Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1891-08-07
DIGGER INDIANS.
CEREMONIES AT THE FUNERAL or
a MEDICINE MAN.

The Preachers" Sermon.
When all were gathered at the hut of
mourning the services seemed to consist
of concert of walls, carried on princi-
pally by the women The corpse, wrapped
IN gray blanket. on a rude bier. was
placed at distance from the hut, and
some of tho big mem 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 great deal Of alter
cation accompanying the performance Of
this wasteful religious duty. When the
excitement was over the women went on
waiiing, while the young bucks went off
to have coed time, shooting at marks
and performing various feats of strength
1t 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 wagon, even tipped up 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. 1t covers scarcely an acre Of
ground and juts out abruptly into tie
valley, with background of wooded
mountain, and before it 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 GRAVE.
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 coffin. and
when the funeral procession arrived at
the grave well mazle pine coffin manu-
featured by local carpenter arrived
from an opposite direction The body
was placed in it without removing the
gray blanket covering the face. But the
! right hand was eXtricated from its cover
ing and all the men passed by it in line
and shook hands with the medicine man
Some gave the cold hand hearty grip,
but the touch of others was noticeably
gingerlv. Then the hand was covered
again, and young fellow dressed in a
very stylish custom made snit Of black
took his place at the foot of tho coffin,
solemnly wound a small nickel plated
alarm clock. set the alarm and placed it
xtrit hin Tho ocfff,a ha dad foot
t The lid was closed, and the women gath
cred around, rapping the coffin with their
kLuckles. 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
fiat. and upon this carpet the coffin, with
nue. difficulty and many experiments,
was j.fely deposited Then the walls
grew louder. and always the voices of the
women were heard above the rest. 1t is
impossible to describe that wailing 1t 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
1 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 shipper 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
CIR hoo ls,f
| ing behind u big white handkerchief.
| A coAIIcAL 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 boay figure was
radiant in a red flannel miners shirt and
a pair of ragged gray trousers. He was
"a kind of q preacher, one of the Indians
said, and his loud voeiferation and violent
| gestures were the only eulogies which
were to console the mourners and dc
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 q
I sturdy farmers son by our side who has
picked up some of their vocabulary trans
lated for us what the preacher was say
/ ing: ''lniin doctor gone now; all lnjins
/ 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
mahalas, with their papooses on their
/ backs, walled louder, and the babies joined
! In the cry, and tried in vain to fight away
the flies with their little fists. The
preacher talked on at intervals, describing
| the restitution of the tribe, and the skill
| and goodness of the departed doctor. Tive
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 6
roll of blankets was thrown in - the foot
of the coffin, and two large fur robes
Some mistake was evidently made in the
selection of articles, for a loud voice OF
| vituperation broke out from the mon
otonous wailing, and a bed quilt, lined
| with turkey red calico, was hurled by
that fierce old mahala with the short
| skirts, over the heads of the crowd bach
1 to the pile from which it had been taken
/ The old boots, leather hunting bag and
pair of spring scales were laid in. and
then all was ready for the earth to bt
! shoveled in. The crowd did not disperst
! until nearly nightfall, and as long as WE
could see in the twilight there were still
/ several black figures standing like sen
/ tinels at the grave.-Cor. San Francisco
/ Chronicle.
/ "Useful Household Articles"