Books: An introduction to the mortuary customs of the North American Indians
H >>
H. C. Yarrow >> An introduction to the mortuary customs of the North American Indians
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 Produced by Scott Pfenninger, Charles Franks
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
This file was produced from images generously made available
by the Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions.
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION--BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY
J.W. POWELL DIRECTOR
INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF MORTUARY CUSTOMS AMONG THE NORTH AMERICAN
INDIANS
BY DR. H. C. YARROW ACT ASST SU G USA
WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1880
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY
_Washington D. C. July 8, 1880_
This little volume is the third of a series designed to promote
anthropologic researches among the North American Indians. The first
was prepared by myself and entitled "Introduction to the Study of
Indian Languages," the second by Col. Garrick Mallery entitled
Introduction to the Study of Sign Language among the North American
Indians.
The following are in course of preparation and will soon appear.
Introduction to the Study of Medicine Practices among the North
American Indians
Introduction to the Study of Mythology among the North American
Indians
Introduction to the Study of Sociology among the North American
Indians
The mortuary customs of savage or barbaric people have a deep
significance from the fact that in them are revealed much of the
philosophy of the people by whom they are practiced. Early beliefs
concerning the nature of human existence in life and after death and
the relations of the living to the dead are recorded in these customs.
The mystery concerning the future love for the departed who were loved
while here, reverence for the wise and good who may after death be
wiser and better, hatred and fear of those who were enemies here and
may have added powers of enmity in the hereafter--all these and like
considerations have led in every tribe to a body of customs of
exceeding interest as revealing the opinions, the philosophy of the
people themselves.
In these customs, also are recorded evidences of the social condition
of the people, the affection in which friends and kindred are held,
the very beginnings of altruism in primitive life.
In like manner these customs constitute a record of the moral
condition of the people, as in many ways they exhibit the ethic
standards by which conduct in human life is judged. For such reasons
the study of mortuary customs is of profound interest to the
anthropologist.
It is hoped that by this method of research the observations of many
men may be brought together and placed on permanent record, and that
the body of material may be sufficient, by a careful comparative
study, to warrant some general discussion concerning the philosophy of
this department of human conduct.
General conclusions can be reached with safety only after materials
from many sources have been obtained. It will not be safe for the
collector to speculate much upon that which he observes. His own
theory or explanation of customs will be of little worth, but the
theory and explanation given by the Indians will be of the greatest
value. What do the Indians do, and say, and believe? When these are
before us it matters little whether our generalizations be true or
false. Wiser men may come and use the facts to a truer purpose. It is
proposed to make a purely objective study of the Indians, and, as far
as possible, to leave the record unmarred by vain subjective
speculations.
The student who is pursuing his researches in this field should
carefully note all of the customs, superstitions, and opinions of the
Indians relating to--
1. The care of the lifeless body prior to burial, much of which he
will find elaborated into sacred ceremonies.
2. The method of burial, including the site of burial, the attitude in
which the body is placed, and the manner in which it is investured.
Here, also, he will find interesting and curious ceremonial
observances. The superstitions and opinions of the people relating to
these subjects are of importance.
3. The gifts offered to the dead; not only those placed with the body
at the time of burial, but those offered at a subsequent time for the
benefaction of the departed on his way to the other world, and for his
use on arrival. Here, too, it is as important for us to know the
ceremonies with which the gifts are made as to know the character of
the gifts themselves.
4. An interesting branch of this research relates to the customs of
mourning, embracing the time of mourning, the habiliments, the self-
mutilations, and other penances, and the ceremonies with which these
are accompanied. In all of these cases the reason assigned by the
Indians for their doings, their superstitions, and explanations are of
prime importance.
5. It is desirable to obtain from the Indians their explanation of
human life, their theory of spirits and of the life to come.
A complete account of these customs in any tribe will necessitate the
witnessing of many funeral rites, as the custom will differ at the
death of different persons, depending upon age, sex, and social
standing. To obtain their explanations and superstitions, it will be
necessary to interrogate the Indians themselves. This is not an easy
task, for the Indians do not talk with freedom about their dead. The
awe with which they are inspired, their reverence and love for the
departed, and their fear that knowledge which may be communicated may
be used to the injury of those whom they have loved, or of themselves,
lead them to excessive reticence on these subjects. Their feelings
should not be rudely wounded. The better and more thoughtful members
of the tribe will at last converse freely on these subjects with those
in whom they have learned to place confidence. The stories of ignorant
white men and camp attaches should be wholly discarded, and all
accounts should be composed of things actually observed, and of
relations made by Indians of probity.
This preliminary volume by Dr. H. C Yarrow has been the subject of
careful research and of much observation, and will serve in many ways
as a hint to the student. The literature of the subject is vast, but
to a large extent worthless, from the fact that writers have been
hasty travelers or subjective speculators on the matter. It is strange
how much of accepted history must be rejected when the statements are
carefully criticised and compared with known facts. It has frequently
been stated of this or that tribe that mutilations, as the cutting off
of fingers and toes, of ears and nose, the pulling out of teeth, &c.,
are extensively practiced as a mode of mourning find wild scenes of
maiming and bloodshed are depicted as following upon the death of a
beloved chief or great man yet among these tribes maimed persons are
rarely found It is probable that there is some basis of fact for the
statement that mutilations are in rare instances practiced among some
tribes. But even this qualified statement needs absolute proof.
I am pleased to assure those who will take part in this work by
earnest and faithful research that Dr Yarrow will treat them
generously by giving them full credit for their work in his final
publication.
I must not fail to present my thanks to the Surgeon General of the
United States Army and his corps of officers for the interest and
assistance they have rendered.
J W POWELL
WASHINGTON, D C, _April_ 5, 1880
DEAR SIR: I have the honor to offer for your consideration the
following paper upon the Mortuary Customs of the North American
Indians, and trust it may meet with your approval as an introduction
to the study of a subject which, while it has been alluded to by most
authors, has received little or no systematic treatment. For this and
other reasons I was induced some three years since to commence an
examination and collection of data relative to the matter, and the
present paper is the outcome of that effort. From the vast amount of
material in the Bureau of Ethnology, even at the present time, a large
volume might be prepared, but it was thought wiser to endeavor to
obtain a still greater array of facts, especially from living
observers. If the desired end is attained I shall not count as lost
the labor which has been bestowed.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
H C. YARROW.
Maj. J. W. POWELL,
_In charge of Bureau of Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution_
_The wisest of beings tells us that it is better to go to the House
of Mourning than to that of laughter. And those who have well consider
d the grounds he bad for thus his judgment will not by the title of
this book (as melancholy as it appears) be affrighted from the
perusing it.
What we read to have been and still to be the custom of some nations
to make sepulchres the repositories of their greatest riches is (I am
sure) universally true in a moral sense however it may be thought in
the literal there being never a grave but what conceals a treasure
though all have not the art to discover it I do not here invite the
covetous miser to disturb the dead who can frame no idea of treasure
distinct from gold and silver but him who knows that wisdom and virtue
are the true and sole riches of man. Is not truth a treasure think
you? Which yet Democritus assures us is buried in a deep pit or grave
and he bad reason for whereas we meet elsewhere with nothing but pain
and deceit we no sooner look down into a grave but truth faceth us and
tells us our own._--MURET
INQUIRIES AND SUGGESTIONS
upon the
MORTUARY CUSTOMS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.
BY H. C. YARROW.
INTRODUCTORY.
The primitive manners and customs of the North American Indians are
rapidly passing away under influences of civilization and other
disturbing elements. In view of this fact, it becomes the duty of all
interested in preserving a record of these customs to labor
assiduously, while there is still time, to collect such data as may be
obtainable. This seems the more important now, as within the last ten
years an almost universal interest has been awakened in ethnologic
research, and the desire for more knowledge in this regard is
constantly increasing. A wise and liberal government, recognizing the
need, has ably seconded the efforts of those engaged in such studies
by liberal grants from the public funds; nor is encouragement wanted
from the hundreds of scientific societies throughout the civilized
globe. The public press, too--the mouth-piece of the people--is ever
on the alert to scatter broadcast such items of ethnologic information
as its corps of well-trained reporters can secure. To induce further
laudable inquiry, and assist all those who may be willing to engage in
the good work, is the object of this preliminary work on the mortuary
customs of North American Indians, and it is hoped that many more
laborers may through it be added to the extensive and honorable list
of those who have already contributed.
It would appear that the subject chosen should awaken great interest,
since the peculiar methods followed by different nations and the great
importance attached to burial ceremonies have formed an almost
invariable part of all works relating to the different peoples of our
globe; in fact no particular portion of ethnologic research has
claimed more attention. In view of these facts, it might seem almost a
work of supererogation to continue a further examination of the
subject, for nearly every author in writing of our Indian tribes makes
some mention of burial observances; but these notices are scattered
far and wide on the sea of this special literature, and many of the
accounts, unless supported by corroborative evidence, may be
considered as entirely unreliable. To bring together and harmonize
conflicting statements, and arrange collectively what is known of the
subject has been the writer's task, and an enormous mass of
information has been acquired, the method of securing which has been
as follows:
In the first instance a circular was prepared, which is here given;
this at the time was thought to embrace all items relating to the
disposal of the dead and attendant ceremonies, although since its
distribution other important questions have arisen which will be
alluded to subsequently.
"WASHINGTON, D. C, _June_ 15, 1877.
"To--
"SIR: Being engaged in preparing a memoir upon the 'Burial Customs of
the Indians of North America, both ancient and modern, and the
disposal of their dead,' I beg leave to request your kind co-operation
to enable me to present as exhaustive an exposition of the subject as
possible, and to this end earnestly invite your attention to the
following points in regard to which information is desired:
"1st. Name of the tribe
"2d. Locality.
"3d. Manner of burial, ancient and modern.
"4th. Funeral ceremonies.
"5th. Mourning observances, if any.
"With reference to the first of these inquiries, 'Name of the tribe,'
the Indian name is desired as well as the name by which the tribe is
known to the whites.
"As to 'Locality,' the response should give the range of the tribe,
and be full and geographically accurate.
"As to the 'Manner of burial,' &c, it is important to have every
particular bearing on this branch of the subject, and much minuteness
is desirable.
"For instance:
"(_a_) Was the body buried in the ground; if so, in what
position, and how was the grave prepared and finished?
"(_b_) If cremated, describe the process, and what disposal was
made of the ashes.
"(_c_) Were any utensils, implements, ornaments, &c., or food
placed in the grave? In short, every _fact_ is sought that may
possibly add to a general knowledge of the subject.
"Answers to the fourth and fifth queries should give as full and
succinct a description as possible of funereal and other mortuary
ceremonies at the time of death and subsequently, the period of
mourning, manner of its observance, &c.
"In obtaining materials for the purpose in question it is particularly
desirable that well-authenticated sources of information only be drawn
upon, and, therefore, any points gathered from current rumor or mere
hearsay, and upon which there is doubt, should be submitted to
searching scrutiny before being embraced in answers to the several
interrogatories, and nothing should be recorded as a _fact_ until
fully established as such.
"In seeking information from Indians, it is well to remember the great
tendency to exaggeration they show, and since absolute facts will
alone serve our purpose, great caution is suggested in this
particular.
"It is earnestly desired to make the work in question as complete as
possible, and therefore it is especially hoped that your response will
cover the ground as pointed out by the several questions as thoroughly
as you may be able and willing to make it.
"In addition to notes, a reference to published papers either by
yourself or others is desirable, as well as the names of those persons
who may be able to furnish the needed information.
"Permit me to assure you that, while it is not offered in the way of
inducement to secure the service asked, since it is barely possible
that you can be otherwise than deeply interested in the extension of
the bounds of knowledge, full credit will be given you in the work for
whatever information you may be pleased to furnish.
"This material will be published under the auspices of Prof. J.W.
Powell, in charge of the U. S Geographical and Geological Survey of
the Rocky Mountain Region.
"Communications may be addressed to me either at the address given
above or at the Army Medical Museum, Washington, D. C.
"Respectfully, yours,
"H. C. YARROW."
This was forwarded to every Indian agent, physicians at agencies, to a
great number of Army officers who had served or were serving at
frontier posts, and to individuals known to be interested in
ethnologic matters. A large number of interesting and valuable
responses were received, many of them showing how customs have changed
either under influences of civilization or altered circumstances of
environment.
Following this, a comprehensive list of books relating to North
American Indians was procured, and each volume subjected to careful
scrutiny, extracts being made from those that appeared in the writer's
judgment reliable. Out of a large number examined up to the present
time, several hundred have been laid under contribution, and the labor
of further collation still continues.
It is proper to add that all the material obtained will eventually be
embodied in a quarto volume, forming one of the series of
contributions to North American Ethnology prepared under the direction
of Maj. J. W. Powell, Director of the Bureau of Ethnology, Smithsonian
Institution, from whom, since the inception of the work, most constant
encouragement and advice has been received, and to whom all American
ethnologists owe a debt of gratitude which can never be repaid.
Having thus called attention to the work and the methods pursued in
collecting data, the classification of the subject may be given and
examples furnished of the burial ceremonies among different tribes,
calling especial attention to similar or almost analogous customs
among the peoples of the Old World.
For our present purpose the following provisional arrangement of
burials may be adopted:
1st. By INHUMATION in pits, graves, holes in the ground, mounds;
cists, and caves.
2d. By CREMATION, generally on the surface of the earth, occasionally
beneath, the resulting bones or ashes being placed in pits, in the
ground, in boxes placed on scaffolds or trees, in urns, sometimes
scattered.
3d. By EMBALMENT or a process of mummifying, the remains being
afterwards placed in the earth, caves, mounds, or charnel-houses.
4th. By AERIAL SEPULTURE, the bodies being deposited on scaffolds or
trees, in boxes or canoes, the two latter receptacles supported on
scaffolds or posts, or on the ground. Occasionally baskets have been
used to contain the remains of children, these being hung to trees.
5th. By AQUATIC BURIAL, beneath the water, or in canoes, which were
turned adrift.
These heads might, perhaps, be further subdivided, but the above seem
sufficient for all practical needs.
The use of the term _burial_ throughout this paper is to be
understood in its literal significance, the word being derived from
the Anglo-Saxon "_birgan,_" to conceal or hide away.
In giving descriptions of different burials and attendant ceremonies,
it has been deemed expedient to introduce entire accounts as
furnished, in order to preserve continuity of narrative.
INHUMATION.
The commonest mode of burial among North American Indians has been
that of interment in the ground, and this has taken place in a number
of different ways; the following will, however, serve as good examples
of the process.
"The Mohawks of New York made a large round hole in which the body was
placed upright or upon its haunches, after which it was covered with
timber, to support the earth which they lay over, and thereby kept the
body from being pressed. They then raised the earth in a round hill
over it. They always dressed the corpse in all its finery, and put
wampum and other things into the grave with it; and the relations
suffered not grass nor any weed to grow upon the grave, and frequently
visited it and made lamentation." [Footnote: Hist. Indian Tribes of
the United States, 1853, part 3, p 183.]
This account may be found in Schoolcraft.
In Jones [Footnote: Antiq. of Southern Indians, 1873, pp 108-110] is
the following interesting account from Lawson, of the burial customs
of the Indians formerly inhabiting the Carolinas:
"Among the Carolina tribes, the burial of the dead was accompanied
with special ceremonies, the expense and formality attendant upon the
funeral according with the rank of the deceased. The corpse was first
placed in a cane bundle and deposited in an outhouse made for the
purpose, where it was suffered to remain for a day and a night guarded
and mourned over by the nearest relatives with disheveled hair. Those
who are to officiate at the funeral go into the town, and from the
backs of the first young men they meet strip such blankets and
matchcoats as they deem suitable for their purpose. In these the dead
body is wrapped and then covered with two or three mats made of rushes
or cane. The coffin is made of woven reeds or hollow canes tied fast
at both ends. When everything is prepared for the interment, the
corpse is carried from the house in which it has been lying into the
orchard of peach-trees and is there deposited in another bundle.
Seated upon mats are there congregated the family and tribe of the
deceased and invited guests. The medicine man, or conjurer, having
enjoined silence, then pronounces a funeral oration, during which he
recounts the exploits of the deceased, his valor, skill, love of
country, property, and influence, alludes to the void caused by his
death, and counsels those who remain to supply his place by following
in his footsteps; pictures the happiness he will enjoy in the land of
spirits to which he has gone, and concludes his address by an allusion
to the prominent traditions of his tribe."
Let us here pause to remind the reader that this custom has prevailed
throughout the civilized world up to the present day--a custom, in the
opinion of many, "more honored in the breach than the observance."
"At last [says Mr. Lawson], the corpse is brought away from that
hurdle to the grave by four young men, attended by the relations, the
king, old men, and all the nation. When they come to the sepulchre,
which is about six feet deep and eight feet long, having at each end
(that is, at the head and foot) a light-wood or pitch-pine fork driven
close down the sides of the grave firmly into the ground (these two
forks are to contain a ridgepole, as you shall understand presently),
before they lay the corpse into the grave, they cover the bottom two
or three time over with the bark of trees; then they let down the
corpse (with two belts that the Indians carry their burdens withal)
very leisurely upon the said barks; then they lay over a pole of the
same wood in the two forks, and having a great many pieces of pitch-
pine logs about two foot and a half long, they stick them in the sides
of the grave down each end and near the top, through of where (sic) the
other ends lie in the ridge-pole, so that they are declining like the
roof of a house. These being very thick placed, they cover them many
times double with bark; then they throw the earth thereon that came
out of the grave and beat it down very firm. By this means the dead
body lies in a vault, nothing touching him. After a time the body is
taken up, the bones cleaned, and deposited in an ossuary called the
Quiogozon."
Dr Fordyce Grinnell, physician to the Wichita Agency, Indian
Territory, furnishes the following description of the burial
ceremonies of the Wichita Indians, who call themselves. "_Kitty-la-
tats_" or those of the tattooed eyelids.
"When a Wichita dies the town-crier goes up and down through the
village and announces the fact. Preparations are immediately made for
the burial, and the body is taken without delay to the grave prepared
for it reception. If the grave is some distance from the village the
body is carried thither on the back of a pony, being first wrapped in
blankets and then laid prone across the saddle, one walking on either
side to support it. The grave is dug from 3 to 4 feet deep and of
sufficient length for the extended body. First blankets and buffalo
robes are laid in the bottom of the grave, then the body, being taken
from the horse and unwrapped, is dressed in its best apparel and with
ornaments is placed upon a couch of blankets and robes, with the head
towards the west and the feet to the east; the valuables belonging to
the deceased are placed with the body in the grave. With the man are
deposited his bows and arrows or gun, and with the woman her cooking
utensils and other implements of her toil. Over the body sticks are
placed six or eight inches deep and grass over these, so that when the
earth is filled in it need not come in contact with the body or its
trappings. After the grave is filled with earth a pen of poles is
built around it, or, as is frequently the case, stakes are driven so
that they cross each other from either side about midway over the
grave, thus forming a complete protection from the invasion of wild
animals. After all this is done, the grass or other _debris_ is
carefully scraped from about the grave for several feet, so that the
ground is left smooth and clean. It is seldom the case that the
relatives accompany the remains to the grave, but they more often
employ others to bury the body for them, usually women. Mourning is
similar in this tribe as in others, and consists in cutting off the
hair, fasting, &c. Horses are also killed at the grave."
The Caddoes, _Ascena_, or Timber Indians, as they call
themselves, follow nearly the same mode of burial as the Wichitas, but
one custom prevailing is worthy of mention.
"If a Caddo is killed in battle, the body is never buried, but is left
to be devoured by beasts or birds of prey and the condition of such
individuals in the other world is considered to be far better than
that of persons dying a natural death."
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11