A Further Contribution to the Study of the Mortuary Customs of the North American Indians

A Further Contribution to the
Study of the Mortuary Customs
of the North American Indians

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of the
Mortuary Customs of the North American Indians, by H.C. Yarrow
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Title: A Further Contribution to the Study of the Mortuary Customs of
the North American Indians
Author: H.C. Yarrow
Release Date: March 2, 2004 [EBook #11398]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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MORTUARY CUSTOMS OF INDIANS ***

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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION--BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY

J.W. POWELL, DIRECTOR

A Further Contribution To The
STUDY OF THE MORTUARY CUSTOMS OF THE NORTH
AMERICAN INDIANS.

By
Dr. H.C. Yarrow, ACT. ASST. SURG., USA

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
1.-Quiogozeon or dead house 2.-Pima burial 3.-Towers of silence
4.-Towers of silence 5.-Alaskan mummies 6.-Burial urns 7.-Indian
cemetery 8.-Grave pen 9.-Grave pen l0.-Tolkotin cremation ll.-Eskimo
lodge burial l2.-Burial houses l3.-Innuit grave l4.-Ingalik grave
l5.-Dakota scaffold burial l6.-Offering food to the dead l7.-Depositing
the corpse l8.-Tree-burial l9.-Chippewa scaffold burial
30.-Scarification at burial 3l.-Australian scaffold burial 33.-Preparing
the dead 33.-Canoe-burial 24.-Twana canoe-burial 25.-Posts for burial
canoes 36.-Tent on scaffold 37.-House burial 38.-House burial
39.-Canoe-burial 30.-Mourning-cradle 3l.-Launching the burial cradle
32.-Chippewa widow 33.-Ghost gamble 34.-Figured plum stones
35.-Winning throw, No 1 36.-Winning throw, No 2 37.-Winning throw,
No 3 38.-Winning throw, No 4 39.-Winning throw, No 5 40.-Winning
throw, No 6 4l.-Auxiliary throw, No 1 42.-Auxiliary throw No 2
43.-Auxiliary throw, No 3 44.-Auxiliary throw No 4 45.-Auxiliary
throw, No 5 46.-Burial posts 47.-Grave fire

A Further Contribution To The
STUDY OF THE MORTUARY CUSTOMS OF THE NORTH
AMERICAN INDIANS
BY H.C. YARROW.

INTRODUCTORY.
In view of the fact that the present paper will doubtless reach many
readers who may not, in consequence of the limited edition, have seen

the preliminary volume on mortuary customs, it seems expedient to
reproduce in great part the prefatory remarks which served as an
introduction to that work; for the reasons then urged, for the immediate
study of this subject, still exist, and as time flies on become more and
more important.
The primitive manners and customs of the North American Indians are
rapidly passing away under influences of civilization and other
disturbing elements. In view of this fact, it becomes the duty of all
interested in preserving a record of these customs to labor assiduously,
while there is still time, to collect such data as may be obtainable. This
seems the more important now, as within the last ten years an almost
universal interest has been awakened in ethnologic research, and the
desire for more knowledge in this regard is constantly increasing. A
wise and liberal government, recognizing the need, has ably seconded
the efforts of those engaged in such studies by liberal grants, from the
public funds; nor is encouragement wanted from the hundreds of
scientific societies throughout the civilized globe. The public press,
too--the mouth-piece of the people--is ever on the alert to scatter
broadcast such items of ethnologic information as its corps of
well-trained reporters can secure. To induce further laudable inquiry,
and assist all those who may be willing to engage in the good work, is
the object of this further paper on the mortuary customs of North
American Indians, and it is hoped that many more laborers may
through it be added to the extensive and honorable list of those who
have already contributed.
It would appear that the subject chosen should awaken great interest,
since the peculiar methods followed by different nations and the great
importance attached to burial ceremonies have formed an almost
invariable part of all works relating to the different peoples of our globe;
in fact, no particular portion of ethnologic research has claimed more
attention. In view of these facts, it might seem almost a work of
supererogation to continue a further examination of the subject, for
nearly every author in writing of our Indian tribes makes some mention
of burial observances; but these notices are scattered far and wide on
the sea of this special literature, and many of the accounts, unless
supported by corroborative evidence, may be considered as entirely
unreliable. To bring together and harmonize conflicting statements, and

arrange collectively what is known of the subject, has been the writer's
task, and an enormous mass of information has been acquired, the
method of securing which has been already described in the preceding
volume