

more

thanonebodyisplacedonthesame^scaffold, thoughgen- erallya separate one is

made

for each occasion. These Indians beinginallthings mostsuperstitious,attacha kindofsacrednesstothesescaffoldsandallthe materials used onoraboutthe dead. Thissuperstitionisin itselfsufficient topreventanyof their

own

peoplefromdisturbing the dead,and ^for one of another nationtoin any wisemeddle with

them

isconsidered an offense not too severelypunished bydeath.

3

S

I

Fig 16

OFFERING FOOD TO THE DEAD

*akrow.]

TREE AND SCAFFOLD BURIAL. 159 The same

feeling alsoprevents

them

fromever usingold scaffolds oranyof the

wood which

hasbeen used about them, evenforfirewood,thoughthenecessity

may

bevery great, forfear

some

evilconsequenceswill follow. It isalsothecustom, thoughnot universally followed,

when

bodies have been for

two

years on the scaffolds totake

them down

and bury

them

underground.

All the

work

about winding

up

the dead, building thescaffold,andplacing thedead uponitisdoneby

women

only,who,afterhavingfinishedtheir labor,returnandbring themen,to

show them

where the bodyis placed,thatthey

may

be ableto fiuditin future. Valuables ofall kinds, such as weapons, ornaments, pipes,&c.

—

^inshort,

whateverthedeceasedvalued mosthighlywhileliving,andlocks ofhaircutfromthe headsof themournersathisdeath,arealways bound up withthebody. Iu case the dead wasa

man

^ofimportance, orifthe familycouldafford it,even thoughhewere not,one or several horses(generally, iu the former case, those

which

the departed thought mostof)areshotandplacedunderthescaffold.

The

ideainthisisthat the spiritofthe horsewill

accompany and

be of use tohis spirit inthe

"happy

huntiug grounds,"or, asthesepeople expressit, "_thespiritland."

When

anIndiandies,andin somecaseseven before death occurs,thefriends and relativesassembleatthe lodgeand begin crying over thedepartedordepartingone.

Thisconsists iuuttering the most heartrending,almost hideous wails and lamenta-

tions,inwhichalljoinuntilexhausted.

Then

the

mourning

ceasesfor a timeuntil some onestartsitagain,

when

alljoin in as beforeand keepit

up

untilunabletocry longer. This is kept up until the

body

is removed. This crying ^is done almost whollyby

women, who

gatherin large

numbers

on suchoccasions,and

among them

a few

who

are professionalmourners. Thesearegenerallyold

women

and go whenever apersonisexpectedto die,to take the leading part in the lamentations,

knowing

thattheywillbe well paid at the distribution of goods

which

follows.

As

soon as deathtakesplace,thebodyisdressedbythe

women

inthe bestgarmentsandblankets obtainable,

new

ones if theycan be afforded.

The

crowd gathered near continue wailingpiteously, and from timetotime cut locks of hairfromtheir

own

headswith knives,and throw

them

onthedeadbody. Those

who

wishto

show

theirgriefmost strongly,cutthemselvesinvariousplaces,generallyin the legsandarms, withtheir knivesor piecesof flint,more

commonly

the latter, causing the bloodtoflowfreely overtheirpersons. This customisfollowed toalessdegree

by

themen.

A

bodyisseldom keptlongerthau onedayas,besidesthe desire toget thedeadout of sight,thefearthat thediseasewhichcaused thedeathwill communicate itself to othersof thefamily causes

them

to hasten the. disposition of itassoonastheyare certainthatdeathhas actuallytakenplace.

Untilthebody^is laid

away

the mournerseat nothing. After that is done, con- uectedwith which there seems to be no particular ceremony,thefew

women who

attendto it returnto the lodge anda distribution is

made among them

andothers, not only of theremainingproperty of the deceased, but ofallthepossessions,evento the lodgeitselfof the familyto

which

hebelonged. This custom in

some

cases has beencarriedso far as toleave therestofthe family not only absolutelydestitutebut actually naked. After continuingiu this conditionfor a time, theygradually reach the

common

levelagainbyreceivinggiftsfromvarioussources.

The

receivedcustomrequiresof

women,

nearrelativesof the dead,a strictobserv- anceof the tendaysfollowing the death, as follows:

They

are torise atavery early hour and

work

unusuallyhard all day, joining in no feast,dance, game,or other liversion, eat but little, and ^retire late,*hat they

may

be deprived ofthe usual

amount

ofsleep asoffood. Duringthis theyneverpaint themselves, butatvarious timesgoto thetop ofsome ^hillandbewail thedeadin loudcriesand lamentations for hours together. After the ten days have expired theypaint, themselves again and engageintheusualamusementsofthe peopleas before.

The men

are expected to

mourn

andfast forone day and then go onthewar-path againstsomeothertribe, oronsome longjourneyalone. Ifhe prefers,he can

mourn

audfastfor

two

ormore