The Democratic advocate., 1893-03-25
INDIANS AND THEIR DEAD.
Curious Customs they Have About
Burials.

The burial of the dead among the NavaJos
* ueculiar to themselves. A resemblance
only to their mortuary customs IS to be
found among the Round Valley Indians OF
California. the KagoDlas and Billoxis OF
I,ouisiana. and the Indians OF Virginia.
The Navajo. however, is the more unique.
The house i the grave The body is bur
led lust where it dies. As soon as death
takes place, shallow grave Is scooped IN
the center of the hogan. In tins grave the
body is placed by the nearest re latIves, who
nreyiously smear their bodies with tar from
the pinion tree in order to protect them
selves against the evil influence OF the
DEVILS work. This is no sooner done than
the hogan is leveled to the ground and the
spot abandoned
If the deceased has no relatives or Is not
a person of importance in the tribe no grave
Is dug. but the hogan simply pulled down
over the body. 4 Navajo would sooner
freeze than kindle fire with the logs Of a
fallen hogan. | have seen these mortuaFy
hoeans in the mountains. The SURVIVORS
smear themselves ON the forehead and under
,be eyes with tar as sign Of mourning
When it wears off it is not put on again,
and the name of the dead is never men
toned. In case for any reason the body
be removed from the hogan 1t is buried IN
clefts of rocks, and stones piled oyer 1t, and
the HOGAN aud all in i. are burned up. Old
neople. when all hope is gone, are often
abaudoned in the brush and left to die OF
starvation alone. The only instances OF
burial in tree is a still-born child. Tins
custom among the Navajos accounts for the
absence of any architectural development
in the construction of their houses. They
are built TO be brought down or burned.
The Eastern Indians, as general rule,
buried their dead in the ground, often on
the tops Of hills, with stone-enclrled mounds
raised slightly over shallow graves, IN which
the trapplngs of the dead were buried with
them. and sometimes, iD the case OF chief,
his fayorite horse Sometimes the grave
of a great war chief was covered with large,
slab-like stones, thrown on, one by each
brave. for certain period of time, as he
passed the spot, writes Miller Hageman in
the New York Herald. The body was
generally buried in sitting posture; four
day fires were lighted to lamp the departed
ON his way, according to the sacred nu-
neral four among all Indians. The Mon
tauks. of Long Island, and other kindred
tribes buried their dead in this way. The
Mohawks. of New York, dug large, round
hole. in which the body was placed In
sitting or upright posture. Hampum and
frappings aud paint were all put Oh the
dead. This grave was covered with tim
Der 10 support the earth laid upon 1t, which
they raised into gentle mound.
Thus the body was not pressed with
CLAW. The Delawares in New Jersey bur
led their dead in pits and under rocks
The Carolina Indians have an expensive
aud prolonged ceremonial. The corpse is
first placed in cane hurdle, and then put
into an clubhouse, where it is kept carefully
guarded for day and night. At the
end of that time the first living brave met
by the mourners is robbed OF his blanket.
In this the dead is wrapped, and then coy
cred with Two or three cane mats The
coffin is woven of canes fastened at both
ends securely. Then the corpse is carried
into the peach orchard and there laid in IA
second hurdle. The family and friends
circle round The medicine man then pro-
nounces an elaborate eulogys recountiGg the
palor, skill, patriotism, exploits, and lnfu-
ence of the deceased. The corpse is then
carried by four pallbearers, selected from
the young braves, from the hurdle to the
grave, which is about six teet deep and
eight feet long. At each end Of the grave
stands, deep driven down, pine pitchfork.
The bottom of the grave is then covered
with bark.
The corpse is then lowered very slowly
by Two belts, with which the Indians carry
their burdens A ridgepole is then laid
across the grave in the forks, and that
rooted over with pitch-piue logs. These
are covered over and over with bark, on
which the earth dug from the grave is
thrown and beaten down.
Thus the body lies in vault, nothing
touching it, practically mummified by the
embalming pitch process of the pine. AT
ter tiuae the body is exhumed, the bones
cleaned and laid in the ossuary, The dead
was spoken to by medicine men, who sped
him Oh his way.
The Sacs and Foxes observe this man
ner of burial in their mortuary customs.
The Otoe and Missouri tribes followed
somewhat this mode of burial, with slight
variations. The Indian women cut their
hair of. Then the relatives will dance the
tomahawk dance to drive away the dead
spirit. A feast is also furnished for the
occasion. The corpse, bound upon horse
or put info wagon, was taken to the grave.
The grave was covered over with logs and
the body untouched by earth.
QUEER NIGHT BURIALs.
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 always, ifpos-
sible, in grove of mesquite trees. The
body is tightly roped and drawn up double
This custom of destroying all the personal
effects of the husband when be dies i'm
poverishes the bride. As consequence
women do not care to have many children
and infanticide prevails to a great extent
The Yukis, of California, adopt tho SAINT
customs
The Comauches of Indian Territory
adopt precisely the other extreme. Be
fore person dies his knees are doubled
up and the head bent down upon the
knees. The dying person is roped frply
in this position. A blanket is wrapped
round the body and roped. The body i
then placed in sitting posture in saddle
on a pony, for Conanche is all horse
manship to the last, squaw riding behinc
to hold the body up. As soon as tn,
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 a
the happy hunting grounds.