Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1899-12-14

TO HEAVEN BY SMOKE.

TO HEAVEN BY SMOKE.
The Mohave Custom 81 Burning the
Dead and Their Personal
Delongings.
]. A. Mcek.nson, formerly govern
ment special agent, says that the Mo-
HAYES are the most superstitious tribe
of North American Indians.
THE Mohaves," said he, "believe in a
god, Mat-o-we-lia. He Is the maker of
all things. He has son whom they
call Mas-zam-ho. who 10 king Of the de-
parted spirits. Mst-o-we-lia, they
say, conducts the movements Of the
sun, moon and stars. lie sends the
rain and the sunshine, and de.
cides whether the season shall bring
feast or famine. He guards the hunt
ing ground. Mas-zam-ho has full
charge of affairs In Heaven, OF White
mountain, as they call 1t.
They believe that the spirit dead
go up to White mountain in smoke, and
that oil the personal property de-
stroyed in the flames with the deceased
will go with him. There pots are con-
stantly boiling, Allied with the choicest
things to eat. They invariably Gre
mate their dead, that Mas-zam-ho may
be appeased, and the funeral pyre 10
made ready for the corpse as soon a.
life Is extinct, In order that the spirit
journey to White mountain may be ac-
CELEBRATED.
II witnessed, about 10 months ago,
the cremation of an influential sub
CHIEF, whose death was deeply mourned.
The funeral Pyre was made near the
temporary village, just off the resezvae
tion at Fort Mohave. Shortly after
midnight all the inhabitants Of the VIII
lage gathered about the pyre. The
body, wrapped in a gorgeous Mohave
blanket, with the fringes artistically
worked in beads, was carried on the
shoulders of four braves from the lodge
to the platform Of inhammabls fire.
wood. Following the pail bearers came
the women and children and near rela-
tives. The family group crouched near
the pyre. The chief Of the medicine
men offered, first, words OF praise and
thanks to Mat-o-we-lia for making the
elements favorable to an easy passage,
and then a supplication to Mas-zam-ho
to receive the spirit OF the departed
chieftain with due honors Mt White
mountain.
"Then the dead body was placed on
the pyre, the fire was lighted, the crack
ling flames swept fiercely up about the
corpse and the spirit was on its way to
its eternal home on White mountain.
Friends and relatives chanted songs Of
lamentation and moaned piteously
while the flames devoured the body.
At short intervals the four pail bear
ers cast upon the flames personal prop
erty Of the deceased in the expecta-
ton of Its going up in smoke with him
10 White mountain, thereby adding to
his comfort. The mourners also con-
tributed some Of their choicest personal
belongings, SO that in his new and eter-
nal home the absent ono might have
about him remembrance Of their at
lection. To the women OF the imme-
diate family was granted the privilege
Of contributing portions Of their hair
to the flames. After the incineration
was complete Mohave etiquette for.
bade the friends and relatives to eat
salt or wash themselves for four days,
1T 10 belief firmly fixed in the Mo-
have mind that all Mohaves who die
and are not cremated turn into owls.
When an owl is heard hooting at night
near their village, they think 1t is the
spirit Of some dead Mohave returned
II by chance an owl falls into their
hands. the bird is properly cremated
in the belief that the wandering spirit
OF it's Mohave occupant will thereby be
quieted and thus enabled to APPROACH
Mns-zam-ho. confident that its petition
to DO allowed to enter the promised
land, and thereafter rest in peace
among the other good Indians of White
mountain, cannot be refused.
Until very recently the Mohaves
held yearly a mournful festival. 1t
was the annual burning of personal
property In honor Of the departed mem
bers of the tribe. At the time deemed
most propitious by the medicine men
to both Mat-o-we-lia and to Mas-zam-
no. the Mohaves assembled in an open
spot near their village, high knoll
usually being selected. The pyre had
been prepared os though for the crema-
ton of the dead. When the fire was
hottest each member of the tribe con-
tribnted to the flames some bit of per-
sonal property held in choice esteem.
AS the thick smoke foated Hayward
the mourning Indians were consolcd
for the loss Of objects Of personal
adornment, apparel. OF Of hunting i'm
plements, by their firm belief that the
curling smoke rings were waited
straight to Mas-zam-ho, king Of the
departed spirits, and that their loved
ones on White mountain were soon in
possession of these proofs Of their last
ing love and remembrance. Under the
Influence Of their agents the Mohaves
have abandoned the annual sacrifice to
the dead and. except ut Needles, OF the
reservation, 1t is not now observed."-
n. Y. Sun.
Cavalry Horses as Living Forts.
The born horsemen of the South At
rican republic, with their horses
trained to retreat and advance as the
firing of their disinounted masters In
creases and lessons, are apt to meet
! more thnn n mattel, in some NJ tho Enp.