The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1853-05-28
In,llnn Mon.nIng Cn.tnnl..

A1'orfrspaoa,ntof the T-.jpqe who vri,a.
irom lie Ge. lo'huod II Grass Valley m Cali
Gm.a, describes ,ha mourning carstnou,l Of the
Indians ~ lha, country The 'Weimar referred
TO ly 'hc writer 8, tie King # ,hctr,bss in tia,
i,y"u, Who = ig.er,b d as = u.al o.! ecn.e and a
l.,, a,ra = tie vh,,s:
a gl'h,rny o.? Tie clan, vas to be held t.
muuu Tor th,ir dead. Ii T. good to NOUN over
ile a-lc- of the dyad,' s1id We,m,r The spir
I'' "' our 70 e"d' are happy when they zee We do
at forget them. II Was - oIr father. d,3. It b..
su We dpfr them, and so will our children Do for
us. They hover around Us when We mourn
thcy drink iu cur grtt with delight, and they
drive oil evil from our lodge Il /, good rp
noun The Go bcs ttrgtltcreim ThriraIl.
vo'r h'Irdwl'I sw11,hy, Gu..y forms. and the
streets ot our lillr town were alive with men.
ln'i,"y in one htnl rhr cedar bow ant culver Of
.tur painted arrows which lhcy nvara Lly carry
iu peace ~ var, aui women Of all ages. from
-N,ct s.N'cn ,hruyru save the marx , To- the grny
bead e sixty SHOWS, with cruicul bt.k-,s ham
ln: uU their backs. pendant hy a srap passing
over their forchead, There was no'hirr uiu.u.
ul 'u mark the men, bat many Of the women
w,r U'cpnr, for the muuruiul u,ca-un hy an
,&'-'ual mark &C sr,i Their heads and faces
w,Ie sWe.rcd vth black pitch. tc.emblirg tar.
urd ihsIr huir. Gu, short, vas filed with hlri
black trsIu. -Ugrrg the CuvrilHg AN appearance of
u skull cap, Their rendezvous wasa ii,rlp over a
nlIr from town higher NJ ON the mountain: and
Hh mt r,Sht CluDk m the morning, prompted by
Cgri'-lty, set out for tle~sc,nc uf mourning
A. approached tho plac, Of meeting. by sol.
iaiy tuIl. ldi,Cuvt5'd un the ridge through the
tall, dark pnrs, the gimmrr.ng Of many frr-
nnd soon the deep cry Of ~aIlns reached nv
ears. In the deep s'irc,- uf the night a,d
amid the puuIeyal forest uf the mountains the
inuuIuiul .uHd Of their voices prolu,el "A
strange sensation which Cannu, describe. Al
mos tnc,ed that the spirits Of the departed were
fastening 10y 10 meet again their friends of earth
IN happy ~ union. As drew nearer the sounds
became more distinct, and soon | stood in the
solemn assembly. Perhaps four hundred men
women, and children stood together in mlss
weeping and wallug IN accents Of the most
heartfelt sorrow, while clustering nround numcr.
nus fires were hundreds more. who were eth.
er tujgued with weeping, or who were await
lng Their turn when others uf their brClhr,n
should become exhausted Altogether, there
may have been from clght 10 ten hundred
souls. Without iusing the mourrcr. crowd
ed ia among them as hr n | could get to-
ward the centre IN ordrr tn have view of
what was going on in the centre of the crowd
u, first thought that two chief. were dancing for
| saw head.Dltrsscs with tall feather, moving up
and down with Ierpsch,rrun unduhti,ns hut
obtaining n better position | discovered that thry
were rude images fastened to hoaid- one of red
cloth, the other white, bound with coloured gai,
crs splrally wound around them aud pendant
from what should be the htea,t hung the she'll
OF pearl oyster, which il among their most
valuable ornaments. These images were in the
hands of two squaws, whogavr them the mo.
tons Of daucing, a. they moved slowly around,
til" ciowd gave way for them extculiug their
arms towards the images, or throwing them out
into vacancy, Utctng at the same time the most
heartfelt sounds of giirf with tenrs streaming
down their cheeks which ever ani anon each
wiped ttum the others eyes. Sometimes me laid
his hand upon Rnothcrs head ~ IL invoking "A
blessing. Then, again, extending naked ann.
with the hand nlt, made slight motions in the
air Sometimes the women, in double files, with
their arms thrown around the one before them,
moved IN procession with the dancing im,ges at
their heau but never proceeded f,r in direction
from the main body. Their burial ceremonies |
have described elsewhere, bnt those shnuld not
he con(oundcd with this All night long they
kept up their lamentations, aud when the morning
came, the spirits were made happy aud the
tribes returned TO heir several homca. They
come together IN this way three or four times a
year.
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