A Further Contribution to the Study of the Mortuary Customs of the North American Indians | Page 3

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.
Ancient burial.--The body was buried in a grave made about 2-1/2 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