The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-02-17
BURNING THE DEAD.
BURIAL PRACTICES OF THE
ALASKAN NATIVES.
Cremating the Bodies and Preserv'
ing the Calcined Remains in Min
iature HOuses-An Alaskan
Funeral Described.

On the Alaska coast the reputable dead
are usually cremated, and the bones col
lcctcd into a box and preserved. The
calcincd remains are carefully placed il
miniature houses like the shaman's (the
native medicine many; but, instead OF
being isolated from each other, the
houses are grouped in common GENE
terry, as in civilized communities. The
sites are chosen with respect to pictur-
esque attraction on grassy islands, ,shapely
ridges of land, and curves Of the shore.
On burial island near Methlakatla the
Indians have fashioned a number of tir
trees into very artistic patterns. AT
Sitka there is long ridge lined with
several score of these mortuary recep-
tacles painted in gaudy colors and ar
ranged in parallel rows, interspersed
with fanciful totem poles in quaint de-
vices, on the apex of each one Of which
is bear, o raven, or an eagle, denoting
the clan to which the deceased belonged.
These houses arc seldom more than
five or six feet cube, with a pyramidal
roof, sometimes surmounted by carved
imag and are very creditable bits OF
architecture, considering that the boards
have been split with an ak and smoothed
with an adze. There are cemeteries else
where which are enclosed with neat
whitewashed palings, and you often see
small iackstaffs with pennants Of white
and colored cotton cloth standing by the
graves. This is where the method Of in
terment has been adopted from the
whites, the bodies being placed in the
earth and carved slabs set up in lieu of
headstones. There are no less than three
other modes of sepulture in Alaska-bur'
ial in tents and in canoes raised on stad.
dies out of reach Of animals, aquatic bur
ial beneath the waves, and in canoes
turned adrift.
With so many various methods in vogue
in the same region, one hesitates to lay as
much stress as some ethnologists do upor
the assumed significance Of mortuary
rites and burial as indicating the relig
ious belief of those who practice them,
It depends much upon circumstances
and present convenience, as we'll as
the liability to subsequent disturbance,
how Indians, or any other people, bury
their dead. However, it may be said
with regard to cremation, which has long
been the popular form in Alaska, that
the natives believe that the souls of those
who are cremated enter into heaven. The
raven is consequently sacred bird al
over the country, and is never molested
He is known as "tilacum (friend) and il
is considered a good omen when
one of the dismal creatures il
in attendance at a ere
nation. In Sitka, the presence of ravens
is as common as of buZZards in some
Southern cities, so that the people have
no lack of family associations. The wei
fare of those who are not cremated is not
so positively vouched for.
There was death and obsequies wher
was in Stka, and walked one morning
down to the end of the Indian ''ranch,
as it is called, which constitutes the out
skirts of every white settlement on th'
coast, to examine the remains OF tn,
funeral pile where the cremation hac
taken place. found nothing bnt small
quantity of charred Goals. The uncon
sumed brands had all been carefully
carried away, while the bones of thu
corpse had been picked out and wrapped
in q mat and laid away in dead house
Some of these houses have compartments
and are the receptacles of as many as {
dozen separate bundles of bones.
There is very little ceremony now at
cremation, but in earlier times bcreavec
widow was subjected to good deal o.
cruelty, being repeatedly thrown upor
the pyre by sympathizing friends OF
dcmonstrative mourners, and seldom es
Gaping without serious burns. Very few
had courage to infict the sacrificia
torture upon themselves. Other neal
relatives displayed their sincerity of gric1
by various barbarous mutilations.
Previous to the cremation there is {
good deal of formality at the house o.
mourning. In Alaskan houses dais OF
platform runs around the four sides Of
the interior, which is o single apartment
or reception room, opening into small
staterooms on the side opposite the en-
trance. A brick or tagged hearth occu
pies the centre of the quadrangle, thu
smoke from the fire escaping through g
fiat, cupola in the roof, there being nc
chimneys. Four totem poles of fantastic
carving and color, showing the geneal
ogy of the deceased and the clan tc
which he belonged, are set up at the foul
corners of the court They are kept Gov
cred while the body sits in state, for the
dead Indian is not laid out on a bier, but
is set up on the dais opposite the en-
trance, with his face painted rcd, fan
ciful crown on his head. and blanket
over his shoulders, as if living. The
wall behind him is appropriately drapec
and sometimes festooned with small
American flags.
On the evening of the day before TIM
funeral the totem poles are uncovered
and the wailing begins. The wholt
space between the dais and the centra
fire is crowded with mourncrs of both
sexes, clad in their best blankets, who
beat the ground with sticks in time with
doleful chant. This lugubri,
Gus singing and shaking OF
rattlcs and beating Of the floor with
long statfs is kept up all night. When
the hour of cremation comes the body is
hoisted out through the roof and carried
to the funeral pile. A corpse is never
taken out of the door of house. 1t
would be ''bad medicine" and dcfile the
temple. Some tribes of Indians burn the
bark or skin lodge whose inmate dies, OF
they set up the lodge apart from habi-
tations and place the dead body in it, as
is also done in Alaska in some instances.