Barre evening telegram. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-19??, 1901-09-24
THE MOHAVE INDIANS
THEY ARE THE MOST sUPERsTITloUS
OF ALL OUR RED MEN.


From Their Burning BOdies-ThOse
Not Burned Turn to Owls.
]. X. Meekinson, formerly govern
ment specia! agent, says that the Mo-
HAYES are the most superstitious tribe
| Of North American Indians.
1.-THE Mohaves," said lie, believe in
god Mat-o-we-lia. He is the maker
| of all things. He has son. whom they
| call Mas-zam-ho, who is king of the de-
parted spirits. Mat-o-we-lla, they say,
| conducts the movements Of the sun,
moon aud sials. lac sends the rain
and the sunshine and decides whether
| the season shall bring feast or famine.
| He guards the limiting ground. Mas
zam-ho has full charge of affairs in
heaven. or White Mountain, AS they
call it.
"rhey believe that the spirit dead 60
up to White Mountain in smoke and
that all the personal property destroy
ed in the flames with The deceased will
go with linn. There pots are constant
! ly boilAg, filled with the choicest
things to eat. They invariably cremate
their dead t,!at Mas-zanl-ho may be
appeascd and the funeral pyre is made
| ready for the corpse as soon as life is
extinct, in order that the spirit journey
| to White Mountain may be accelerated.
| II witnessed about II months ago the
cremation OF an influential subchief,
whose death was deeply mourned The
| funeral pyrc was made near the tenn
porary village, just off the reservation
at Fort Mohaye Shortly after night
fall all the inhabitants of the village
| 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 plat
form of infammable firewood.
"Folowing the pallbcarers came the
women and children and near rela-
tives. The family group croUched near
the pyrc. The chief of the medicine
men offered first words of praise and
thanks to Mat-owe-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 at White
Mountain.
"Then the dead body was placed on
the pyrc. the fire was lighted, the craze
king flames swept fiercely up about
the corpse. and the spirit was on its
| way to it's eternal home on White
Mountain Friends and relatives chant
ed songs of lamentation and moaned
piteOuSly while the flames devOured
the body. At short intervals the four
pallbearers cast upon the flames per-
sonal property of the deceased In the
expectation Of it's going up in smoke
with him to White Mountain, thereby
adding to his comfort.
"'The monrners also contributed some
Of their choicest personal belongings.
so that in his new and eternal home
the absent one might have about him
remembrances of their affection. L"
the women of the immediate family
was granted the privilege of contribute
ing portions of their hair to the flames.
After the incarceration was complete
Mohave etiquette forbade the friends
and relatives to eat salt or wash them
selves for four days.
ut is a 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.
If by chance an owl falls into their
hands, the bird is properly cremated,
49, Il. Ns,,t%
of its Mol!ave occupant VIII thereby be
uuieted aud thus enabled to approach
Mas-zam-ho. confident that it's petition
to be allowed to enter the promised
land and t..ereafter rest in peace
among the other good Indians OF White
Mountain cannot he refused.
Until very recently the MohAves
held yea-iy mourning festival. II
was the annual burning of personal
property IN honor Of the departed men-
bcrs of tle tribe. Vt tie hour deemed
most pr~p.;iuus ny the medicine meA
to both }Iat-0-wo-lia and to Mas zanI
no the Mchnvcs assembled in an open
spot near their village, a high knoll
usually being selected. The pyre ha
been prepared as though for the crenl;
ton of the dead. When the fire WAS
hottest. each member of the tribe CON
tributeu to the flames some bit Of per-
sonal property held in choice esteem
AS the thick smoke tloated, sky
ward the mourning Indians were con-
s,led for TIE loss of objects of personal
alornment. apparel or of hunting i'm
plements Ivy their firm belief that the
curling smoke rings We're waited
straight to Mas-Zam-ho. king Of the de-
parted spirits. and that their loved
ones on White Mountain We're soon in
possession Of these proofs of their last
ing love and remembrance.
Under the influence of their agents
the Mohaves have abandoned the an
rual sacrifice to the dead. and, except
at Needles. off the reservation. it is
not now observed" Washington Let
ter in New York Sun.