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Tree and Scaffold Burial
We may now pass to what may be
called aerial sepulture proper, the most common examples of which are
tree and scaffold burial, quite extensively practiced even at the
present time. From what can be learned, the choice of this mode depends
greatly on the facilities present; where timber abounds, trees being
used; if absent, scaffolds being employed, the construction of which
among the Yanktonais is related as follows: [Footnote: Life of Belden,
the White Chief, 1871, p. 87.]
"These scaffolds are 7 to 8 feet high, 10 feet long,
and 4 or 5 wide. Four stout posts, with forked ends, are first set
firmly in the ground, and then in the forks are laid cross and side
poles, on which is made a flooring of small poles. The body is then
carefully wrapped, so as to make it watertight, and laid to rest on the
poles. The reason why Indians bury in the open air instead of under the
ground is for the purpose of protecting their dead from wild animals. In
new countries, where wolves and bears are numerous, a dead body will be
dug up and devoured, though it be put many feet under the ground. I
noticed many little buckets and baskets hanging on the scaffolds....
These had contained food and drink for the dead. I asked Washtella if
she was sure the soul ate and drank on its journey, and if the food did
not remain untouched in its basket. She replied, 'Oh, no, the food and
water is always gone.' I looked at the hundreds of ravens perched on the
scaffolds and could account for what became of most of the food and
water."
John Young, Indian agent at the Blackfeet Agency,
Montana, sends the following account of tree-burial among this tribe:
"Their manner of burial has always been (until
recently) to inclose the dead body in robes or blankets, the best owned
by the departed, closely sewed up, and then, if a male or chief, fasten
in the branches of a tree so high as to be beyond the reach of wolves,
and then left to slowly waste in the dry winds. If the body was that of
a squaw or child, it was thrown into the underbrush or jungle, where it
soon became the prey of the wild animals. The weapons, pipes, &c., of
men were inclosed, and the small toys of children with them. The
ceremonies were equally barbarous, the relatives cutting off, according
to the depth of their grief, one or more joints of the fingers,
divesting themselves of clothing even in the coldest weather, and
filling the air with their lamentations. All the sewing up and burial
process was conducted by the squaws, as the men would not touch nor
remain in proximity to a dead body.
"When an Indian of any importance is departing, the
squaws assemble in the lodge or teepee and sing the death-song,
recounting the prowess and virtues of the dying one, and the oldest man
at hand goes into the open air and solemnly addresses the 'Great
Spirit,' bespeaking a welcome for him into the happy hunting grounds.
Whatever property the deceased has--lodge, arms, or ponies--if a will
was made, it was carefully carried out; if not, all was scrambled for by
the relatives. I have often had, when a man wanted to go out of
mourning, to supply the necessary clothing to cover his nakedness.
"Further mourning observances were and are, the women
relatives getting on some elevated spot near where the body rests, and
keeping up a dismal wail, frequently even in extreme cold weather, the
greater part of the night, and this is kept up often for a month. No
cremation or burying in a grave was practiced by them at any time.
Pained by often coming on skeletons in trees and the stench of
half-consumed remains in the brush, and shocked by the frequent
mutilations visible, I have reasoned with the poor savages. In one case,
when a woman was about to cut off a finger in evidence of her grief for
the loss of a child, she consented on entreaty to cut off only one
joint, and on further entreaty was brought to merely making a cut and
letting out some blood. This much she could not be prevailed upon to
forego.... Their mourning and wailing, avoiding the defilement of
touching a dead body, and other customs not connected with burial
observances, strongly point to Jewish origin."
Keating [Footnote: Long's Exped. to the St. Peter's
River, 1834, p. 392.] thus describes burial scaffolds:
"On these scaffolds, which are from 8 to 10 feet high,
corpses were deposited in a box made from part of a broken canoe. Some
hair was suspended, which we at first mistook for a scalp, but our guide
informed us that these were locks of hair torn from their heads by the
relatives to testify their grief. In the centre, between the four posts
which supported the scaffold, a stake was planted in the ground; it was
about six feet high, and bore an imitation of human figures, five of
which had a design of a petticoat, indicating them to be females; the
rest, amounting to seven, were naked, and were intended for male
figures; of the latter four were headless, showing that they had been
slain; the three other male figures were unmutilated, but held a staff
in their hand, which, as our guide informed us, designated that they
were slaves. The post, which is an usual accompaniment to the scaffold
that supports a warrior's remains, does not represent the achievements
of the deceased; but those of the warriors that assembled near his
remains danced the dance of the post, and related their martial
exploits. A number of small bones of animals were observed in the
vicinity, which were probably left there after a feast celebrated in
honor of the dead.
"The boxes in which the corpses were placed are so
short that a man could not lie in them extended at full length, but in a
country where boxes and boards are scarce this is overlooked. After the
corpses have remained a certain time exposed, they are taken down and
buried. Our guide, Renville, related to us that he had been a witness to
an interesting, though painful, circumstance that occurred here. An
Indian who resided on the Mississippi, hearing that his son had died at
this spot, came up in a canoe to take charge of the remains and convey
them down the river to his place of abode, but on his arrival he found
that the corpse had already made such progress toward decomposition as
rendered it impossible for it to be removed. He then undertook, with a
few friends, to clean off the bones. All the flesh was scraped off and
thrown into the stream, the bones were carefully collected into his
canoe, and subsequently carried down to his residence."
Interesting and valuable from the extreme attention
paid to details is the following account of a burial case discovered by
Dr. George M. Sternberg, U. S. A., and furnished by Dr. George A. Otis,
U. S. A., Army Medical Museum, Washington, D.C. It relates to the
Cheyenne of Kansas:
"The case was found, Brevet Major Sternberg states, on
the banks of Walnut Creek, Kansas, elevated about eight feet from the
ground by four notched poles, which were firmly planted in the ground.
The unusual care manifested in the preparation of the case induced Dr.
Sternberg to infer that some important chief was inclosed in it.
Believing that articles of interest were inclosed with the body, and
that their value would be enhanced if they were received at the Museum
as left by the Indians, Dr. Sternberg determined to send the case
unopened.
"I had the case opened this morning and an inventory
made of the contents. The case consisted of a cradle of interlaced
branches of white willow, about 6 feet long, 3 feet broad, and 3 feet
high, with a flooring of buffalo thongs arranged as a net-work. This
cradle was securely fastened by strips of buffalo-hide to four poles of
ironwood and cottonwood, about 12 feet in length. These poles doubtless
rested upon the forked extremities of the vertical poles described by
Dr. Sternberg. The cradle was wrapped in two buffalo-robes of large size
and well preserved. On removing these an aperture 18 inches square was
found at the middle of the right side of the cradle or basket. Within
appeared other buffalo-robes folded about the remains, and secured by
gaudy-colored sashes. Five robes were successively removed, making seven
in all. Then we came to a series of new blankets folded about the
remains. There were five in all--two scarlet, two blue, and one white.
These being removed, the next wrappings consisted of a striped white and
gray sack, and of a United States Infantry overcoat, like the other
coverings nearly new. We had now come apparently upon the immediate
envelopes of the remains, which it was now evident must be those of a
child. These consisted of three robes, with hoods very richly ornamented
with bead-work. These robes or cloaks were of buffalo-calf skin about
four feet in length, elaborately decorated with bead-work in stripes.
The outer was covered with rows of blue and white bead-work, the second
was green and yellow, and the third blue and red. All were further
adorned by spherical brass bells attached all about the borders by
strings of beads.
"The remains with their wrappings lay upon a matting
similar to that used by the Navajo and other Indians of the southern
plains, and upon a pillow of dirty rags, in which were folded a bag of
red paint, bits of antelope skin, bunches of straps, buckles, &c. The
three bead-work hooded cloaks were now removed, and then we successively
unwrapped a gray woolen double shawl, five yards of blue cassimere, six
yards of red calico, and six yards of brown calico, and finally
disclosed the remains of a child, probably about a year old, in an
advanced stage of decomposition. The cadaver had a beaver-cap ornamented
with disks of copper containing the bones of the cranium, which had
fallen apart. About the neck were long wampum necklaces with _dentalium,
unionida, and auricula, interspersed with beads. There were also strings
of the pieces of "Haliotis" from the Gulf of California, so valued by
the Indians on this side of the Rocky Mountains. The body had been
elaborately dressed for burial, the costume consisting of a red- flannel
cloak, a red tunic, and frock-leggins adorned with bead-work, yarn
stockings of red and black worsted, and deerskin bead-work moccasins.
With the remains were numerous trinkets, a porcelain image, a China
vase, strings of beads, several toys, a pair of mittens, a fur collar, a
pouch of the skin of "putorius vison", &c."
Another extremely interesting account of scaffold
burial, furnished by Dr. L. S. Turner, U. S. A., Fort Peck, Mont., and
relating to the Sioux, is here given entire, as it refers to certain
curious mourning observances which have prevailed to a great extent over
the entire globe:
"The Dakotas bury their dead in the tops of trees when
limbs can be found sufficiently horizontal to support scaffolding on
which to lay the body, but as such growth is not common in Dakota, the
more general practice is to lay them upon scaffolds from 7 to 10 feet
high and out of the reach of carnivorous animals as the wolf. These
scaffolds are constructed upon four posts set into the ground something
after the manner of the rude drawing which I inclose. Like all labors of
a domestic kind, the preparation for burial is left to the women,
usually the old women. The work begins as soon as life is extinct. The
face, neck, and hands are thickly painted with vermilion, or a species
of red earth found in various portions of the Territory when the
vermilion of the traders cannot be had. The clothes and personal
trinkets of the deceased ornament the body. When blankets are available,
it is then wrapped in one, all parts of the body being completely
enveloped. Around this a dressed skin of buffalo is then securely
wrapped, with the flesh side out, and the whole securely bound with
thongs of skins, either raw or dressed; and for ornament, when
available, a bright-red blanket envelopes all other coverings, and
renders the general scene more picturesque until dimmed by time and the
elements. As soon as the scaffold is ready, the body is borne by the
women, followed by the female relatives, to the place of final deposit,
and left prone in its secure wrappings upon this airy bed of death. This
ceremony is accompanied with lamentations so wild and weird that one
must see and hear in order to appreciate. If the deceased be a brave, it
is customary to place upon or beneath the scaffold a few buffalo-heads
which time has rendered dry and inoffensive; and if he has been brave in
war some of his implements of battle are placed on the scaffold or
securely tied to its timbers. If the deceased has been a chief, or a
soldier related to his chief, it is not uncommon to slay his favorite
pony and place the body beneath the scaffold, under the superstition, I
suppose, that the horse goes with the man. As illustrating the
propensity to provide the dead with the things used while living, I may
mention that some years ago I loaned to an old man a delft urinal for
the use of his son, a young man who was slowly dying of a wasting
disease. I made him promise faithfully that he would return it as soon
as his son was done using it. Not long afterwards the urinal graced the
scaffold which held the remains of the dead warrior, and as it has not
to this day been returned I presume the young man is not done using it.
"The mourning customs of the Dakotas, though few of
them appear to be of universal observance, cover considerable ground.
The hair, never cut under other circumstances, is cropped off even with
the neck, and the top of the head and forehead, and sometimes nearly the
whole body, are smeared with a species of white earth resembling chalk,
moistened with water. The lodge, teepee, and all the family possessions
except the few shabby articles of apparel worn by the mourners, are
given away and the family left destitute. Thus far the custom is
universal or nearly so. The wives, mother, and sisters of a deceased
man, on the first, second, or third day after the funeral, frequently
throw off their moccasins and leggins and gash their legs with their
butcher- knives, and march through the camp and to the place of burial
with bare and bleeding extremities, while they chant or wail their
dismal songs of mourning. The men likewise often gash themselves in many
places, and usually seek the solitude of the higher point on the distant
prairie, where they remain fasting, smoking, and wailing out their
lamentations for two or three days. A chief who had lost a brother once
came to me after three or four days of mourning in solitude almost
exhausted from hunger and bodily anguish. He had gashed the outer side
of both lower extremities at intervals of a few inches all the way from
the ankles to the top of the hips. His wounds had inflamed from
exposure, and were suppurating freely. He assured me that he had not
slept for several days or nights. I dressed his wounds with a soothing
ointment, and gave him a full dose of an effective anodyne, after which
he slept long and refreshingly, and awoke to express his gratitude and
shake my hand in a very cordial and sincere manner. When these harsher
inflictions are not resorted to, the mourners usually repair daily for a
few days to the place of burial, toward the hour of sunset, and chant
their grief until apparently assuaged by its own expression. This is
rarely kept up for more than four or five days, but is occasionally
resorted to, at intervals, for weeks, or even months, according to the
mood of the bereft. I have seen few things in life so touching as the
spectacle of an old father going daily to the grave of his child, while
the shadows are lengthening, and pouring out his grief in wails that
would move a demon, until his figure melts with the gray twilight, when,
silent and solemn, he returns to his desolate family. The weird effect
of this observance is sometimes heightened, when the deceased was a
grown-up son, by the old man kindling a little fire near the head of the
scaffold, and varying his lamentations with smoking in silence. The
foregoing is drawn from my memory of personal observances during a
period of more than six years' constant intercourse with several
subdivisions of the Dakota Indians. There may be much which memory has
failed to recall upon a brief consideration."
Perhaps a brief review of Dr. Turner's narrative may
not be deemed inappropriate here.
Supplying food to the dead is a custom which is known
to be of great antiquity; in some instances, as among the ancient
Romans, it appears to have been a sacrificial offering, for it usually
accompanied cremation, and was not confined to food alone, for spices,
perfumes, oil, etc., were thrown upon the burning pile. In addition to
this, articles supposed or known to have been agreeable to the deceased
were also consumed. The Jews did the same, and in our own time the
Chinese, Caribe and many of the tribes of North American Indians
followed these customs. The cutting of hair as a mourning observance is
of very great antiquity, and Tegg relates that among the ancients whole
cities and countries were shaved (_sic_) when a great man died. The
Persians not only shaved themselves on such occasions, but extended the
same process to their domestic animals, and Alexander, at the death of
Hephastin, not only cut off the manes of his horses and mules, but took
down the battlements from the city walls, that even towns might seem in
mourning and look bald. Scarifying and mutilating the body has prevailed
from a remote period of time, having possibly replaced, in the process
of evolution, to a certain extent, the more barbarous practice of
absolute personal sacrifice. In later days, among our Indians, human
sacrifices have taken place to only a limited extent, but formerly many
victims were immolated, for at the funerals of the chiefs of the Florida
and Carolina Indians all the male relatives and wives were slain, for
the reason, according to Gallatin, that the hereditary dignity of Chief
or Great Sun descended, as usual, by the female line; and he, as well as
all other members of his clan, whether male or female, could marry only
persons of an inferior clan. To this day mutilation of the person among
some tribes of Indians is usual. The sacrifice of the favorite horse or
horses is by no means peculiar to our Indians, for it was common among
the Romans, and possibly even among the men of the Reindeer period, for
at Solutre, in France, the writer saw horses' bones exhumed from the
graves examined in 1873. The writer has frequently conversed with
Indians upon this subject, and they have invariably informed him that
when horses were slain great care was taken to select the poorest of the
band.
Tree-burial was not uncommon among the nations of
antiquity, for the Colchiens enveloped their dead in sacks of skin and
hung them to trees; the ancient Tartars and Scythians did the same. With
regard to the use of scaffolds and trees as places of deposit for the
dead, it seems somewhat curious that the tribes who formerly occupied
the eastern portion of our continent were not in the habit of burying in
this way, which, from the abundance of timber, would have been a much
easier method than the ones in vogue, while the western tribes, living
in sparsely wooded localities, preferred the other. If we consider that
the Indians were desirous of preserving their dead as long as possible,
the fact of their dead being placed in trees and scaffolds would lead to
the supposition that those living on the plains were well aware of the
desiccating property of the dry air of that arid region. This
desiccation would pass for a kind of mummification.
The particular part of the mourning ceremonies, which
consisted in loud cries and lamentations, may have had in early periods
of time a greater significance than that of a mere expression of grief
or woe, and on this point Bruhier [Footnote: L' des signes de la Mort,
1742, I, p. 475 _et seq._] seems quite positive, his interpretation
being that such cries were intended to prevent premature burial. He
gives some interesting examples, which may be admitted here.
"The Caribs lament loudly, their wailings being
interspersed with comical remarks and questions to the dead as to why he
preferred to leave this world, having everything to make life
comfortable. They place the corpse on a little seat in a ditch or grave
four or five feet deep, and for ten days they bring food, requesting the
corpse to eat. Finally, being convinced that the dead will neither eat
nor return to life, they throw the food on the head of the corpse and
fill up the grave."
When one died among the Romans, the nearest parents
embraced the body, closed the eyes and mouth, and when one was about to
die received the last words and sighs, and then loudly called the name
of the dead, finally bidding an eternal adieu. This ceremony of calling
the deceased by name was known as the "conclamation," and was a custom
anterior even to the foundation of Rome. One dying away from home was
immediately removed thither, in order that this might be performed with
greater propriety. In Picardy, as late as 1743, the relatives threw
themselves on the corpse and with loud cries called it by name, and up
to 1855 the Moravians of Pennsylvania, at the death of one of their
number, performed mournful musical airs on brass instruments from the
village church steeple and again at the grave
[Footnote: The writer is informed by Mr. John Henry Boner that this
custom still prevails not only in Pennsylvania, but at the Moravian
settlement of Salem, North Carolina.] This custom, however, was probably
a remnant of the ancient funeral observances, and not to prevent
premature burial, or, perhaps, to scare away bad spirits.
W. L. Hardisty [Footnote: Rep. Smithsonian Inst., 1866,
p. 319] gives a curious example of log-burial in trees, relating to the
Loucheux of British America:
"They inclose the body in a neatly-hollowed piece of
wood, and secure it to two or more trees, about six feet from the
ground. A log about eight feet long is first split in two, and each of
the parts carefully hollowed out to the required size. The body is then
inclosed and the two pieces well lashed together, preparatory to being
finally secured, as before stated, to the trees"
With regard to the use of scaffolds as places of
deposit for the dead, the following theories by Dr. W. Gardner, U.S.A.,
are given:
"If we come to inquire why the American aborigines
placed the dead bodies of their relatives and friends in trees, or upon
scaffolds resembling trees, instead of burying them in the ground, or
burning them and preserving their ashes in urns, I think we can answer
the inquiry by recollecting that most if not all the tribes of American
Indians, as well as other nations of a higher civilization, believed
that the human soul, spirit or immortal part, was of the form and nature
of a bird, and as these are essentially arboreal in their habits, it is
quite in keeping to suppose that the _soul-bird_ would have readier
access to its former home or dwelling-place if it was placed upon a tree
or scaffold than if it was buried in the earth; moreover, from this
lofty eyrie the souls of the dead could rest secure from the attacks of
wolves or other profane beasts, and guard like sentinels the homes and
hunting-grounds of their loved ones."
This statement is given because of a corroborative note
in the writer's possession, but he is not prepared to admit it as
correct without farther investigation.
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Introduction to the Study of Mortuary Customs
Among the North American Indians
Native American Nations
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