The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1931-05-29

he little Town OF lgndclO,
n on the Ute reservation in
southern Colorado, is astir.
1t is May "a, the anniver-
sary of the burial Of Ou-
ray. Beneath a simple
H ~ i cement headstone, made
KNfI by the hands of the In
mSZZA dams themselves, lies their
E3 last great chief. Ever since
his body was removed to
this grave in 1926, Utes from all the
bands in Colorado and Utah have gath
cred yearly to honor him with memo
rial rites.
1t is hard to tell whether this is
custom patterned after the white mans
Memorial day or not. 1t is true that
only six days later, we who read
these lines will pay tribute to our
dead. There will be parades and
speeches, and flowers and flags will
deck the resting places of our soldier
and sailor departed, while elsewhere
in the cemeteries wreaths and bou-
quets will symbolic our tender recol-
leetions of kinfolk and close friends.
There are few communities in our
country which have no sort of serv-
ives. On this day, from coast to coast,
the American people give special
thought to those who have entered upon
| the Great Adventure. But il the
| ghosts Of those other folk who lived
here before us look back and see US,
they understand what we are doing,
for once, long ago, the red-skinned
people held their day of remembrance,
too. 1t was not always on the same
| date, across all the country. Some
times it was twice year; sometimes
many years elapsed between the days
set apart for the dead, according to
the tribes which observed the custom.
But none the less the Indians before
us, in their own way, which was some
| times very much like ours, honored
their beloved dead.
The Pueblos call them "Those-who-
| have gone-before" To their minds the
next world is very much like this,
but the departed are closer to Those
Above, and may intercede for the liv-
| ing. They come back, also, not in the
luminous robes and with the trumpets
and states of seance-spirits, but in the
persons of certain living tribesmen
who, when they have donned the gro
tesque masks of their ancertor-worship
rites, seem to acquire something of
the power Of those whom they are
representing. They come back, also.
| in the quiet hours when their children
are immersed in thought, and give
advice and counsel.
1t is only fitting, then, that the Hopi
when their representations walk
through the villages and hear the sup
plications Of their living children. 1t
is queer sort of Memorial day, true,
| but it is conducted with real reverence
and love, and who can ask more?
What a beautiful faith this is, which
does not admit Of death separating the
living and the dead, and which holds
| these symbolic family reunions In
token of that faith.
Even with this belief, however, II
| Is impossible for loving hearts not
| to grieve at the loss of dear ones.
Thus we hear Hopi wailing on the
anniversary of death, and If there
has been an epidemic which took a
number of the tribe, an official ami
versary is fixed, and observed with
sorrow year after year.
So, too, the New Fire ceremony sees
| the Zuni matron, dressed as If TO meet
beloved friends, weeping softly to her
self as she casts food into the fire
on her hearth. This food is for the
ancestors and for those who died in
the past year, but if we could see into
her heart we would surely find some
beloved one enshrined there, Of whom
she thinks especially as she makes her
Offering.
The first anniversary of death was
the one most widely observed. Then
the widow could put off her mourning.
and the bereaved family could take up
everyday life again. The official time
Of sorrow was passed at the end of
this year. But who, be he Indian or
white, can say to the mourner, do
not weep longer; do not grieve fur
ther"? The sorrow of death makes
lasting impression on the heart, which
cannot be erased at the end Of year.
Anniversaries come as naturally as
the seasons themselves. Fall comes,
and those who are left behind remem-
Der that at the Green Corn feasts their
loved ones were merry. Thus, the
Tunica guardians of the cemeteries
reminded those who had corn and
beans that the time had come to offer
them, and the people gladly gathered
parts Of their harvest and placed them
On the graves
Offering food In this way is not only
an Indian custom; it Is practically
universal The dish of rice on a
Chinese grave is proverbial, but more
touching in its thought is the story of
the old italian grandfather who poured
q bagful Of bright jelly beans AROUND
his little granddaughter grave, be-
cause she had been so fond of them.
II, as the Indians believed, the next