In Beltrami [Footnote: Pilgrimage, 1828, ii, p. 443.] an account is
given of the funeral ceremonies of one of the tribes of the west,
including a description of the feast which took place before the body
was consigned to its final resting place:
"I was a spectator of the funeral ceremony performed in honor of the
manes of _Cloudy Weather's_ son-in-law, whose body had remained
with the Sioux, and was suspected to have furnished one of their
repasts. What appeared not a little singular and indeed ludicrous in
this funeral comedy was the contrast exhibited by the terrific
lamentations and yells of one part of the company while the others
were singing and dancing with all their might.
"At another funeral ceremony for a member of the _Grand
Medicine,_ and at which as _a man of another world_ I was
permitted to attend, the same practice occurred. But at the feast
which took place on that occasion an allowance was served up for the
deceased out of every article of which it consisted, while others were
beating, wounding, and torturing themselves, and letting their blood
flow both over the dead man and his provisions, thinking possibly that
this was the most palatable seasoning for the latter which they could
possibly supply. His wife furnished out an entertainment present for
him of all her hair and rags, with which, together with his arms, his
provisions, his ornaments, and his mystic medicine bag, he was wrapped
up in the skin which had been his last covering when alive. He was
then tied round with the bark of some particular trees which they use
for making cords, and bonds of a very firm texture and hold (the only
ones indeed which they have), and instead of being buried in the earth
was hung up to a large oak. The reason of this was that, as his
favorite Manitou was the eagle, his spirit would be enabled more
easily from such a situation to fly with him to Paradise."
Hind [Footnote: Canadian Red River Exploring Expedition, 1860, ii, p.
164.] mentions an account of a burial feast by De Brebeuf which
occurred among the Hurons of New York:
"The Jesuit missionary, P. de Brebeuf, who assisted at one of the
'feasts of the dead' at the village of Ossosane, before the dispersion
of the Hurons, relates that the ceremony took place in the presence of
2,000 Indians, who offered 1,200 presents at the common tomb, in
testimony of their grief. The people belonging to five large villages
deposited the bones of their dead in a gigantic shroud, composed of
forty-eight robes, each robe being made of ten beaver skins. After
being carefully wrapped in this shroud, they were placed between moss
and bark. A wall of stones was built around this vast ossuary to
preserve it from profanation. Before covering the bones with earth a
few grains of Indian corn were thrown by the women upon the sacred
relics. According to the superstitious belief of the Hurons the souls
of the dead remain near the bodies until the 'feast of the dead';
after which ceremony they become free, and can at once depart for the
land of spirits, which they believe to be situated in the regions of
the setting sun."