of those not having totems are found in clusters, or scattered on the
mountain sides, or anywhere convenience dictates. The bones are put in a
box with all the belongings of the deceased, and then deposited anywhere.
The natives are exceedingly superstitious and jealous in their care of the
dead, and would sooner die than molest or steal from a grave. That
tourists who are supposed to be civilized, refined, and Christianized
should steal from them is a crime which should never be tolerated, as it
was among the passengers of our steamer.
The natives have a belief that all bodies cremated turn into ravens, and
that probably accounts to them for the endless number of those birds in
Alaska. Ravens are sacred birds to them, and are never molested in
anyway. There are other methods of disposing of the dead in different
parts of Alaska. The bones are sometimes put in a canoe and raised high
in the air on straddles; again, in trees above the reach of prowling
animals, or set adrift in a discarded canoe.