Books: An introduction to the mortuary customs of the North American Indians
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H. C. Yarrow >> An introduction to the mortuary customs of the North American Indians
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In a work by Bruhier [Footnote: L'incertitude des Signes de la Mort,
1740, tom 1, p. 430] the following remarks, freely translated by the
writer, may be found, which note a custom having great similarity to
the exposure of bodies to wild beasts mentioned above.
"The ancient Persians threw out the bodies of their dead on the roads,
and if they were promptly devoured by wild beasts it was esteemed a
great honor, a misfortune if not. Sometimes they interred, always
wrapping the dead in a wax cloth to prevent odor."
M. Pierre Muret, [Footnote: Rites of Funeral, Ancient and Modern,
1683, p 45] from whose book Bruhier probably obtained his information,
gives at considerable length an account of this peculiar method of
treating the dead among the Persians, as follows:
"It is a matter of astonishment, considering the _Persians_ have
ever had the renown of being one of the most civilized Nations in the
world, that notwithstanding they should have used such barbarous
customs about the Dead as are set down in the Writings of some
Historians, and the rather because at this day there are still to be
seen among them those remains of Antiquity, which do fully satisfie
us, that their Tombs have been very magnificent. And yet nevertheless,
if we will give credit to _Procopius_ and _Agathias_, the
_Persians_ were never wont to bury their Dead Bodies, so far were
they from bestowing any Funeral Honours upon them. But, as these
Authors tell us, they exposed them stark naked in the open fields,
which is the greatest shame our Laws do allot to the most infamous
Criminals, by laying them open to the view of all upon the highways:
Yea, in their opinion it was a great unhappiness, if either Birds or
Beasts did not devour their Carcases; and they commonly made an
estimate of the Felicity of these poor Bodies, according as they were
sooner or later made a prey of. Concerning these, they resolved that
they must needs have been very bad indeed, since even the beasts
themselves would not touch them; which caused an extream sorrow to
their Relations, they taking it for an ill boding to their Family, and
an infallible presage of some great misfortune hanging over their
heads, for they persuaded themselves, that the Souls which inhabited
those Bodies being dragg'd into Hell, would not fail to come and
trouble them, and that being always accompanied with the Devils, their
Tormentors, they would certainly give them a great deal of disturbance.
"And on the contrary, when these Corpses were presently devoured,
their joy was very great, they enlarged themselves in praises of the
Deceased; every one esteeming them undoubtedly happy, and came to
congratulate their relations on that account: For as they believed
assuredly, that they were entered into the _Elysian_ Fields, so
they were persuaded, that they would procure the same bliss for all
those of their family.
"They also took a great delight to see Skeletons and Bones scatered up
and down in the fields, whereas we can scarcely endure to see those of
Horses and Dogs used so. And these remains of Humane Bodies, (the
sight whereof gives us so much, horror, that we presently bury them
out of our sight, whenever we find them elsewhere than in Charnel-
houses or Church yards) were the occasion of their greatest joy
because they concluded from thence the happiness of those that had
been devoured wishing after then Death to meet with the like good
luck."
The same author states and Bruhier corroborates the assertion that the
Parthians, Medes, Iberians, Caspians, and a few others had such a
horror and aversion of the corruption and decomposition of the dead
and of their being eaten by worms that they threw out the bodies into
the open fields to be devoured by wild beasts, a part of their belief
being that persons so devoured would not be entirely extinct, but
enjoy at least a partial sort of life in their living sepulchres. It
is quite probable that for these and other reasons the Bactrians and
Hircanians trained dogs for this special purpose called _Canes
sepulchrales_ which received the greatest care and attention, for
it was deemed proper that the souls of the deceased should have strong
and lusty frames to dwell in.
George Gibbs [Footnote: Schoolcraft's Hist. Indian Tribes of the
United States Pt. 3, 1853, p. 140] gives the following account of
burial among the Klamath and Trinity Indians of the Northwest coast.
The graves which are in the immediate vicinity of their houses exhibit
very considerable taste and a laudable care. The dead are inclosed in
rude coffins formed by placing four boards around the body and covered
with earth to some depth; a heavy plank often supported by upright
head and foot stones is laid upon the top or stones are built up into
a wall about a foot above the ground and the top flagged with others.
The graves of the chiefs are surrounded by neat wooden palings, each
pale ornamented with a feather from the tail of the bald eagle.
Baskets are usually staked down by the side according to the wealth or
popularity of the individual and sometimes other articles for ornament
or use are suspended over them. The funeral ceremonies occupy three
days during which the soul of the deceased is in danger from _O-mah-
u_ or the devil. To preserve it from this peril a fire is kept up
at the grave and the friends of the deceased howl around it to scare
away the demon. Should they not be successful in this the soul is
carried down the river, subject, however, to redemption by _Peh-ho
wan_ on payment of a big knife. After the expiration of three days
it is all well with them.
The question may well be asked, is the big knife a "sop to Cerberus"?
Capt. F. E. Grossman, [Footnote: Rep. Smithson. Inst., 1871, p. 414]
USA, furnishes the following account of burial among the Pimas of
Arizona:
"The Pimas tie the bodies of their dead with ropes, passing the latter
around the neck and under the knees and then drawing them tight until
the body is doubled up and forced into a sitting position. They dig
the grave from four to five feet deep and perfectly round (about two
feet in diameter), then hollow out to one side of the bottom of this
grave a sort of vault large enough to contain the body. Here the body
is deposited, the grave is filled up level with the ground, and poles,
trees, or pieces of timber placed upon the grave to protect the
remains from the coyotes (a species of wolf). Burials usually take
place at night, without much ceremony. The mourners chant during the
burial, but signs of grief are rare. The bodies of their dead are
buried, if possible, immediately after death has taken place, and the
graves are generally prepared before the patients die. Sometimes sick
persons (for whom the graves had already been dug) recovered; in such
cases the graves are left open until the persons for whom they were
intended die. Open graves of this kind can be seen in several of their
burial-grounds. Places of burial are selected some distance from the
village, and, if possible, in a grove of mesquite bushes. Immediately
after the remains have been buried, the house and personal effects of
the deceased are burned, and his horses and cattle killed, the meat
being cooked as a repast for the mourners. The nearest relatives of
the deceased, as a sign of their sorrow, remain in the village for
weeks and sometimes months; the men cut off about six inches of their
long hair, while the women cut their hair quite short"
The Coyotero Apaches, according to Dr. W. J. Hoffman, [Footnote: U.S.
Geol. Surv. of Terr. for 1876, p. 473] in disposing of their dead,
seem to be actuated by the desire to spare themselves any needless
trouble, and prepare the defunct and the grave in this manner.
"The Coyoteros, upon the death of a member of the tribe, partially
wrap up the corpse and deposit it into the cavity left by the removal
of a small rock or the stump of a tree. After the body has been
crammed into the smallest possible space the rock or stump is again
rolled into its former position, when a number of stones are placed
around the base to keep out the coyotes. The nearest of kin usually
mourn for the period of one month, during that time giving utterance
at intervals to the most dismal lamentations, which are apparently
sincere. During the day this obligation is frequently neglected or
forgotten, but when the mourner is reminded of his duty he renews his
howling with evident interest. This custom of mourning for the period
of thirty days corresponds to that formerly observed by the Natchez."
Somewhat similar to this rude mode of sepulture is that described in
the life of Moses Van Campen, which relates to the Indians formerly
inhabiting Pennsylvania:
"Directly after the Indians proceeded to bury those who had fallen in
battle, which they did by rolling an old log from its place and laying
the body in the hollow thus made, and then heaping upon it a little
earth"
As a somewhat curious, if not exceptional, interment, the following
account, relating to the Indians of New York is furnished, by Mr.
Franklin B. Hough, who has extracted it from an unpublished journal of
the agents of a French company kept in 1794:
"Saw Indian graves on the plateau of Independence Rock. The Indians
plant a stake on the right side of the head of the deceased and bury
them in a bark canoe. Their children come every year to bring
provisions to the place where their fathers are buried. One of the
graves had fallen in and we observed in the soil some sticks for
stretching skins, the remains of a canoe, &c., and the two straps for
carrying it, and near the place where the head lay were the traces of
a fire which they had kindled for the soul of the deceased to come and
warm itself by and to partake of the food deposited near it.
"These were probably the Massasauga Indians, then inhabiting the north
shore of Lake Ontario, but who were rather intruders here, the country
being claimed by the Oneidas."
It is not to be denied that the use of canoes for coffins has
occasionally been remarked, for the writer in 1875 removed from the
graves at Santa Barbara an entire skeleton which was discovered in a
redwood canoe, but it is thought that the individual may have been a
noted fisherman, particularly as the implements of his vocation--nets,
fish-spears, &c.--were near him, and this burial was only an
exemplification of the well-rooted belief common to all Indians, that
the spirit in the next world makes use of the same articles as were
employed in this one. It should be added that of the many hundreds of
skeletons uncovered at Santa Barbara the one mentioned presented the
only example of the kind.
Among the Indians of the Mosquito coast, in Central America, canoe
burial in the ground, according to Bancroft [Footnote: Native Races of
Pacific States, 1874, vol. 1, p 744.], was common, and is thus
described:
"The corpse is wrapped in cloth and placed in one-half of a pitpan
which has been cut in two. Friends assemble for the funeral and drown
their grief in _mushla_, the women giving vent to their sorrow by
dashing themselves on the ground until covered with blood, and
inflicting other tortures, occasionally even committing suicide. As it
is supposed that the evil spirit seeks to obtain possession of the
body, musicians are called in to lull it to sleep while preparations
are made for its removal. All at once four naked men, who have
disguised themselves with paint so as not to be recognized and
punished by _Wulasha_, rush out from a neighboring hut, and,
seizing a rope attached to the canoe, drag it into the woods, followed
by the music and the crowd. Here the pitpan is lowered into the grave
with bow, arrow, spear, paddle, and other implements to serve the
departed in the land beyond, then the other half of the boat is placed
over the body. A rude hut is constructed over the grave, serving as a
receptacle for the choice food, drink, and other articles placed there
from time to time by relatives."
BURIAL IN CABINS, WIGWAMS, OR HOUSES.
While there is a certain degree of similitude between the above-noted
methods and the one to be mentioned subsequently--_lodge_ burial--
they differ, inasmuch as the latter are examples of surface or aerial
burial, and must consequently fall under another caption. The
narratives which are now to be given afford a clear idea of the former
kind of burial.
Bartram [Footnote: Bartram's Travels, 1791, pp. 515.] relates the
following regarding the Muscogulges of the Carolinas:
"The Muscogulges bury their deceased in the earth; they dig a four-
foot, square, deep pit under the cabin, or couch which the deceased
laid on in his house, lining the grave with cypress bark, when they
place the corpse in a sitting posture, as if it were alive, depositing
with him his gun, tomahawk, pipe, and such other matters as he had the
greatest value for in his lifetime. His eldest wife, or the queen
dowager, has the second choice of his possessions, and the remaining
effects are divided among his other wives and children."
According to Bernard Roman, the "funeral customs of the Chickasaws did
not differ materially from those of the Muscogulges. They interred the
dead as soon as the breath left the body, and beneath the couch in
which the deceased expired."
The Navajos of New Mexico and Arizona, a tribe living a considerable
distance from the Chickasaws, follow somewhat similar customs, as
related by Dr. John Menard, formerly a physician to their agency.
"The Navajo custom is to leave the body where it dies, closing up the
house or hogan or covering the body with stones or brush. In case the
body is removed, it is taken to a cleft in the rocks and thrown in,
and stones piled over. The person touching or carrying the body, first
takes off all his clothes and afterwards washes his body with water
before putting them on or mingling with the living. When a body is
removed from a house or hogan, the hogan is burned down, and the place
in every case abandoned, as the belief is that the devil comes to the
place of death and remains where a dead body is. Wild animals
frequently (indeed, generally) get the bodies, and it is a very easy
matter to pick up skulls and bones around old camping grounds, or
where the dead are laid. In case it is not desirable to abandon a
place, the sick person is left out in some lone spot protected by
brush, where they are either abandoned to their fate or food brought
to them until they die. This is done only when all hope is gone. I
have found bodies thus left so well inclosed with brush that wild
animals were unable to get at them; and one so left to die was revived
by a cup of coffee from our house and is still living and well."
Mr. J. L. Burchard, agent to the Round Valley Indians of California,
furnishes an account of burial somewhat resembling that of the
Navajos:
"When I first came here the Indians would dig a round hole in the
ground, draw up the knees of the deceased Indian, and wrap the body
into as small a bulk as possible in blankets, tie them firmly with
cords, place them in the grave, throw in beads, baskets, clothing,
everything owned by the deceased, and often donating much extra; all
gathered around the grave wailing most pitifully, tearing their faces
with their nails till the blood would run down their cheeks, pull out
their hair, and such other heathenish conduct. These burials were
generally made under their thatch houses or very near thereto. The
house where one died was always torn down, removed, rebuilt, or
abandoned. The wailing, talks, &c., were in their own jargon; none
else could understand, and they seemingly knew but little of its
meaning (if there was any meaning in it); it simply seemed to be the
promptings of grief, without sufficient intelligence to direct any
ceremony; each seemed to act out his own impulse"
STONE GRAVES OR CISTS.
These are of considerable interest, not only from their somewhat rare
occurrence, except in certain localities, but from the manifest care
taken by the survivors to provide for the dead what they considered a
suitable resting-place. A number of cists have been found in
Tennessee, and are thus described by Moses Fiske: [Footnote: Trans.
Amer. Antiq. Soc., 1820 vol. 1, p. 302]
"There are many burying grounds in West Tennessee with regular graves.
They dug them 12 or 18 inches deep, placed slabs at the bottom ends
and sides, forming a kind of stone coffin, and, after laying in the
body, covered it over with earth."
It may be added that, in 1873, the writer assisted at the opening of a
number of graves of men of the reindeer period, near Solutre, in
France, and they were almost identical in construction with those
described by Mr. Fiske, with the exception that the latter were
deeper; this, however, may be accounted for if it is considered how
great a deposition of earth may have taken place during the many
centuries which have elapsed since the burial. Many of the graves
explored by the writer in 1875, at Santa Barbara, resembled somewhat
cist graves, the bottom and sides of the pit being lined with large
flat stones, but there were none directly over the skeletons.
The next account is by Maj. J. W. Powell, the result of his
observation in Tennessee. "These ancient cemeteries are exceedingly
abundant throughout the State, often hundreds of graves may be found
on a single hillside. In some places the graves are scattered and in
others collected in mounds, each mound being composed of a large
number of cist graves. It is evident that the mounds were not
constructed at one time, but the whole collection of graves therein
was made during long periods by the addition of a new grave from time
to time. In the first burials found at the bottom and near the center
of a mound a tendency to a concentric system, with the feet inward, is
observed, and additions are made around and above these first
concentric graves, as the mound increases in size the burials become
more and more irregular:
"Some other peculiarities are of interest. A larger number of
interments exhibit the fact that the bodies were placed there before
the decay of the flesh, while in other cases collections of bones are
buried. Sometimes these bones were placed in some order about the
crania, and sometimes in irregular piles, as if the collection of
bones had been emptied from a sack. With men, pipes, stone hammers,
knives, arrowheads, &c., were usually found; with women, pottery, rude
beads, shells, &c.; with children, toys of pottery, beads, curious
pebbles, &c.
"Sometimes, in the subsequent burials, the side slab of a previous
burial was used as a portion of the second cist. All of the cists were
covered with slabs."
Dr. Jones has given an exceedingly interesting account of the stone
graves of Tennessee, in his volume published by the Smithsonian
Institution, to which valuable work [Footnote: Antiquities of
Tennessee, Cont. to Knowledge, Smith. Inst., 1876, No. 259, 4 deg., pp. 1,
8, 37, 52, 55, 82.] the reader is referred for a more detailed account
of this mode of burial.
BURIAL IN MOUNDS.
In view of the fact that the subject of mound-burial is so extensive,
and that in all probability a volume by a member of the Bureau of
Ethnology may shortly be published, it is not deemed advisable to
devote any considerable space to it in this paper, but a few
interesting examples may be noted to serve as indications to future
observers.
The first to which attention is directed is interesting as resembling
cist-burial combined with deposition in mounds. The communication is
from Prof. F. W. Putnam, curator of the Peabody Museum of Archaology,
Cambridge, made to the Boston Society of Natural History, and is
published in volume XX of its proceedings, October 15, 1878:
"...He then stated that it would be of interest to the members, in
connection with the discovery of dolmens in Japan, as described by
Professor Morse, to know that within twenty-four hours there had been
received at the Peabody Museum a small collection of articles taken
from rude dolmens (or chambered barrows, as they would be called in
England), recently opened by Mr. E. Curtiss, who is now engaged, under
his direction, in exploration for the Peabody Museum.
"These chambered mounds are situated in the eastern part of Clay
County, Missouri, and form a large group on both sides of the Missouri
River. The chambers are, in the three opened by Mr. Curtiss, about 8
feet square, and from 4-1/2 to 5 feet high, each chamber having a
passage-way several feet in length and 2 in width leading from the
southern side and opening on the edge of the mound formed by covering
the chamber and passage-way with earth. The walls of the chambered
passages were about 2 feet thick, vertical, and well made of stones,
which were evenly laid without clay or mortar of any kind. The top of
one of the chambers had a covering of large, flat rocks, but the
others seem to have been closed over with wood. The chambers were
filled with clay which had been burnt, and appeared as if it had
fallen in from above. The inside walls of the chambers also showed
signs of fire. Under the burnt clay, in each chamber, were found the
remains of several human skeletons, all of which had been burnt to
such an extent as to leave but small fragments of the bones, which
were mixed with the ashes and charcoal. Mr. Curtiss thought that in
one chamber he found the remains of 5 skeletons and in another 13.
With these skeletons there were a few flint implements and minute
fragments of vessels of clay.
"A large mound near the chambered mounds was also opened, but in this
no chambers were found. Neither had the bodies been burnt. This mound
proved remarkably rich in large flint implements, and also contained
well-made pottery and a peculiar "gorget" of red stone. The connection
of the people who placed the ashes of their dead in the stone chambers
with those who buried their dead in the earth mounds is, of course,
yet to be determined."
It is quite possible, indeed probable, that these chambers were used
for secondary burials, the bodies having first been cremated.
In the volume of the proceedings already quoted the same investigator
gives an account of other chambered mounds which are, like the
preceding, very interesting, the more so as adults only were inhumed
therein, children having been buried beneath the dwelling-floors:
"Mr. F. W. Putnam occupied the rest of the evening with an account of
his explorations of the ancient mounds and burial places in the
Cumberland Valley, Tennessee.
"The excavations had been carried on by himself, assisted by Mr. Edwin
Curtiss, for over two years, for the benefit of the Peabody Museum at
Cambridge. During this time many mounds of various kinds had been
thoroughly explored, and several thousand of the singular stone graves
of the mound builders of Tennessee had been carefully opened.... Mr.
Putnam's remarks were illustrated by drawings of several hundred
objects obtained from the graves and mounds, particularly to show the
great variety of articles of pottery and several large and many unique
forms of implements of chipped flint. He also exhibited and explained
in detail a map of a walled town of this old nation. This town was
situated on the Lindsley estate, in a bend of Spring Creek. The earth
embankment, with its accompanying ditch, encircled an area of about 12
acres. Within this inclosure there was one large mound with a flat
top, 15 feet high, 130 feet long, and 90 feet wide, which was found
not to be a burial mound. Another mound near the large one, about 50
feet in diameter, and only a few feet high, contained 60 human
skeletons, each in a carefully-made stone grave, the graves being
arranged in two rows, forming the four sides of a square, and in three
layers.... The most important discovery lie made within the inclosure
was that of finding the remains of the houses of the people who lived
in this old town. Of them about 70 were traced out and located on the
map by Professor Buchanan, of Lebanon, who made the survey for Mr.
Putnam. Under the floors of hard clay, which was in places much burnt,
Mr. Putnam found the graves of children. As only the bodies of adults
had been placed in the one mound devoted to burial, and as nearly
every site of a house he explored had from one to four graves of
children under the clay floor, he was convinced that it was a regular
custom to bury the children in that way. He also found that the
children had been undoubtedly treated with affection, as in their
small graves were found many of the best pieces of pottery he
obtained, and also quantities of shell-beads, several large pearls,
and many other objects which were probably the playthings of the
little ones while living." [Footnote: A detailed account of this
exploration, with many illustrations, will be found in the Eleventh
Annual Report of the Peabody Museum, Cambridge, 1878.]
This cist mode of burial is by no means uncommon in Tennessee, as they
are frequently mentioned by writers on North American archaeology.
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