Evening journal., 1893-05-13
MoJAvs FUNERAL RITES.
Grief and Appetite Go Hand In Hand at
These Ceremonies.

These Ceremonies.
On the banks Of the lower Colorado, |
among the gravel mesas and mesquite !
covered valleys. live the Mohave Indians,
having their commercial headquarters at |
The Needles, Cal, famed as the hottest
place in the United States excepting
Death valley, and their seat Of learning,
supported by the government at Fort
Mohave, A. T. In western Arizona, where
snow and ice are unknown, clothing is
useless except for ornament, and the
mesquite tree bears all the food needed
tosustain life, we find the Mohave Indians
TO resemble in appearance and habits tho
NEGROES Of central Africa except in
the particulars Of curly hair and thick
hps. having the same Scorn for the re-
straints Of clothing, and the same pas
sionate fondness for brilliant plumage
and gaudy cosmetics. Peculiar are the
customs of these benighted people, but
there is none more unique than the cere-
mony connected with their disposal Of
their dead.
An Indian woman died at noon, and
we attended the funeral, four of us.
The Mohayes practice cremation, and
the cremating commences as soon as
the breath is out of the body, as wit
ness the fact that the woman died mt
noon and was on the funeral pile at 10
minutes past. Indeed IL is said that the
mourners are sometimes startled at see
ing the dead come to life again when the
fire begins to grow fervent. Not many
hicos, as the white people are called, are
accorded the privilege Of attending these
ceremonies. but as we stand well with
one of th0wise men of the tribe we We're
| invited to be present. AS soon as we
/ could swallow our dinners we started
for the place and were guided there by
the wailings Of the friends Of the de-
/ parted. consisting of every man, woman
and child present at the festivities. Nol
| can see the rcasonableness Of my calling
il by such aname when you are told that
the affnir concludes by the killing and
eating Of all the horses Of the departed,
and every one goes to his own hut feel
ing that he has enjoyed himself greatly.
The Mohaves believe in demonstrating
their feelings through the agency Of the
mouth and limbs, and this woman being
much beloved the mourners were many
and their grief could be heard a mile
away II ever you have heard n pack OF
coyotes bowling forth their misery il
the middle Of the night, when they how
most artistically, you have this noise e
a dot.
Arriving at that placewe found hol'
dug in the ground about 10 feet in di
amoter and 2 feet deep, heaped full o
wood and sUrmounted by the body @
the deceased This was burning, an'
around it in picturesque attitudes wer
all the friends trying to outdo eac
other in oxclamations of grief. The hcal
doctor. for the Mohaves have physicians
stood by the side of the genius VIII
stirred the fire, giving directions for th
most rapid destruction of tho body
which he had, no doubt, with great ski
) assisted in becoming q corpse He thu
carried his f.nctions n step further tina
+ the physicians in civilized life.
b One old fellow, who seemed 60 be q
: minister, was standing within the circ
a haranguing Che assembly doubtless {
@ the many virtues of the departed, az
when he seemed 10 make an unusual
s good point the mourners manifested the
q appreciation by an increase in the for
l. of their gr0ans.
L Finally the relatives and friends q
d the horses that were the property Of Il
10 deceased and went home firmly belle
'e ing that the dead woman's spirit isroal
ing un.roubled in "Ghost mountain
p Just across the river.-San Francis
" Chronicle.