Though some few of this tribe now lay their dead in rude boxes,
either burying them when implements for digging can be had, or, when
they have no means of making a grave, placing them on top of the
ground on some hill or other slight elevation, yet this is done in
imitation of the whites, and their general custom, as a people,
probably does not differ in any essential way from that of their
forefathers for many generations in the past. In disposing of the
dead, they wrap the body tightly in blankets or robes (sometimes
both) wind it all over with thongs made of the hide of some animal
and place it reclining on the back at full length, either in the
branches of some tree or on a scaffold made for the purpose. These
scaffolds are about eight feet high and made by planting four forked
sticks firmly in the ground, one at each corner and then placing
others across on top, so as to form a floor on which the body is
securely fastened. Sometimes more than one body is placed on the
same scaffold, though generally a separate one is made for each
occasion. These Indians being in all things most superstitious,
attach a kind of sacredness to these scaffolds and all the materials
used or about the dead. This superstition is in itself sufficient to
prevent any of their own people from disturbing the dead, and for
one of another nation to in any wise meddle with them is considered
an offense not too severely punished by death. The same feeling also
prevents them from ever using old scaffolds or any of the wood which
has been used about them, even for firewood, though the necessity
may be very great, for fear some evil consequences will follow. It
is also the custom, though not universally followed, when bodies
have been for two years on the scaffolds to take them down and bury
them under ground.
[Illustration: FIG. 15.--Dakota Scaffold Burial.]
[Illustration: FIG. 16.--Offering Food to the Dead.]
All the work about winding up the dead, building the scaffold, and
placing the dead upon it is done by women only, who, after having
finished their labor, return and bring the men, to show them where
the body is placed, that they may be able to find it in future.
Valuables of all kinds, such as weapons, ornaments, pipes, &c.--in
short, whatever the deceased valued most highly while living, and
locks of hair cut from the heads of the mourners at his death, are
always bound up with the body. In case the dead was a man of
importance, or if the family could afford it, even though he were
not, one or several horses (generally, in the former case, those
which the departed thought most of) are shot and placed under the
scaffold. The idea in this is that the spirit of the horse will
accompany and be of use to his spirit in the “happy hunting
grounds,” or, as these people express it, “the spirit land.”
When an Indian dies, and in some cases even before death occurs, the
friends and relatives assemble at the lodge and begin crying over
the departed or departing one. This consists in uttering the most
heartrending, almost hideous wails and lamentations, in which all
join until exhausted. Then the mourning ceases for a time until some
one starts it again, when all join in as before and keep it up until
unable to cry longer. This is kept up until the body is removed.
This crying is done almost wholly by women, who gather in large
numbers on such occasions, and among them a few who are professional
mourners. These are generally old women and go whenever a person is
expected to die, to take the leading part in the lamentations,
knowing that they will be well paid at the distribution of goods
which follows. As soon as death takes place, the body is dressed by
the women in the best garments and blankets obtainable, new ones if
they can be afforded. The crowd gathered near continue wailing
piteously, and from time to time cut locks of hair from their own
heads with knives, and throw them on the dead body. Those who wish
to show their grief most strongly, cut themselves in various places,
generally in the legs and arms, with their knives or pieces of
flint, more commonly the latter, causing the blood to flow freely
over their persons. This custom is followed to a less degree by the
men.
A body is seldom kept longer than one day as, besides the desire to
get the dead out of sight, the fear that the disease which caused
the death will communicate itself to others of the family causes
them to hasten the disposition of it as soon as they are certain
that death has actually taken place.
Until the body is laid away the mourners eat nothing. After that is
done, connected with which there seems to be no particular ceremony,
the few women who attend to it return to the lodge and a
distribution is made among them and others, not only of the
remaining property of the deceased, but of all the possessions, even
to the lodge itself of the family to which he belonged. This custom
in some cases has been carried so far as to leave the rest of the
family not only absolutely destitute but actually naked. After
continuing in this condition for a time, they gradually reach the
common level again by receiving gifts from various sources.
The received custom requires of women, near relatives of the dead,
a strict observance of the ten days following the death, as follows:
They are to rise at a very early hour and work unusually hard all
day, joining in no feast, dance, game, or other diversion, eat but
little, and retire late, that they may be deprived of the usual
amount of sleep as of food. During this they never paint themselves,
but at various times go to the top of some hill and bewail the dead
in loud cries and lamentations for hours together. After the ten
days have expired they paint themselves again and engage in the
usual amusements of the people as before. The men are expected to
mourn and fast for one day and then go on the war-path against some
other tribe, or on some long journey alone. If he prefers, he can
mourn and fast for two or more days and remain at home. The custom
of placing food at the scaffold also prevails to some extent. If but
little is placed there it is understood to be for the spirit of the
dead, and no one is allowed to touch it. If much is provided, it is
done with the intention that those of the same sex and age as the
deceased shall meet there and consume it. If the dead be a little
girl, the young girls meet and eat what is provided; if it be a man,
then men assemble for the same purpose. The relatives never mention
the name of the dead.
“KEEPING THE GHOST.”
Still another custom, though at the present day by no means
generally followed, is still observed to some extent among them.
This is called _wanagee yuhapee_, or “keeping the ghost.” A little
of the hair from the head of the deceased being preserved is bound
up in calico and articles of value until the roll is about two feet
long and ten inches or more in diameter, when it is placed in a case
made of hide handsomely ornamented with various designs in different
colored paints. When the family is poor, however, they may
substitute for this case blue or scarlet blanket or cloth. The roll
is then swung lengthwise between two supports made of sticks, placed
thus × in front of a lodge which has been set apart for the purpose.
In this lodge are gathered presents of all kinds, which are given
out when a sufficient quantity is obtained. It is often a year and
sometimes several years before this distribution is made. During all
this time the roll containing the hair of the deceased is left
undisturbed in front of the lodge. The gifts as they are brought in
are piled in the back part of the lodge, and are not to be touched
until given out. No one but men and boys are admitted to the lodge
unless it be a wife of the deceased, who may go in if necessary very
early in the morning. The men sit inside, as they choose, to smoke,
eat, and converse. As they smoke they empty the ashes from their
pipes in the center of the lodge, and they, too, are left
undisturbed until after the distribution. When they eat, a portion
is always placed first under the roll outside for the spirit of the
deceased. No one is allowed to take this unless a large quantity is
so placed, in which case it may be eaten by any persons actually in
need of food, even though strangers to the dead. When the proper
time comes the friends of the deceased and all to whom presents are
to be given are called together to the lodge and the things are
given out by the man in charge. Generally this is some near relative
of the departed. The roll is now undone and small locks of the hair
distributed with the other presents, which ends the ceremony.
Sometimes this “keeping the ghost” is done several times, and it is
then looked upon as a repetition of the burial or putting away of
the dead. During all the time before the distribution of the hair,
the lodge, as well as the roll, is looked upon as in a manner
sacred, but after that ceremony it becomes common again and may be
used for any ordinary purpose. No relative or near friend of the
dead wishes to retain anything in his possession that belonged to
him while living, or to see, hear, or own anything which will remind
him of the departed. Indeed, the leading idea in all their burial
customs in the laying away with the dead their most valuable
possessions, the giving to others what is left of his and the family
property, the refusal to mention his name, &c., is to put out of
mind as soon and as effectual as possible the memory of the
departed.
From what has been said, however, it will be seen that they believe
each person to have a spirit which continues to live after the death
of the body. They have no idea of a future life in the body, but
believe that after death their spirits will meet and recognize the
spirits of their departed friends in the spirit land. They deem it
essential to their happiness here, however, to destroy as far as
practicable their recollection of the dead. They frequently speak of
death as a sleep, and of the dead as asleep or having gone to sleep
at such a time. These customs are gradually losing their hold upon
them, and are much less generally and strictly observed than
formerly.
Figure 15 furnishes a good example of scaffold burial. Figure 16,
offering of food and drink to the dead. Figure 17, depositing the dead
upon the scaffold.
[Illustration: FIG. 17.--Depositing the Corpse.]
[Illustration: FIG. 18.--Tree-burial.]
A. Delano,[66] mentions as follows an example of tree-burial which he
noticed in Nebraska.
* * * During the afternoon we passed a Sioux burying-ground, if I
may be allowed to use an Irishism. In a hackberry tree, elevated
about twenty feet from the ground, a kind of rack was made of broken
tent poles, and the body (for there was but one) was placed upon it,
wrapped in his blanket, and a tanned buffalo skin, with his tin cup,
moccasins, and various things which he had used in life, were placed
upon his body, for his use in the land of spirits.
Figure 18 represents tree-burial, from a sketch drawn by my friend Dr.
Washington Matthews, United States Army.
John Young, Indian agent at the Blackfeet Agency, Montana, sends the
following account of tree-burial among this tribe:
Their manner of burial has always been (until recently) to inclose
the dead body in robes or blankets, the best owned by the departed,
closely sewed up, and then, if a male or chief, fasten in the
branches of a tree so high as to be beyond the reach of wolves, and
then left to slowly waste in the dry winds. If the body was that of
a squaw or child, it was thrown into the underbrush or jungle, where
it soon became the prey of the wild animals. The weapons, pipes,
&c., of men were inclosed, and the small toys of children with them.
The ceremonies were equally barbarous, the relatives cutting off,
according to the depth of their grief, one or more joints of the
fingers, divesting themselves of clothing even in the coldest
weather, and filling the air with their lamentations. All the sewing
up and burial process was conducted by the squaws, as the men would
not touch nor remain in proximity to a dead body.
The following account of scaffold burial among the Gros Ventres and
Mandans of Dakota is furnished by E. H. Alden, United States Indian
agent at Fort Berthold:
The Gros Ventres and Mandans never bury in the ground, but always on
a scaffold, made of four posts about eight feet high, on which the
box is placed, or, if no box is used, the body wrapped in red or
blue cloth if able, or, if not, a blanket of cheapest white cloth,
the tools and weapons being placed directly under the body, and
there they remain forever, no Indian ever daring to touch one of
them. It would be bad medicine to touch the dead or anything so
placed belonging to him. Should the body by any means fall to the
ground, it is never touched or replaced on the scaffold. As soon as
one dies he is immediately buried, sometimes within an hour, and the
friends begin howling and wailing as the process of interment goes
on, and continue mourning day and night around the grave, without
food sometimes three or four days. Those who mourn are always paid
for it in some way by the other friends of the deceased, and those
who mourn the longest are paid the most. They also show their grief
and affection for the dead by a fearful cutting of their own bodies,
sometimes only in part, and sometimes all over their whole flesh,
and this sometimes continues for weeks. Their hair, which is worn in
long braids, is also cut off to show their mourning. They seem proud
of their mutilations. A young man who had just buried his mother
came in boasting of, and showing his mangled legs.
According to Thomas L. McKenney,[67] the Chippewas of Fond du Lac, Wis.,
buried on scaffolds, inclosing the corpse in a box. The narrative is as
follows:
One mode of burying the dead among the Chippewas is to place the
coffin or box containing their remains on two cross-pieces, nailed
or tied with wattap to four poles. The poles are about ten feet
high. They plant near these posts the wild hop or some other kind of
running vine, which spreads over and covers the coffin. I saw one of
these on the island, and as I have described it. It was the coffin
of a child about four years old. It was near the lodge of the sick
girl. I have a sketch of it. I asked the chief why his people
disposed of their dead in that way. He answered they did not like to
put them out of their sight so soon by putting them under ground.
Upon a platform they could see the box that contained their remains,
and that was a comfort to them.
Figure 19 is copied from McKenney’s picture of this form of burial.
Keating[68] thus describes burial scaffolds:
On these scaffolds, which are from eight to ten feet high, corpses
were deposited in a box made from part of a broken canoe. Some hair
was suspended, which we at first mistook for a scalp, but our guide
informed us that these were locks of hair torn from their heads by
the relatives to testify their grief. In the center, between the
four posts which supported the scaffold, a stake was planted in the
ground, it was about six feet high, and bore an imitation of human
figures, five of which had a design of a petticoat indicating them
to be females; the rest amounting to seven, were naked and were
intended for male figures; of the latter four were headless, showing
that they had been slain, the three other male figures were
unmutilated, but held a staff in their hand, which, as our guide
informed us designated that they were slaves. The post, which is an
usual accompaniment to the scaffold that supports a warrior’s
remains, does not represent the achievements of the deceased, but
those of the warriors that assembled near his remains danced the
dance of the post, and related their martial exploits. A number of
small bones of animals were observed in the vicinity, which were
probably left there after a feast celebrated in honor of the dead.
The boxes in which the corpses were placed are so short that a man
could not lie in them extended at full length, but in a country
where boxes and boards are scarce this is overlooked. After the
corpses have remained a certain time exposed, they are taken down
and burned. Our guide, Renville, related to us that he had been a
witness to an interesting, though painful, circumstance that
occurred here. An Indian who resided on the Mississippi, hearing
that his son had died at this spot, came up in a canoe to take
charge of the remains and convey them down the river to his place of
abode but on his arrival he found that the corpse had already made
such progress toward decomposition as rendered it impossible for it
to be removed. He then undertook with a few friends, to clean off
the bones. All the flesh was scraped off and thrown into the stream,
the bones were carefully collected into his canoe, and subsequently
carried down to his residence.
Interesting and valuable from the extreme attention paid to details is
the following account of a burial case discovered by Dr. George M.
Sternberg, United States Army, and furnished by Dr. George A. Otis,
United States Army, Army Medical Museum, Washington, D.C. It relates to
the Cheyennes of Kansas.
The case was found, Brevet Major Sternberg states, on the banks of
Walnut Creek, Kansas, elevated about eight feet from the ground by
four notched poles, which were firmly planted in the ground. The
unusual care manifested in the preparation of the case induced Dr.
Sternberg to infer that some important chief was inclosed in it.
Believing that articles of interest were inclosed with the body, and
that their value would be enhanced if the were received at the
Museum as left by the Indians, Dr. Sternberg determined to send the
case unopened.
[Illustration: FIG. 19.--Chippewa Scaffold Burial.]
I had the case opened this morning and an inventory made of the
contents. The case consisted of a cradle of interlaced branches of
white willow, about six feet long, three feet broad, and three feet
high, with a flooring of buffalo thongs arranged as a net-work. This
cradle was securely fastened by strips of buffalo-hide to four poles
of ironwood and cottonwood, about twelve feet in length. These poles
doubtless rested upon the forked extremities of the vertical poles
described by Dr. Sternberg. The cradle was wrapped in two buffalo
robes of large size and well preserved. On removing these an
aperture eighteen inches square was found at the middle of the
right-side of the cradle or basket. Within appeared other buffalo
robes folded about the remains, and secured by gaudy-colored sashes.
Five robes were successively removed, making seven in all. Then we
came to a series of new blankets folded about the remains. There
were five in all--two scarlet, two blue, and one white. These being
removed, the next wrappings consisted of a striped white and gray
sack, and of a United States Infantry overcoat, like the other
coverings nearly new. We had now come apparently upon the immediate
envelope of the remains, which it was now evident must be those of a
child. These consisted of three robes, with hoods very richly
ornamented with bead-work. These robes or cloaks were of
buffalo-calf skin about four feet in length, elaborately decorated
with bead-work in stripes. The outer was covered with rows of blue
and white bead-work, the second was green and yellow, and the third
blue and red. All were further adorned by spherical brass bells
attached all about the borders by strings of beads.
The remains with their wrappings lay upon a matting similar to that
used by the Navajo and other Indians of the southern plains, and
upon a pillow of dirty rags, in which were folded a bag of red
paint, bits of antelope skin, bunches of straps, buckles, &c. The
three bead-work hooded cloaks were now removed, and then we
successively unwrapped a gray woolen double shawl, five yards of
blue cassimere, six yards of red calico, and six yards of brown
calico, and finally disclosed the remains of a child, probably about
a year old, in an advanced stage of decomposition. The cadaver had a
beaver-cap ornamented with disks of copper containing the bones of
the cranium, which had fallen apart. About the neck were long wampum
necklaces, with _Dentalium_, _Unionidæ_, and _Auriculæ_,
interspersed with beads. There were also strings of the pieces of
_Haliotis_ from the Gulf of California, so valued by the Indians on
this side of the Rocky Mountains. The body had been elaborately
dressed for burial, the costume consisting of a red-flannel cloak,
a red tunic, and frock-leggins adorned with bead-work, yarn
stockings of red and black worsted, and deer-skin beadwork
moccasins. With the remains were numerous trinkets, a porcelain
image, a China vase, strings of beads, several toys, a pair of
mittens, a fur collar, a pouch of the skin of _Putorius vison_, &c.
Another extremely interesting account of scaffold-burial, furnished by
Dr. L. S. Turner, United States Army, Fort Peck, Mont., and relating to
the Sioux, is here given entire, as it refers to certain curious
mourning observances which have prevailed to a great extent over the
entire globe:
The Dakotas bury their dead in the tops of trees when limbs can be
found sufficiently horizontal to support scaffolding on which to lay
the body, but as such growth is not common in Dakota, the more
general practice is to lay them upon scaffolds from seven to ten
feet high and out of the reach of carnivorous animals, as the wolf.
These scaffolds are constructed upon four posts set into the ground
something after the manner of the rude drawing which I inclose. Like
all labors of a domestic kind, the preparation for burial is left to
the women, usually the old women. The work begins as soon as life is
extinct. The face, neck, and hands are thickly painted with
vermilion, or a species of red earth found in various portions of
the Territory when the vermilion of the traders cannot be had. The
clothes and personal trinkets of the deceased ornament the body.
When blankets are available, it is then wrapped in one, all parts of
the body being completely enveloped. Around this a dressed skin of
buffalo is then securely wrapped, with the flesh side out, and the
whole securely bound with thongs of skins, either raw or dressed;
and for ornament, when available, a bright-red blanket envelopes all
other coverings, and renders the general scene more picturesque
until dimmed by time and the elements. As soon as the scaffold is
ready, the body is borne by the women, followed by the female
relatives, to the place of final deposit, and left prone in its
secure wrappings upon this airy bed of death. This ceremony is
accompanied with lamentations wild and weird that one must see and
hear in order to appreciate. If the deceased be a brave, it is
customary to place upon or beneath the scaffold a few buffalo-heads
which time has rendered dry and inoffensive; and if he has been
brave in war some of his implements of battle are placed on the
scaffold or securely tied to its timbers. If the deceased has been a
chief, or a soldier related to his chief, it is not uncommon to slay
his favorite pony and place the body beneath the scaffold, under the
superstition, I suppose, that the horse goes with the man. As
illustrating the propensity to provide the dead with the things used
while living, I may mention that some years ago I loaned to an old
man a delft urinal for the use of his son, a young man who was
slowly dying of a wasting disease. I made him promise faithfully
that he would return it as soon as his son was done using it. Not
long afterwards the urinal graced the scaffold which held the
remains of the dead warrior, and as it has not to this day been
returned I presume the young man is not done using it.
The mourning customs of the Dakotas, though few of them appear to be
of universal observance, cover considerable ground. The hair, never
cut under other circumstances, is cropped off even with the neck,
and the top of the head and forehead, and sometimes nearly the whole
body, are smeared with a species of white earth resembling chalk,
moistened with water. The lodge, teepee, and all the family
possessions except the few shabby articles of apparel worn by the
mourners, are given away and the family left destitute. Thus far the
custom is universal or nearly so. The wives, mother, and sisters of
a deceased man, on the first, second, or third day after the
funeral, frequently throw off their moccasins and leggings and gash
their legs with their butcher-knives, and march through the camp and
to the place of burial with bare and bleeding extremities, while
they chant or wail their dismal songs of mourning. The men likewise
often gash themselves in many places, and usually seek the solitude
of the higher point on the distant prairie, where they remain
fasting, smoking, and wailing out their lamentations for two or
three days. A chief who had lost a brother once came to me after
three or four days of mourning in solitude almost exhausted from
hunger and bodily anguish. He had gashed the outer side of both
lower extremities at intervals of a few inches all the way from the
ankles to the top of the hips. His wounds had inflamed from
exposure, and were suppurating freely. He assured me that he had not
slept for several days or nights. I dressed his wounds with a
soothing ointment, and gave him a full dose of an effective anodyne,
after which he slept long and refreshingly, and awoke to express his
gratitude and shake my hand in a very cordial and sincere manner.
When these harsher inflictions are not resorted to, the mourners
usually repair daily for a few days to the place of burial, toward
the hour of sunset, and chant their grief until it is apparently
assuaged by its own expression. This is rarely kept up for more than
four or five days, but is occasionally resorted to, at intervals,
for weeks, or even months, according to the mood of the bereft.
I have seen few things in life so touching as the spectacle of an
old father going daily to the grave of his child, while the shadows
are lengthening, and pouring out his grief in wails that would move
a demon, until his figure melts with the gray twilight, when, silent
and solemn, he returns to his desolate family. The weird effect of
this observance is sometimes heightened, when the deceased was a
grown-up son, by the old man kindling a little fire near the head of
the scaffold, and varying his lamentations with smoking in silence.
The foregoing is drawn from my memory of personal observances during
a period of more than six years’ constant intercourse with several
subdivisions of the Dakota Indians. There may be much which memory
has failed to recall upon a brief consideration.
[Illustration: FIG. 20.--Scarification at Burial.]
Figure 20 represents scarification as a form of grief-expression for the
dead.
Perhaps a brief review of Dr. Turner’s narrative may not be deemed
inappropriate here.
Supplying food to the dead is a custom which is known to be of great
antiquity; in some instances, as among the ancient Romans, it appears to
have been a sacrificial offering, for it usually accompanied cremation,
and was not confined to food alone, for spices, perfumes, oil, &c., were
thrown upon the burning pile. In addition to this, articles supposed or
known to have been agreeable to the deceased were also consumed. The
Jews did the same, and in our own time the Chinese, Caribs, and many of
the tribes of North American Indians followed these customs. The cutting
of hair as a mourning observance is of very great antiquity, and Tegg
relates that among the ancients whole cities and countries were shaved
(_sic_) when a great man died. The Persians not only shaved themselves
on such occasions, but extended the same process to their domestic
animals, and Alexander, at the death of Hephæstin, not only cut off the
manes of his horses and mules, but took down the battlements from the
city walls, that even towns might seem in mourning and look bald.
Scarifying and mutilating the body has prevailed from a remote period of
time, having possibly replaced, in the process of evolution, to a
certain extent, the more barbarous practice of absolute personal
sacrifice. In later days, among our Indians, human sacrifices have taken
place to only a limited extent, but formerly many victims were
immolated, for at the funerals of the chiefs of the Florida and Carolina
Indians all the male relatives and wives were slain, for the reason,
according to Gallatin, that the hereditary dignity of Chief or Great Sun
descended, as usual, by the female line, and he, as well as all other
members of his clan, whether male or female, could marry only persons of
an inferior clan. To this day mutilation of the person among some tribes
of Indians is usual. The sacrifice of the favorite horse or horses is by
no means peculiar to our Indians, for it was common among the Romans,
and possibly even among the men of the Reindeer period, for at Solutré,
in France, the writer saw horses’ bones exhumed from the graves examined
in 1873. The writer has frequently conversed with Indians upon this
subject, and they have invariably informed him that when horses were
slain great care was taken to select the poorest of the band.
Tree-burial was not uncommon among the nations of antiquity, for the
Colchians enveloped their dead in sacks of skin and hung them to trees;
the ancient Tartars and Scythians did the same. With regard to the use
of scaffolds and trees as places of deposit for the dead, it seems
somewhat curious that the tribes who formerly occupied the eastern
portion of our continent were not in the habit of burying in this way,
which, from the abundance of timber, would have been a much easier
method than the ones in vogue, while the western tribes, living in
sparsely-wooded localities, preferred the other. If we consider that the
Indians were desirous of preserving their dead as long as possible, the
fact of 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 air of 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[69] 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 Caribs lament loudly, their wailings being interspersed with
comical remarks and questions to the dead as to why he preferred to
leave this world, having everything to make life comfortable. They
place the corpse on a little seat in a ditch or grave four or five
feet deep, and for ten days they bring food, requesting the corpse
to eat. Finally, being convinced that the dead will neither eat nor
return to life, they throw the food on the head of the corpse and
fill up the grave.
When one died among the Romans, the nearest relatives embraced the body,
closed the eyes and month, and when one was about to die received 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 1743, the relatives threw themselves
on the corpse and with loud cries called it by name, and up to 1855 the
Moravians of Pennsylvania, at the death of one of their number,
performed mournful musical airs on brass instruments from the village
church steeple and again at the grave[70*]. 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. Hardisty[71] gives a curious example of log-burial in trees,
relating to the Loucheux of British America:
They inclose the body in a neatly-hollowed piece of wood, and secure
it to two or more trees, about six feet from the ground. A log about
eight feet long is first split in two, and each of the parts
carefully hollowed out to the required size. The body is then
inclosed and the two pieces well lashed together, preparatory to
being finally secured, as before stated, to the trees.
The American Indians are by no means the only savages employing
scaffolds as places of deposit for the dead, for Wood[72] gives a number
of examples of this mode of burial.
[Illustration: FIG. 21.--Australian Scaffold Burial.]
[Illustration: FIG. 22.--Preparing the Dead.]
In some parts of Australia the natives, instead of consuming the
body by fire, or hiding it in caves or in graves, make it a
peculiarly conspicuous object. Should a tree grow favorably for
their purpose, they will employ it as the final resting place for
the dead body. Lying in its canoe coffin, and so covered over with
leaves and grass that its shape is quite disguised, the body is
lifted into a convenient fork of the tree and lashed to the boughs,
by native ropes. No farther care is taken of it, and if in process
of time it should be blown out of the tree, no one will take the
trouble of replacing it.
Should no tree be growing in the selected spot, an artificial
platform is made for the body, by fixing the ends of stout branches
in the ground and connecting them at their tops by smaller
horizontal branches. Such are the curious tombs which are
represented in the illustration. * * * These strange tombs are
mostly placed among the reeds, so that nothing can be more mournful
than the sound of the wind as it shakes the reeds below the branch
in which the corpse is lying. The object of this aerial tomb is
evident enough, namely, to protect the corpse from the dingo, or
native dog. That the ravens and other carrion-eating birds should
make a banquet upon the body of the dead man does not seem to
trouble the survivors in the least, and it often happens that the
traveler is told by the croak of the disturbed ravens that the body
of a dead Australian is lying in the branches over his head.
The aerial tombs are mostly erected for the bodies of old men who
have died a natural death; but when a young warrior has fallen in
battle the body is treated in a very different manner. A moderately
high platform is erected, and upon this is seated the body of the
dead warrior with the face toward the rising sun. The legs are
crossed and the arms kept extended by means of sticks. The fat is
then removed, and after being mixed with red ochre is rubbed over
the body, which has previously been carefully denuded of hair, as is
done in the ceremony of initiation. The legs and arms are covered
with zebra-like stripes of red, white, and yellow, and the weapons
of the dead man are laid across his lap.
The body being thus arranged, fires are lighted under the platform,
and kept up for ten days or more, during the whole of which time the
friends and mourners remain by the body, and are not permitted to
speak. Sentinels relieve each other at appointed intervals, their
duty being to see that the fires are not suffered to go out, and to
keep the flies away by waving leafy boughs or bunches of emu
feathers. When a body has been treated in this manner it becomes
hard and mummy-like, and the strongest point is that the wild dogs
will not touch it after it has been so long smoked. It remains
sitting on the platform for two months or so, and is then taken down
and buried, with the exception of the skull, which is made into a
drinking-cup for the nearest relative. * * *
This mode of mummifying resembles somewhat that already described as the
process by which the Virginia kings were preserved from decomposition.
Figs. 21 and 22 represent the Australian burials described, and are
after the original engravings in 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 to inquire why the American aborigines placed the dead
bodies of their relatives and friends in trees, or upon scaffolds
resembling trees, instead of burying them in the ground, or burning
them and preserving their ashes in urns, I think we can answer the
inquiry by recollecting that most if not all the tribes of American
Indians, as well as other nations of a higher civilization, believed
that the human soul, spirit, or immortal part was of the form and
nature of a bird, and as these are essentially arboreal in their
habits, it is quite in keeping to suppose that the soul-bird would
have readier access to its former home or dwelling-place if it was
placed upon a tree or scaffold than if it was buried in the earth;
moreover, from this lofty eyrie the souls of the dead could rest
secure from the attacks of wolves or other profane beasts, and guard
like sentinels the homes and hunting-grounds of their loved ones.
This statement is given because of a corroborative note in the writer’s
possession, but he is not prepared to admit it as correct without
farther investigation.
_PARTIAL SCAFFOLD BURIAL AND OSSUARIES._
Under this heading may be placed the burials which consisted in first
depositing the bodies on scaffolds, where they were allowed to remain
for a variable length of time, after which the bones were cleaned and
deposited either in the earth or in special structures, called by
writers “bone-houses.” Roman[73] relates the following concerning the
Choctaws:
The following treatment of the dead is very strange. * * * As soon
as the deceased is departed, a stage is erected (as in the annexed
plate is represented) and the corpse is laid on it and covered with
a bear-skin; if he be a man of note, it is decorated, and the poles
painted red with vermillion and bear’s oil; if a child, it is put
upon stakes set across; at this stage the relations come and weep,
asking many questions of the corpse, such as, why he left them? did
not his wife serve him well? was he not contented with his children?
had he not corn enough? did not his land produce sufficient of
everything? was he afraid of his enemies? &c., and this accompanied
by loud howlings; the women will be there constantly, and sometimes,
with the corrupted air and heat of the sun, faint so as to oblige
the bystanders to carry them home; the men will also come and mourn
in the same manner, but in the night or at other unseasonable times
when they are least likely to be discovered.
The stage is fenced round with poles; it remains thus a certain
time, but not a fixed space; this is sometimes extended to three or
four months, but seldom more than half that time. A certain set of
venerable old Gentlemen, who wear very long nails as a
distinguishing badge on the thumb, fore, and middle finger of each
hand, constantly travel through the nation (when I was there I was
told there were but five of this respectable order) that one of them
may acquaint those concerned, of the expiration of this period,
which is according to their own fancy; the day being come, the
friends and relations assemble near the stage, a fire is made, and
the respectable operator, after the body is taken down, with his
nails tears the remaining flesh off the bones, and throws it with
the entrails into the fire, where it is consumed; then he scrapes
the bones and burns the scrapings likewise; the head being painted
red with vermillion is with the rest of the bones put into a neatly
made chest (which for a Chief is also made red) and deposited in the
loft of a hut built for that purpose, and called bone house; each
town has one of these; after remaining here one year or thereabouts,
if he be a man of any note, they take the chest down, and in an
assembly of relations and friends they weep once more over him,
refresh the colour of the head, paint the box, and then deposit him
to lasting oblivion.
An enemy and one who commits suicide is buried under the earth as
one to be directly forgotten and unworthy the above ceremonial
obsequies and mourning.
Jones[74] quotes one of the older writers, as follows, regarding the
Natchez tribe:
Among the Natchez the dead were either inhumed or placed in tombs.
These tombs were located within or very near their temples. They
rested upon four forked sticks fixed fast in the ground, and were
raised some three feet above the earth. About eight feet long and a
foot and a half wide, they were prepared for the reception of a
single corpse. After the body was placed upon it, a basket-work of
twigs was woven around and covered with mud, an opening being left
at the head, through which food was presented to the deceased. When
the flesh had all rotted away, the bones were taken out, placed in a
box made of canes, and then deposited in the temple. The common dead
were mourned and lamented for a period of three days. Those who fell
in battle were honored with a more protracted and grievous
lamentation.
Bartram[75] gives a somewhat different account from Roman of burial
among the Choctaws of Carolina:
The Chactaws pay their last duties and respect to the deceased in a
very different manner. As soon as a person is dead, they erect a
scaffold 18 or 20 feet high in a grove adjacent to the town, where
they lay the corps, lightly covered with a mantle; here it is
suffered to remain, visited and protected by the friends and
relations, until the flesh becomes putrid, so as easily to part from
the bones; then undertakers, who make it their business, carefully
strip the flesh from the bones, wash and cleanse them, and when dry
and purified by the air, having provided a curiously-wrought chest
or coffin, fabricated of bones and splints, they place all the bones
therein, which is deposited in the bone-house, a building erected
for that purpose in every town; and when this house is full a
general solemn funeral takes place; when the nearest kindred or
friends of the deceased, on a day appointed, repair to the
bone-house, take up the respective coffins, and, following one
another in order of seniority, the nearest relations and connections
attending their respective corps, and the multitude following after
them, all as one family, with united voice of alternate allelujah
and lamentation, slowly proceeding on to the place of general
interment, when they place the coffins in order, forming a
pyramid;[76*] and, lastly, cover all over with earth, which raises a
conical hill or mount; when they return to town in order of solemn
procession, concluding the day with a festival, which is called the
feast of the dead.
Morgan[77] also alludes to this mode of burial:
The body of the deceased was exposed upon a bark scaffolding erected
upon poles or secured upon the limbs of trees, where it was left to
waste to a skeleton. After this had been effected by the process of
decomposition in the open air, the bones were removed either to the
former house of the deceased, or to a small bark house by its side,
prepared for their reception. In this manner the skeletons of the
whole family were preserved from generation to generation by the
filial or parental affection of the living. After the lapse of a
number of years, or in a season of public insecurity, or on the eve
of abandoning a settlement, it was customary to collect these
skeletons from the whole community around and consign them to a
common resting-place.
To this custom, which is not confined to the Iroquois, is doubtless
to be ascribed the burrows and bone-mounds which have been found in
such numbers in various parts of the country. On opening these
mounds the skeletons are usually found arranged in horizontal
layers, a conical pyramid, those in each layer radiating from a
common center. In other cases they are found placed promiscuously.
Dr. D. G. Brinton[78] likewise gives an account of the interment of
collected bones:
East of the Mississippi nearly every nation was accustomed at stated
periods--usually once in eight or ten years--to collect and clean
the osseous remains of those of its number who had died in the
intervening time, and inter them in one common sepulcher, lined with
choice furs, and marked with a mound of wood, stone, or earth. Such
is the origin of those immense tumuli filed with the mortal remains
of nations and generations, which the antiquary, with irreverent
curiosity, so frequently chances upon in all portions of our
territory. Throughout Central America the same usage obtained in
various localities, as early writers and existing monuments
abundantly testify. Instead of interring the bones, were they those
of some distinguished chieftain, they were deposited in the temples
or the council-houses, usually in small chests of canes or splints.
Such were the charnel-houses which the historians of De Soto’s
expedition so often mention, and these are the “arks” Adair and
other authors who have sought to trace the decent of the Indians
from the Jews have likened to that which the ancient Israelites bore
with them in their migration.
A widow among the Tahkalis was obliged to carry the bones of her
deceased husband wherever she went for four years, preserving them
in such a casket, handsomely decorated with feathers (Rich. Arc.
Exp., p. 200). The Caribs of the mainland adopted the custom for
all, without exception. About a year after death the bones were
cleaned, bleached, painted, wrapped in odorous balsams, placed in a
wicker basket, and kept suspended from the door of their dwelling
(Gumilla Hist. del Orinoco I., pp. 199, 202, 204). When the quantity
of these heirlooms became burdensome they were removed to some
inaccessible cavern and stowed away with reverential care.
George Catlin[79] describes what he calls the “Golgothas” of the
Mandans:
There are several of these golgothas, or circles of twenty or thirty
feet in diameter, and in the center of each ring or circle is a
little mound of three feet high, on which uniformly rest two buffalo
skulls (a male and female), and in the center of the little mound is
erected “a medicine pole,” of about twenty feet high, supporting
many curious articles of mystery and superstition, which they
suppose have the power of guarding and protecting this sacred
arrangement.
Here, then, to this strange place do these people again resort to
evince their further affections for the dead, not in groans and
lamentations, however, for several years have cured the anguish, but
fond affection and endearments are here renewed, and conversations
are here held and cherished with the dead. Each one of these skulls
is placed upon a bunch of wild sage, which has been pulled and
placed under it. The wife knows, by some mark or resemblance, the
skull of her husband or her child which lies in this group, and
there seldom passes a day that she does not visit it with a dish of
the best-cooked food that her wigwam affords, which she sets before
the skull at night, and returns for the dish in the morning. As soon
as it is discovered that the sage on which the skull rests is
beginning to decay, the woman cuts a fresh bunch and places the
skull carefully upon it, removing that which was under it.
Independent of the above-named duties, which draw the women to this
spot, they visit it from inclination, and linger upon it to hold
converse and company with the dead. There is scarcely an hour in a
pleasant day but more or less of these women may be seen sitting or
lying by the skull of their child or husband, talking to it in the
most pleasant and endearing language that they can use (as they were
wont to do in former days), and seemingly getting an answer back.
[Illustration: FIG. 23.--Canoe Burial.]
From these accounts it may be seen that the peculiar customs which have
been described by the authors cited were not confined to any special
tribe or area of country, although they do not appear to have prevailed
among the Indians of the northwest coast, so far as known.
_SUPERTERRENE AND AERIAL BURIAL IN CANOES._
The next mode of burial to be remarked is that of deposit in canoes,
either supported on posts, on the ground, or swung from trees, and is
common only to the tribes inhabiting the northwest coast.
The first example given relates to the Chinooks of Washington Territory,
and may be found in Swan.[80]
In this instance old Cartumhays, and old Mahar, a celebrated doctor,
were the chief mourners, probably from being the smartest scamps
among the relatives. Their duty was to prepare the canoe for the
reception of the body. One of the largest and best the deceased had
owned was then hauled into the woods, at some distance back of the
lodge, after having been first thoroughly washed and scrubbed. Two
large square holes were then cut in the bottom, at the bow and
stern, for the twofold purpose of rendering the canoe unfit for
further use, and therefore less likely to excite the cupidity of the
whites (who are but too apt to help themselves to these depositories
for the dead), and also to allow any rain to pass off readily.
When the canoe was ready, the corpse, wrapped in blankets, was
brought out, and laid in it on mats previously spread. All the
wearing apparel was next put in beside the body, together with her
trinkets, beads, little baskets, and various trifles she had prized.
More blankets were then covered over the body, and mats smoothed
over all. Next, a small canoe, which fitted into the large one, was
placed, bottom up, over the corpse, and the whole then covered with
mats. The canoe was then raised up and placed on two parallel bars,
elevated four or five feet from the ground, and supported by being
inserted through holes mortised at the top of four stout posts
previously firmly planted in the earth. Around these holes were then
hung blankets, and all the cooking utensils of the deceased, pots,
kettles, and pans, each with a hole punched through it, and all her
crockery-ware, every piece of which was first cracked or broken, to
render it useless; and then, when all was done, they left her to
remain for one year, when the bones would be buried in a box in the
earth directly under the canoe; but that, with all its appendages,
would never be molested, but left to go to gradual decay.
They regard these canoes precisely as we regard coffins, and would
no more think of using one than we would of using our own graveyard
relics; and it is, in their view, as much of a desecration for a
white man to meddle or interfere with these, to them, sacred
mementoes, as it would be to us to have an Indian open the graves of
our relatives. Many thoughtless white men have done this, and
animosities have been thus occasioned.
Figure 23 represents this mode of burial.
From a number of other examples, the following, relating to the Twanas,
and furnished by the Rev. M. Eells, missionary to the Skokomish Agency,
Washington Territory, is selected:
The deceased was a woman about thirty or thirty-five years of age,
dead of consumption. She died in the morning, and in the afternoon I
went to the house to attend the funeral. She had then been placed in
a Hudson’s Bay Company’s box for a coffin, which was about 3½
feet long, 1½ wide, and 1½ high. She was very poor when she died,
owing to her disease, or she could not have been put in this box.
A fire was burning near by, where a large number of her things had
been consumed, and the rest was in three boxes near the coffin. Her
mother sang the mourning song, sometimes with others, and often
saying, “My daughter, my daughter, why did you die?” and similar
words. The burial did not take place until the next day, and I was
invited to go. It was an aerial burial in a canoe. The canoe was
about 25 feet long. The posts, of old Indian layered boards, were
about a foot wide. Holes were cut in those, in which boards were
placed, on which the canoe rested. One thing I noticed while this
was done which was new to me, but the significance of which I did
not learn. As fast as the holes were cut in the posts, green leaves
were gathered and placed over the holes until the posts were put in
the ground. The coffin-box and the three others containing her
things were placed in the canoe and a roof of boards made over the
central part, which was entirely covered with white cloth. The head
part and the foot part of her bedstead were then nailed on to the
posts, which front the water, and a dress nailed on each of these.
After pronouncing the benediction, all left the hull and went to the
beach except her father, mother, and brother, who remained ten or
fifteen minutes, pounding on the canoe and mourning. They then came
down and made a present to those persons who were there--a gun to
one, a blanket to each of two or three others, and a dollar and a
half to each of the rest, including myself, there being about
fifteen persons present. Three or four of them then made short
speeches, and we came home.
[Illustration: FIG. 24.--Twana Canoe-Burial.]
The reason why she was buried thus is said to be because she is a
prominent woman in the tribe. In about nine months it is expected
that there will be a “_pot-latch_” or distribution of money near
this place, and as each tribe shall come they will send a delegation
of two or three men, who will carry a present and leave it at the
grave; soon after that shall be done she will be buried in the
ground. Shortly after her death both her father and mother cut off
their hair as a sign of their grief.
Figure 24 is from a sketch kindly furnished by Mr. Eells, and represents
the burial mentioned in his narrative.
The Clallams and Twanas, an allied tribe, have not always followed
canoe-burial, as may be seen from the following account, also written by
Mr. Eells, who gives the reasons why the original mode of disposing of
the dead was abandoned. It is extremely interesting, and characterized
by painstaking attention to detail:
I divide this subject into five periods, varying according to time,
though they are somewhat intermingled.
(_a_) There are places where skulls and skeletons have been plowed
up or still remain in the ground and near together, in such a way as
to give good ground for the belief which is held by white residents
in the region, that formerly persons were buried in the ground and
in irregular cemeteries. I know of such places in Duce Waillops
among the Twanas, and at Dungeness and Port Angeles among the
Clallams. These graves were made so long ago that the Indians of the
present day profess to have no knowledge as to who is buried in
them, except that they believe, undoubtedly, that they are the
graves of their ancestors. I do not know that any care has ever been
exercised by any one in exhuming these skeletons so as to learn any
particulars about them. It is possible, however, that these persons
were buried according to the (_b_) or canoe method, and that time
has buried them where they now are.
[Illustration: FIG. 25.--Posts for Burial Canoes.]
(_b_) Formerly when a person died the body was placed in the forks
of two trees and left there. There was no particular cemetery, but
the person was generally left near the place where the death
occurred. The Skokomish Valley is said to have been full of canoes
containing persons thus buried. What their customs were while
burying, or what they placed around the dead, I am not informed but
am told that they did not take as much care then of their dead as
they do now. I am satisfied, however, that they then left some
articles around the dead. An old resident informs me that the
Clallam Indians always bury their dead in a sitting posture.
(_c_) About twenty years ago gold mines were discovered in British
Columbia, and boats being scarce in the region, unprincipled white
men took many of the canoes in which the Indian dead had been left,
emptying them of their contents. This incensed the Indians and they
changed their mode of burial somewhat by burying the dead in one
place, placing them in boxes whenever they could obtain them, by
building scaffolds for them instead of placing them in forks of
trees, and in cutting their canoes so as to render them useless,
when they were used as coffins or left by the side of the dead. The
ruins of one such graveyard now remain about two miles from this
agency. Nearly all the remains were removed a few years ago.
With this I furnish you the outlines of such graves which I have
drawn. Fig. 25 shows that at present only one pair of posts remains.
I have supplied the other pair as they evidently were.
[Illustration: FIG. 26.--Tent on Scaffold.]
Figure 26 is a recent grave at another place. That part which is
covered with board and cloth incloses the coffin which is on a
scaffold.
As the Indians have been more in contact with the whites they have
learned to bury in the ground, and this is the most common method at
the present time. There are cemeteries everywhere where Indians have
resided any length of time. After a person has died a coffin is made
after the cheaper kinds of American ones, the body is placed in it,
and also with it a number of articles, chiefly cloth or clothes,
though occasionally money. I lately heard of a child being buried
with a twenty-dollar gold piece in each hand and another in its
month, but I am not able to vouch for the truth of it. As a general
thing, money is too valuable with them for this purpose and there is
too much temptation for some one to rob the grave when this is left
in it.
[Illustration: FIG. 27.--House-Burial.]
[Illustration: FIG. 28.--House-Burial.]
(_d_) The grave is dug after the style of the whites and the coffin
then placed in it. After it has been covered it is customary though
not universal, to build some kind of an inclosure over it or around
it in the shape of a small house, shed, lodge or fence. These are
from 2 to 12 feet high, from 2 to 6 feet wide, and from 5 to 12 feet
long. Some of these are so well inclosed that it is impossible to
see within and some are quite open. Occasionally a window is placed
in the front side. Sometimes these enclosures are covered with
cloth, which is generally white, sometimes partly covered, and some
have none. Around the grave, both outside and inside of the
inclosure, various articles are placed, as guns, canoes, dishes,
pails, cloth, sheets, blankets, beads, tubs, lamps, bows, mats, and
occasionally a roughly-carved human image rudely painted. It is said
that around and in the grave of one Clallam chief, buried a few
years ago, $500 worth of such things were left. Most of these
articles are cut or broken so as to render them valueless to man and
to prevent their being stolen. Poles are also often erected, from 10
to 30 feet long, on which American flags, handkerchiefs, clothes,
and cloths of various colors are hung. A few graves have nothing of
this kind. On some graves these things are renewed every year or
two. This depends mainly on the number of relatives living and the
esteem in which they hold the deceased.
The belief exists that as the body decays spirits carry it away
particle by particle to the spirit of the deceased in the spirit
land, and also as these articles decay they are also carried away in
a similar manner. I have never known of the placing food near a
grave. Figures 27 and 28 will give you some idea of this class of
graves. Figure 27 has a paling fence 12 feet square around it.
Figure 28 is simply a frame over a grave where there is no
enclosure.
(_e_) _Civilized mode._--A few persons, of late, have fallen almost
entirely into the American custom of burying, building a simple
paling fence around it, but placing no articles around it; this is
more especially true of the Clallams.