The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-12-21

triotisn. exploits and influence OF tn,
deceased. The corpse is then carried
by four pall-bearers, selected from tn.
young braves, from the hurdle to tn.
grave, which is about six feet deep anc
eight feet long. at each end of tn,
grave stands, deep driven down, pin,
pitchforlz. The bottom of the grave i
then covered with bark.
The corpse is then lowered very slow
~ by two belts, with which the Tndian
carry their burdens. A ridgepole is the,
laid ecross the grave in the forks and
then rooted over with pitch pine logs
These are covered over and over with
bark, on which the earth dug from tht
grave is thrown and beaten down. Thus
the body lies in a vault, nothing touch
ing it, practically mummifed by tht
embalming pitch process OF the pine
After time the body is exhumed, the
bones cleaned and laid in an ossuary
The dead was spoken to by medicine
men, who sped him on his way. The
SacS and Foxes observe this manner o.
burial in their mortuary customs. The
Otoe and Missouri tribes followed
EOLIOhf nov ts%4S 4A4Ot-C Vi OuILdl, NlLA
slight variations. The Indian woIner
cut their hair of. Then the relatives
danced tomahawk TO drive away the
death spirit
The Pimas of Arizona bury their dead
by night. Sometimes after the graves
are dug the sick recover. In that case
the grave is always left open till the
person dies. The place Of burial is al
ways, If possible, in grove OF mes
/ quite trees. The custom of destroying
all the personal effects of the husband
when ne dies iInpoverishes the bride.
AS consequence women do not care to
have many children and infenticfde
/ prevails to a great extent. The Yukis
Of California adopt the same custom
/ The Comanches of the Indian terri
tory adopt precisely the other extreme
/ Before a person dies his knees are
/ doubled up and the head bent down
upon the knees. The dying person is
/ roped firmly in this position. 4 blanket
/ is wrapped round the body and roped-
/ The body is then placed in a sitting
posture in saddle on a pony, for a
/ Copanche Is all Workmanship to the
last, a squaw riding behind to hold the
body up. AS soon as the grave is
reached the corpse is literally tumbled
in. The grave Is found generally at the
heads of canyons or deep washes.
Broken bows and arrows are thrown in
after the body. A pony is killed and
away rides the spirit of the departed &c
the happy hunting grounds.
The Pueblos of New Mexico bury
their dead horizontally in the grave and
level it with the ground. 50 that you
cannot find it. They paint the body
and put ornaments in the grave, and
also food to feed the departed on his
journey. A wake, with lighted candles,
followed by supper, precedes the bur-
ial The Fueblos howl over the body,
mourn for one year, have high mass said
for the repose of the soul and are hap
Ply. The Wichita Indians of the tat
tooed eyelids cry the town at death,
ride the corpse to the grave en- a pony,
build Palisade of poles round the
grave and shave of the grass within.
The relatives do not as rule go to the
grave. The Caddoes or Timber Indians
leave their dead. if killed in battle, to
be devoured by birds or beasts of prey
Outside of this instance they follow the
foregoing custom.
The Parsoe towers Of silence on Mala-
ber hill, filled with dead and crowned
with circle of living vulsures. waiting
to glut their greed upon the bodies
below, are a type of this. They
have IN rude way their followers
among the Indians, though the excep-
tons are few. The Trinity and Klamath
Indians of the Northwest coast bury in
a grave with circular stone coping, on
which the birds sit
Black Bird, the great war chief of the
Omahas. at his own request was buried
on the top OF a high hill, logged out in
all his plumed fiDery and seated astride
the back of his living snow-white steed.
Gradually the turfs were hesped around
the Gnps and tanks of the animal,
covering him all over the body as they
rose higher and higher. till at last only
the nozzle Of the noble brute peeped
out OF the mound for a last breath,
when with a single large turf the
smooth mound closed over forever and
not struggle beneath it's smooth surface
told the story of the living sseed that
lay folded beneath it.
There is still another form Of burial.
Is is aquatic burial. The Karague
bury their common people By sinking
their bodies III stream. Sometimes a
canoe is turned adrift on = stream or
over fall. Niagara has seen many
such funeral both of the dead and OF
the living. There are a few cry de-
pvaved tribes who eat their dead and
thus become living sepuIchres entombed
with the departed
Posts. with Indian characters graved
on them. are sometimes placed at the
heads Of graves, fires are kindled,
dances are performed, sacrifices offered,
feasts made and gambling iDdulgcd in
with plum stones. Enthusiastically
marked. The supeTstitions INDUCED in
are as sadly grotesQue and as cruelty
inperious Gs the ignorance of the Prim-
tive race can make them.
The Indian breads death. He will
take no open or even chances for his
life until he is certain that he has yours
first, He is always armed. An Indian
without his gun IS n dead Indian.
Such are the various mortuary Gus
toms Of the Indian country.
All this the pine tree told me as it
sang its lullaby in the hushed up valley
around that little grave. For be it re-
membered that whatever be the mode
of burial, in some mysterious way Of
embalming or streving, or stsving,
or forking, or posting, or scafold-
ing. or picketing. or tree burial, in