Arizona weekly enterprise., 1888-10-27
DIGGER INDIANS.
CEREMONIES AT THE FUNERAL OF
 A MEDICINE MAN.
Scene at the Hut of DIourning-A Waste full Religious Duty-The Indian Burial Ground Shaking Hands with the Corpse. The Preachers" Sermon.

When ell were gathered at the hut Of mourning the services seemed to consist of concert of walls, carried on princi- pally by the wonlen- The corpse, wrapped in Q gray blanket, on a rude bier, was placed at distance from the hut, and some of the big men" of the tribe made bundle of the personal effects of the de- ceased, and proceeded to burn his hut, his wagon and all his household furnishings. There seemed to be a great deal of alter cation accompanying the performance of this wasteful religious duty. When the excitement was over the women went on wailing. while the young bucks went of to have good time, shooting at marks and performing various feats of strength It is the custom of the Indians to bury their dead at sunset, and the funeral procession started from the Big Spring only in time to reach the burying ground at that time. There was no discernible order to the cortege as it passed along the road for six miles, group after group going by us in much the same fashion as in the morning. There was no separate convey ance for the corpse; it was put in the bot tom of 0 wagon. even tipped up a little on one side to make room for the mahala, who squatted beside it, wailing and sway ing her body back and forth.
 The Indian burial ground is mound on the lower end of the valley called Big Meadows on the north fork of the Feather river It covers scarcely an acre of ground. and juts out abruptly into the valley. with a background of wooded mountain, and before 1t green stretches of the meadow land, with it's winding river. Here their dead have been buried ever since the first habitation of the country. and although the land is private property it will probably always be left to the undisturbed possession of the Indians.
 SCENE AT THE CRAVE
 Here very deep and long grave had been dug, much larger than would be made for white man, for it was to con- tain not only the corpse, but all of the personal effects which had not been burned. He was a medicine man, and was considered worthy of a coffin, and 1 when the funeral procession arrived at the grave well made pine coffin, manu- factUred by a local carpenter, arrived from an opposite direction. The body was placed In it without removing the l gray blanket covering the face. But the | right hand was extricated from it's cover | ing and all the men passed by 1t in line and shook hands with the medicine man. l Some gave the cold hand hearty grip, but the touch of others was noticeably | gingerly. Then the hand was covered again, and young fellow dressed in a very stylish custom made suit Of black | took his place at the foot of the coffin, solemnly wound small nickel plated alarm clock, set the alarm and placed it within the coffin at the dead mans feet. The lid was closed and the women gath cred around, rapping the coffin with their | l1nuckles, passing their hands up and down over it, bowling and moaning all the time.
 The grave was lined with new rush baskets, split up the sides and spread out fat, and upon this carpet the coffin, with much difficulty and many experiments, was safely deposited. Then the walls grew1ouder, and always the voices of the women were heard above the rest. It is impossible to describe that wailing It was not concerted; every one seemed to be acting independently of the others; there was no attempt at tune, but every now and then the musical voice of @ young girl, clear and high pitched, would lead in a sort of cadence, and the heavier voices joined in an incoherent dull cry. The women swayed their bodies from side to side, waving in the air little tufts of cedar which they tossed into the grave But in all this there was very little sign of real emotion The young girls would smile and simper and duck their heads if they met the gaze of any of the white bystanders. Only one of the women shed any tears, and she was the sister of the medicine man, quite an old woman, who stood at the head of the grave really cry ing behind big white handkerchief.
 CO4uCAL OBJECT.
 There stood beside her an old buck, a most comical looking object, whose long locks were surmounted by jaunty white straw hat, and whose bony figure was radiant in a red flannel miners shirt and pair of ragged gray trousers. He was "a kind of preacher, one of the Indians said, and his loud vociferation and violent gestures were the only eulogies which were to console the mourners and do honor to the virtues of the deceased. For he was the only medicine man in this part of California, and his death left the tribe unprotected against the ravages of rheu- matism and consumption. We could not understand the Indian language, but a sturdy farmers son by our side who has picked up some of their vocabulary trans lated for US what the preacher was say ing: "mjin doctor gone now; all mjins die. Sick here, here, here (pointing to head lungs and heart). Die, die, never get well. Baby sick, no medicine, no get any better, pretty soon die" Then the nahalas, with their opposes on their backs, walled louder, and the babies joined in the cry. and tried in vain to fight away tho flies with their little fists. The preacher talked on at intervals, describing the destitution of the tribe, and the skill and goodness Of the departed doctor. Two blind mahalas stood on the edge of the grave and every now and then had to be held back from slipping into the hole.
 Finally the preacher laid the dead mans bow and arrows on the coffin. Then 8 roll of blankets was thrown in at the foot of the coffin, and two large fur robes. Some mistake was evidently made in the selection of articles. for loud voice ot vituperation broke out from the mon otonous wailiug, and bed quilt, lined with turkey red calico, was hurled by that fierce old mahala with the short skirts, over the heads of the crowd back to the pile from which it had been taken I The old boots, 8 leather hunting, bag and pair of spring scales were laid in, and then all was ready for tho earth to be shoveled in. The crowd did not disperse until nearly nightfall, and as long as we could see in the twilight there were stiI several black figures standing like sen tinels at the grave.-Cor. San Francisco Chronicle.
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