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
"At the expiration of her term, the vows having been faithfully
performed and kept, the female relatives of deceased assemble and,
with greetings commensurate to the occasion, proceed to wash her face,
comb her hair, and attire her person with new apparel, and otherwise
demonstrating the release from her vow and restraint. Still she has
not her entire freedom. If she will still refuse to marry a relative
of the deceased and will marry another, she then has to purchase her
freedom by giving a certain amount of goods and whatever else she
might have manufactured during her widowhood in anticipation of the
future now at hand. Frequently, though, during widowhood the vows are
disregarded and an inclination to flirt and play courtship or form an
alliance of marriage outside of the relatives of the deceased is being
indulged, and when discovered the widow is set upon by the female
relatives, her slick braided hair is shorn close up to the back of her
neck, all her apparel and trinkets are torn from her person, and a
quarrel frequently results fatally to some member of one or the other
side."
The substitution of a reminder for the dead husband, made from rags,
furs, and other articles, is not confined alone to the Chippewas,
other tribes having the same custom. In some instances the widows are
obliged to carry around with them, for a variable period, a bundle
containing the bones of the deceased consort.
Benson [Footnote: Life among the Choctaws, 1860, p. 294.] gives the
following account of their funeral ceremonies, embracing the
disposition of the body, mourning feast and dance:
"Their funeral is styled by them 'the last cry.'
"When the husband dies the friends assemble, prepare the grave, and
place the corpse in it, but do not fill it up. The gun, bow and
arrows, hatchet and knife are deposited in the grave. Poles are
planted at the head and the foot, upon which flags are placed; the
grave is then enclosed by pickets driven in the ground. The funeral
ceremonies now begin, the widow being the chief mourner. At night and
morning she will go to the grave and pour forth the most piteous cries
and wailings. It is not important that any other member of the family
should take any very active part in the 'cry,' though they do
participate to some extent.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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