Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-14
SKULL STREWN HILLTOPS
Eskimo Funeral Customs Do Not
Include Burying.
TRADING IN RELICS OF DEAD
Bodies Of Departed Ice DweIIers Are
Left nm the HnIs 20 he Food
for the Rowing wild
Beasts.
TRADING IN RELICS OF DEAD

ECAaNA NAOEEf aAldekhF ONLs IL w q
Gently reported burial Of the skulls and
bones Of 1900 long dead Eskimos in the
Episcopal burying ground here under the
direction Of Bishop P. 7. Rowe may bring
about a change in burial customs in the
north. The skulls and bones were picked
up on the surface OF the ground Just
where they were left, maybe a thousand
years ago.
All along the shores Of the Arctic from
Cape Prince Of Wales to Labrador and Ear
into the untravelled interior this appar-
entity heartless custom Of leaving the dead
a prey TO wolves and half wolf dogs has
prevailed from time lmmemorial. There IL
scarcely O. ridge or headland in all the
vast territory over which the Eskimos
have roamed that has not somewhere upon
II a place Of skulls.
There Is nothing that more impresses the
Arctic traveller than these ever present
skulls as they stare out from their dark
moss beds on the frozen hills of the north
land. Some Of them have kept their long
vigils through centuries and crumble at
the touch like chalk. Others are start
lingly fresh from the framework OF the
living.
Tell your Eskimo guide that he should
bury his dead and he will tell you that.
in summer water would some into tho
y grave. Tell him that in civilized lands
' they sometimes cremste the dead and he
win be Mortified As a matter Of fact,
the custom Of leaving sthe dead on the
Arctic hllitops to be the food OF savage
beasts is natural and unavoidable.
Could Not Dig Graves.
The digging OF a grave in the far north
even IN summer with the tools possessed
by the Eskimos is next to impossible,
for even in July the ground Immediately
beneath the moss that covers the surface
q anywhere Is frozen as hard as granite
to an unknown depth. Even where under
ground Ice is found the Eskimos would
consider the making of a grave a useless
expenditure of energy and at the same
time a cruel proceeding, for the thought OF
having to lie in icy water is unbearable
to an Eskimo, So their dead are left on
the dry hilltops.
Although the dead are left on their
messy beds beneath the unprotecung stars
II must not be thought that there IL no
sorrow when death visits an Eskimo vii
lage. There are no more affectionate
people In the world; this is the testimony
of everyone familiar with their ways. But
they typlfy the childhood OF the race.
Their grief, like that Of children, is acute
and is soon over with.
Men, women and children sob when the
eye OF the sick no longer responds to the
peculiar death test. and in the old days
their sorrow was doubiy intense when at
the request of the patient the end was
FASTENED by a friendly knife thrust and
the helpless sufferer was put out of pain
forever. For half an hour the weeping
may continue. Then the scene changes.
The trr1Oo ia proxydaA NTH naIqhhnrQ
only the little corner where the corpse lies
is vacant, outside there are more people
with dog sleds TO which are harnessed the
finest dogs In the village. Soon the corpse
is carried out, and IL a mar it is placed
Upon the sled which was and. according to
Eskimo ethics, still is. his own.
Husky Kid Runs Ahead.
A small boy runs ahead OF the dead
mans Dog team with the cry, "Hak!
Haki" and the funeral procession is in
stantly under way. A dozen dog sleds,
. with their ivory runners creaking In the
cold are flying over the snow. on they
go, some behind, some ahead, sOme abreast
OF the improvised hearse. There is no sys-
tenn. no precedence. no II Ia
too cold for ceremony, so on they fly. the
sleds humping and bounding over the
uneven surface OF the snow.
At the top OF some ridge, maybe a mile
from the village. the cortege halts. The
dead man is lifted from the sled and laid
upon the snow. Clad in his everyday
garments of deerskin and wrapped In a
talrus skin shroud they leave him Their,
With the friends who have gone before
His weapons, his sled ana all the per.
sonal property that the -oommunistic society
In which he lived allowed him to possesl
NRre left there beside him.
Right then and there all mourning ceases
There Is not a dog in the Arctic that doei
not know that a funeral without a dos
race would be a farce. Every child, every
malamoot pup In the village knows tina
the team that wins this funeral race will
win honor and frozen seal meat from
every igloo,
Almost as soon as the body touches tn,
esruund they are off. Across the tundra
they Fly, dogs, detached pups. men, women
children and chief mourners. all racing
and shouting fr5nticslly. The occasion /.
one OF confusion and wild hilarity.
In this way the Arctic has disposed Of
her dead, for no one knows how man,
generations, There are no fearful dirges
no flowers streWn upon newly mouldet
graves. There Is no attempt made TO max,
the occasion impressive. no attempt e
perpetuRte the memory OF anyone.
In the wild excitement OF the race tn,
sorrow OF these chlldlIke people has fsdeC
away.
implements Found with BOnes.
Among tho white bones that glisten on
thousand Rorthern hills may be found tn,
relies Of the Arctic race. odd tools ar'
there fashioned out OF flint and slate oil
beautifully polished jade or Ivory. OLD
bows ana arrows that have rotted away
in the grip OF dead meas hands, wonder
full ivory and copper spear heads, and al
the weapons hat were once scattered upor
Arctic battlefields we're left within reach
OF the hands that shaped them during life
stone pans that served as seal oil Tampa
e there and odd wooden vessels thai
Nervcd as thinking cups before the ships
came In from the mysterious distance car
rslug lin and granite ware.
No monuments mark the resting places
OF the dead, but often The great ribs OF
ne whale are seen standing here and Their,
above tic skulls OF those who some tim,
W thc years gone by were doubtless IA.
NOUS harpoouers.
HnfDrp tIyufuaIIns raaghra ,,t t... -