An Introduction to the mortuary customs of the North American IndiansYarrow, H. C. (Harry Crécy)
History
An Introduction to the mortuary customs of the North American Indians
Yarrow, H. C. (Harry Crécy)
Indians of North America -- Funeral customs and rites
"It is hardly necessary to say that such a practice is altogether
foreign to Indian character. The bones of the adults had probably been
removed and buried elsewhere. The corpses of children are variously
disposed of; sometimes by suspending them, at others by placing in the
hollows of trees, A cemetery devoted to infants is, however, an
unusual occurrence. In cases of chiefs or men of note much pomp was
used in the accompaniments of the rite. The canoes were of great size
and value--the war or state canoes of the deceased. Frequently one was
inverted over that holding the body, and in one instance, near
Shoalwater Bay, the corpse was deposited in a small canoe, which again
was placed in a larger one and covered with a third. Among the
_Tsinuk_ and _Tsihalis_ the _tamahno-us_ board of the owner was
placed near him. The Puget Sound Indians do not make these
_tamahno-us_ hoards, but they sometimes constructed effigies of
their chiefs, resembling the person as nearly as possible, dressed in
his usual costume, and wearing the articles of which he was fond. One
of these, representing the Skagit chief Sneestum, stood very
conspicuously upon a high bank on the eastern side of Whidbey Island
The figures observed by Captain Clarke at the Cascades were either of
this description or else the carved, posts which had ornamented the
interior of the houses of the deceased, and were connected with the
superstition of the _tamahno-us_. The most valuable articles of
property were put into or hung up around the grave, being first
carefully rendered unserviceable, and the living family were literally
stripped to do honor to the dead. No little self-denial must have been
practiced in parting with articles so precious, but those interested
frequently had the least to say on the subject. The graves of women
were distinguished by a cup, a Kamas stick, or other implement of
their occupation, and by articles of dress.
"Slaves were killed in proportion to the rank and wealth of the
deceased. In some instances they were starved to death, or even tied
to the dead body and left to perish thus horribly. At present this
practice has been almost entirely given up, but till within a very few
years it was not uncommon. A case which occurred in 1850 has been
already mentioned. Still later, in 1853, Toke, a Tsinuk chief living
at Shoalwater Bay, undertook to kill a slave girl belonging to his
daughter, who, in dying, had requested that this might be done. The
woman fled, and was found by some citizens in the woods half starved.
Her master attempted to reclaim her, but was soundly thrashed and
warned against another attempt.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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