An Introduction to the Mortuary Customs of the North American Indians | Page 3

desired end is attained I shall not count as lost the labor which has
been bestowed.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
H C. YARROW.
Maj. J. W. POWELL,
_In charge of Bureau of Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution_

_The wisest of beings tells us that it is better to go to the House of
Mourning than to that of laughter. And those who have well consider d
the grounds he bad for thus his judgment will not by the title of this
book (as melancholy as it appears) be affrighted from the perusing it.
What we read to have been and still to be the custom of some nations to
make sepulchres the repositories of their greatest riches is (I am sure)
universally true in a moral sense however it may be thought in the
literal there being never a grave but what conceals a treasure though all
have not the art to discover it I do not here invite the covetous miser to
disturb the dead who can frame no idea of treasure distinct from gold
and silver but him who knows that wisdom and virtue are the true and
sole riches of man. Is not truth a treasure think you? Which yet
Democritus assures us is buried in a deep pit or grave and he bad
reason for whereas we meet elsewhere with nothing but pain and deceit
we no sooner look down into a grave but truth faceth us and tells us our
own._--MURET

INQUIRIES AND SUGGESTIONS
upon the
MORTUARY CUSTOMS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.
BY H. C. YARROW.

INTRODUCTORY.
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 preliminary work 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 as follows:
In the first instance a circular was prepared, which is here given; this at
the time was thought to embrace all items relating to the disposal of the
dead and attendant ceremonies, although since its distribution other
important questions have arisen which will be alluded to subsequently.
"WASHINGTON, D. C, June 15, 1877.
"To--

"SIR: Being engaged in preparing a memoir upon the 'Burial Customs
of the Indians of North America, both ancient and modern, and the
disposal of their dead,' I beg leave to request your kind co-operation to
enable me to present as exhaustive an exposition of the subject as
possible, and to this end earnestly invite your attention to the following
points in regard to which information is desired:
"1st. Name of the tribe
"2d. Locality.
"3d. Manner of burial, ancient and modern.
"4th. Funeral ceremonies.
"5th. Mourning observances, if any.
"With reference to the first of these inquiries, 'Name of the tribe,'