Wichita eagle., 1889-05-26
INDIAN BURIAL RITES.
Some Of tho Peculiar Customs Of the
North American Redskins.

Some Of tho Peculiar Customs of the
North American Redskins.
When one is in the dying agony the rela-
tives give vent to their grief In loud walls.
The crying continues at intervals until
death takes place, and also mp to the time
OF burial This cry, says writer IN the
Journal of American Folklore, has been
by some white persons mistaken for song
or chant, but il in no way partakes OF that
character; it is genuine expression OF
anguish and grief The wall or cry is inter
Spersed with terms which express the rela-
llonship between the deceased and the per-
son grieving. The writer has many times
heard the cry of Indian men and women,
and has seen the tears flow down their
cheeks. There is something truly awful IN
the sound when men and women together
lift up their voices in the wall of grief. 1t
is far from being like song or chant
When the breath has left the body OF the
one dying, the nearest relatives, such as
parent or child, brothers or sisters, husband
or wife. begin with mad zeal 10 strip them
selves Of every ornament and cut their
hair, scattering shorn locks about the fire.
place. The older married women who have
borne children clip the hair short to the ear,
while the young women part with an inch
or two. Young men do not sacrifice their
locks, but the older men shear theirs short.
The older women pull of their leggings
and moccasins and cash the flesh off their
legs below the knee, lengthwise and cross
wise, till the blood flows freely. All the
while they wall and call upon the dead.
The young men who are near relations to
the deceased remove their leggings and
moccasins and pierce their legs with
sharp knife until the blood runs fast from
the wounds. The old men do not scarify
themselves.
With every new arrival, whether the per-
son be of near kin or not the wailing starts
afresh. By this long-continued crying, the
excitement Of grief, and the pain Of wounds,
the relatives become exhausted before the
time for burial arrives. and unable to speak
above whisper. Soon after death the
corpse is placed in sitting position facing
the East, and dressed in gala costume, or
naments are put upon the barr and person,
and sometimes the face is painted in the
same manner as the Hunga in the cere-
mony of the sacred pipes, this is, if the de-
ceased belonged to one OF the gentes owning
a sacred pipe. The "Hunga keunzae," as
this mode Of painting IS called. is done by
painting the entire face red with vermiliOn;
then a black line ABOUT the breadth of the
little finger is marked across the forehead
horizontally and down both cheeks to meet
a line drawn across the chin, thus forming
square. A center line starts from the one
across the forehead and falls along the
nose to its point This black paint is made
of charcoal and prepared fat. Men, women
ard children belonging to the Nenebatan
Sacred pipe owners) gentes of the tribe,
with few exceptions, are painted in this
manner after death.
When member of society dies the body
is taken care of by the fraternity. and the
burial ceremonies are transferred from the
family to the management of the society.
For instance, when member of the Mawa-
dane Society dies the body is taken immedi-
ately after death, while the body is yet linn
Der, to the lodge where the society Is accus-
toned to meet On its arrival it is placed
in sitting position, facing the East and
decked with the regalia of the society. The
face of the corpse is painted in the manner
in which the man while living was accus-
toned to paint when attending the meetings