An Introduction to the Mortuary Customs of the North American Indians | Page 2

of the customs, superstitions, and opinions of the Indians
relating to--
1. The care of the lifeless body prior to burial, much of which he will
find elaborated into sacred ceremonies.
2. The method of burial, including the site of burial, the attitude in
which the body is placed, and the manner in which it is investured.
Here, also, he will find interesting and curious ceremonial observances.
The superstitions and opinions of the people relating to these subjects
are of importance.
3. The gifts offered to the dead; not only those placed with the body at
the time of burial, but those offered at a subsequent time for the
benefaction of the departed on his way to the other world, and for his
use on arrival. Here, too, it is as important for us to know the
ceremonies with which the gifts are made as to know the character of
the gifts themselves.
4. An interesting branch of this research relates to the customs of
mourning, embracing the time of mourning, the habiliments, the self-
mutilations, and other penances, and the ceremonies with which these
are accompanied. In all of these cases the reason assigned by the
Indians for their doings, their superstitions, and explanations are of
prime importance.
5. It is desirable to obtain from the Indians their explanation of human
life, their theory of spirits and of the life to come.
A complete account of these customs in any tribe will necessitate the
witnessing of many funeral rites, as the custom will differ at the death
of different persons, depending upon age, sex, and social standing. To
obtain their explanations and superstitions, it will be necessary to
interrogate the Indians themselves. This is not an easy task, for the
Indians do not talk with freedom about their dead. The awe with which
they are inspired, their reverence and love for the departed, and their
fear that knowledge which may be communicated may be used to the
injury of those whom they have loved, or of themselves, lead them to
excessive reticence on these subjects. Their feelings should not be
rudely wounded. The better and more thoughtful members of the tribe
will at last converse freely on these subjects with those in whom they

have learned to place confidence. The stories of ignorant white men
and camp attaches should be wholly discarded, and all accounts should
be composed of things actually observed, and of relations made by
Indians of probity.
This preliminary volume by Dr. H. C Yarrow has been the subject of
careful research and of much observation, and will serve in many ways
as a hint to the student. The literature of the subject is vast, but to a
large extent worthless, from the fact that writers have been hasty
travelers or subjective speculators on the matter. It is strange how much
of accepted history must be rejected when the statements are carefully
criticised and compared with known facts. It has frequently been stated
of this or that tribe that mutilations, as the cutting off of fingers and
toes, of ears and nose, the pulling out of teeth, &c., are extensively
practiced as a mode of mourning find wild scenes of maiming and
bloodshed are depicted as following upon the death of a beloved chief
or great man yet among these tribes maimed persons are rarely found It
is probable that there is some basis of fact for the statement that
mutilations are in rare instances practiced among some tribes. But even
this qualified statement needs absolute proof.
I am pleased to assure those who will take part in this work by earnest
and faithful research that Dr Yarrow will treat them generously by
giving them full credit for their work in his final publication.
I must not fail to present my thanks to the Surgeon General of the
United States Army and his corps of officers for the interest and
assistance they have rendered.
J W POWELL

WASHINGTON, D C, April 5, 1880
DEAR SIR: I have the honor to offer for your consideration the
following paper upon the Mortuary Customs of the North American
Indians, and trust it may meet with your approval as an introduction to
the study of a subject which, while it has been alluded to by most
authors, has received little or no systematic treatment. For this and
other reasons I was induced some three years since to commence an
examination and collection of data relative to the matter, and the
present paper is the outcome of that effort. From the vast amount of
material in the Bureau of Ethnology, even at the present time, a large

volume might be prepared, but it was thought wiser to endeavor to
obtain a still greater array of facts, especially from living observers. If
the