The Mohawks of New York made a large round hole in which the body
was placed upright or upon its haunches, after which it was covered
with timber, to support the earth which they lay over, and thereby
kept the body from being pressed. They then raised the earth in a
round hill over it. They always dressed the corpse in all its
finery, and put wampum and other things into the grave with it; and
the relations suffered not grass nor any wood to grow upon the
grave, and frequently visited it and made lamentation.
In Jones[2] is the following interesting account from Lawson[3] of the
burial customs of the Indians formerly inhabiting the Carolinas:
Among the Carolina tribes the burial of the dead was accompanied
with special ceremonies, the expense and formality attendant upon
the funeral according with the rank of the deceased. The corpse was
first placed in a cane hurdle and deposited in an outhouse made for
the purpose, where it was suffered to remain for a day and a night,
guarded and mourned over by the nearest relatives with disheveled
hair. Those who are to officiate at the funeral go into the town,
and from the backs of the first young men they meet strip such
blankets and matchcoats as they deem suitable for their purpose. In
these the dead body is wrapped and then covered with two or three
mats made of rushes or cane. The coffin is made of woven reeds or
hollow canes tied fast at both ends. When everything is prepared for
the interment, the corpse is carried from the house in which it has
been lying into the orchard of peach-trees and is there deposited in
another hurdle. Seated upon mats are there congregated the family
and tribe of the deceased and invited guests. The medicine man, or
conjurer, having enjoined silence, then pronounces a funeral
oration, during which he recounts the exploits of the deceased, his
valor, skill, love of country, property, and influence; alludes to
the void caused by his death, and counsels those who remain to
supply his place by following in his footsteps; pictures the
happiness he will enjoy in the land of spirits to which he has gone,
and concludes his address by an allusion to the prominent traditions
of his tribe.
Let us here pause to remind the reader that this custom has prevailed
throughout the civilized world up to the present day--a custom, in the
opinion of many, “more honored in the breach than in the observance.”
At last [says Mr. Lawson], the Corpse is brought away from that
Hurdle to the Grave by four young Men, attended by the Relations,
the King, old Men, and all the Nation. When they come to the
Sepulcre, which is about six foot deep and eight foot long, having
at each end (that is, at the Head and Foot) a Light-Wood or
Pitch-Pine Fork driven close down the sides of the Grave firmly into
the Ground (these two Forks are to contain a Ridge-Pole, as you
shall understand presently), before they lay the Corps into the
Grave, they cover the bottom two or three time over with the Bark of
Trees; then they let down the Corps (with two Belts that the
_Indians_ carry their Burdens withal) very leisurely upon the said
Barks; then they lay over a Pole of the same Wood in the two Forks,
and having a great many Pieces of Pitch-Pine Logs about two Foot and
a half long, they stick them in the sides of the Grave down each End
and near the Top thereof, where the other Ends lie in the
Ridge-Pole, so that they are declining like the Roof of a House.
These being very thick plac’d, they cover them [many times double]
with Bark; then they throw the Earth thereon that came out of the
Grave and beat it down very firm. By this Means the dead Body lies
in a Vault, nothing touching him.
After a time the body is taken up, the bones cleaned, and deposited in
an ossuary called the Quiogozon.
Figure 1, after De Bry and Lafitau, represents what the early writers
called the Quiogozon, or charnel-house, and allusions will be found to
it in other parts of this volume. Discrepancies in these accounts impair
greatly their value, for one author says that bones were deposited,
another dried bodies.
It will be seen from the following account, furnished by M. B. Kent,
relating to the Sacs and Foxes (_Oh-sak-ke-uck_) of the Nehema Agency,
Nebraska, that these Indians were careful in burying their dead to
prevent the earth coming in contact with the body, and this custom has
been followed by a number of different tribes, as will be seen by
examples given further on.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Quiogozon or Dead House.]
_Ancient burial._--The body was buried in a grave made about 2½
feet deep, and was laid always with the head towards the east, the
burial taking place as soon after death as possible. The grave was
prepared by putting bark in the bottom of it before the corpse was
deposited, a plank covering made and secured some distance above the
body. The plank was made by splitting trees, until intercourse with
the whites enabled them to obtain sawed lumber. The corpse was
always enveloped in a blanket, and prepared as for a long journey in
life, no coffin being used.
_Modern burial._--This tribe now usually bury in coffins, rude ones
constructed by themselves, still depositing the body in the grave
with the head towards the east.
_Ancient funeral ceremonies._--Every relative of the deceased had to
throw some article in the grave, either food, clothing, or other
material. There was no rule stating the nature of what was to be
added to the collection, simply a requirement that something must be
deposited, if it were only a piece of soiled and faded calico. After
the corpse was lowered into the grave some brave addressed the dead,
instructing him to walk directly westward, that he would soon
discover moccasin tracks, which he must follow until he came to a
great river, which is the river of death; when there he would find a
pole across the river, which, if he has been honest, upright, and
good, will be straight, upon which he could readily cross to the
other side; but if his life had been one of wickedness and sin, the
pole would be very crooked, and in the attempt to cross upon it he
would be precipitated into the turbulent stream and lost forever.
The brave also told him if he crossed the river in safety the Great
Father would receive him, take out his old brains, give him new
ones, and then he would have reached the happy hunting grounds,
always be happy and have eternal life. After burial a feast was
always called, and a portion of the food of which each and every
relative was partaking was burned to furnish subsistence to the
spirit upon its journey.
_Modern funeral ceremonies._--Provisions are rarely put into the
grave, and no portion of what is prepared for the feast subsequent
to burial is burned, although the feast is continued. All the
address delivered by the brave over the corpse after being deposited
in the grave is omitted. A prominent feature of all ceremonies,
either funeral or religious, consists of feasting accompanied with
music and dancing.
_Ancient mourning observances._--The female relations allowed their
hair to hang entirely unrestrained, clothed themselves in the most
unpresentable attire, the latter of which the males also do. Men
blacked the whole face for a period of ten days after a death in the
family, while the women blacked only the cheeks; the faces of the
children were blacked for three months; they were also required to
fast for the same length of time, the fasting to consist of eating
but one meal per day, to be made entirely of hominy, and partaken of
about sunset. It was believed that this fasting would enable the
child to dream of coming events and prophesy what was to happen in
the future. The extent and correctness of prophetic vision depended
upon how faithfully the ordeal of fasting had been observed.
_Modern mourning observances._--Many of those of the past are
continued, such as wearing the hair unrestrained, wearing uncouth
apparel, blacking faces, and fasting of children, and they are
adhered to with as much tenacity as many of the professing
Christians belonging to the evangelical churches adhere to their
practices, which constitute mere forms, the intrinsic value of which
can very reasonably be called in question.
The Creeks and Seminoles of Florida, according to Schoolcraft,[4] made
the graves of their dead as follows:
When one of the family dies, the relatives bury the corpse about
four feet deep in a round hole dug directly under the cabin or rock
wherever he died. The corpse is placed in the hole in a sitting
posture, with a blanket wrapped about it, and the legs bent under
and tied together. If a warrior, he is painted, and his pipe,
ornaments, and warlike appendages are deposited with him. The grave
is then covered with canes tied to a hoop round the top of the hole,
then a firm layer of clay, sufficient to support the weight of a
man. The relations howl loudly and mourn publicly for four days. If
the deceased has been a man of eminent character, the family
immediately remove from the house in which he is buried and erect a
new one, with a belief that where the bones of their dead are
deposited the place is always attended by goblins and chimeras dire.
Dr. W. C. Boteler, physician to the Otoe Indian Agency, Gage County,
Nebraska, in a personal communication to the writer, furnishes a most
interesting account of the burial ceremonies of this tribe, in which it
may be seen that graves are prepared in a manner similar to those
already mentioned:
The Otoe and Missouri tribes of Indians are now located in southern
Gage County, Nebraska, on a reservation of 43,000 acres, unsurpassed
in beauty of location, natural resources, and adaptability for
prosperous agriculture. This pastoral people, though in the midst of
civilization, have departed but little from the rude practice and
customs of a nomadic life, and here may be seen and studied those
interesting dramas as vividly and satisfactorily as upon the remote
frontier.
During my residence among this people on different occasions, I have
had the opportunity of witnessing the Indian burials and many quaint
ceremonies pertaining thereto.
When it is found that the vital spark is wavering in an Otoe
subject, the preparation of the burial costume is immediately began.
The near relatives of the dying Indian surround the humble bedside,
and by loud lamentations and much weeping manifest a grief which is
truly commensurate with the intensity of Indian devotion and
attachment.
While thus expressing before the near departed their grief at the
sad separation impending, the Indian women, or friendly braves, lose
no time in equipping him or her with the most ornate clothes and
ornaments that are available or in immediate possession. It is thus
that the departed Otoe is enrobed in death, in articles of his own
selection and by arrangements of his own taste and dictated by his
own tongue. It is customary for the dying Indian to dictate, ere his
departure, the propriety or impropriety of the accustomed
sacrifices. In some cases there is a double and in others no
sacrifice at all. The Indian women then prepare to cut away their
hair; it is accomplished with scissors, cutting close to the scalp
at the side and behind.
The preparation of the dead for burial is conducted with great
solemnity and care. Bead-work, the most ornate, expensive blankets
and ribbons comprise the funeral shroud. The dead, being thus
enrobed, is placed in a recumbent posture at the most conspicuous
part of the lodge and viewed in rotation by the mourning relatives
previously summoned by a courier, all preserving uniformity in the
piercing screams which would seem to have been learned by rote.
An apparent service is then conducted. The aged men of the tribe,
arranged in a circle, chant a peculiar funeral dirge around one of
their number, keeping time upon a drum or some rude cooking-utensil.
At irregular intervals an aged relative will arise and dance
excitedly around the central person, vociferating, and with wild
gesture, tomahawk in hand, imprecate the evil spirit, which he
drives to the land where the sun goes down. The evil spirit being
thus effectually banished, the mourning gradually subsides, blending
into succeeding scenes of feasting and refreshment. The burial feast
is in every respect equal in richness to its accompanying
ceremonies. All who assemble are supplied with cooked venison, hog,
buffalo, or beef, regular waiters distributing alike hot cakes
soaked in grease and coffee or water, as the case may be.
Frequently during this stage of the ceremony the most aged Indian
present will sit in the central circle, and in a continuous and
doleful tone narrate the acts of valor in the life of the departed,
enjoining fortitude and bravery upon all sitting around as an
essential qualification for admittance to the land where the Great
Spirit reigns. When the burial feast is well-nigh completed, it is
customary for the surviving friends to present the bereaved family
with useful articles of domestic needs, such as calico in bolt,
flannel cloth, robes, and not unfrequently ponies or horses. After
the conclusion of the ceremonies at the lodge, the body is carefully
placed in a wagon and, with an escort of all friends, relatives, and
acquaintances, conveyed to the grave previously prepared by some
near relation or friend. When a wagon is used, the immediate
relatives occupy it with the corpse, which is propped in a
semi-sitting posture; before the use of wagons among the Otoes, it
was necessary to bind the body of the deceased upon a horse and then
convey him to his last resting place among his friends. In past days
when buffalo were more available, and a tribal hunt was more
frequently indulged in, it is said that those dying on the way were
bound upon horses and thus frequently carried several hundred miles
for interment at the burial places of their friends.
At the graveyard of the Indians the ceremony partakes of a double
nature; upon the one hand it is sanguinary and cruel, and upon the
other blended with the deepest grief and most heartfelt sorrow.
Before the interment of the dead the chattels of the deceased are
unloaded from the wagons or unpacked from the backs of ponies and
carefully arranged in the vault-like tomb. The bottom, which is
wider than the top (graves here being dug like an inverted funnel),
is spread with straw or grass matting, woven generally by the Indian
women of the tribe or some near neighbor. The sides are then
carefully hung with handsome shawls or blankets, and trunks, with
domestic articles, pottery, &c., of less importance, are piled
around in abundance. The sacrifices are next inaugurated. A pony,
first designated by the dying Indian, is led aside and strangled by
men hanging to either end of a rope. Sometimes, but not always,
a dog is likewise strangled, the heads of both animals being
subsequently laid upon the Indian’s grave. The body, which is now
often placed in a plain coffin, is lowered into the grave, and if a
coffin is used the friends take their parting look at the deceased
before closing it at the grave. After lowering, a saddle and bridle,
blankets, dishes, &c., are placed upon it, the mourning ceases, and
the Indians prepare to close the grave. It should be remembered,
among the Otoe and Missouri Indians dirt is not filled in upon the
body, but simply rounded up from the surface upon stout logs that
are accurately fitted over the opening of the grave. After the
burying is completed, a distribution of the property of the deceased
takes place, the near relatives receiving everything, from the
merest trifle to the tent and homes, leaving the immediate family,
wife and children or father out-door pensioners.
Although the same generosity is not observed towards the whites
assisting in funeral rites, it is universally practiced as regards
Indians, and poverty’s lot is borne by the survivors with a
fortitude and resignation which in them amounts to duty, and marks a
higher grade of intrinsic worth than pervades whites of like
advantages and conditions. We are told in the Old Testament
Scriptures, “four days and four nights should the fires burn,” &c.
In fulfillment of this sacred injunction, we find the midnight vigil
carefully kept by these Indians four days and four nights at the
graves of their departed. A small fire is kindled for the purpose
near the grave at sunset, where the nearest relatives convene and
maintain a continuous lamentation till the morning dawn. There was
an ancient tradition that at the expiration of this time the Indian
arose, and mounting his spirit pony, galloped off to the happy
hunting-ground beyond.
Happily, with the advancement of Christianity these superstitions
have faded, and the living sacrifices are partially continued only
from a belief that by parting with their most cherished and valuable
goods they propitiate the Great Spirit for the sins committed during
the life of the deceased. This, though at first revolting, we find
was the practice of our own forefathers, offering up as burnt
offerings the lamb or the ox; hence we cannot censure this people,
but, from a comparison of conditions, credit them with a more strict
observance of our Holy Book than pride and seductive fashions permit
of us.
From a careful review of the whole of their attendant ceremonies a
remarkable similarity can be marked. The arrangement of the corpse
preparatory to interment, the funeral feast, the local service by
the aged fathers, are all observances that have been noted among
whites, extending into times that are in the memory of those still
living.
The Pimas of Arizona, actuated by apparently the same motives that led
the more eastern tribes to endeavor to prevent contact of earth with the
corpse, adopted a plan which has been described by Capt. F. E.
Grossman,[5] and the account is corroborated by M. Alphonse Pinart[6]
and Bancroft.[7]
Captain Grossman’s account follows:
The Pimas tie the bodies of their dead with ropes, passing the
latter around their neck and under the knees, and then drawing them
tight until the body is doubled up and forced into a sitting
position. They dig the graves from four to five feet deep and
perfectly round (about two feet in diameter), and then hollow out to
one side of the bottom of this grave a sort of vault large enough to
contain the body. Here the body is deposited, the grave is filled up
level with the ground, and poles, trees, or pieces of timber placed
upon the grave to protect the remains from coyotes.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--Pima burial.]
Burials usually take place at night without much ceremony. The
mourners chant during the burial, but signs of grief are rare. The
bodies of their dead are buried if possible, immediately after death
has taken place and the graves are generally prepared before the
patients die. Sometimes sick persons (for whom the graves had
already been dug) recover. In such cases the graves are left open
until the persons for whom they are intended die. Open graves of
this kind can be seen in several of their burial grounds. Places of
burial are selected some distance from the village, and, if
possible, in a grove of mesquite trees.
Immediately after the remains have been buried, the house and
personal effects of the deceased are burned and his horses and
cattle killed, the meat being cooked as a repast for the mourners.
The nearest relatives of the deceased as a sign of their sorrow
remain within their village for weeks, and sometimes months; the men
cut off about six inches of their long hair, while the women cut
their hair quite short. * * *
The custom of destroying all the property of the husband when he
dies impoverishes the widow and children and prevents increase of
stock. The women of the tribe, well aware that they will be poor
should their husbands die, and that then they will have to provide
for their children by their own exertions, do not care to have many
children, and infanticide, both before and after birth, prevails to
a great extent. This is not considered a crime, and old women of the
tribe practice it. A widow may marry again after a year’s mourning
for her first husband; but having children no man will take her for
a wife and thus burden himself with her children. Widows generally
cultivate a small piece of ground, and friends and relatives (men)
plow the ground for them.
Fig. 2, drawn from Captain Grossman’s description by my friend Dr. W. J.
Hoffman, will convey a good idea of this mode of burial.
Stephen Powers[8] describes a similar mode of grave preparation among
the Yuki of California:
The Yuki bury their dead in a sitting posture. They dig a hole six
feet deep sometimes and at the bottom of it “_coyote_” under, making
a little recess in which the corpse is deposited.
The Comanches of Indian Territory (_Nem_, _we, or us, people_),
according to Dr. Fordyce Grinnell, of the Wichita Agency, Indian
Territory, go to the opposite extreme, so far as the protection of the
dead from the surrounding earth is concerned. The account as received is
given entire, as much to illustrate this point as others of interest.
When a Comanche is dying, while the death-rattle may yet be faintly
heard in the throat, and the natural warmth has not departed from
the body, the knees are strongly bent upon the chest, and the legs
flexed upon the thighs. The arms are also flexed upon each side of
the chest, and the head bent forward upon the knees. A lariat, or
rope, is now used to firmly bind the limbs and body in this
position. A blanket is then wrapped around the body, and this again
tightly corded, so that the appearance when ready for burial is that
of an almost round and compact body, very unlike the composed pall
of his Wichita or Caddo brother. The body is then taken and placed
in a saddle upon a pony, in a sitting posture; a squaw usually
riding behind, though sometimes one on either side of the horse,
holds the body in position until the place of burial is reached,
when the corpse is literally tumbled into the excavation selected
for the purpose. The deceased is only accompanied by two or three
squaws, or enough to perform the little labor bestowed upon the
burial. The body is taken due west of the lodge or village of the
bereaved, and usually one of the deep washes or heads of cañons in
which the Comanche country abounds is selected, and the body thrown
in, without special reference to position. With this are deposited
the bows and arrows; these, however, are first broken. The saddle is
also placed in the grave, together with many of the personal
valuables of the departed. The body is then covered over with sticks
and earth, and sometimes stones are placed over the whole.
_Funeral ceremonies._--the best pony owned by the deceased is
brought to the grave and killed, that the departed may appear well
mounted and caparisoned among his fellows in the other world.
Formerly, if the deceased were a chief or man of consequence and had
large herds of ponies, many were killed, sometimes amounting to 200
or 300 head in number.
The Comanches illustrate the importance of providing a good pony for
the convoy of the deceased to the happy-grounds by the following
story, which is current among both Comanches and Wichitas:
“A few years since, an old Comanche died who had no relatives and
who was quite poor. Some of the tribe concluded that almost any kind
of a pony would serve to transport him to the next world. They
therefore killed at his grave an old, ill-conditioned, lop-eared
horse. But a few weeks after the burial of this friendless one, lo
and behold he returned, riding this same old worn-out horse, weary
and hungry. He first appeared at the Wichita camps, where he was
well known, and asked for something to eat, but his strange
appearance, with sunken eyes and hollow cheeks, filled with
consternation all who saw him, and they fled from his presence.
Finally one bolder than the rest placed a piece of meat on the end
of a lodge-pole and extended it to him. He soon appeared at his own
camp, creating, if possible, even more dismay than among the
Wichitas, and this resulted in both Wichitas and Comanches leaving
their villages and moving _en masse_ to a place on Rush Creek, not
far distant from the present site of Fort Sill.
“When the troubled spirit from the sunsetting world was questioned
why he thus appeared among the inhabitants of earth, he made reply
that when he came to the gates of paradise the keepers would on no
account permit him to enter upon such an ill-conditioned beast as
that which bore him, and thus in sadness he returned to haunt the
homes of those whose stinginess and greed permitted him no better
equipment. Since this no Comanche has been permitted to depart with
the sun to his chambers in the west without a steed which in
appearance should do honor alike to the rider and his friends.”
The body is buried at the sunsetting side of the camp, that the
spirit may accompany the setting sun to the world beyond. The spirit
starts on its journey the following night after death has taken
place; if this occur at night, the journey is not begun until the
next night.
_Mourning observances._--All the effects of the deceased, the tents,
blankets, clothes, treasures, and whatever of value, aside from the
articles which have been buried with the body, are burned, so that
the family is left in poverty. This practice has extended even to
the burning of wagons and harness since some of the civilized habits
have been adopted. It is believed that these ascend to heaven in the
smoke, and will thus be of service to the owner in the other world.
Immediately upon the death of a member of the household, the
relatives begin a peculiar wailing, and the immediate members of the
family take off their customary apparel and clothe themselves in
rags and cut themselves across the arms, breast, and other portions
of the body, until sometimes a fond wife or mother faints from loss
of blood. This scarification is usually accomplished with a knife,
or, as in earlier days, with a flint. Hired mourners are employed at
times who are in no way related to the family, but who are
accomplished in the art of crying for the dead. These are invariably
women. Those nearly related to the departed, cut off the long locks
from the entire head, while those more distantly related, or special
friends, cut the hair only from one side of the head. In case of the
death of a chief, the young warriors also cut the hair, usually from
the left side of the head.
After the first few days of continued grief, the mourning is
conducted more especially at sunrise and sunset, as the Comanches
venerate the sun; and the mourning at these seasons is kept up, if
the death occurred in summer, until the leaves fall, or, if in the
winter, until they reappear.
It is a matter of some interest to note that the preparation of the
corpse and the grave among the Comanches is almost identical with the
burial customs of some of the African tribes, and the baling of the body
with ropes or cords is a wide and common usage of savage peoples. The
hiring of mourners is also a practice which has been very prevalent from
remotest periods of time.
_GRAVE BURIAL._
The following interesting account of burial among the Pueblo Indians of
San Geronimo de Taos, New Mexico, furnished by Judge Anthony Joseph,
will show in a manner how civilized customs have become engrafted upon
those of a more barbaric nature. It should be remembered that the Pueblo
people are next to the Cherokees, Choctaws, and others in the Indian
Territory, the most civilized of our tribes.
According to Judge Joseph, these people call themselves _Wee-ka-nahs_.
These are commonly known to the whites as _Piros_. The manner of
burial by these Indians, both ancient and modern, as far as I can
ascertain from information obtained from the most intelligent of the
tribe, is that the body of the dead is and has been always buried in
the ground in a horizontal position with the flat bottom of the
grave. The grave is generally dug out of the ground in the usual and
ordinary manner, being about 6 feet deep, 7 feet long, and about 2
feet wide. It is generally finished after receiving its occupant by
being leveled with the hard ground around it, never leaving, as is
customary with the whites, a mound to mark the spot. This tribe of
Pueblo Indians never cremated their dead, as they do not know, even
by tradition, that it was ever done or attempted. There are no
utensils or implements placed in the grave, but there are a great
many Indian ornaments, such as beads of all colors, sea-shells,
hawk-bells, round looking-glasses, and a profusion of ribbons of all
imaginable colors; then they paint the body with red vermilion and
white chalk, giving it a most fantastic as well as ludicrous
appearance. They also place a variety of food in the grave as a wise
provision for its long journey to the happy hunting-ground beyond
the clouds.
The funeral ceremonies of this tribe are very peculiar. First, after
death, the body is laid out on a fancy buffalo robe spread out on
the ground, then they dress the body in the best possible manner in
their style of dress; if a male, they put on his beaded leggins and
embroidered _saco_, and his fancy dancing-moccasins, and his large
brass or shell ear-rings; if a female, they put on her best manta or
dress, tied around the waist with a silk sash, put on her feet her
fancy dancing-moccasins; her _rosario_ around her neck, her brass or
shell ear-rings in her ears, and with her tressed black hair tied up
with red tape or ribbon, this completes her wardrobe for her long
and happy chase. When they get through dressing the body, they place
about a dozen lighted candles around it, and keep them burning
continually until the body is buried. As soon as the candles are
lighted, the _veloris_, or wake, commences; the body lies in state
for about twenty-four hours, and in that time all the friends,
relatives, and neighbors of the deceased or “_difunti_” visit the
wake, chant, sing, and pray for the soul of the same, and tell one
another of the good deeds and traits of valor and courage manifested
by the deceased during his earthly career, and at intervals in their
praying, singing, &c., some near relative of the deceased will step
up to the corpse and every person in the room commences to cry
bitterly and express aloud words of endearment to the deceased and
of condolence to the family of the same in their untimely
bereavement.
At about midnight supper is announced, and every person in
attendance marches out into another room and partakes of a frugal
Indian meal, generally composed of wild game; Chilé Colorado or
red-pepper tortillas, and guayaves, with a good supply of mush and
milk, which completes the festive board of the _veloris_ or wake.
When the deceased is in good circumstances, the crowd in attendance
is treated every little while during the wake to alcoholic
refreshments. This feast and feasting is kept up until the Catholic
priest arrives to perform the funeral rites.
When the priest arrives, the corpse is done up or rather baled up in
a large and well-tanned buffalo robe, and tied around tight with a
rope or lasso made for the purpose; then six or eight men act as
pall-bearers, conducting the body to the place of burial, which is
in front of their church or chapel. The priest conducts the funeral
ceremonies in the ordinary and usual way of mortuary proceedings
observed by the Catholic church all over the world. While the
grave-diggers are filling up the grave, the friends, relatives,
neighbors, and, in fact, all persons that attend the funeral, give
vent to their sad feelings by making the whole pueblo howl; after
the tremendous uproar subsides, they disband and leave the body to
rest until Gabriel blows his trumpet. When the ceremonies are
performed with all the pomp of the Catholic church, the priest
receives a fair compensation for his services; otherwise he
officiates for the yearly rents that all the Indians of the pueblo
pay him, which amount in the sum total to about $2,000 per annum.
These Pueblo Indians are very strict in their mourning observance,
which last for one year after the demise of the deceased. While in
mourning for the dead, the mourners do not participate in the
national festivities of the tribe, which are occasions of state with
them, but they retire into a state of sublime quietude which makes
more civilized people sad to observe; but when the term of mourning
ceases, at the end of the year, they have high mass said for the
benefit of the soul of the departed; after this they again appear
upon the arena of their wild sports and continue to be gay and happy
until the next mortal is called from this terrestrial sphere to the
happy hunting-ground, which is their pictured celestial paradise.
The above cited facts, which are the most interesting points
connected with the burial customs of the Indians of the pueblo San
Geronimo de Taos, are not in the least exaggerated, but are the
absolute facts, which I have witnessed myself in many instances for
a period of more than twenty years that I have resided but a short
distant from said pueblo, and, being a close observer of their
peculiar burial customs, am able to give you this true and
undisguised information relative to your circular on “burial
customs.”
Another example of the care which is taken to prevent the earth coming
in contact with the corpse may be found in the account of the burial of
the Wichita Indians of Indian Territory, furnished by Dr. Fordyce
Grinnell, whose name has already been mentioned in connection with the
Comanche customs. The Wichitas call themselves _Kitty-ka-tats_, or those
of the tattooed eyelids.
When a Wichita dies the town-crier goes up and down through the
village and announces the fact. Preparations are immediately made
for the burial, and the body is taken without delay to the grave
prepared for its reception. If the grave is some distance from the
village, the body is carried thither on the back of a pony, being
first wrapped in blankets and then laid prone, across the saddle,
one person walking on either side to support it. The grave is dug
from three to four feet deep and of sufficient length for the
extended body. First blankets and buffalo-robes are laid in the
bottom of the grave, then the body, being taken from the horse and
unwrapped, is dressed in its best apparel and with ornaments is
placed upon a couch of blankets and robes, with the head towards the
west and the feet to the east; the valuables belonging to the
deceased are placed with the body in the grave. With the man are
deposited his bows and arrows or gun, and with the woman her cooking
utensils and other implements of her toil. Over the body sticks are
placed six or eight inches deep and grass over these, so that when
the earth is filled in, it need not come in contact with the body or
its trappings. After the grave is filled with earth, a pen of poles
is built around it, or as is frequently the case, stakes are driven
so that they cross each other from either side about midway over the
grave, thus forming a complete protection from the invasion of wild
animals. After all this is done, the grass or other _debris_ is
carefully scraped from about the grave for several feet, so that the
ground is left smooth and clean. It is seldom the case that the
relatives accompany the remains to the grave, but they more often
employ others to bury the body for them, usually women. Mourning is
similar in this tribe, as in others, and it consists in cutting off
the hair, fasting, &c. Horses are also killed at the grave.
The Caddoes, _Ascena_, or Timber Indians, as they call themselves,
follow nearly the same mode of burial as the Wichitas, but one custom
prevailing is worthy of mention:
If a Caddo is killed in battle, the body is never buried, but is
left to be devoured by beasts or birds of prey, and the condition of
such individuals in the other world is considered to be far better
than that of persons dying a natural death.
In a work by Bruhier[9] the following remarks, freely translated by the
writer, may be found, which note a custom having great similarity to the
exposure of bodies to wild beasts mentioned above:
The ancient Persians threw out the bodies of their dead on the
roads, and if they were promptly devoured by wild beasts it was
esteemed a great honor, a misfortune if not. Sometimes they
interred, always wrapping the dead in a wax cloth to prevent odor.
M. Pierre Muret,[10] from whose book Bruhier probably obtained his
information, gives at considerable length an account of this peculiar
method of treating the dead among the Persians, as follows:
It is a matter of astonishment, considering the _Persians_ have ever
had the renown of being one of the most civilized Nations in the
world, that notwithstanding they should have used such barbarous
customs about the Dead as are set down in the Writings of some
Historians; and the rather because at this day there are still to be
seen among them those remains of Antiquity, which do fully satisfie
us, that their Tombs have been very magnificent. And yet
nevertheless, if we will give credit to _Procopius_ and _Agathias_,
the _Persians_ were never wont to bury their Dead Bodies, so far
were they from bestowing any Funeral Honours upon them: But, as
these Authors tell us, they exposed them stark naked in the open
fields, which is the greatest shame our Laws do allot to the most
infamous Criminals, by laying them open to the view of all upon the
highways: Yea, in their opinion it was a great unhappiness, if
either Birds or Beasts did not devour their Carcases; and they
commonly made an estimate of the Felicity of these poor Bodies,
according as they were sooner or later made a prey of. Concerning
these, they resolved that they must needs have been very bad indeed,
since even the beasts themselves would not touch them; which caused
an extream sorrow to their Relations, they taking it for an ill
boding to their Family, and an infallible presage of some great
misfortune hanging over their heads; for they persuaded themselves,
that the Souls which inhabited those Bodies being dragg’d into Hell,
would not fail to come and trouble them; and that being always
accompanied with the Devils, their Tormentors, they would certainly
give them a great deal of disturbance.
And on the contrary, when these Corpses were presently devoured,
their joy was very great, they enlarged themselves in praises of the
Deceased; every one esteeming them undoubtedly happy, and came to
congratulate their relations on that account: For as they believed
assuredly, that they were entered into the _Elysian_ Fields, so they
were persuaded, that they would procure the same bliss for all those
of their family.
They also took a great delight to see Skeletons and Bones scatered
up and down in the fields, whereas we can scarcely endure to see
those of Horses and Dogs used so. And these remains of Humane
Bodies, (the sight whereof gives us so much horror, that we
presently bury them out of our sight, whenever we find them
elsewhere than in Charnel-houses or Church-yards) were the occasion
of their greatest joy; beecause they concluded from thence the
happiness of those that had been devoured, wishing after their Death
to meet with the like good luck.
The same author states, and Bruhier corroborates the assertion, that the
Parthians, Medes, Iberians, Caspians, and a few others, had such a
horror and aversion of the corruption and decomposition of the dead, and
of their being eaten by worms, that they threw out the bodies into the
open fields to be devoured by wild beasts, a part of their belief being
that persons so devoured would not be entirely extinct, but enjoy at
least a partial sort of life in their living sepulchers. It is quite
probable that for these and other reasons the Bactrians and Hircanians
trained dogs for this special purpose, called _Canes sepulchrales_,
which received the greatest care and attention, for it was deemed proper
that the souls of the deceased should have strong and lusty frames to
dwell in.
The Buddhists of Bhotan are said to expose the bodies of their dead on
top of high rocks.
According to Tegg, whose work is quoted frequently, in the London Times
of January 28, 1876, Mr. Monier Williams writes from Calcutta regarding
the “Towers of Silence,” so called, of the Parsees, who, it is well
known, are the descendants of the ancient Persians expelled from Persia
by the Mohammedan conquerors, and settled at Surat about 1,100 years
since. This gentleman’s narrative is freely made use of to show how the
custom of the exposure of the dead to birds of prey has continued up to
the present time.
The Dakhmas, or Parsee towers of silence, are erected in a garden on
the highest point of Malabar Hill, a beautiful, rising ground on one
side of Black Bay, noted for the bungalows and compounds of the
European and wealthier inhabitants of Bombay scattered in every
direction over its surface.
The garden is approached by a well-constructed, private road, all
access to which, except to Parsees, is barred by strong iron gates.
The garden is described as being very beautiful, and he says:
No English nobleman’s garden could be better kept, and no pen could
do justice to the glories of its flowering shrubs, cypresses, and
palms. It seemed the very ideal, not only of a place of sacred
silence, but of peaceful rest.
The towers are five in number, built of hardest black granite, about 40
feet in diameter and 25 in height, and constructed so solidly as almost
to resist absolutely the ravages of time. The oldest and smallest of the
towers was constructed about 200 years since, when the Parsees first
settled in Bombay, and is used only for a certain family. The next
oldest was erected in 1756, and the three others during the next
century. A sixth tower of square shape stands alone, and is only used
for criminals.
The writer proceeds as follows:
Though wholly destitute of ornament and even of the simplest
moldings, the parapet of each tower possesses an extraordinary
coping, which instantly attracts and fascinates the gaze. It is a
coping formed not of dead stone, but of living vultures. These
birds, on the occasion of my visit, had settled themselves side by
side in perfect order and in a complete circle around the parapets
of the towers, with their heads pointing inwards, and so lazily did
they sit there, and so motionless was their whole mien, that except
for their color, they might have been carved out of the stonework.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.--Parsee Towers of Silence (interior).]
No one is allowed to enter the towers except the corpse-bearers, nor is
any one permitted within thirty feet of the immediate precincts. A model
was shown Mr. Williams, and from it he drew up this description:
Imagine a round column or massive cylinder, 12 or 14 feet high and
at least 40 feet in diameter, built throughout of solid stone except
in the center, where a well, 5 or 6 feet across, leads down to an
excavation under the masonry, containing four drains at right angles
to each other, terminated by holes filled with charcoal. Round the
upper surface of this solid circular cylinder, and completely hiding
the interior from view, is a stone parapet, 10 or 12 feet in height.
This it is which, when viewed from the outside, appears to form one
piece with the solid stone-work, and being, like it, covered with
chunam, gives the whole the appearance of a low tower. The upper
surface of the solid stone column is divided into 72 compartments,
or open receptacles, radiating like the spokes of a wheel from the
central well, and arranged in three concentric rings, separated from
each other by narrow ridges of stone, which are grooved to act as
channels for conveying all moisture from the receptacles into the
well and into the lower drains. It should be noted that the number
“3” is emblematical of Zoroaster’s three precepts, and the number
“72” of the chapters of his Yasna, a portion of the Zend-Avestá.
Each circle of open stone coffins is divided from the next by a
pathway, so that there are three circular pathways, the last
encircling the central well, and these three pathways are crossed by
another pathway conducting from the solitary door which admits the
corpse-bearers from the exterior. In the outermost circle of the
stone coffins are placed the bodies of males, in the middle those of
the females, and in the inner and smallest circle nearest the well
those of children.
While I was engaged with the secretary in examining the model,
a sudden stir among the vultures made us raise our heads. At least a
hundred birds collected round one of the towers began to show
symptoms of excitement, while others swooped down from neighboring
trees. The cause of this sudden abandonment of their previous apathy
soon revealed itself. A funeral was seen to be approaching. However
distant the house of a deceased person, and whether he be rich or
poor, high or low in rank, his body is always carried to the towers
by the official corpse-bearers, called _Nasasalár_, who form a
distinct class, the mourners walking behind.
Before they remove the body from the house where the relatives are
assembled, funeral prayers are recited, and the corpse is exposed to
the gaze of a dog, regarded by the Parsees as a sacred animal. This
latter ceremony is called _sagdid_.
Then the body, swathed in a white sheet, is placed in a curved metal
trough, open at both ends, and the corpse-bearers, dressed in pure
white garments, proceed with it towards the towers. They are
followed by the mourners at a distance of at least 30 feet, in
pairs, also dressed in white, and each couple joined by holding a
white handkerchief between them. The particular funeral I witnessed
was that of a child. When the two corpse-bearers reached the path
leading by a steep incline to the door of the tower, the mourners,
about eight in number, turned back and entered one of the
prayer-houses. “There,” said the secretary, “they repeat certain
gáthás, and pray that the spirit of the deceased may be safely
transported, on the fourth day after death, to its final
resting-place.”
The tower selected for the present funeral was one in which other
members of the same family had before been laid. The two bearers
speedily unlocked the door, reverently conveyed the body of the
child into the interior, and, unseen by any one, laid it uncovered
in one of the open stone receptacles nearest the central well. In
two minutes they reappeared with the empty bier and white cloth, and
scarcely had they closed the door when a dozen vultures swooped down
upon the body and were rapidly followed by others. In five minutes
more we saw the satiated birds fly back and lazily settle down again
upon the parapet. They had left nothing behind but a skeleton.
Meanwhile, the bearers were seen to enter a building shaped like a
high barrel. There, as the secretary informed me, they changed their
clothes and washed themselves. Shortly afterwards we saw them come
out and deposit their cast-off funeral garments in a stone
receptacle near at hand. Not a thread leaves the garden, lest it
should carry defilement into the city. Perfectly new garments are
supplied at each funeral. In a fortnight, or, at most, four weeks,
the same bearers return, and, with gloved hands and implements
resembling tongs, place the dry skeleton in the central well. There
the bones find their last resting-place, and there the dust of whole
generations of Parsees commingling is left undisturbed for
centuries.
The revolting sight of the gorged vultures made me turn my back on
the towers with ill-concealed abhorrence. I asked the secretary how
it was possible to become reconciled to such usage. His reply was
nearly in the following words: “Our prophet Zoroaster, who lived
6,000 years ago, taught us to regard the elements as symbols of the
Deity. Earth, fire, water, he said, ought never, under any
circumstances, to be defiled by contact with putrefying flesh.
Naked, he said, came we into the world and naked we ought to leave
it. But the decaying particles of our bodies should be dissipated as
rapidly as possible and in such a way that neither Mother Earth nor
the beings she supports should be contaminated in the slightest
degree. In fact, our prophet was the greatest of health officers,
and, following his sanitary laws, we build our towers on the tops of
the hills, above all human habitations. We spare no expense in
constructing them of the hardest materials, and we expose our
putrescent bodies in open stone receptacles, resting on fourteen
feet of solid granite, not necessarily to be consumed by vultures,
but to be dissipated in the speediest possible manner and without
the possibility of polluting the earth or contaminating a single
being dwelling thereon. God, indeed, sends the vultures, and, as a
matter of fact, these birds do their appointed work much more
expeditiously than millions of insects would do if we committed our
bodies to the ground. In a sanitary point of view, nothing can be
more perfect than our plan. Even the rain-water which washes our
skeletons is conducted by channels into purifying charcoal. Here in
these five towers rest the bones of all the Parsees that have lived
in Bombay for the last two hundred years. We form a united body in
life and we are united in death.”
It would appear that the reasons given for this peculiar mode of
disposing of the dead by the Parsee secretary are quite at variance with
the ideas advanced by Muret regarding the ancient Persians, and to which
allusion has already been made. It might be supposed that somewhat
similar motives to those governing the Parsees actuated those of the
North American Indians who deposit their dead on scaffolds and trees,
but the theory becomes untenable when it is recollected that great care
is taken to preserve the dead from the ravages of carnivorous birds, the
corpse being carefully enveloped in skins and firmly tied up with ropes
or thongs.
Figures 3 and 4 are representations of the Parsee towers of silence,
drawn by Mr. Holmes, mainly from the description given.
[Illustration: FIG. 4.--Parsee Towers of Silence.]
George Gibbs[11] gives the following account of burial among the Klamath
and Trinity Indians of the Northwest coast, the information having been
originally furnished him by James G. Swan.
The graves, which are in the immediate vicinity of their houses,
exhibit very considerable taste and a laudable care. The dead are
inclosed in rude coffins formed by placing four boards around the
body, and covered with earth to some depth; a heavy plank, often
supported by upright head and foot stones, is laid upon the top, or
stones are built up into a wall about a foot above the ground, and
the top flagged with others. The graves of the chiefs are surrounded
by neat wooden palings, each pale ornamented with a feather from the
tail of the bald eagle. Baskets are usually staked down by the side,
according to the wealth or popularity of the individual, and
sometimes other articles for ornament or use are suspended over
them. The funeral ceremonies occupy three days, during which the
soul of the deceased is in danger from _O-mah-á_, or the devil. To
preserve it from this peril, a fire is kept up at the grave, and the
friends of the deceased howl around it to scare away the demon.
Should they not be successful in this the soul is carried down the
river, subject, however, to redemption by _Péh-ho-wan_ on payment of
a big knife. After the expiration of three days it is all well with
them.
The question may well be asked, is the big knife a “sop to Cerberus”?
To Dr. Charles E. McChesney, acting assistant surgeon, United States
Army, one of the most conscientious and careful of observers, the writer
is indebted for the following interesting account of the mortuary
customs of the