A Further Contribution to the Study of the Mortuary Customs of the North American Indians | Page 8

world was questioned
why he thus appeared among the inhabitants of earth, he made reply
that when he came to the gates of paradise the keepers would on no
account permit him to enter upon such an ill-conditioned beast as that
which bore him, and thus in sadness he returned to haunt the homes of
those whose stinginess and greed permitted him no better equipment.
Since this no Comanche has been permitted to depart with the sun to
his chambers in the west without a steed which in appearance should do
honor alike to the rider and his friends."
The body is buried at the sunsetting side of the camp, that the spirit
may accompany the setting sun to the world beyond. The spirit starts

on its journey the following night after death has taken place; if this
occur at night, the journey is not begun until the next night.
Mourning observances.--All the effects of the deceased, the tents,
blankets, clothes, treasures, and whatever of value, aside from the
articles which have been buried with the body, are burned, so that the
family is left in poverty. This practice has extended even to the burning
of wagons and harness since some of the civilized habits have been
adopted. It is believed that these ascend to heaven in the smoke, and
will thus be of service to the owner in the other world. Immediately
upon the death of a member of the household, the relatives begin a
peculiar wailing, and the immediate members of the family take off
their customary apparel and clothe themselves in rags and cut
themselves across the arms, breast, and other portions of the body, until
sometimes a fond wife or mother faints from loss of blood. This
scarification is usually accomplished with a knife, or, as in earlier days,
with a flint. Hired mourners are employed at times who are in no way
related to the family, but who are accomplished in the art of crying for
the dead. These are invariably women. Those nearly related to the
departed, cut off the long locks from the entire head, while those more
distantly related, or special friends, cut the hair only from one side of
the head. In case of the death of a chief, the young warriors also cut the
hair, usually from the left side of the head.
After the first few days of continued grief, the mourning is conducted
more especially at sunrise and sunset, as the Comanches venerate the
sun; and the mourning at these seasons is kept up, if the death occurred
in summer, until the leaves fall, or, if in the winter, until they reappear.
It is a matter of some interest to note that the preparation of the corpse
and the grave among the Comanches is almost identical with the burial
customs of some of the African tribes, and the baling of the body with
ropes or cords is a wide and common usage of savage peoples. The
hiring of mourners is also a practice which has been very prevalent
from remotest periods of time.
_GRAVE BURIAL._

The following interesting account of burial among the Pueblo Indians
of San Geronimo de Taos, New Mexico, furnished by Judge Anthony
Joseph, will show in a manner how civilized customs have become
engrafted upon those of a more barbaric nature. It should be
remembered that the Pueblo people are next to the Cherokees,
Choctaws, and others in the Indian Territory, the most civilized of our
tribes.
According to Judge Joseph, these people call themselves
_Wee-ka-nahs_.
These are commonly known to the whites as Piros. The manner of
burial by these Indians, both ancient and modern, as far as I can
ascertain from information obtained from the most intelligent of the
tribe, is that the body of the dead is and has been always buried in the
ground in a horizontal position with the flat bottom of the grave. The
grave is generally dug out of the ground in the usual and ordinary
manner, being about 6 feet deep, 7 feet long, and about 2 feet wide. It is
generally finished after receiving its occupant by being leveled with the
hard ground around it, never leaving, as is customary with the whites, a
mound to mark the spot. This tribe of Pueblo Indians never cremated
their dead, as they do not know, even by tradition, that it was ever done
or attempted. There are no utensils or implements placed in the grave,
but there are a great many Indian ornaments, such as beads of all colors,
sea-shells, hawk-bells, round looking-glasses, and a profusion of
ribbons of all imaginable colors; then they paint the body with red
vermilion and white chalk, giving it a most fantastic as well as
ludicrous appearance. They also place a variety of