A Further Contribution to the Study of the Mortuary Customs of the North American IndiansYarrow, H. C. (Harry Crécy)
History
A Further Contribution to the Study of the Mortuary Customs of the North American Indians
Yarrow, H. C. (Harry Crécy)
Indians of North America -- Funeral customs and rites
The position in which the body is placed, as mentioned by Dr. McChesney,
face upwards, while of common occurrence among most tribes of Indians,
is not invariable as a rule, for the writer discovered at a cemetery
belonging to an ancient pueblo in the valley of the Chama, near Abiquiu,
N. Mex., a number of bodies, all of which had been buried face downward.
The account originally appeared in Field and Forest, 1877, vol. iii,
No. 1, p. 9.
On each side of the town were noticed two small arroyas or water
washed ditches, within 30 feet of the walls, and a careful
examination of these revealed the objects of our search. At the
bottom of the arroyas, which have certainly formed subsequent to the
occupation of the village, we found portions of human remains, and
following up the walls of the ditch soon had the pleasure of
discovering several skeletons _in situ_. The first found was in the
eastern arroya, and the grave in depth was nearly 8 feet below the
surface of the mesa. The body had been placed in the grave face
downward, the head pointing to the south. Two feet above the
skeleton were two shining black earthen vases, containing small bits
of charcoal, the bones of mammals, birds, and partially consumed
corn, and above these “_ollas_” the earth to the surface was filled
with pieces of charcoal. Doubtless the remains found in the vases
served at a funeral feast prior to the inhumation. We examined very
carefully this grave, hoping to find some utensils, ornaments, or
weapons, but none rewarded our search. In all of the graves examined
the bodies were found in similar positions and under similar
circumstances in both arroyas, several of the skeletons being those
of children. No information could be obtained as to the probable age
of these interments, the present Indians considering them as dating
from the time when their ancestors with Moctezuma came from the
_north_.
The Coyotero Apaches, according to Dr. W. J. Hoffman,[12] 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:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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