The Democratic advocate., 1893-03-25

repose of the soul. and are happy. The
Wichita Indians of the tattooed eyelids
cry the town at death, ride the corpse to
the grave on pony, build palisade of
of poles round the grave and shave off the
grass within The relatives do not as
rule 90 the grave.
The Caddoes or Timber Indians leave
their dead, if killed in battle, to be de-
voured by birds or beasts Of prey. Out
side of this instance they follow the fore
going custom.
The parsee towers of silence on Malabar
hill. filed with dead and crowned with
circle Of living vultures waiting to giut
their greco upon the bodies below, are
type Of this. They have in rude way
their followers among the Indians, though
the exceptions are few The Trinity and
Klamath Indians of the northwest coast
bury III a grave with a circular stone cop
ing, on which the birds sit.
The Dakota Sioux paint a corpse red
across the mouth, the hand black, with the
thumb on the side of the mouth. A Sioux
never cries with pain and never exhibits
alarm at death or shows fear of any kind
The medicine bag is placed on the heart.
There is little or no preparation for death.
The corpse is blanketed, boxed and
buried with the head to the south, whence
they believe they originally came. A
person who has been murdered by one of
their own tribe is always buried face down,
with fat piece of pork or bacon in the
mouth to prevent the spirit of the muir
dered person from soaring the game from
that section. A kettle OF food is placed
at children's graves. Girls eat the food
out of it at girls graves, and boys at boys.
The scalplock is cut off, hung up in the
lodge, and considered excepting the ghost.
Formerly these Indians buried in tree
or on platform, and burial in the ground
was disgrace. They even sometimes
carried the dead body of a person with
them on their journeys. The most cruel
mourning is practiced. The squlws hack
themselves to pieces with stone tiints until
they are covered with blood. The braves
run sharpened sticks through their flesh
until the scene is fairly sickening. A SIN
gle scalp avs nges the death and stops the
mourning. While they mourn they never
laugh. wash or comb their hair. They
also haye what is known as the "gh hosts
gamble" The Minnatarree indians of
Dakota cut off their fingers for the dead
till the whole ground is strewn with them.
They are invariably buried in a green
blanket, though they never wear green
when living.
The mortuary custom of the Utes is
cave burial, 0uray was but lately dragged
of secretly to one such rock cave and bur
led. The death-bed scenes, the final pre-
parations, the journey to the grave, the
place of deposit are all with the Ute pro-
found secrets. lie will not talk or tell.
1t would be very dangerous thing for
white man to be in Ute camp when any
one died for they would lay it to his evil
influence No white man ever saw Ute
buried. They bury in rock cave, seal it
up carefully and cunningly with stone,
and steal away, even taking care to cover
their tracks and erase their footprints.
The minutes of Alaska, and the sealed
caverns in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky
all tell the same story. In this, the Utes
differ from all other Indians. l have no
doubt bnt that Mummy Cave is full Of
Utes.
Black Bird, the great war chief Of the
0mahas, at his own request was buried on
the top of high hill, logged out in all his
plumed fnery and seated astride the back
Of his living snow-white steed. Gradually
the green sods were heaped around the
limbs and fanks of the animal, covering
him all over the body as they rose higher,
till at last only the nozzle of the noble
brute peeped out of the mound for last
breath, when with single large turf the
smooth mound closed over forever, and
not a struggle beneath its level surface told
the story Of the living steed that lay folded
beneath it.
There is still another form of burial. 1t
is aquatic burial. The Karague bury
their common people by sinking their bod
les In q stream. Sometimes 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 very depraved tribes who eat the
dead, and thus become living sepulchers,
entombed with the departed.
Posts, with Indian characters engraved
on them, are sometimes placed at the
heads of graves, fires are kindled, dances
are performed, sacrifices offered, feasts
made and gambling indulged in with plum
stones characteristically marked. The su-
perstitions INDUCED in are as sadly gro
tesque and as cruelty imperious as the ig-
norance Of primitive race can make
them.
The Indian breads death. He will take
po open or even chances for his life until
be is certain be has yours first. He is al
ways armed An Indian without his gun
is dead Indian
Such are the various mortuary customs
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 remembered
that whatever may be the mode of burial,
in some mysterious way of embalming
or strewing, OF starving, or forking, or
posting, or seafoldipg, or picketing, or tree
burial, in some way the pine tree plays its
part. The shades of the dead ghost stay
in its hearsed sables, the plumes of the
warrior toss on its tasselled tips, the medi-
cine of the conjuror turks in its legendary
secrets, the miracle of healing works in its
brand scattering balsams, the voice of a
sad, heart-broken people steals in its "Mis-
erere" on the still air, and strangely whis-
pers, "hliantonomoh was right"