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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"
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Introduction to the Study of Mortuary Customs
Among the North American Indians
Native American Nations
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