Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1905-10-15
ELABORATED INDIAN FUNERALS
Strange Customs and Ceremonies Of Tribes
Of the Southwest.
OPEN GRAVES or PIMA CEMETERIES
Many Methods of Disposing of the
Bodies-Caves Utilised rs Graves
-Cremation PractIced by
Several Tribes.

peals to the mind Of the Indian. Super
stitious by nature and education and
imagination TO an extreme, all that Is I'M
known and unfathomed is associated with
the miraculous and supernatural and he
lives in an atmosphere OF mysticism. Death
Is to him circumstance of the highest
degree of mystery, and the ceremonies at
tending the funeral and burial are there
fore. elaborate and in many cases i'm
posing.
The services over the dead vary greatly
with different tribes, and the methods Of
disposing Of the bodies are many. Inhu-
nation is, perhaps, the most common
method of putting away the dead, but even
here there is a variety of customs. Some
bury the dead in sitting posture Others
double the body together and bind It with
cords. Still others stand the body upright,
and In other cases the corpse is given
recumbent position. Several of the tribes
OF the southwest practice cremation; some
dispose of their dead by placing the bodies
upon elevated platforms; others entomb
them I'm stone cysts, caves, huts or other
buildings, while some of the coast tribes
sink the bodies in the waters of the ocean.
The Pima Indians bury their dead imme-
diately, or soon after death as possible.
The burial generally takes place In the
night time. Inc DO0Y Is prepared lot lnB
grave by being tied double with ropes
passed under the knees and around the
neck. When the medicine man Of the tribe
pronounces death inevitable. the grave is
prepared. This is a perfectly round hole,
four or five feet deep, just large enough
to receive the body. II often happens that
the medicine man makes a mistake in the
diagnosis of the case and the patient re-
covers His grave is then left untitled till
such time as he is ready to occupy II.
Should other members of the tribe die first,
new graves are prepared for them, the
other being left to yawn till it gets the one
for whom 1t was made. 1t therefore hap
pens that nearly every Pima cemetery
contains several open graves.
From Grave TO Gay.
The burial is accompanied by chanting
by the mourners, words laudatory to the
departed being improvised The grave is
filled while the weird songs are being sung
and a pole fence or covering is then con-
structed to protect the grave from the
depredations Of coyotes other wild ami
mails The immediate relatives OF the de-
parted cut their hair as a sign Of their
mourning, and they cease their occupa-
lions several weeks.
Immediately after the services at the
grave the house and personal effects of the
departed are burned and his or her cattle
and horses are slaughtered and cooked
great feast is then made in which all
members of the tribe in the vicinity take
part.
The Navajos have a horror OF death, and
will not approach a corpse save OF neces-
sity When death occurs in a dwelling 1t
is Immediately abandoned, and as soon as
practicable a new home is built. In the
meantime the surviving members OF the
household camp out or take refuge with
other members of the tribe.
Sometimes the house where the death
takes place Is made to serve as a tomb for
the dead, the doorway being filled with
sticks and mud II is more usual however
for the body to be buried i'm a grave pre-
pared for Il. the remains being conveyed
to the grave the next day after death by
two perfectly naked Indians who, after the
fu~rral purify themselves before resuming
cir apparel.
The body is followed by LONG process
sion OF friends and relatives who march
anout the grave chanting songs and who,
upon departing deposit each upon the
. grave some article which the departed will
need In making his journey to the lower
world-the location OF the Navajo spirit
land.
TWO customs OF NnG hOplHs
The Hopi Indians have one burial custom
for adults and another for children. They
believe that the spirits of the latter return
to their mothers and that they are born
again. They. therefore. dispose OF the bodies
Of the young by putting them in the clefts
Of the rocks in the mesa, in any convenient
place, filling the crevice with sticks, stones
and mud. The bodies of adults are laid in
graves at the foot OF the mesa. After being
carefully dressed and prepared for a long
Journey a prayer offering is laid with the
body, to which is attached long string
and the body is then covered and pile OF
stones laid on the grave. The string. which
is left projecting from the grave, is then
laid in long trench running due west from
the cairn.
1t is the belief of the Hopis that the spirit
Of the departed. which is thought to he
asleep with the body in the grave. awake;
at the expiration OF the fourth day, when q
is supposed to follow the string up out Of
the grave and along the trench. when. hav
ing been started In the right direction, &
continues on it's westward way till II comes
TO the Grand canon, in the depths OF which
they believe 20 be the house for the dead
to which they have given the name o.
Mask"
The Apaches put their dead away in thu
CieftS OF the rocks IN swallow graves, ana
I'm the case Of children, in the tree tops FIRE
auently They chant the virtues OF the de
parted at the time OF the burial, and thu
immediate friends OF the deceased Civ,
themselves up to mourning for a period.
The Pala Indians OF Southern California
have had the advantage OF more than
century OF religious training, one OF tn
early missions having been located in thei
midst They have assimilated the genera
idea Of the resurrection OF the body and tn
life beyond the grave. and have blended
this doctrine and the burial customs of tn
Catholic church with the original rites o
paganism.
II is now their belief that the body i
destined 70 lie a certain length OF time Il
the grave and at the expiration of tina
period the resurrection takes place. Fo
this reason they are very particular TO re
cord upon the rude board cross or ston
slab with which they mark the grave tn
exact time at which the deceased ceased L
live. The inscription will state that such
person died on July 10. 1899. at o'clock 4
the afternoon" In some cases cheap ALARM
clocks are hung TO the cross, the hand
being set at the hour and minute at whic
death occurred.
In the Coahuilla cemetery, in the Colo
RADIO desert. is a curious litter used by tn