Evening journal., 1897-11-02
tspeoIall
JUNEAU. Alaska. oct. 10.
Via SEATTLE, Wash, Oct. q.

the eyes OF MS brethren IMAM hc SNNi /
was alive. Your true Thlingt is a |
born professional mourner, and he ]
would rather go to a funeral than TO
a picnic. Give him chance TO howl
and cash his flesh until his swarthy |
cuticle looks like a map Of the ST.
elias range or a much -trodden COW
path in rainy weather and he Is su-
premely. aggressively happy. Put him
in a good-sized morgue and let him
weep and wall and gnash his teeth and
punch an open-work pattern all over
his short ribs. and he'll never care 70
wander He would make a good run
ming mate for the ghoul in the Arabian
Nights.
Every little phratry and sub-phratry
In the Wolf and Raven clans, into
which the Thlingits are divided, feels
IN honor bound to hold grand jambo-
rec to celebrate the death OF the least
OF It's members. When a chief passes
IN his checks the occasion is made
memorable by a potiatch, or feast, on
so enormous a scale as frequently to
bankrupt his heir. the giver thereof.
for life. II is gorgeous opportunity
for wholesale gormandizlng which
every Thlinglt would rather die himself
than miss.
A Recent Cremation.
Volotskoi. noted chief Of the Wolf
clan. was gathered TO his fathers re-
Gently In a little village near Prince
Frederick Sound. The festivity ito
glorify the dead held In his honor
broke all funeral records throughout
Alaska Up to date more than dozen
deaths have been the results of the por-
cine stufrng INDUCED in by the mourn-
ers. who consisted of the greater part
of the Raven clan. A singular fact I'm
connection with Thlingit burials IS that
the guests must always be chosen from
the opposite clan. SO as Volotskoi was
a Wolf. the guests were Ravens.
AS Volotskoi was only chief and
not shaman or soroerer, he was cre-
mated. Had he been a shaman his
remains would have been deposited In
box swung high between two posts.
II there had been any such useful in
stitution as a board Of health in the
neighborhood of Prince Frederick
Sound, Brother Volotskoi would have
been buried several days earlier. AS
Il was. II was not necessary 70 inquire
the way TO the house Of woe. For
tnnatoIy, your correspondent had been
through preparatory course Of sleep
ing IN Eskimo huts. and close contact
with the natives, and was by that time
olfactorily invulnerable.
No time was set for the cremation.
The guests just drifted into the village
at their own good leisure. and when a
majority Of them felt It was time for
the circus TO begin the ceremony was
commenced.
Bnrbnric Rites.
A funeral pyre had been erected JUS
outside the village soon after Chic
volotslxoi passed in his checks, an'
when the guests were good and read,
their noble friend was carried to thu
pile OF fagots. Old Pop VolotslSoi. as h'
was called by the prospectors who ha'
enjoyed the distinguished. If somewha
expensive, honor OF his acquaintance
had attended many a potlatch himsel
and weighed nearly 300 pounds. 1t tool
six stout Thlingits TO tote him to tn
place.
The funeral procession was striking
Is informal Everybody just sauntere
along any old way, the mourners howl
ing In a dozen different keys A sma
party of veteran Yukoners, hardene
by long sojourn among the Arcti
SHOWS and brief but demoralizing eS
perience OF Dawson dance halls
Brought up the rear irreverently whist
ling "Theren BE a Hot Time in tn
old Town Tonight" It was me-
song to them. having recently been In
troduced among the select circles Z
Dawson City by a vivacious young PEI
son formerly OF Frisco, who sang
with great success at Summer soire
The natives thought II was the Anne
lean national hymn. and felt highl
hattered by the delicate attention.
self-Tortured Mourners.
While the relatives and guests gait
cred around in a solemn circle, Il
pyre was ignited. The relatives we
aud howled and croohed and keene
and the guests started systemaucal
20 work themselves into an advance
state Of seeming epilepsy. The Prin
Frederick Sound Thlingits boast Of to
turing themselves in a most horrih
manner while the body of a friend
in process Of cremation. on this o
casion a special deputation from Prin
of Wales Island graced the scene al
did its little best to make thinks liS
~. 1t looked for ling time as
there would be a half dozen improm
tu supplementary funerals on the sp
Howling at the tops of their voic'
dancing with terrible abandon, vri
Cling like snakes and shivering Ii
Mexican dogs. the guests pranc
around the little plateau, beating tn
own faces with jagged stones until tn
were covered with bruises and bleedi
profusely. They tore their arms a
breasts with their nails, sharp
oo,f.os falone and elashed the oulV