Memoirs of a Captivity Among the Indians of North America, by John Dunn Hunter; 3rd edition (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Ohme, Brown, & Green, 1824)
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CHAP. XIV.
RESIDENCE, DRESS, PAINTING, FOOD, DISEASES, TREATMENT OF THE SICK, DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD, MOURNINGS, &c.
The Osages and Kansas live in villages, which, even during the hunting seasons, are never wholly abandoned, as is the case with several tribes settled on the Missouri.
Their lodges are built promiscuously, in situations to please their respective proprietors: they are arranged to neither streets nor alleys, and are sometimes so crowded, as to render the passage between them difficult.
Their towns are subject to no police regulations; every individual goes and comes when, and does what he pleases; consequently nothing can be said in favour of their cleanliness; though, in general, I think them less filthy than many places met with in some of the large cities of the United States, which boast wise and rigidly-administered municipal governments.
Those who rose, and sometimes those engaged in hunting, live in portable tents, which they pitch or strike at pleasure; such generally follow the buffalo and other game, in their migratory routes.
When a village is large and crowded, and a division becomes necessary, they uniformly fix on a site for another as near the original or parent settlement as circumstances will permit, in order to secure the whole
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force of the nation against their enemies, and to maintain, by a constant intercourse, the relations of friendship and consanguinity.
Dress.--The ordinary dress of both men and women in warm weather, consists only of mockasins, leggings, and breech-cloths, made from the skins of various animals, dressed after their particular manner: the last-named article is from twelve to eighteen inches wide, and its convolutions or folds are varied according to the temperature of the weather.
In addition to the foregoing, during the cold seasons, they wrap their shoulders and bodies in blankets procured from the traders, or in robes made of the dressed skins of various animals, and cover their heads with fur caps, particularly when exposed.
Some of the women wear stays to support their breasts, while nursing; the custom, however, is so restricted, as scarcely to deserve notice. On religious or festive occasions, the men generally exercise extraordinary pains and patience in decorating their persons. I have known them to pass a whole day at the toilet, and then to appear mortified at the necessity which obliged them to leave it before they had satisfactorily completed their dress.
All commence their preparations with ablutions, which in general are preceded by rubbing themselves in clay. They next anoint themselves all over with bears' oil or buffaloes' marrow, which is frequently scented with some odoriferous substance, as that of anice or sassafras. They then paint themselves in the style called for by the occasion. After these
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preliminaries have been performed, the men dress their heads in beaver or otter skin caps, neatly ornamented with feathers, porcupine quills, and horse-hairs stained of various colours, and variegated shells, beads, &c.
They encircle their arms above the elbow, and at the wrist, with beads, shells, beans, &c. fancifully strung; and their [waists] and necks with belts of wampum beautifully braided, from deer sinews and horse-hairs, tastefully strung with beads of various shades and colours. Their waist- cloths, leggings, and mockasins, omitting the feathers, are decorated in the same manner as their caps. They attach the tails of foxes, or other animals, to their heels, and also wear pendent from their caps behind the tails of the animals from which they have severally been made.
The dress of the females, omitting the belts of wampum, and the particular head and heel ornaments, resembles that of the warriors; though there is a considerable difference in the style of workmanship; for that of the squaws distinguishes only the families to which they belong, while the warrior's always characterizes the nation, and is frequently the record of his own heroic deeds. On all occasions, where sanctioned, they fasten to their ankles and knees small tortoise-shells, containing rounded pebbles, with a view to increase the variety and confusedness of their music. The married women suffer their hair to hang loosely on their backs, and decorate their head with feathers; while, by way of distinction, the unmarried only part theirs, and bring it forward over their breasts.
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In some tribes they roll it up, and fasten it on the top of the crown.
In cold weather the full dress is completed by the addition of skin robes, which are ornamented with hieroglyphic painting, characterising either their nation, family, or exploits, and not unfrequently all of them together. But here, as in the other parts of their dress, a sexual distinction, except under very extraordinary circumstances, is constantly maintained. A Kansas squaw, who, with two boys, had killed two Ottowas in the act of stealing their horses, (see page 33.) was permitted to wear a robe, and other articles of dress, emblazoned with symbols commemorative of the event; and I once saw a Pawnee woman whose dress was characterised by masculine distinctions, but I am ignorant of the circumstance which tolerated it.
Painting.--In peace, the custom of painting is resorted to with a view to ornament their persons; but in proportion as it resembles the natural colour, the more it is admired.
To obtain this colour they calcine clay, and mix it with pulverised charcoal and bears' grease in proper proportions. The more coxcomical sometimes use the purest red they can obtain, which is prepared from an earth found on the Vermillion River, and in some other places, and some vegetable colours. In war, they usually paint themselves red back of the ears, and in stripes of red and black on their faces. Sometimes they paint their faces wholly black, which indicates that no quarter is to be given to their enemies; black being understood by them as emble-
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matical of death, and red merely of war. Their black paints are prepared from pulverised charcoal and bears' grease.
The Indians in general paint themselves only on festive or religious occasions, or while travelling without their territories, or when actually engaged in war, or entertaining hostile feelings against their neighbours: and the various modes they observe are always strictly emblematical of their feelings. The more hideous a warrior can render himself by these factitious means, the greater he conceives his claim to be to the martial character: hence, when in complete military array, their appearance is in general truly frightful.
The practice of painting is universal among all the tribes, but less dispensable with some than others: with the Osages, an Indian who neglects it humbles himself very much in the estimation of the rest of the nation: instances of this kind, however, rarely occur; and, when they do, the delinquents are not permitted to join in the ceremonials, or, in other words, are totally neglected. The females paint as well as the males, but only after the manner tolerated in peace.
After bathing in warm weather, and generally towards evening, they anoint their bodies slightly with bears' grease. This practice is continued for no other purpose than to prevent the annoyance of insects, and it answers the object remarkably well.
Food.--From the description already given of the animals found on their hunting grounds, and of the vegetable substances cultivated and collected by the Indians, very little requires to be said in this place on the articles of their food.
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They eat the flesh of the buffalo, bear, elk, deer, beaver, and racoon; but that of the first is greatly preferred, particularly that of the young, of the protuberance on the back, the tongue, and lactescent glands. They also take wild-fowl and fish, when a scarcity prevails; but otherwise care little for them. Their esculent vegetables consist of corn, some varieties of leguminous seeds, pumpkins, squashes, melons, roots, nuts, and all the kinds of fruit enumerated in a former part of this work.
They are no epicures, but appear equally satisfied for the time, whether their boards afford the most dainty bits of the buffalo, or only parched corn, or a vegetable suk-ka-tosh. When their supplies are abundant, they consume the best first, and are always abundant, they consume the best first, and are always temperate in their meals, which, as before noticed, are generally at regular periods, but are never taken, unless by the invitation of good appetites.
Previous to undertaking a journey that requires expedition, they reduce themselves by fastings and purgative medicines, in order that they may perform it with less fatigue, and liability to indisposition. During their marches they eat sparingly, once or twice in the course of the day, of parched corn-meal, mollified with bears' or buffalo fat, or marrow, and drink very little. This regimen, they say, prevents a shortness of breath; while the nutritive quality of the food gives them sufficient strength to perform their most arduous undertaking: besides, it is light, not bulky, and consequently better suited to such occasions than any of their other provisions.
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In addition to the foregoing, they sometimes take a small quality of smoked meat; but at such times their wants must be exceedingly pressing before they will indulge their appetites with that which is fresh; and it very seldom becomes necessary, as the suet and marrow of such animals as they kill are generally competent to supply their deficiencies. But, whenever respited from their duties, or plenty succeeds a scarcity, the most experienced are at first too apt to indulge their appetites to excess; and hence commonly originates the cholera morbus, which is one of their most distressing diseases, and frequently proves fatal.
Their cooking, according to the refined taste and practice of civilised people, is generally much over done. When pressed for time or fuel, as sometimes happens, they are not, however, very particular, but eat their food scarcely sodden or heated; and notwithstanding they occasionally accommodate themselves to this mode of diet for weeks together, I do not recollect to have witnessed any disagreeable results from it. They conform to no systematic mode of cooking; but accommodate it to the condition of their fires, or the plenty or scarcity of fuel: some exceptions, however, exist, in regard to dieting the old, young, and convalescent, for whom they are very careful to provide broths, soups, and teas, suited to their respective circumstances and wants.
Some tribes are better provided, more particular in their food, and regular in their meals, than others. Those which follow the movements of the migratory herds, and subsist chiefly on animal substances, are, I
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think I may say with safety, the most robust, and least subject to disease. Those which live in villages, cultivate corn, and live on a mixed vegetable and animal diet, are perhaps the reverse; while those which rove, and depredate promiscuously on foreign privileges for a livelihood, may be classed as intermediates to the former.
I ought not, however, to omit mentioning, that the Indians settled on the western side of the Rocky Mountains, whose chief dependance for a living is on the fish they take, may be ranked among the most healthy. Agriculture, if known with them, cannot be said to be generally practised. They, however, collect roots, nuts, and fruits of the earth's spontaneous production, which, in a limited degree, serve occasionally to vary their food: indeed, with some tribes, they constitute important items in their esculent list; while with others, some corn, leguminous plants, and squashes, are cultivated. But I am not sufficiently acquainted with the effects of their diet on their general health, to say any thing positively on the subject; it is, however, certain, that a great physical difference appeared to exist between the individuals of different tribes, and the comparison was decidedly against those who relied chiefly on the productions of the earth for a subsistence; though this might have originated in a scarcity of supplies, or in the undue presence of medicinal properties in their nutritives. Nearly all the roots used by them for food, operated as purgatives on all our party, and, in some instances, produced nausea and vomiting.
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Diseases.--The Indians are subject to but few diseases, and those are generally simple, and easily cured. Cases, however, of a different character sometimes occur, and assume all the various and complicated symptoms which are experienced in civilized society: they are not, comparatively, so frequent; but, from want of skill in their treatment, prove more fatal.
To repeat: the men, from fatigue, a greater exposure to change of weather, abstinence from food, and an intemperate indulgence of the appetite, at times, are more liable to disease than the women. Nearly all the former fall in battle, before they arrive at an advanced age; so that the number of natural deaths in the different sexes must, of course, be in reverse to this liability.
From the same causes, the diseases of the men more frequently assume the acute type than the chronic: in fact, they can hardly be said to suffer from the latter; and I am inclined to believe, if they would abandon their warlike pursuits, and adopt some of the habits of civilized people, that their lives would generally equal in length those of the early ages, before Pandora had scattered her plagues on the earth. Many among them now live free from disease, till they have arrived to advanced years, and undergone numerous long marches and campaigns; but the asthma or rheumatism is certain to afflict them in their old age.
The diseases most common among them are rheumatism, asthma, fevers, pleurisy, and bowel complaints; which, with some others that prevail less
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frequently, and their particular modes of treatment, I shall consider in the chapter on their Materia Medica.
With the Indians generally, medicinal barks, roots, and herbs, are thought essentials in their household contents; and, even in their journeys, such as are most likely to be wanted constitute part of their necessary outfits.
Almost every family has its medicine or sacred bag, which consists of a beaver or otter skin curiously ornamented, and generally contains both their medicinal and small sacred articles.
The application of these pouches, however, varies in different tribes; sometimes they are devoted to a single purpose; at others, from the variety of their contents, they may be denominated catch-alls; but they are always esteemed sacred; and I do not recollect a single instance, in which their privacy has been violated by unhallowed hands.
The shak-kee, or rattle-snake's master, a plant which is thought to secure its possessor against injury from that reptile; anise root, ell's liver, tobacco, and small consecrated articles, supposed to neutralize the agency of evil spirits, are generally among the contents of this holy receptacle. They commonly wear it, in order to derive all the advantages which they suppose it is capable of affording; and, should any accident befall them while without it, they always ascribe it to their own negligence. To suggest its inefficiency, would give offence; and, when its possession fails to benefit, the Indian finds a ready apology for it in his own wickedness, and will not rest, until
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by fastings and prayer he has, as he supposes, cancelled his offences.
The Indians are far from being ignorant of the treatment of their diseases; they have a rich variety of remedies, from the simple to those which are very active; and experience has given them skill, on most occasions, how best to apply them. Nevertheless, among them, as among civilized people, though from totally different causes, new diseases sometimes appear, which baffle the curative powers of their most skilful physicians; such, for instance, have been the small-pox and syphilis. However, we seldom meet with an Indian who has not a sufficient knowledge of their medicine to prescribe on all ordinary occasions; but some are so much more skilful than others, as to justly merit and obtain the distinctive title of doctor. In some tribes, this distinction is confined to the men; in others, it is acceded to both the men and women, according to the success which attends individual practice. In all cases, however, the women are permitted to prescribe for their own peculiar diseases; but, where the men are tenacious of titles, it is done quietly, and without ostentation.
Among the more enlightened tribes, the practice of medicine is not confined to particular individuals; all the old men and women know how to manage the generality of their complaints, and the patient usually makes choice of the one he prefers.
Quackery, or unskilful and unsuccessful practice, is in most of the tribes followed by loss of character, and sometimes, when life is supposed to have been
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sacrificed, by the banishment, and even the death of the pretended physician.
In general, however, no one undertakes the practice of medicine, unless invited to by those suffering under disease, or by the spontaneous call of the tribe; which is not commonly uttered, except from a conviction, arising from results, that the subject is possessed of superior talents. But, among the more ignorant tribes, no regard is had to real qualifications; and the treatment of their sick has no claim to the distinctive quality of being rational. Their physicians resort chiefly to juggling, charms, and conjurations, as curative processes: a course, in most cases, far inferior to that which Nature, when left to herself, most commonly observes.
When practitioners found their claim on real merit, they observe no distinction in dress from the rest of the nation; but, when otherwise, they frequently array themselves in the most grotesque habiliments, and, instead of giving their medicine to their patients, take it themselves. They wrap themselves in the skins of some animal, to which are fastened, according to their whims, buffaloes' horns, bears' claws, tortoise-shells, &c., in order to frighten away the evil spirit, which, they say, is the cause of their patient's disease; and they take drugs to inspire in themselves a power superior to that of the supposed afflicting supernatural agents. They sometimes assume great authority, and, after having prayed, and sweated profusely, tell their patients, that they have accomplished their cures by driving away their tormentors; and I have known an instance in which
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the physician became offended, because the sick would not appear better, and charged it to obstinacy.
To question their skill on such occasions would give great offence; and I have no doubt that the effect of this kind of practice on the imagination has wrought some cures, and helped to establish the influence and authority they generally exercise. These pretenders, however, occasionally fail, not only in effecting cures, but in securing their reputations against opprobrium; though the more timorous do not withhold outward respect for them, for fear of being made sufferers, on the score of retaliation, through their influence with evil spirits. Nevertheless, their impostures sometimes become so glaring, as to even forfeit this restraint, and they are obliged to fly for self-preservation. I have heard of instances in which their lives have been made to atone for their abuse of sacred things, and the public credulity. However, among those tribes, where the choice of a physician is left to the patient or his friends, their claims in general are founded on merit; and, though they should prove unsuccessful in practice, the public opinion is usually indulgent and charitable towards them, and appears to be guided by a just view of the constant liability of all mankind to death.
The Indian physicians are commonly honourable, humane, and experienced men; they are not tempted to follow the profession from the hope of gain, and frequently the title is awarded them from their having relieved a sufferer, when no regular doctor could be procured. Sometimes the character originates from remarkable dreams; as, for instance, if remedies which
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have been prescribed and have proved successful, seem to them to have been pointed out by some good spirit, through an uncommonly pure channel, and for the benefit of the sufferer; on these occasions, therefore, they are not backward in awarding honours. In general, however, age, acute observation, good judgment, and experience, constitute the qualifications of their most popular and reputable physicians.
The dangerously sick occupy separate lodges, which none but the attendant physician and nurse are allowed to enter: when their disease is less violent, the family do not remove, but remain and nurse the patient. In their villages they uniformly occupy skin cots, elevated something above the ground; when travelling, they are disposed of as circumstances will permit.
The physician, on entering the apartment of the sick, takes his patient by the arm, examines his tongue, feels his hands, feet, and breast; regards him for some times with the most profound attention and silence; and then, in a low voice, inquires into the nature of his sufferings. This ascertained, he continues for a much longer period than before in silent thoughtfulness; and, after having given some general instructions to the nurse, retires to prepare his medicines. On returning, he is guided in their administration by the violence of the disease, as indicated by the symptoms; but, in nearly all their practice, their doses are too large, and often of too active a nature. When their patients are bad, they say, the enemy within is strong, and it requires great force to drive him out; which,
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whether successful or not, is always the apology for their energetic practice.
The treatment of their women and children, during sickness, is precisely the same as is observed towards the men, so far as there is a conformity in their diseases. In the treatment of those peculiar to their sex, the female practice is rational, and seldom fails to relive; indeed, it may justly be said to be attended with great success: and the same observations will apply equally well, in regard to the general practice of medicine by the men among the Osages and Kansas.
The women always officiate as nurses to the sick, in their villages, and also in their hunting excursions, when any happen to be of their party; which, to be prepared for an exigency of this kind, more than for any other purpose, is frequently the case.
However, when without them, either in the chase or in war, those best skilled in medicine act both in the capacity of physician and nurse; and, should more assistance be required, the young and inexperienced are detached on the service. The Indians say that good nursing is as essential to the recovery of the sick, as are the attendance of a skilful physician, and the kind operation of the prescribed medicine; in consequence of which, the elderly, most experienced, and most respectable, are selected for this duty. The preference is however commonly given to relations or friends; but where the case requires extraordinary attention, these circumstances are overlooked; and the most respectable women in the tribe feel themselves
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honoured by being chosen; and particularly so, should their charge be a highly respectable character.
When the danger is great, they have one, and sometimes two adjuncts, who, with the principal, continue alternately with the sick, and promptly administer such medicines and nutritive broths and teas as they may require.
No one presumes to interfere with their duties; and they praise or scandalize the attending physician, according to the success which results from his practice. The physician calls frequently on the sick; often attends to the operation of his medicine; hears the reports of the nurses, to whom he is generally obliging in his conduct; takes a little rest; and discovers great anxiety till his patient is out of danger. They receive nothing in consideration for all their services, deprivations, and sufferings: those, however, who have experienced the benefit of their skill, sometimes present them with robes, caps, or mockasins, or with some redundant consecrated article, as mementos, or rather acknowledgements of their obligations: a present, tendered in any other form, would be regarded with disdain, and the offer itself considered as an insult.
The friends of the deceased often make presents of a similar nature, in order to testify their satisfaction, in regard to zeal and efforts in his behalf. Such testimonials uniformly impart cheerfulness to the physician, serve to dispel his distress, and, if any thing, to increase his reputation. But this is more particularly the case, when they come from the nurses, who, in this way, often approbate his skill.
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When the patients have a particular desire for any thing, they indulge it with moderation, except the crisis be alarming, in which case they impose a rigid abstinence, and say, a contrary course would be feeding the disease. Experience has taught them that full eating increases fever; therefore, during the prevalence and the convalescent state, they are careful in dieting their patients; nor do they suffer them to sleep long at a time, nor in close apartments. Long sleep, they believe, disposes to a return of the fever. In most instances, the recovery of the sick from acute diseases is rapid; but they do not return to severe exercise until they have sufficiently regained their health and strength, which is indicated by a recurrence to smoking their pipes; occasions which call forth rejoicings, feasts, and thanksgivings to the Great Spirit, and in which all their friends and relations join.
When all natural means fail, the physicians do not abandon their patients; on the contrary, they cling to them till their last gasp, but substitute, instead of their prescriptions, fastings and prayers to the Great Spirit. "So long as there is life," say they, "there is room for hope; and to despair of effecting good, and to neglect means that appear remote and almost foreign to the disease bespeak a careless and unskilful practice." When their hopes fail, they seldom inform their patients of their danger, but are very cautious that their last moments may be calm and undisturbed. In general, they look upon sickness and affliction as chastisements for their offences against the Great Spirit, and commonly bear them with great resignation and
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fortitude. When they become peevish and fretful, as sometimes happens, their doctors then say, that the abatement of their disease permits their minds to be idle or unoccupied, and the danger is past.
Whenever death unfortunately succeeds, they appear deeply afflicted; are foremost to attend to the obsequies of the dead; and afterwards retire in gloomy silence to their lodges, or sacred places, to appease by their supplications the evil spirit, to whose wrath they are wont to ascribe their ill success.
As soon as a physician looks upon the condition of his patient as desperate, he permits the relatives and particular friends to visit his bedside. I have myself been a spectator at such assemblages; witnessed some lingering and painful deaths; particularly noticed their conduct at the closing scene; and can truly declare that they, for the most part, manifest as much firmness and resignation as any people of which I have ever heard.
There is seldom any conversation between them and their relations; all present remain silent, and engaged in inward devotion. Sometimes, however, the sick avail themselves of these affecting occasions, to inculcate on the minds of their auditory the sage lessons of age and experience. I have already remarked, that the sayings of the aged are received and attended to, in common, as almost oracular, and it may be readily supposed, particularly in respect to youth, as is the fact, that those emanating from a death-bed make much deeper and more lasting impressions.
The Indians, in general, collect much valuable information during the experience of long lives, which
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is permanently retained in their memories till the period of their dissolution, when it, together with counsels and prayers, is dealt out to their surviving connections and friends as the last and most important legacy they have to bestow. And the respect which is always inculcated, and, on all common occasions, awarded as a proper and just homage to the aged, amounts, at such as the above described, almost to veneration; and the closing scene witnessed a nation overwhelmed with wailing and sorrow.
While on a visit to the Great Osage village, at the time Tecumseh was there, a very aged and respectable Indian died from natural decay. He was sensible his race was nearly run, and met the King of Terrors with a presence of mind, fortitude, and resignation, seldom if ever witnessed in civilized life. His conduct and feelings did not arise from a want of sensibility, or ignorance of the important change he was about to suffer: on the contrary, he appeared to comprehend them in all their bearings, and talked of them, and of the duties of life, connected with present and future happiness, with the calmness and wisdom of a Socrates. At times, his discourses were preceptial and admonitory; at others, they were persuasive and pathetic, and related to example; and he was listened to, day after day, till his speech failed him, by both young and old, with great solicitude and interest.
In general they discover no anxiety about the future; but leave the world with an apparent satisfaction, under a belief, provided their conduct has been in consonance with the precepts which they have been taught, that
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their title to future happiness is unquestionable. When an Indian discovers fear and weakness, and makes lamentable complaints on his death- bed, it is a source of mortification to his relations and friends, who indulge, though not in his presence, in the most extravagant grief, and, believing him under the influence of some malignant spirit, utter the most fervent prayers to the Great Spirit, for his especial interference in behalf of the suffering.
Entire silence on these occasions is looked upon as a happy omen; it is regarded as a confirmation that the patient has performed all the duties requisite to secure him a future and perpetual residence with the wise and good. His apparent meditations are supposed to be inward devotions, and they doubt not that he is in direct communion with the Good Spirit, which is in waiting to protect him from all injuries and dangers in his journey to the other world.
The attendance of these ministering spirits is thought to be more especial in the night than in the day; and the Indian's faith in it is so strong, that their diseased imaginations often give to them forms and presence; and they sometimes even pretend to repeat the substance of their discourses. Extraordinary as this may seem to people in civilized life, I am confident this delusion, connected with their lives and death, is to them a source of good. As connected with their moral conduct, it is for them a substitute of that faith which has the Creator of the Universe for its author, and the salvation of souls for its end.
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Some Indians believe that death has been inflicted on the human family in consequence of the transgressions they committed against the Great Spirit: indeed, one of their traditions, though I have omitted to mention it, is to this effect.
But, in general, the most observant, judging comparatively from the course of events entailed on all other organized and living beings and things, regard the cessation of the functions of life, and the dissolution of the human body, as a necessary result, conformed to the designed operations of nature. With this view of death, they submit to it, as they do to other circumstances which they cannot avoid, with consistent resignation. But, notwithstanding the exercise of this philosophy, if it may be called such, education avails them of extraordinary reinforcements on these highly important and eventful occasions, for they are taught to believe, that a fearlessness or disregard for death, no matter in what form it may approach, is as essential to the good and perfect character of the warrior, as are bravery and courageous achievements in the deadly fray of battle. Without them, all other externals of dignity are regarded as mere shadows, and cannot secure the respect even of the most humble pretenders.
FORMS OF BURIAL.
When an Indian dies, the body is laid in an extended position on buffalo robes, and is thus kept until the incipient signs of putrefaction make their appearance. The friends of the deceased then convey it in a very silent, respectful, and solemn manner, to the place of
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interment, where it is wrapped in a skin robe, along with a bow, furnished quiver, tomahawk, and such other things as it most valued while living, and finally buried.
This ceremony is performed differently, not only by different tribes, but by the individuals of the same tribe. The body is sometimes placed on the surface of the ground, between flat stones set edge upwards, and then covered over, first by similar stones, and then with earth brought a short distance: occasionally this stone casing is only applied to the head, and then again it is altogether omitted. Others excavate the earth to the depth of two or three feet, and deposit their dead below its surface.
When at too great a distance from their villages to convey them home, they dispose of them temporarily, as I have before noticed, in some one of the modes above described, or they deposit them in caves, or on scaffolds, erected several feet above the ground, and secure them with skins, &c., against predacious animals, until the fugitive or more perishable parts have become detached from the bones, when they are placed promiscuously beside those of their fathers. The ceremony of removing and depositing such bones is, however, as formal and solemn, as it is in cases of recent death; and even more so, when they are the remains of their warriors.
They leave the face of their dead, after burial, uncovered for several days, according to the season of the year, with a view to facilitate the intercourse between the body and its good spirit, which, they sup-
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pose, continues till the latter has made ample provision for their entrance into the next world. It is then covered in presence of all the relations of the deceased, and the period of their mourning generally ceases.
The professed object for accoutring their dead with arms, &c. is, to provide them with the means to procure subsistence in their journey from this to the next world; but it is complied with, by the intelligent Indians, merely on account of custom. For they teach, that the wants of this life extend no farther than to food, drinks, and clothing; that more than is essential for these objects is of no account; because they can take nothing with them when they leave this world; or, if they could, that it would not be necessary so to do; because their Great Father has made far better and more abundant provisions for them in the next.
The funeral ceremonies are conducted in various forms, according to the respect entertained for, or the circumstance of sex or age of the deceased. An old and able counsellor, distinguished chief, brave warrior, swift runner, and expert hunter, are the constant subjects of their highest esteem. The death of any such is therefore regarded as a greater misfortune than that of an ordinary warrior, or of a squaw or child, and is followed by an expression of grief, and display of funeral solemnities, proportioned to the supposed national sufferings.
At the burial of an aged Indian, who has often fought in their defence, and provided for their wants, and who, when disqualified by decay for these pursuits,
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has devoted all his faculties to instruct the rising generation, the greatest honours are paid; the deepest afflictions are felt; and the mournings continue for the longest periods. So, if their sorrows and ceremonies can be graduated, they decrease in intenseness accordingly as the respectability of the deceased diminishes: but, nevertheless, those exhibited at the death of their women and children are decent, pious, and solemn.
Their burying places are generally located at the distance of a mile or two from their villages, and are often resorted to by those who have recently lost relations, and by others during their public and private fasts, and self-imposed penances.
It is said some tribes at present bury their dead in caves; but, if such be the fact, it has escaped by knowledge; though, that such was the practice at some very remote period, I cannot doubt; since I myself have seen dead bodies in such cemeteries; but they were in a high state of preservation; and the circumstance or costume of appearance in which they were discovered, leaves no room to suppose that they were the remains of any people now existing in their neighbourhood, or within the knowledge of the neighbouring Indians.
MOURNINGS.
The grief that is suppressed during the dangerous sickness of an Indian, bursts out with redoubled violence whenever death ensues. On these occasions, the men sometimes relax the rigidity of their muscles; and swerving from their apparent constitutional apathy,
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which does not allow the escape of tears, with heartfelt grief mingle their cries with the piercing lamentations of the women.
They consider tears as a just tribute to the memory of their meritorious dead; and their escape discovers neither a want of fortitude, nor an idle compliance with custom: and no doubt their public mournings operate as powerful incentives on the living, in the discharge of what they conceive to be their moral duties. They continue for longer or shorter periods, according to the respectability of the deceased, or the prevalence of peace or war.
When a campaign is on foot that requires their attendance, the warriors only mourn while the obsequies of the dead are performed; under other circumstances, they conform their grief to that of the nation. During their mournings all their operations are suspended, except in the above- named instance, or in the scarcity of food.
Extreme grief is sometimes discovered by plucking out the hair, tearing the flesh, fastings, and painting the face black; but, whenever it is so violent, it is commonly of short duration.
When the loss of an individual is deeply felt, the mournings are continued for one, two, or three months, in audible lamentations or howlings, which begin daily at daybreak, and are continued generally till the sun makes his appearance.
The chief of the nation, or the most respectable warrior related to the deceased, commences the cry of distress: shortly afterwards, those next in respectability or consanguinity join successively in the sym-
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phony, till all present may be truly said to personify grief.
Some travellers who have visited the Indians have ascribed this custom, as practised on the most trivial occasions; but my readers may rest assured that the above account of it is correct; and further, that they never practise it, unless urged by extreme and sincere affliction, arising fom the decease of their relatives or friends. This method of mourning for their dead is sometimes practised only by the family particularly afflicted; and, at others, only by the women of such families; in all which, as in the periods of their duration, they are governed by the circumstances I have before noticed.