The Arizona sentinel. [volume] (Arizona City [Yuma], Yuma County, A.T. [Ariz.]) 1872-1911, 1878-06-15

One called coon-kee-an, is an in
tricate game of combinations, adj
nitting of considerable skill and
is usually played by two persons,
and is the most interesting two
handed game we have ever seen.
Few domestic animals are kept;
horses are not raised to any ex.
tent, as forage is scarce; lean, half
starved dogs are to be seen around
the rancherias, and hens are some
times raised, though seldom eat
en-.
} Their funeral rites are of inter-
est. AS soon as life is extinct,
and as near as possible to the place
where death Overtakes him, the
body is laid upon a pile of dry
logs, covered with more, and all
the effects of the deceased, orna-
ments, cooking utensils, weapons
and property of every kind are
collected, laid upon the pile and
the whole burned; any crops he
may have, food or seed stored, all
are destroyed. The Probate Court
is an unknown institution among
them. If death occurs at camp
the locality becomes defiled and
another is selected. One item of
property, however, escapes the
flames; the horses of the deceased
are killed and eaten; this is con-
sidered as essential part of the
ceremony as the burning of the
dead; extra horses are often fur
nished by friends as a tribute of
respect. They do not preserve
the ashes After the burning of
the dead, the old women come to-
gether in the vicinity and make
great lamentation; this grand
cry" does not always occur on the
day of the funeral, but may take
place several days after. Those
who participate in the cry, are
served with abundance of baked
horse Or, in lieu thereof, of other
meats. A surgeon in the army
thus describes a cremation he wit
messed December 5, 1871: GA Yu-
ma Indian was stabbed in the alb
d)men by another Indian last
night. The wounded man sur
vived about three hours. About
noon his friends gathered up his
remains, and Singing the body in
sheet from pole supported on
the shoulders of two men, they
carried it about half a mile below
the quartermaster's corral, where
they laid up pile of dry logs to
the height of two feet and placed
the body upon it; more dry logs
were placed upon the body and a
good quantity of dry, light wood
was added, and when all was
ready, a lighted match was ap-
piled; in a moment the whole was
a sheet of fame. A slight breeze
was blowing, which preserved the
intensity of the heat. While the !
fire was burning, two or three old |
women sat upon the ground near
by, one of whom kept up a wall,
interspersed with frequent utter
ances, which sounded like repiti-
tions of the same sentence. One
VI IhO1O JOuhS hlCh ooet O1 IhO
ground, with their heads bowed
in submissive attitude, and one
gave vent to his feelings in occa-
sional sobs that showed sincere,
heartfelt grief. After the fire was
we'll going, and all of the personal
effects of the deceased had been
thrown upon it, which in this case
consisted of an old vest, two In
dians went back to the butcher
in town for material
for the funeral baked meats,
which is indispensable. Soon
they were seen returning, one ,
bearing on his shoulder the head '
of an OK and the other some frag- '
ments of refuse cuts, which were
set for the mourners and others to
eat. X December 7, / rode by
the place where the cremation