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BULLETIN 71 PLATE J
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
WAMPUM IN MUSEUM OF COLLEGIO Di PROPAGANDA FIDE. ROME
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
BULLETIN 71
NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI
BY
DAVID I. BUSHNELL, JR.
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WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1920
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, Bureau or AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY, Washington, D. C., May 20, 1919. Sir: I have the honor to transmit the accompanying manuscript, entitled “ Native Cemeteries and Forms of Burial East of the Mis- sissippl,” by David I. Bushnell, jr., and to recommend its publica- tion, subject to your approval, as a bulletin of this Bureau. Very respectfully, J. Warrer Fewxkss, Chief. Dr. Cuartes D. WaAtcorTt, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution,
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PREFACE
In the journals of many explorers and missionaries who traversed the great wilderness east of the Mississippi when it was yet the home of native tribes are references to the burial customs of the people with whom they came in contact. Villages were widely dispersed throughout the land, and often the places of burial were near by, differing in distant parts of the country, conforming with the man- ners of the tribe by whom the particular region was occupied. The native villages have now disappeared, although many sites are indicated by bits of pottery and other objects scattered over the surface, but frequently the cemeteries once belonging to the settle- ments may be discovered. The forms of burial varied. Among some tribes a period of months or years would intervene between the death of the person and the final disposition of the remains, and seldom were all the ceremonies attending death and burial recorded by a single writer, therefore it is necessary, when attempting to re- count the entire procedure, to quote from several narratives. And in many instances the description of the last disposition of the dead will agree with the position of the remains now revealed in the ancient cemeteries, thus tending to identify the former occupants of the sites, and to verify the statements of early observers, many of which are presented on the following pages.
5
CONTENTS
Page
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7
ILLUSTRATIONS
PLATES
. Wampum éollar or stole. Frontispiece. . ad, Burial at North Hadley, Massachusetts. 6, Burial at Winthrop, Massa-
chusetts.
. a, “Temple” at Secotan, 1585. 6, Tomb inside the ‘‘ Temple.”
{. a, Chippewa grave at Fond du Lac, 1826. 6, American Fur Company’s post
at Fond du Lae, 1826.
5. a, Ojibway graves at Mille Lac, Minnesota, 1900. 0, Old form of Menomini grave covering. ec, Later form of same. 6. a, Stone-lined grave, Decatur County, Tennessee, open. 0, Same grave be- fore the cover was removed. 7. a, Stone-lined grave, Marshall County, Alabama, open. 06, Same grave be- fore removing cover. 8. d, Burial in Ohio County, Kentucky. 6, Large grave in mound in Warren County, Kentucky. 9. a, Small stone-lined grave, Jefferson County, Missouri. 6. Stone-lined grave, Jefferson County, Missouri. 10. a, Site of an ancient cemetery, Clinton County, Pennsylvania. 6, Partial excavation of ossuary, Gasport, New York. 11. a, “ The mode of carrying the sick or wounded.” 6, Cemetery at a Seneca village, 1731. 12. Choctaw burials, 1775. 13. a, Seminole grave. 6, Burial ceremony in Florida, 1564. 14. Site of mound opened by Jefferson. a, Looking northward. 06, The cliffs. c, The Rivanna passing the ‘low grounds.” 15. Grave Creek Mound. 16. A section of Ross County, Ohio. 17. “'Tremper Mound.” a, Original survey by Whittlesy. », Plan of base as revealed during recent examination. TEXT FIGURES Page RSV TCM OTT SAV CS ee sree eee ee eas Bee eee i ake a Se Te 35 Fes SENICOOl Joon, “shxopan) ICANN Ne ee eee 37 3. Stone-lined grave, Ste. Genevieve, Missouri_2:__________-. = 53 4. Small cemetery, Jefferson County, Missouri___-______________ Eee Wat 54 EVEREST ed Mp1 OTe VTL EATS a1, Wel ete ees ee AT ge et We ng 57 Gu Graven @ reeks MO UT Gees eat ie ds mer ee Pape zs CORN Ny NPA Be sc Mies 59 feuinclosuresine mound Ltockinon@ounty., ©Olios.= mess seo eae ee eee 60 8. Mound in Jo Daviess County, Illinois, section .__-_______---_2____ 64 9} Mounduntjo- Daviess County. Mlinois bases.) 22 1s eee 64. LOM Mound eing Crawhord County... WiSconsinals ian See eee 65 MERIC STOmMe OMmvy ATM UME CONTE Tercera Es aN ial eae es Lea MS et 81 i2eburials;imamoundscate Chote tsi et ewcee re Lue eg 92 is. hen Natchez Deminle, vatican Dt sera ez Ne Se Eee 105 if Carrying the dead among the Seminoles.) ean ae 115 15 weno the moundsopeneds by, Jetlerson-. ss, = 255s ee ae 127 16. Plan of a habitation, with near-by graves, Ross County, Ohio_-______ 1389 IT. SEROMA GiE Tens OC Careiaae Mwy) ae ee ee eee ee ay
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NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI
By Davi I. Busunett, Jr.
ALGONQUIAN GROUPS
When that part of America which extends westward from the Atlantic to the Mississippi was discovered by Europeans it was occu- pied by numerous tribes, speaking distinct languages, with many dialects. And as the habitations and other structures erected by the widely scattered tribes differed in form, size, and the material of which they were constructed, and presented many interesting charac- teristics (Bushnell, (1)), so did the cemeteries and forms of burial vary in distant parts of the country. In New England and the lower Hudson Valley were tribes belonging to the Algonquian family, many of which were often mentioned in the early records of the colo- nies. Their small villages, a cluster of mat or bark covered wig- wams, frequently grouped within an encircling palisade, lay scattered along the coast, and inland up the valleys of many streams. They cultivated fields of corn and raised other vegetal products, and dur- ing certain seasons of the year collected vast quantities of oysters and clams to serve as food, as attested by the great accumulations of shells now encountered along the coast. Others of this linguistic group dominated the coast as far south as the central portion of the present State of North Carolina, thus including the people discovered by the English expeditions sent out by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1584 and sub- sequent years, and the group of tribes which formed the Powhatan confederacy, so famed in the early history of Virginia. Like all tribes then living near the sea, they visited the coast for the purpose of gathering oysters and other mollusks, and to take fish in their weirs. During other seasons they would leave their villages and enter the virgin forests to hunt, thus securing both food and peltry, the latter to be used in making garments and various necessary articles.
Westward, beyond the mountains and the Ohio, were many Algon- quian tribes, the best known being the Miami, the Sauk and Fox, the several tribes which constituted the loosely formed Illinois con- federacy, the Menominee and scattered Ojibway of the north, and southward in the valley of the Ohio and elsewhere the widely dis- persed Shawnee. While the Algonquian tribes of the East were sed-
11
1a BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY {BuLL. 71
entary, and continued to occupy their ancient sites for many years after first becoming known to Europeans, the majority of the western members of this great linguistic family were ever moving from place to place. This movement, however, may have begun only after cer- tain of their enemies had secured firearms from the Dutch and French traders in the early years of the seventeenth century. The habita- tions and other structures reared by all the Algonquian tribes were quite similar in form and size.
NEW ENGLAND
Three centuries and more have elapsed since the Jesuit, Pére Pierre Biard, of Grenoble, prepared an account of the manners and customs of several native tribes of New France, which then included within its bounds the eastern portions of the present State of Maine, and the adjoining provinces. He wrote more particularly of the “three tribes which are on good terms of friendship with us—the Monta- guets, the Souriquois, and the Eteminquois.” By these names the early French knew the three tribes now better known as the Monta- gnais, Micmac, and Malecite, all belonging to the great Algonquian family, and who occupied the region just mentioned. Although not always at peace with one another they undoubtedly had many cus- toms in common, and these may have differed little from those of the neighboring tribes, all of which belonged to the same stock. And when recounting the ceremonies attending the death and burial of a member of one of these tribes he wrote: “The sick man having been appointed by the Autmoin to die... all the relations and neigh- bors assemble and, with the greatest possible solemnity, he delivers his funeral oration: he recites his heroic deeds, gives some directions to his family, recommends his friends: finally, says adieu. This is all there is of their wills. As to gifts, they make none at all; but, quite different from us, the survivors give some to the dying man.” A feast is prepared, all gather, evidently in the presence of the dying man, and partake of the food, and “ having banqueted they begin to express their sympathy and sorrowful Farewells, their hearts weep and bleed because their good friend is going to leave them and go away ... they go on in this way until the dying man expires and then they utter horrible cries.” These continue day and night and do not cease until the supply of food has been exhausted, the food having previously been provided by the dying man, and if there are no supplies “they only bury the dead man, and postpone the obsequies and ceremonies until another time and place, at the good pleasure of their stomachs. Meanwhile all the relatives and friends daub their faces with black, and very often paint themselves with other colors... To them black is a sign of grief and mourning. They bury
BUSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 13
their dead in this manner: First they swathe the body and tie it up in skins; not lengthwise, but with the knees against the stomach and the head on the knees, as we are in our mother’s womb. Afterwards they put it in the grave, which has been made very deep, not upon the back or lying down as we do, but sitting. A posture which they like very much, and which among them signifies reverence. For the children and the youths seat themselves thus in the presence of their fathers and of the old, whom they respect ... When the body is placed, as it does not come up even with the ground on account of the depth of the grave, they arch the grave over with sticks, so that the earth will not. fall back into it, and thus they cover up the tomb... If it is some illustrious personage they build a Pyramid or monument of interlacing poles; as eager in that for glory as we are in our marble and porphyry. If it is a man, they place there as a sign and emblem, his bow, arrows, and shield; if a woman, spoons, matachias, or jewels, ornaments, etc. I have nearly forgotten the most beautiful part of all; it is that they bury with the dead man all that he owns, such as his bag, his arrows, his skins and all his other articles and baggage, even his dogs if they have not been eaten. Moreover, the survivors add to these a num- ber of other such offerings, as tokens of friendship . .. These obse- quies finished, they flee from the place, and, from that time on, they hate all memory of the dead. If it happens that they are obliged to speak of him sometimes, it is under another and a new name.” (Biard, (1), pp. 127-181.)
Dogs were among the gifts presented to the dying man by his - friends, and “they kill these dogs in order to send them on before him into the other world,” and they were eaten at the feast prepared at the time of the death, “ for they find them palatable.”
This general description would probably have applied to the burial customs of the tribes occupying the greater part of the country east of the Hudson, the present New England States, and the closely flexed burials are easily explained and clearly described. The asso- ciation of many objects with the remains is verified by the discoveries made by the Pilgrims when they landed on Cape Cod, early in No- vember, 1620, and interesting indeed is their old narrative. They went ashore on the unknown coast to explore the woods and learn what they might contain. They advanced a short distance and en- countered small mounds of earth which were found to cover pits or caches filled with corn. And then they found another: “It also was covered with boords, so as we mused what it should be, and resolved to digge it up, where we found, first a Matt, and under that a fayre Bow, and there another Matt, and under that boord about three quarters long, finely carved and paynted, with three tynes, or broches on the top, like a Crowne; also betweene the Matts we found Boules,
14 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL 71
Trayes, Dishes, and such like Trinkets: at length we came to a faire new Matt, and under that two Bundles, the one bigger, the other less, we opened the greater and found in it a great quantitie of fine and perfect red Powder, and in it the bones and skull of a man. The skull had fine yellow haire still on it, and some of the flesh uncon- sumed, there was bound up with it a knife, a pack-needle, and two or three old iron things. It was bound up in a Saylers canvas Cassack, and a payre of cloth breeches. . . . We opened the less bundle like- wise, and found of the same Powder in it, and the bones and head of a little childe, about the leggs, and other parts of it was bound strings, and bracelets of fine white Beads; there was also by it a little Bow, about three quarters long, and some other odd knacks; we brought sundry of the pretiest things away with us, and covered the Corps up agai.” *(Mourt, (1); p: 11.)
This was probably just north of Pamet River, in Truro village, where at the present day rising ground, slightly more elevated than the surrounding country, continues to be known as Corn Hill. Near the western edge of this area it becomes more level and falls away abruptiv on the shore of Cape Cod Bay, rising some 20 feet above high tide and exposing bare sand with little vegetation. During the summer of 1903 a dark line was visible on the face of the bank at an average depth of about 2 feet below the present surface and it could be traced for several hundred yards along the shore. This dark stratum, several inches in thickness, proved to be an old sod line, and at three points where it was somewhat thicker than elsewhere fire beds were discovered and slight excavations revealed fragments of pottery, bits of charred bones, and ashes. This may have been the surface upon which stood the village of three centuries ago, and if so, the land upon which the Pilgrims trod has been covered by a mass of drifting sand, swept by the winds across the narrow cape.
Sailing from their safe anchorage near the end of the cape, the Pilgrims, on December 6, 1620, arrived in the vicinity of Wellfleet Bay, named by them Grampus Bay, by reason of discovering “ eight or ten Saluages about a dead Grampus,” and near by “we found a great burying place, one part whereof was incompassed with a large Palazado, like a Church-yard, with yong spires foure or five yards long, set as close one by another as they could two or three foot in the ground, within it was full of graves, some bigger and some lesse, some were also paled about, & others had like an /ndian house made over them, but not matted: those Graves were more sumptuous than those at Corne-hill, yet we digged none of them up... without the Palazado were graves also, but not so costly.” (Op. cit., p. 17.) Not far away were several frames of wigwams, but the mat covers had been removed and the site had been temporarily abandoned.
BUSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 15
The two burials encountered by the Pilgrims at Corn Hill were those of Indians and had evidently been made within a year. The “yellow haire” had been caused by the process of decay and would soon have disappeared. The objects of iron had been obtained from some Europeans who had touched upon the coast or whose vessel had been wrecked. Now, three centuries later, were these ancient burial places to be discovered it is doubtful whether any traces would remain in addition to the mass of “perfect red Powder,” insoluble red oxide of iron (Fe,O,). All human remains, mats, bows, and other objects of a perishable nature would have turned to dust and disappeared. But any ornaments or implements of stone which might have been deposited in the pit grave would remain. Within recent years many similar pits, with masses of the red oxide mingled with various objects of stone, have been encountered not far from the coast in Lincoln and Hancock Counties, Maine. But not a particle of bone, or evén a tooth, has been discovered within the ancient pits to indicate the presence of human remains. Neverthe- less they were probably once like the burials found by the Pilgrims at Corn Hill, but now all substance of a perishable nature has van- ished. They were probably made by a kindred Algonquian tribe and may not be older than those occurring on Cape Cod. One of the most interesting groups of such pit graves was exposed at Bucks- . port, 18 miles below Bangor, on the left bank of the Penobscot; an- other was discovered on the west shore of Lake Alamoosook, both in Hancock County, Maine. (Willoughby, (1).)
Similar deposits of the insoluble red oxide were associated with burials in an ancient cemetery discovered in 1913 in Warren, Bristol County, Rhode Island. This appears to have been a burying ground of the Wampanoag, within whose lands it was. When the site was destroyed some of the skeletons were exposed, together with a large number of objects of English, Dutch, and French origin, dating from the years between the first contact with the Europeans until the latter part of the seventeenth century. In some burials copper ket- tles were placed over the heads of the bodies. In such cases the cop- per salts acted as a preservative. One grave was of the greatest interest. It was that of a man well advanced in years, and asso- ciated with the remains were two ancient English swords, one or more gunlocks, a roll of military braid, and the traces of a feather headdress in a case. The suggestion has been made that these were ‘ the remains of the great Wampanoag chief, Massasoit, who met the Pilgrims at Plymouth in 1621, ever remained a friend of the colo- nists, and who died in 1662. One of his. sons, Metacomet, became known as King Philip, famous in colonial history and leader in the war against the English settlements which terminated in the disas-
16 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 71
trous defeat of the Indians and the death of their leader, August 12, 1676.
Thus having three distinct references to the use of red oxide— one on the coast of Maine in what should probably be accepted as graves, another in Rhode Island, and the third on Cape Cod—would make it appear that placing quantities of finely powdered red oxide of iron in graves with the human remains was a well-established custom of the Algonquian tribes found occupying the coast of New England when that rugged shore was settled by the English colo- nists. Similar burials will probably be discovered at some later day which will tend to substantiate this belief.
Closely flexed burials, examples of which are shown in plate 2, are characterstic of precolonial New England, but later, after coming under the influence and teachings of missionaries and others, the same tribes no longer used this form of burial, but placed the re- mains of the dead in an extended position, either wrapped in bark or deposited in roughly made wooden coffins. The latter form was encountered during the partial exploration of the ancient Niantic cemetery, known as Fort Neck Burying Ground, in Charlestown, Washington County, Rhode Island, during the month of September, 1912. Another site, now designated “Indian Burying Hill,” lke- wise in Charlestown, and now a State reservation, is known as the place of burial of the Niantic chiefs, among them Ninigret, by whom the Narraganset, who escaped destruction during King Philip’s war, were later received.
According to Prof. H. H. Wilder, by whom the “ Fort Neck Burying Ground” was examined, “the bodies had evidently been buried in winding-sheets only, as nothing was found indicating clothing.” This would be consistent with the old custom of these Indians, as Roger Williams told of one “ who winds up and buries the dead,” and describing the burial customs said: “ Mockkuttauce, One of the chiefest esteeme, who winds up and buries the dead; com- monly some wise, grave, and well descended man hath that office. When they come to the Grave, they lay the dead by the Grave’s - mouth, and then all sit downe and lament; that I have seeri teares run down the cheeks of stoutest Captaines, as well as little children in abundance; and after the dead is laid in Grave, and sometimes (in some parts) some goods cast in with them, they have then a second lamentation, and upon the Grave is spread the Mat that the party died on, the Dish he eat in, and sometimes a faire Coat of skin hung upon the next tree to the Grave, which none will touch, but suffer it there to rot with the Dead: Yea I saw with mine owne eyes that at my late comming forth of the Countrey, the chiefe and most aged peaceable Father of the Countrey, Caunounicus, having buried his Sonne, he burned his own Palace, and all his goods in it
BUSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL ity
(amongst them to a great value) in a solemne remembrance of his sonne and in a kind of humble, Expiation to the Gods, who, (as they believe) had taken his sonne from him.” (Williams, (1), pp. 161-162.)
For this great Narraganset chief, Canonicus, to have destroyed his dwelling, with all its contents, at the time of the death and burial of his scn was contrary to the usual customs of the Algonquian tribes, although such was the habit of several tribes of the South.
There is reason to suppose the burial customs of the many tribes who occupied New England did not differ to any great degree, and all may have had similar periods of mourning and enacted the same ceremonies to express their grief. Among the Housatonic or River Indians, later to be known as the Stockbridge Indians, the period of mourning was about one year. Thus it was described in the year 1736:
“The Aeutikaw is a Dance which finishes the Mourning for the Dead, and is celebrated about twelve Months after the Decease, when the Guests invited make Presents to the Relations of the Deceas’d, to make up their Loss and to end their Mourning. The Manner of doing it is this: The Presents prepar’d are deliver’d to a Speaker appointed for the Purpose; who, laying them upon the Shoulders of some elderly Person, makes a Speech shewing the Design of their present Meeting, and the Presents prepar’d. Then he takes them and distributes them to the J/ourners, adding some Words of Consolation, and desiring them to forget their Sorrow, and accept of those Pres- ents to make up their loss. After this they eat together and make Merry.” (Hopkins, (1), p. 38.)
This paragraph was taken from Sergeant’s journal and bore the date January, 1736. It evidently recorded the customs of the Housa- tonic Indians at the time of the arrival of the missionary, and may have been the ancient custom of the Algonquian tribes of the region. Human remains have been discovered at various points in the valley of the Housatonic within the bounds of the lands once occupied by the tribe whose name the river perpetuates, and tradition locates one or more cemeteries west of the stream near the foot of the mountains, but no large group of burials is known to have ever been encountered.
Cairns, heaps of stones usually on some high and prominent point, are found throughout the southern mountains, but seldom have they been mentioned in the older settled parts of the north One, however, stood in the country of the Housatonic Indians. As early as 1720 some English traders saw a large heap of stones on the “ east side of Westenhook or Housatonic River, so called, on the southerly end of the mountain called Monument Mountain, between Stockbridge and Great Barrington.” This circumstance gave rise to the name which
130548°—20 2
18 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL, 71
has ever since been applied to the mountain, a prominent landmark in the valley. This ancient pile of stones may have marked the grave of some great man who lived and died before the coming of the colonists.
Many ancient graves have been discovered at different times and in widely separated parts of New England. Probably the most famed of the many burials thus encountered was the so-called “ Skeleton in Armor,” a closely flexed skeleton discovered in a sand bank at Fall River, Massachusetts, in 1831. Traces of several thicknesses of bark cloth were found about the remains and on the outside was a casing of cedar bark. Associated with the body were objects of brass, one being a plate of that material about 14 inches in length, and encircling the skeleton were traces of a belt to which had been attached many brass tubes each about 44 inches in length and one-quarter inch in diameter. The belt, made of metal obviously of European origin, was thought to be a piece of armor, which resulted in the name applied to the skeleton. The occurrence of brass with this burial is of inter- est as it is conclusive proof that flexed burials were prepared after the coming cf the colonists. This example may date from about the middle of the seventeenth century.
Flexed skeletons are usually found in single graves, although two closely bound burials were discovered in one grave, on the left bank of the Connecticut River, at North Hadley, Massachusetts. This was on the site of an Indian village where, about the year 1675, the chief was named Quanquant, The Crow.
Cemeteries which may date from the earliest times are to be seen in the vicinity of Plymouth, and one of the largest in all New Eng- land is located in the town of Chilmark, on the island of Marthas Vineyard. Here 97 graves are marked by flat stones gathered from the surrounding surface and there are undoubtedly others which are not distinguishable. Several other burying places are known on the island, one being at Christiantown, the old /anitwatootan, or “God’s Town,” of 1668. It is well known that Marthas Vineyard was formerly the home of a large native population, by whom it was called Capawock.
MANHATTAN ISLAND AND SOUTHWARD
An early description of the burial customs of the native inhabitants of New Netherlands, probably based on some ceremonies witnessed on or near Manhatten Island, explains the manner and Poe in which the remains were deposited in the grave.
“Whenever an Indian departs this life, all the residents of the place assemble at the funeral. To a distant stranger, who has not a friend or relative in the place, they pay the like respect. They are
BUSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 19
equally careful to commit the body to the earth, without neglecting any of the usual ceremonies, according to the standing of the de- ceased. In deadly diseases, they are faithful to sustain and take care of each other. Whenever a soul has departed, the nearest relatives extend the limbs and close the eyes of the dead; after the bedy has been watched and wept over several days and nights, they bring it to the grave, wherein they do not lay it down, but place it in a sitting posture upon a stone or a block of wood, as if the body were sitting upon a stool; then they place a pot, kettle, platter, spoon, with some provisions and money, near the body in the grave; this they say is necessary for the journey to the other world. Then they place as much wood around the body as will keep the earth from it. Above the grave they place a large pile of wood, stone or earth, and around and above the same they place palisades resembling a small dwelling.” (Van der Donck, (1), pp. 201-202.)
This account may be equally applicable to the Algonquian tribes of the valley of the Hudson and the neighboring Iroquoian people who lived a short distance west of that stream. Evidently there is one slight error in the description, as the body was not placed in a hori- zontal position but arranged in a “sitting posture.” It would have been useless to have extended the limbs as mentioned. Probably soon after death the body was flexed and wrapped, preparatory to being placed in the grave, and as will be shown later, this was like- wise the custom among other tribes. It is interesting to recall how often the covering over the grave was likened to a small dwelling, and this tends to remind one of the customs of the ancient people of Egypt who, during the. X, XI, and XII Dynasties (3600 to 3300 B. C.), placed pottery models of the dwellings of the living on the graves of the dead, “soul-houses” of various types and sizes, representing many forms of habitations and other structures. These were pre- pared as places for the soul to remain, to appease it and prevent it returning to the village. Could the dwelling-like covering over the graves of American aborigines have resulted from similar beliefs and desires ? ;
A number of burials have been encountered at different times in the vicinity of Manhattan Island, on Staten Island, and near Pelham and other near-by places on the shore of the sound. A few years ago a Munsee cemetery was uncovered near Montague, New Jersey, where both flexed and extended burials were unearthed. This burial place evidently belonged to the transition period, the earlier graves being of the primitive form, the later containing various objects of Euro- pean make. The Munsee, just mentioned, formed one of the three principal divisions of the Delaware, and it is within reason to sup- pose that when some of the burials discovered in the cemetery at
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Montague had been made ceremonies had been enacted similar to that described by Heckewelder. He wrote:
DELAWARE CEREMONY, 1762
“T was present in the year 1762, at the funeral of a woman of the highest rank and respectability, the wife of the valiant Delaware chief Shingask; . . . all the honours were paid to her at her interment that are usual on such occasions. . . . At the moment that she died, her death was announced through the village by women especially appointed for that purpose, who went through the streets crying, ‘She is no more! She is no more!’ The place on - a sudden exhibited a scene of universal mourning; cries and lamen- tations were heard from all quarters.” The following day the body was placed in a coffin which had been made by a carpenter em- ployed by the Indian trader. The remains had been “ dressed and painted in the most superb Indian style. Her garments, all new, were set off with rows of silver broaches, one row joining the other. Over the sleeves of her new ruffled shirt were broad silver arm spangles from her shoulder down to her wrist, on which were bands, forming a kind of mittens, worked together of wampum, in the same manner as the belts which they use when they deliver speeches. Her long plaited hair was confined by broad bands of silver, one band joining the other, yet not of the same size, but tapering from the head downwards and running at the lower end to a point. On the neck were hanging five broad belts of wampum tied together at the ends, each of a size smaller than the other, the largest of which reached below her breast, the next largest reaching to a few inches of it, and so on, the uppermost one being the smallest. Her scarlet leggings were decorated with different coloured ribands sewed on, the outer edges being finished off with small beads also of various colours. Her mocksens were ornamented with the most striking fig- ures, wrought on the leather with coloured porcupine quills, on the borders of which, round the ancles, were fastened a number of small round silver bells, of about the size of a musket ball. All these things together with the vermilion paint, judiciously laid on, so as to set her off in the highest style, decorated her person in such a manner, that perhaps nothing of the kind could exceed it.” Later, “the spectators having retired, a number of articles were brought out of the house and placed in the coffin.” These included articles of clothing, a dressed deerskin for the making of moccasins, needles, a pewter basin, “ with a number of trinkets and other small articles which she was fond of while living.” The coffin was then closed, the lid being held in place by three straps. Across it were then placed three poles, 5 or 6 feet in length, “also fastened with straps cut up
BUSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 21
from a tanned elk hide; and a small bag of vermilion paint, with some flannel to lay it on, was then thrust into the coffin through the hole cut out at the head of it. This hole, the Indians say, is for the spirit of the deceased to go in and out at pleasure, until it has found the place of its future residence.” Six persons then grasped the ends of the three poles and carried the coffin to the grave. The six consisted of four men, at the front and back, and two women between. “Several women from a house about thirty yards off, now started off, carrying large kettles, dishes, spoons, and dried elk meat in baskets, and for the burial place, and the signal being given for us to move with the body, the women who acted as chief mourners made the air resound with their shrill cries. The order of the procession was as follows: first a leader or guide, from the spot where we were to the place of interment. Next followed the corpse, and close to it Shingask, the husband of the deceased. He was fol- lowed by the principal war chiefs and counsellors of the nation, after whom came men of all ranks and descriptions. Then followed the women and children, and lastly two stout men carrying loads of Kuropean manufactured goods upon their backs. The chief mourners on the women’s side, not having joined in the ranks, took their own course to the right, at the distance of about fifteen or twenty yards from us, but always opposite to the corpse.” Thus they moved along for a distance of about 200 yards to the open grave, and when it was reached the lid was removed from the coffin, and “the whole train formed themselves into a kind of semilunar circle on the south side of the grave, and seated themselves on the ground, while the disconsolate Shingask retired by himself to a spot at some distance, where he was seen weeping, with his head bowed tothe ground. The female mourners seated themselves promiscuously near to each other, among some low bushes that were at the distance of from twelve to fifteen yards east of the grave. In this situation we remained for the space of more than two hours; not a sound was heard from any quarter, though the numbers that attended were very great; nor did any person move from his seat to view the body, which had been lightly covered over with a clean white sheet. All appeared to be in profound reflection and solemn mourning. . . . At length, at about one o’clock in the afternoon, six men stepped for- ward to put the lid upon the coffin, and let down the body into the grave, when suddenly three of the women mourners rushed from their seats, and forcing themselves between these men and the corpse, loudly called to the deceased to ‘ arise and go with them and not for- sake them.’ They even took hold of her arms and legs; at first it seemed as if they were caressing her, afterwards they appeared to pull with more violence, as if they intended to run away with the
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body, crying out all the while, ‘ Arise, arise! Come with us!’ ... As soon as these women had gone through their part of the ceremony, which took up about fifteen minutes, the six men whom they had interrupted and who had remained at the distance of about five feet from the corpse, again stepped forward and did their duty. They let down the coffin into the earth, and laid two thin poles of about four inches diameter, from which the bark had been taken off, length- ways, and close together over the grave, after which they retired.” The husband, Shingask, then came slowly forward and walked over the poles, and continued on to the prairie. Then a “ painted post, on which were drawn various figures, emblematic of the deceased’s situation in life and of her having been the wife of a valiant warrior, was brought by two men and delivered to a third, a man of note, who placed it in such a manner that it rested on the coffin at the head of the grave, and took great care that a certain part of the drawings should be exposed to the east, or rising of the sun; then while he held the post erect and properly situated, some women filled up the ‘ grave with hoes, and having placed dry leaves and pieces of bark over it, so that none of the fresh ground was visible, they retired, and some men, with timbers fitted before hand for the purpose, enclosed the grave about Preset niZn) so as to secure it from the approach of the wild beasts.”
After this food was prepared and passed about, then the presents were distributed, the many things which had been carried by the.two men in the rear of the procession. Those who had rendered as- sistance were given the most valuable and highly prized pieces, but no one was omitted. Articles to the value of about $200 were thus given away. Men, women, and children alike were remembered. (Heckewelder, (1), pp. 264-270.) At dusk after the burial, a kettle of food was placed upon the grave, and this was renew 6 every evening for three weeks, after Sich time, so they thought, food was no longer required by the spirit.
When an Indian died away from his village, so Heckewelder wrote (op. cit., p. 270), “great care is taken that the grave be well for- tified with posts and logs laid upon it, that the wolves may be pre- vented from getting at the corpse; when time and circumstances do not permit this, as, for instance, when the Indians are traveling, the body is inclosed in the bark of trees and thus laid in the grave. When a death takes place at their hunting camps, they make a kind of coffin as well as they can, or put a cover over the body, so that the earth BEY not sink on it, and then inclose the grave with a fence of poles.” These scattered burials, made away Scie settlements, readily explain the occurrence of the isolated graves often found at the present time, and few if any objects of a lasting nature were deposited with the bodies.
BUSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 23
Heckewelder did not give the exact location of the burial of the wife of the Delaware chief Shingash, although he gave the date, 1762, and elsewhere in his narrative mentioned living at that time “at Tuscarawas on the Muskingum.” To have reached Tuscarawas he would have traversed the great trail leading westward from western Pennsylvania, passing the mouth of Beaver River, a stream which flows from the north and enters the right bank of the Ohio 284 miles below Pittsburgh. On the map which accompanied Wash- ington’s Journal, printed in London in 1754, a Delaware village is indicated on the right bank of the Ohio just below the mouth of the Beaver. Two years later, on a small map in the London Maga- zine for December, 1756, this Delaware village bore the name Shin- goes town, and so it continued on various maps until long after the Revolution, although the name was spelled in many ways. Un- doubtedly Shingask of Heckewelder was the Shingoe whose town stood at the mouth of the Beaver, and here occurred the burial of the wife of the Delaware chief, probably when Heckewelder was on his way to Tuscarawas, some miles westward.
When Col. Bouquet traversed the same trail on his expedition against the native villages beyond the Ohio he crossed Beaver Creek. This was on Saturday, October 6, 1764, and there were then standing near the ford “ about seven houses, which were deserted and destroyed by the Indians, after their defeat at Bushy Run, when they forsook all their remaining settlements in this part of the country.” The battle of Bushy Run took place during the two days, August 5 and 6, 1763, and consequently the village at the mouth of the Beaver, evi- dently Shingoes town, was abandoned the year after it was visited by Heckewelder, but the name continued on certain maps long after that time. :
Some very interesting references to the burial customs of the people of the same region, more particularly the Delaware, are con- tained in a work by another missionary. It was said that the place of burial was some distance from the dwellings, and that the graves were usually prepared by old women, as the younger members of the tribes disliked such work. “ Before they had hatchets and other tools, they used to line the inside of the grave with the bark of trees, and when the corpse was let down, they placed some pieces of wood across, which were again covered with bark, and then the earth thrown in, to fill up the grave. But now they usually place three boards, not nailed together, into the grave, in such a manner that the corpse may lie between them. A fourth board being laid over it asa cover, the grave is filled up with earth. Now and then they procure a proper coffin. . . . If they have a coffin, it is placed in the grave empty. Then the corpse is carried out, lying upon a linen cloth, full in view, that the finery and ornaments, with all the effects
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left by the deceased, may appear to advantage, and accompanied by as great a number of friends as can be collected. It is then let down into the coffin, covered with the cloth, and the lid being nailed down, the grave is filled up with earth. During the letting down of the corpse the women set up a dreadful howl, but it is deemed a shame in a man to weep. Yet in silence and unobserved, they cannot refrain from tears. At the head of the corpse, which always lies towards the east, a tall post is erected, pointing out who is buried there. If the deceased was the Chief of a tribe or nation, this post is only neatly carved, but not painted. But if he was a captain, it is painted red, and his head and glorious deeds are pourtrayed upon it. This is also done in honor of a great warrior, his warlike deeds being exhibited in red colors. The burial-post of a physician is hung with small tortois- shells or a calabash, which he used in his practice. After the burial the greater part of the goods left by the deceased are distributed among those who assisted in burying him, and are not related to him. . . . After the ceremony is over, the mother, grandmother, and other near relations retire after sunset, and in the morning early, to weep over the grave. This they repeat daily for some time, but gradually less and less, till the mourning is over. Sometimes they place victuals upon the grave, that the deceased may not suffer hunger.” And following this is an account of the mourning for the dead. (Loskiel, (1), pt. 1, pp. 119-121.)
In the preceding description of the manner in which graves were prepared by the Delaware about the last years of the eighteenth cen- tury there is something quite suggestive of the stone-lined graves. In both instances pits were dug, to be lined in earlier days with thin, natural slabs of stone, and later, when boards were obtainable, they were used in the place of stones. Then when coffins were to be had they were looked upon as a ready-prepared grave lining, one which did not require any fitting together when placed inside the grave. And so the grave would be dug of a size to accommodate the wooden lining—the coffin—which had already been fastened together, and when the grave was thus lined the body would be placed within it. Such was the custom and such was the characteristic reasoning of the Indian.
THE NANTICOKE
The Nanticoke, who lived on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, were connected, linguistically, with the Delaware, and before the latter removed westward beyond the Alleghenies they were neigh- boring tribes. The Nanticoke were encountered by Capt. John Smith and his party of colonists from Jamestown in 1608, living on or near the river which continues to bear their tribal name. For many years they were enemies of the colonists, but remained in the region
BUSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 25
until about 1730, when the majority of the tribe began moving north- ward, stopping at the mouth of the Juniata, and elsewhere in the valley of the Susquehanna, at last arriving in southern New York on the eastern branch of the latter stream, where they rested under protection of the Iroquois, who then dominated that section. Tribal movements were often slow and deliberate, with stops of years on the way, and a generation elapsed between the starting of the Nanti- coke from the Eastern Shore and their arrival among the Iroquois. Like many tribes, they removed the remains of the dead from their old home to their new settlements. This was witnessed by Hecke- welder, who wrote (op. cit., pp. 75-76): “These Nanticokes had the singular custom of removing the bones of their deceased friends from the burial place to a place of deposit in the country they dwell in. In earlier times they were known to go from Wyoming and Chemenk, to fetch the bones of their dead from the Eastern Shore of Maryland, even when the bodies were in a putrid state, so that they had to take off the flesh and scrape the bones clean, beforé they could carry them along. J well remember having seem them between the years 1750 and 1760, loaded with such bones, which, being fresh, caused a disagreeable stench, as they passed through the town of Bethlehem.”
One of the ancient Nanticoke sites, one probably occupied at the time of the discovery of the people by the Virginia colonists, stood on the left bank of Choptank River, some 2 miles below Cambridge, Dor- chester County, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. This village was eccupied until the year 1722, or until the tribe began their move- ment northward. Since this site was abandoned, sand, blown and drifted by the winds, has covered the original surface to a depth of many feet. And during the same interval the exposed face of the cliff has receded, caused by the encroachment of the waters of the Choptank. Now, as the result of these two natural phenomena, the surface once occupied by the village of the Nanti- coke appears on the face of the cliff as a dark line or stratum, from one-half to 1 foot in thickness, and extending for about one-third of a mile along the shore, thus proving the extent of the ancient settlement. At one point on the exposed face of the cliff a quantity of human bones were visible, and when examined this proved to be ‘““a hard-set horizontal bed of human bones and skulls, many of them well preserved, about 14 to 2 feet thick, 10 feet long, 3 feet under the village site stratum,” and further excavation showed this mass of bones to be “of irregular, circular shape, 25 feet in longest by 20 feet in shortest diameter and 14 to 2 feet thick (thickest in the middle, and tapering at the sides).” A short distance inward and directly above the larger deposit was another mass of bones, this
being about 7 feet long, 7 inches thick, and 2 feet wide. The
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two deposits were separated by about 1} feet of sand. “In the main or lower deposit some of the bones had, others had not, been subjected to fire. The bone layer might have been subdivided thus: First, the bottom (6 inches), where the bones were in small frag- ments, blackened and bedded in masses of charcoal and ashes; sec- ond, the middle, next above (5 to 10 inches), where the skulls and bones, though somewhat charred, were intact; and third, the top (6 to 8 inches), where the bones, though mixed with bits of char- coal, showed no direct trace of fire. The conditions proved that many skeletons had been burned in the lower part of the main bed.” The bones in the smaller deposit “ were generally intact in tolerable preservation, and in spite of the bits of scattered charcoal found with them, showed no direct signs of charring.” (Mercer, (1), pp. 93-94.)
Ossuaries of this form are not characteristic of any Algonquian tribe, but at once suggest the customs of the Huron and other north- ern Iroquoian people. This large deposit of human remains may have resulted through some great emergency, at some time when it became necessary to dispose of many bodies which were placed in one common grave, rather than preparing a separate one for each. Single graves have been exposed on the face of the cliff, evidently near the ossuaries, which tends to prove this particular spot to have been the cemetery adjoining the ancient village.
The county of Dorchester is bounded on the southeast by the Nanticoke River, and human remains have been discovered on the right bank of the stream just above the village of Vienna, and un- doubtedly many other burial places have been encountered within this region, once comparatively thickly peopled, no records of which are preserved.
THE POWHATAN CONFEDERACY
It is to be regretted that more is not known concerning the burial customs of the Algonquian tribes of Virginia, those who constituted the Powhatan confederacy, people with whom the Jamestown colo- nists came in contact during the spring of 1607. Several accounts are preserved, but unfortunately all are lacking in detail. Capt. Smith included burial customs under the general caption Of their Religion, and in 1612 wrote:
“ But their chiefe God they worship is the Divell. Him they call Oke and serve him more of feare than love. They say they have conference with him, and fashion themselves as neare to his shape as they can imagine. In their Temples, they have his image evill favouredly carved, and then painted and adorned with chaines, cop- per, and beads; and covered with a skin, in such manner as the de- formity may well suit with such a God.. By him is commonly the
BUSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL P|
sepulcher of their kings. Their bodies are first bowelled, then dryed upon hurdles till they bee verie dry, and so about the most of their jointes and necke they hang bracelets or chaines of copper, pearle, and such like, as they use to weare: their inwards they stuffe with copper beads and cover with a skin, hatchets, and such trash. Then lappe they them very carefully in white skins, and so rowle them in mats for their winding sheetes. And in the Tombe, which is an arch made of mats, they lay them orderly. What remaineth of this kinde of wealth their kings have, they set at their feet in baskets. These Temples and bodies are kept by their Priests... . . In every Terri- tory of a werowance is a Temple and a Priest or 2 or 3 more. Their principall Temple or place of superstition is at Vttamussach at Pama- unke, neare unto which is a house Temple or place of Powhatans. Upon the top of certaine redde sandy hils in the woods, there are 3 great houses filled with images of their kings and Divels and Tombes of their Predecessors. Those houses are neare 60 foot in length, built arbor wise, after their building. This place they count so holy as that none but the Priestes and kings dare come into them: nor the Savages dare not go up the river in boats by it, but that they solemnly cast some peece of copper, white beads, or Pocones, into the river, for feare their Oke should be offended and revenged of them.” (Smith, (1), pp. 75-76.)
Strachey’s account of the burial customs does not differ greatly from the preceding; both writers referred to the same time and generation, and few of the natives then living had ever seen a white man until the coming of the Jamestown colonists in 1607.
A temple or tomb similar to those described by Smith was en- countered by the English on the coast of North Carolina during the summer of 1585, at Rvhieh time it was sketched by the artist John White, a member of the second expedition sent out by Sir Walter Raleigh. The original drawing, together with many others made at the same time, is preserved in the British Museum, London. <A pho-_ tograph of the original is now reproduced in plate 3, b. The legend on the sketch reads: “ The Tombe of their Cherounes or chiefe per- sonages their flesh clene taken of from the bones save the skynn and heare of theire heads, weh flesh is dried and enfolded in matts laide at theire feete, their bones also being made dry ar covered w” deare skynns not altering their forme or proportion. With theire Kywash, which is an Image of woode keeping the deade.”
This drawing was engraved and used by De Bry as plate 22 in Hariot’s Narrative, published in 1591. But in the engraving the tomb, as drawn by White, is represented as placed within an in- closure, evidently the “temple,” and this would conform with the legend near one of the buildings shown standing at the village of Secotan. In White’s view of this ancient town the structure in the
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lower left corner bears this description: ‘“ The howse wherin the Tombe of their werowans standeth.” This is copied in plate 38, a, being a detail from the large sketch of Secotan. It is evident from the early drawing that the so-called “tomb” was an elevated plat- form erected within a structure of ordinary form, and the whole must have resembled rather closely the “‘ temples” or “ bone-houses ” of certain Muskhogean tribes of the south, as will be shown later. But unfortunately nothing is told by the old writers of the final dis- position of the human remains which were first placed in the “ tem- ples,” as at Secotan. Later they may have been collected and de- posited in graves, or they may have become scattered and lost, but this is doubtful.
The temple tombs, as already described, appear to have stood near, or rather belonged to, the larger, more permanent settlements, and so became the resting places of the more important dead of the community. However, it is quite evident the remains of the chief men were not placed in ordinary graves, even though a “temple” was not available. This is of great interest and is revealed in a deposition made by one Francis Tomes, relating to the Wyanoak or Weanoc, in the year 1661, after they had removed southward from the banks of the James. The deposition reads in part: “ Then came in sight of the Wyanoak Indian Town which was on the South Side of Wyanoak River where they forded over to the town wherein stood an English built house, in which the King had been shott & an apple Orchard. From thence they went about two or three miles to the Westward where in an elbow of a swamp stood a Fort near which in the swamp the murdered King was laid on a scaffold & covered with Skins & matts which I saw.” (Virginia Magazine, (1), p. 3.)
But a simpler form of burial existed among the native inhabitants, of tidewater Virginia, and probably the great majority found their final resting places in graves prepared near the villages. Smith wrote (op. cit., p. 75) :“ For their ordinary burials, they digge a deep hole in the earth with sharpe stakes; and the corpses being lapped in skins and mats with their jewels, they lay them upon sticks in the ground, and so cover them with earth. The buriall ended, the women being painted all their faces with black cole and oile, doe sit 24 howers in the houses mourning and lamenting by turnes, with such yelling and howling as may express their great passions.”
Very few ancient burial places have been discovered within the region described by Smith, or probably it would be more correct to — say few records of such discoveries, if made, have been preserved, therefore it is gratifying to find a single reference which tends to verify Smith’s account of “their ordinary burials.” This refers to discoveries made about the year 1835 on the right bank of the Chicka- hominy, in Charles City County, Virginia, on the land of Col. J. S.
BUSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 29
Stubblefield. It mentioned a large shell heap which extended for some 150 yards along the bank of the stream and had a width of from 30 to 40 yards, and continued by saying: “In this deposite of shells are found a number of human bones of all sizes, from the smallest infant to the full grown man, interred in pits of various size, and circular form; and in each pit are found intermingled, human bones of every size. Standing in one place I counted fifty of these hollows, from each of which had been taken the remains of human beings who inhabited this country before the present race of whites.” (Christian, (1), p. 150.)
This site does not appear to have been known to Capt. Smith, as no town is shown by him as standing on the right bank of the river, in what would probably have been included in the present Charles City County. The burials discovered in 1835 may have been made before the days of the colony.
WEST OF THE ALLEGHENTIES
The burial customs of some western Algonquian tribes were, in many respects, quite similar to those of the New England Indians. It will be recalled that soon after the Mayflower touched at Cape Cod a party of the Pilgrims went ashore and during their explorations discovered several groups of graves, some of which “had like an Indian house made over them, but not matted.” They may when erected have been covered with mats. The similarity between this early reference and the description of certain Ojibway graves, two centuries and more later, is very interesting. Writing from “Ameri- can Fur Company’s trading establishment, Fond du Lae, July 30, 1826,” McKenney told of an Ojibway grave then Sonate at that post, near the extreme southwestern corner of Lake Superior. “ The, Indians’ graves are first covered over with bark. Over the grave the same shelter is made, and of the same materials, as enter into the form and structure of a lodge. Poles are stuck into the ground, and bent over, and fastened at the top; and these are covered with bark. Thus the grave is inclosed. An opening is left like that in the door of a lodge. Before this door (I am describing a grave that is here), a post is planted, and the dead having been a warrior, is painted red. Near this post, a pole is stuck in the ground, about ten feet long. From the top of this pole is suspended the ornaments of the de- ceased. From this, I see hanging a strand of beads, some strips of white fur, several trinkets, six bits of tobacco, that looked like quids, and a little frame of a circular form with net work, in the center of which (it being of thread) is fastened a scalp, about three inches in diameter, the hair of which is of a dark brown colour, and six inches long. In the top of the red post are three feathers.” (McKenney, (1), pp. 283-284.)
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Three days before, on July 27, McKenney entered in his journal: “We are yet about eighteen miles from the Fond du Lac. At this place, Burnt river is a place of divination, the seat of a jongleux’s incantations. It is a circle, made of eight poles, twelve feet high, and crossing at the top, which being covered in with mats, or bark, he enters, and foretells future events !”
The manner in which the bodies had been placed in the graves of the Fond du Lac cemetery was probably similar to that fol- lowed by other members of the tribe, as described by one well versed in the customs of the Ojibway: “ When an Ojibway dies, his body is placed in a grave, generally in a sitting posture, facing the west. With the body are buried all the articles needed in life for a jour- ney. If a man, his gun, blanket, kettle, fire steel, flint, and moc- casins; if a woman, her moccasins, axe, portage collar, blanket and kettle.” (Warren, (1), pp. 72-73.) And following this is an ac- count of the Ojibway belief of happenings after death; how “the sou! is supposed to stand immediately after the death of the body, on a deep beaten path, which leads westward.” He first comes to strawberries, which he gathers to eat on the way, and soon “ reaches a deep, rapid stream of water, over which lies the much dreaded Ko-go-gaup-o-gun or rolling and sinking bridge.” Thence, after traveling four days, and camping at night, “the soul arrives in the land of spirits,” where all is joy and happiness.
A form of scaffold burial was known to the same people, but never practiced to any great extent. Such a burial was seen by McKenney standing on an island in St. Louis River, opposite the American Fur Co.’s establishment, during the summer of 1826. He wrote at that time: “One mode of burying the dead, among the Chippeways, 1s, to place the coffin, or box, containing their remains, on two cross pieces, nailed, or tied with wattap to four poles. The poles are about ten feet high. They plant near these posts, the wild hop, or some other kind of running vine, which spreads over and covers the coffin. I saw one of these on the island, and as I have described it. It was the coffin of a child about four years old. .... I have a sketch of it. I asked the chief why his people disposed of their dead in that way? He answered, they did not like to put them out of their sight so soon by putting them under ground. Upon a platform they could see the box that contained their remains, and that was a comfort to them.” (Op. cit., pp. 305-306.)
The sketch mentioned was undoubtedly drawn by J. O. Lewis and was used as an illustration in McKenney’s narrative. This is now reproduced in plate 4, a, while in 6 of the same plate is shown a view of the buildings of the American Fur Co. as they then stood at Fond du Lac, derived from the same work and drawn by the same artist. Across the stream are the wigwams of the Indians, and
BUSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 31
near the lower right corner of the picture are two small inclosures, two small cemeteries, the smaller belonging to the Indians, the larger being reserved for the whites.
Three years before McKenney visited Fond du Lac the expedi- tion led by Maj. S. H. Long traversed the country of the Ojibway, and when describing the burial customs of the tribe it was said:
“The usual mode of disposing of their dead consists in interring them. It has been observed that the Chippewa graves are always dug very deep, at least 6. or 8 feet; whereas the Dacotas make but shallow graves. Great respect is paid by the Chippewas to the corpses of their distinguished men; they are wrapped up in cloths, blankets, or bark, and raised on scaffolds. We heard of a very dis- tinguished chief of theirs, who died upwards of 40 years since, and was deposited on a scaffold near Fort Charlotte, the former grand depot of the North-west Company. When the company were induced to remove their depot to the mouth of the Kamanatekwoya, and con- struct Fort William, the Indians imagined that it would be unbecom- ing the dignity of their friend to rest anywhere but near a fort; they therefore conveyed his remains to Fort William, erected a scaf- fold near it, and upon it they placed the body of their revered chief; whenever there is occasion for it they renew its shroud. As a mark of respect to the deceased, who was very friendly to white men, the company have planted a British flag over his remains, which attention was extremely gratifying to the Indians.” (Keating, (1), II, pp. 159-160.) This would have been about 175 miles northeast of Fond du Lac, as Fort William stood on the mainland, north of Isle Royale, in Lake Superior. Fort Charlotte was at the end of Grand Portage, some 25 miles southwest of Fort William, and conse- quently nearer Fond du Lac.
Referring to the Ojibway belief in a future state after death, the same writer remarked:
“The Chippewas believe that there is in man an essence, entirely distinct from the body; they call it O’chéchag, and appear to apply to it the qualities which we refer to the soul. They be- lieve that it quits the body at the time of death, and repairs to what they term Chéké Chékchékimé. This region is supposed to be situated to the south, and on the shores of the Great Ocean. Previous to arriving there they meet with a stream, which they are obliged to cross upon a large snake that answers the purpose of a bridge. Those who die from drowning never succeed in crossing the stream; they are thrown into it, and remain there forever. Some souls come to the edge of the stream, but are prevented from passing by the snake that threatens to devour them; these are the souls of persons in a lethargy or trance. Being refused a passage, these souls re- turn to their bodies and reanimate them. They believe that animals
32 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 71
have souls, and even that inorganic substances, such as kettles, etc., have in them a similar essence. In this land of souls all are treated according to their merits. Those who have been good men are free from pain; they have no duties to perform; their time is spent in dancing and singing, and they feed upon mushrooms, which are very abundant. The souls of bad men are haunted by the phantoms of the persons or things that they have injured; thus, if a man has destroyed much property, the phantoms of the wrecks of this prop- erty obstruct his passage wherever he goes; if he has been cruel to his dogs or horses they also torment him after death; the ghosts of those whom during his lifetime he wronged are there permitted to avenge their injuries. They think that when a soul has crossed the stream it can not return to its body, yet they believe in apparitions, and entertain the opinion that the spirits of the departed will fre- quently revisit the abodes of their friends, in order to invite them to the other world, and to forewarn them of their approaching dis- solution.” (Op. cit., pp. 158-159.)
It is quite evident that the widely separated members of this great tribe held different beliefs regarding the state after death, and it would also appear that such beliefs were influenced or dictated by their natural environment. Thus in the cold, bleak forests of the north, where the winters were long and severe, they looked to the south as the home of the departed, where warmth would prevail, and where the days would be passed in dancing and singing.
Some years earlier, in 1764, an English trader described the death and burial of a child near the north shore of Lake Superior while approaching Michilimackinac. The Indians were engaged in making maple sugar when—
“A little child, belonging to one of our neighbours, fell into a kettle of boiling syrup. It was instantly snatched out, but with little hope of its recovery.
“So long, however, as it lived, a continual feast was observed; and this was made to the Great Spirit and Master of Life, that he might be pleased to save and heal the child. At this feast, I was a constant guest; and often found difficulty in eating the large quan- tity of food, which, on such occasions as these, is put upon each man’s dish. The Indians accustom themselves both to eat much, and to fast much, with facility.
“Several sacrifices were also offered; among them were dogs, killed and hung upon the tops of poles, with the addition of stroud blankets and other articles. These, also, were given to the Great Spirit, in humble hope that he would give efficacy to the medicines employed.
“The child died. To preserve the body from the wolves, it was placed upon a scaffold, where it remained till we went to the lake, on the border of which was the burial-ground of the family.
BUSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 33
“On our arrival there, which happened in the beginning of April, I did not fail to attend the funeral. The grave was made of a large size, and the whole of the inside lined with birch-bark. On the bark was laid the body of the child, accompanied with an axe, a pair of snow-shoes, a small kettle, several pairs of common shoes, its own strings of beads, and—because it was a girl—a carrying-belt and a paddle. The kettle was filled with meat.
“All this was again covered with bark; and at about two feet nearer the surface, logs were laid across, and these again covered with bark, so that the earth might by no means fall upon the corpse.
“The last act before the burial, performed by the mother, crying over the dead body of her child, was that of taking from it a lock of hair, for a memorial. While she did this, I endeavoured to console her, by offering the usual arguments; that the child was happy in being released from the miseries of this present life, and that she should forbear to grieve, because it would be restored to her in another world, happy and everlasting. She answered, that she knew it, and that by the lock of hair she should discover her daughter; for she would take it with her. In this she alluded to the day, when some pious hand would place in her own grave, along with the carrying-belt and paddle, this little relic, hallowed by maternal tears.” (Henry, (1), pp. 149-151.)
The same writer, in recording certain beliefs of the people, said (pp. 151-152) :
“TY have frequently inquired into the ideas and opinions of the Indians, in regard to futurity, and always found that they were somewhat different, in different individuals. Some suppose their souls to remain in this world, although invisible to human eyes; and capable, themselves, of seeing and hearing their friends, and also of assisting them, in moments of distress and danger. Others dismiss from the mortal scene the unembodied spirit, and send it to a distant world or country, in which it receives reward or punishment, ac- cording to the life which it has led in its prior state. Those who have lived virtuously are transported into a place abounding with every luxury, with deer and all other animals of the woods and water, and where the earth produces, in their greatest perfection, all its sweetest fruits. While, on the other hand, those who have violated or neglected the duties of this life, are removed to a barren soil, where they wander up and down, among rocks and morasses, and are stung by gnats, as large as pigeons.”
This agrees remarkably with the later statements made by Keating, as already quoted.
The scaffold burials mentioned in the preceding quotations do not appear to have been the true form so extensively used by the tribes
130548°—20——_3
34 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 71
farther west, especially up the valley of thé Missouri. There a plat- form was constructed between four or more supports, some 6 or 8 feet above the ground, and on this platform the body was placed after being wrapped and bound with skins or some other covering. These were of a more temporary nature.
THE MENOMINI
The Menomini; whose home when first encountered by Europeans during the early years of the seventeenth century was west of Lake Michigan, evidently possessed many customs quite similar to those of the Ojibway. Their dead were usually deposited in excavated graves, but they also had some form of scaffold burial. (PI. 5, a.)
“The Menomini formerly disposed of their dead by inclosing the bodies in long pieces of birchbark or in slats of wood, and burying them in a shallow hole. When not in the neighborhood of birch or other trees, from which broad pieces of bark could be obtained, some of the men would search for the nearest dugout, from which they would cut a piece long enough to contain the body. In some in- stances sections of hollow trees were used as coffins. In order to afford protection against wild beasts, there were placed over the grave three logs—two directly on the ground and the third on the others. They were prevented from rolling away by stakes driven into the earth. [Plate 5, , represents the old method of protecting graves. |
“More modern customs now prevail with the greater body of the tribe, and those who have been Christianized adopt the following course: A wooden coffin is made and the body laid out in the ordi- nary manner. The burial takes place usually the day on which death occurs. The graves are about 4 feet deep. Over the mound is erected a small board structure resembling a house. ... This structure measures about 5 feet in length and 3 feet high. In the front and near the top is an opening through which the relations and friends of the deceased put cakes of maple sugar, rice, and other food—the first fruits of the season. In some grave-boxes, imme- diately beneath the opening, there is placed a small drawer, which is used for the same purpose as the opening. Sometimes even on the grave-boxes of Christianized Indians, the totem of the clan to which the deceased belonged is drawn in color or carved from a piece of wood and securely nailed. These totemic characters are generally drawn or attached in an inverted position, which is de- notive of death among the Menomini as among other tribes. Around the grave-boxes clapboard fences are usually erected to keep stray animals from coming near, and to prevent wayfarers and _ sacri- legious persons from desecrating the graves. An ordinary * worm’ fence is also sometimes built for the same purpose.
BUSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 35
“Among the non-Christianized Menomini the grave covering is of a slightly different character. These grave-boxes are more like an inverted trough, as shown in plate 5, c, which illustrates the graves of the late chief Osh’kosh and his wife. The openings in the head end of the box are used for the introduction of ordinary food, as well as maple sugar and other tributes of the first fruits of the year, on which the shade of the departed may feast before it finally sets out for the land of the dead. Formerly, also, bodies were scaffolded, or placed in trees, according to the wish of the deceased. In some instances it was customary to dress and paint the body as during life, seat it on the ground facing the west—in the direction of the. path of the dead toward the land of Naq’pote—when a log inclosure, resembling a small pen, was built around it. In this manner the
Ey TAT), LAW gg
We 7 OW Gah
Wl P
Fie, 1.—Menomini graves.
corpse was left... . Mourners blacken their faces with charcoal or ashes. Formerly it was sometimes customary to add pine resin to the ashes, that the materials might remain longer on the skin, and a widow was not presumed to marry again until this substance had entirely worn off. In some instances of great grief, the hair above the forehead was cropped short.” (Hoffman, (1), pp. 239-241.) Typical graves are shown in figure 1.
Quite similar to the preceding were graves discovered in the vicin- ity of Prairie du Chien, near the banks of the Mississippi, when visited by Maj. Long’s party in June, 1823. The graves resembled those of the whites, but they were “covered with boards or bark, secured to stakes driven into the ground, so as to form a sort of roof over the grave; at the head, poles were erected for the pur- pose of supporting flags; a few tatters of one of these still waved over the grave. An upright post was also fixed near the head, and upon this the deeds of the deceased, whether in the way of hunting
36 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY | [BULL 71
or fighting, were inscribed with red or black paint. The graves were placed upon mounds in the prairie, this situation having doubt- less — selected as being the highest and least likely to be over- flowed.” (Keating, (1), I, pp. 244-245.)
The use of ancient mounds as places of burial by later Indians, as witnessed near Prairie du Chien, was followed extensively throughout the upper Mississippi Valley and elsewhere. In the spring of 1900 the Ojibway living on the south shore of Mille Lae, Minnesota, were utilizing the summits of ancient mounds for this purpose, and on one mound standing near the village of Sagawamick were thirteen very recent graves, covered with the box-like covers of hewn logs, on one end of which was cut or painted the totem of the deceased. Some were surrounded by stakes, designed to protect the burial. This site was once occupied by the Mdewakanton, by whom the mounds were evidently reared. Later they were driven south- ward by the Ojibway, and this became the principal village of the Misisagaikaniwininiwak. This will explain the origin of the many shallow burials, a foot or more below the surface, encounters in mounds east of the Mississippi.
A small sketch of several scaffolds, resembling that described by McKenney, appeared in Lahontan’s narrative in 1703. This is re- produced in figure 2. This form of scaffold may have been found throughout the Algonquian country bordering Lake Superior and Lake Huron, and was probably that mentioned by Charlevoix, only a few years after Lahontan.
CREMATION
More than a century before McKenney made his tour of the Lakes and stopped at Detroit during the month of June, 1826, Charlevoix traversed much of the same on his way to the country of the Illinois, and thence down the Mississippi. At that time the Missisauga, a tribe closely related to the Chippewa, and of which they may be considered a subtribe or division, lived on the shores of Lake St. Clair and the vicinity, and here Charlevoix saw their scaffold burials. Referring to the several tribes with whom he had come in contact, he wrote: “When an Indian dies in the time of hunting, his body is exposed on a very high scaffold, where it remains till the departure cf the company, who carry it with them to the village. There are some nations who have the same custom, with respect to all their dead; and I have seen it practised among the Missisaguez at the Narrows. The bodies of those who are killed in war are burnt, and the ashes carried back, in order to be deposited in the sepulchres of their ancestors. These sepulchres, among those nations who are best fixed in their settlements, are a sort of burial grounds near the village.” (Charlevoix, (1), Il, p. 189.) This was written in 1721.
BUSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL ot
Another reference to the burning of bodies was prepared about the same year, and proves that others besides those of persons killed in war were so consumed. “An Officer of the regular Troops has informed me also, that while he had the Command of the Garrison at Oswego, a Boy of one of the far Westward Nations died there; the Parents made a regular Pile of split Wood, laid the Corps upon it, and burnt it; while the Pile’ was burning, they stood gravely looking on, without any Lamentations, but when it was burnt down, they gather up the Bones with many Tears, put them into a Box, and carried them away with them.” (Colden, (1), p. 16.)
It would be interesting to know more of the details of this native ceremony, and to know the name of the tribe to which the family
Lhe relations of y decce Jl dancing
aJav age
VA
?
ae é. Sg iment of
The Staves SG oe, a . i dece as el cx fury Ut us £ ao pe
The Tio or
Hay :
The Sy CII, of y deceas dL
(AaILNG e
Fic, 2.—Scaffold burials, from Lahontan,
belonged. Oswego, near the southeastern corner of Lake Ontario, in the land of the Onondaga, was the site of an English fort erected in 1721. It soon became a gathering place for the Indians and traders coming from the west, and much of the Indian trade which had formerly been transacted by the French at Montreal was diverted to this new post. It is easy to imagine that during one of these journeys from their distant home on a western lake or river the child of an Indian family died, and his parents, desiring to bury him near their native village, burned the body, then col- lected the ashes and charred bones, and carried them away, as related by an English officer nearly two centuries ago.
Probably cremation was resorted to in many instances as a means of reducing the difficulty of removing the remains from the place of death to the locality where it was desired they might be deposited;
38 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 71
but if some statements of the early French are to be accepted, cer- tain tribes must have attached some superstitious belief to the act oi burning the bodies of their dead. A very interesting description was recorded by the Jesuit, Pére Sébastien Rasles, of what he wit- nessed and learned of the custom among the Ottawa during his stay among that tribe in the winter of 1691-92. He told how certain divisions of the tribe burned their dead while others interred the — remains. However, his account may not be true to fact, although written according to his belief. (Rasles, (1), pp. 154-159.) Another reference to the burning of bodies is to be found in Radis- son’s account of his Fourth Voyage into the great. northern wilder- ness. He and his companions left Quebec sometime in the early part of the year 1661, and were soon joined by a party of Indians who belonged to some western Algonquian tribe living in the vicin- ity of Lake Superior. Shortly after coming together, while passing in their canoes along a certain stream where the banks were close together, they met a number of Iroquois. In the fierce encounter which ensued Radisson’s friendly Indians lost two killed and seven wounded. And alluding to the former he wrote: “ We bourned our comrades, being their custome to reduce such into ashes being slained in bataill. It is an honnour to give them such a buriall.” (Radis- son (1), p. 183.) But unfortunately he failed to tell of the final dis- position of the ashes, whether they were carried by their companions to their villages on the shores of the distant lakes, and there buried, or left in the country where'they had been slain. To have been car- ried away to their homes would have been more consistent with the native customs, and would more readily explain the cremation of the remains, to reduce the bulk, and thereby really make it possible to transport them so great a distance under such adverse conditions. Charlevoix spent several weeks during the summer of 1721 among the Indians just south of Lake Michigan. These were probably Miami, although he undoubtedly saw members of other tribes as well. Writing at this time, and probably having the Miami in mind, he said: “ As soon as the sick person has fetched his last breath, the whole cabbin resounds with lamentations, which continue as long as the family is in a condition to furnish the expence; for open table must be kept during all that time. The carcass adorned with its finest robe, the face painted, the arms of the deceased, with every thing he possessed laid by his side, is exposed at the gate of the cabbin, in the same posture in which he is to lie in the tomb, and that is in many places, the same with that of a child in the womb. * * * Tt appears to me that they carry the corpse to the place of burial without anv ceremony * * * but when they are once in the grave, they take care to cover them in such manner that the earth does not touch them: so that they he as in a cell entirely cov-
BUSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 39
ered with skins, much richer and better adorned than any of their cabbins. A post is afterwards erected, on which they fix every thing capable of expressing the esteem in which they held the deceased. * « * Fresh provisions are carried to the place every morning, and as the dogs and other beasts do not fail to take advantage of this, they would fain persuade themselves that it is the soul of the deceased, who comes to take some refreshment.” (Charlevoix, (1), LS pp: 187-188. )
This may have been intended as a general stataeatnit of the customs of the tribes whom he had met diane his journey, although written while among the Miami, but its greatest value is the manner in which the origin and cause of the flexed burial is explained, and this would probably apply to the eastern as well as to the western Algonquians.
“HE ILLINOIS COUNTRY ”
The term Illinois Indians as used by some early writers was in- tended to include the various Algonquian tribes, encountered in the “T]linois country,” in addition to those usually recognized as form- ing the Illinois confederacy. Thus, in the following quotation from Joutel will be found a reference to the Chahowanous—i. e., Shaw- nee—as being of the /slinots, and in the same note Accancea referred to the Quapaw, a Siouan tribe living on the right bank of the Mis- sissippi, not far north of the mouth of the Arkansas. Describing the burial customs of the Illinois, as witnessed by him during the latter years of the seventeenth century, Joutel wrote: “They pay a Respect to their Dead, as appears by their special Care of burying them, and even of putting into lofty Coflins the Bodies of such as are considerable among them, as their Chiefs and others, which is also practised among the Accancea’s, but they differ in this Particu- lar, that the Accancea’s weep and make their Complaints for some Days, where as the Chahowanous and other People of the /slinois Nation do just the Contrary; for when any of them die, they wrap them up in Skins, and then put them into Coffins made of the Barks of Trees, then sing and dance about them for twenty four Hours. Those Dancers take Care to tie Calabashes, or Gourds about their Bodies, with some /ndian Wheat in them, to rattle and make a Noise, and some of them have a Drum, made of a great Earthen Pot, on which they extend a wild Goat’s Skin, and beat thereon with one Stick like our Tabors. During that Rejoicing, they throw their Presents on the Coffin, as Bracelets, Pendents, or Pieces of Earthen Ware, and Strings of Beads, encouraging the Singers to perform their Duty well. If any Friend happens to come thither at that Time, he immediately throws down his Present and falls a singing and dancing like the rest. When that Ceremony is over, they bury
40 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 71
the Body, with part of the presents, making choice of such as may be most proper for it. They also bury with it, some Stores of /ndian Wheat, with a Pot to boil it in, for fear the dead Person should be hungry on his long Journey; and they repeat the same Ceremony at the Year’s End. A good Number of Presents still remaimuing, they divide them into several Lots, and play at a Game, call’d of the Stick to give them to the Winner.” (Joutel, (1), pp. 174-175.)
From this very interesting account of the burial customs of the Illinois Indians it is evident they had several ways and methods of disposing of their dead. Some were placed in “lofty coffins,” which undoubtedly refers to a form of tree or scaffold burial, and in this connection it is interesting to know that when settlers entered Truro township, in the present Knox County, Illinois, a few miles west of the ancient Peoria village on the Illinois River, they found tree burials of quite recent origin. Logs had been split in halves and hollowed out, and so served as qonine which rested in forks of trees some 10 to 15 feet above the ground. These remained in this position until about the year 1836, when they were removed by the settlers and buried in the earth. These must have been the “lofty coffins” of Joutel. But the bodies were not always so securely protected, and in the year 1692, within a short time of Joutel’s visit, another Frenchman referred to the burial customs of the Illinois and said: “It is not their custom to bury the dead; they wrap them in skins, and hang them by the feet and head to the tops of trees.” (Rasles, (1), p. 167.) And touching on the ceremonies which at- tended the burial, the same Father wrote: “ When the Illinois are not engaged in war or hunting, their time is spent either in games, or at feasts, or in dancing. They have two kinds of dances; some are a sign of rejoicing, and to these they invite the most distinguished women and young girls; others are a token of their sadness at the death of the most important men of their Tribe. It is by these dances that they profess to honor the deceased, and to wipe away the tears of his relatives. All of them are entitled to have the death of their near relatives bewailed in this manner, provided that they make presents for this purpose. The dances last a longer or shorter time according to the price and value of the presents, which, at the end of the dance, are distributed to the dancers.” (P. 167.)
And when settlers arrived near the banks of the Mackinaw, a tributary of the Illinois, near the present village of Lexington, McLean County, Illinois, in 18438, they discovered a body of an In- dian wrapped in bark and suspended in a tree top. The body was taken down and buried in what is now called Indian Burial Ground, some 24 miles southeast of Lexington.
It is interesting to be able to trace other burial places and burial customs of the western Algonquian tribes in comparatively recent
BUSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 41
times.. After the Battle of Tippecanoe, fought November 7, 1811, the Indians who fell in that memorable encounter are said to have been buried on the summit of a ridge, running north and south and bounded on the west by the Middle Fork of Vermilion River and on the east by a deep ravine, about 54 miles west of the present Dan- ville, Vermilion County, Illinois. This region was then occupied by roving bands of different tribes, including members of the Shaw- nee. In the early years of the last century, just after the settlement of the village of Gosport, Owen County, Indiana, the Shawnee chief, Big Fire, died, and his body was taken in a canoe 10 miles on the West Fork of White River, to a place where the party landed. A stretcher was there made by interlacing bark between two long poles. The body was then placed upon the stretcher and carried to the grave by four men. Arriving at the grave the body “was painted, dressed in his best blanket and beaded mocassins, and buried along with his ornaments and war weapons. The grave was three feet deep, lined with rough boards and bark. Over it was planted an oak post, five feet high, eight inches square, tapering to a point, which was painted red. The monument was often visited and long revered by the band. It has disappeared within a few years.” (Collett, (1), p. 324.) Stretchers similar to the one just mentioned were undoubtedly used quite extensively by the Indians in conveying their dead or wounded comrades from place to place. One, illustrated by Schoolcraft from a painting by Eastman, is now reproduced in plate 11l,a. “The mode of carrying the sick or wounded is in a litter on two poles lashed together, and a blanket fastened on to it.” (Schoolcraft, (2), II, p. 180.) Probably barks, skins, or mats were used in earlier times, later to be followed by the blankets obtained from the traders.
The Delaware village of Greentown stood on the left bank of the Black Fork of the Mohican, in Ashland County, Ohio. The settle- ment was abandoned in 1812, when the families removed and erected a new village at Piqua, on the Great Miami. The site of old Green- town was soon under cultivation by the whites. The area was examined during the summer of 1876, at which time it was said “the southern portion of the site is still in woods, and the depres- sions that mark the graves are quite distinct... . In some cases the remains were inclosed in a stone cist; in others small, rounded drift bowlders were placed in order around the skeletons. The long bones were mostly well preserved. No perfect skull was obtained, nor were there any stone implements found in the graves. At the foot of one a clam shell was found. The graves are from two and one-half to three feet deep, and the remains repose horizontally.” (Case, (1), p. 598.) The apparent lack of European objects asso-
4Y BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 71
ciated with these burials is quite contrary to the usual custom. Often many pieces obtained from the traders are to be found in the later Indian graves, and an interesting example was discovered at the site of a large Shawnee town which stood where Frankfort, Ross County, Ohio, was later reared. From the burial place of the ancient Indian town “numerous relics are obtained, gun barrels, copper kettles, silver crosses and brooches, and many other imple- ments and ornaments.” (Squier and Davis, (1), pp. 60-61.)
Such are the numerous small cemeteries discovered throughout the region west of the mountains. Each proves the position, at some time, of a native settlement, some of probably not more than two or three wigwams, the temporary camping place of a few families during the hunting or fishing season. Others mark the location of a more im- portant tribal center. Long after the upper Ohio Valley was aban- doned by the people who had erected the great earthworks it became the home of other tribes, or rather it became the hunting grounds of many tribes, but it was not occupied by any large native towns. Later, about the beginning of the eighteenth century, when the Shawnees were forced northward from the valleys of Tennessee, and other Algon- quian tribes began seeking new homes to the westward beyond the mountains, the upper valley of the Ohio became repeopled by a native population, and to these later settlements may be attributed the great majority of burials now encountered within the region. The towns were moved from place to place as requirements and natural causes made necessary, and with each movement a new cemetery was soon created. Such a movement of the inhabitants of a Shawnee village about the middle of the eighteenth century is graphically deseribed in a journal of one who witnessed the catastrophe which made it necessary :
“On the Ohio, just below the mouth of Scioto, on a high bank, near forty feet, formerly stood the Shawnesse town, called the Lower Town, which was all carried away, except three of four houses, by a great flood in the Scioto. I was in the town at the time, though the banks of the Ohio were so high, the water was nine feet on the top, which obliged the whole town to take to their canoes, and move with their effects to the hills. The Shawnesse afterwards built their town on the opposite side of the river, which, during the French war, they abandoned, for fear of the Virginians, and removed to the plains on Scioto.” (Croghan, (1), p. 368.)
And this was only one of many similar instances where a compara- tively small number of individuals occupied during a single genera: tion many sites and left at each site a small group of graves.
Scattered over the western country, throughout the region once fre- quented by the fur trader and missionary, are often to be found traces
BUSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 43
of their early posts or settlements, and probably many burials which have erroneously been attributed to the Indians could be traced to these sources. It has already been shown that at the establishment of the American Fur Co., standing at Fond du Lac in 1826, were two small cemeteries, one for the whites and the other for the Indians. This may have been the custom at many posts, but now, were these graves examined, it would probably be quite difficult to distinguish between the two.
An ancient French cemetery evidently stood not far from the banks of the Illinois, probably within the limits of the present city of Peoria. It was mentioned just 70 years ago in a description of the valley of the Illinois, and when referring to the native occupants of the rich and fertile region:
“This little paradise was until recently possessed by the Peoria Indians, a small tribe, which has since receded; and tradition says there was once a considerable settlement of the French on the spot. I was informed there is an extensive old burial place, not of Indian origin, somewhere on or near the terrace, and noticed that not a few of the names and physiognomies in this quarter were evidently French.” (Paulding, (1), p. 17.)
If discovered at the present time these remains would be in a con- dition which would make it difficult to distinguish them from those of Indians, unless associated objects of European origin would serve to identify them. And down the valley of the Illinois has been dis- covered a native Indian cemetery dating from about the same period as the old French cemetery at Peoria. It was evidently one of much interest. “Upon the banks of the river at Naples are the burying- grounds of the modern Indian, in which have been found many stone implements intermingled with civilized manufactures, such as beads, knives, crosses of silver, and other articles indicating traffic with the French during, probably, the latter part of the 17th and the first half of the 18th centuries.... The pottery exhumed from this ancient cemetery shows that it was the common burial- place of the race that built at least a part of the mounds.” (Hender- son, (1), p. 719.)
However, Indians were sometimes buried in the small French Catholic cemeteries, and it may be recalled that when Pontiac was murdered, in the year 1769, near the village of the Cahokia, on the eastern bank of the Mississippi, his body was claimed by the French, carried across the river in a canoe, and placed in the cemetery belong- ing to the church. This stood on the summit of the ridge, then probably surrounded by the virgin forest; now the site is covered by buildings, on the southeast corner of Fifth and Walnut Streets, in the city of St. Louis. But all traces of this ancient burying ground have long since disappeared.
44 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 71 STONE-LINED GRAVES —
Stone graves—that is, small excavations which were lined or partly lined with natural slabs of stone—have been encountered in great num- bers in various parts of the Mississippi Valley. They are discovered scattered and separate; in other instances vast numbers are grouped to- gether, thus forming extensive cemeteries. While the great majority were formed by lining properly prepared excavations, others were created by erecting one upon another, forming several tiers, and covering all with earth, so forming a mound. In and about the city of Nashville, on the banks of the Cumberland, in Davidson County, Tennessee, such burials have been revealed in such great numbers that it is within reason to suppose the region was once occupied by a sedentary people who remained for several generations, and must have had an extensive village near by. It will be recalled that the Shawnee occupied the valley in the early years of the eighteenth cen- tury, and that a French trader was there in 1714. A mound standing near Nashville was examined in the summer of 1821, and writing of it Haywood said: “ This is the mound upon which Monsieur Charle- ville, a French trader, had his store in the year 1714, when. the Shawanese were driven from the Cumberland by the Cherokees and Chickasaws. It stands on the west side of the river, and on the north side of French lick creek, and about 70 yards from each. It is round at the base. About 30 yards in diameter, and about 10 feet in height, at this time.” The mound was examined and much charcoal, traces of fire beds, a few objects of stone, and bits of pottery were found. And telling of the later history of the mound the writer continued: “The mound also had been stockaded by the Cherokees between the years 1758 and 1769... . Very large burying grounds once lay between the mounds and the river, thence westwardly, thence to the creek.” (Haywood, (1), pp. 1386-188.)
Although from this statement it would appear that many graves had already been destroyed before the close of the first quarter of the last century, nevertheless vast numbers remained to be examined at a later day. About 20 years after Haywood wrote, another account of the cemeteries in the vicinity of Nashville was prepared, at which time it was told that “ We have one near the suburbs of our town, which extends from near the Cumberland river almost to Mr. Mac- gavoc’s; it is about one mile in length, how much in breadth I cannot say, the road and houses cover one side, and a cultivated field the other; in this field is a tumulus which is now worn down. From the part that I have examined of this grave-yard, I found that the stone coffins were close to one another, situated in such a manner that each corpse was separated only by a single stone from the other; about one and one-half or two miles from this, on the other side of the
BUSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 45
Cumberland river, is another burying ground, where the graves are equally numerous. At Cockerel’s Spring, two or two and one-half miles from the first mentioned, is another; and about; six miles from Nashville, on the Charlotte road, we have another; at Hayesborough, another; so that in a circle of about ten miles diameter, we have six extensive burying grounds. . . . As to the form of the graves, they are rude fabrics, composed of rough flat stones (mostly a kind of slaty limestone or slaty sandstone, both abundant in our State). Such flat stone was laid on the ground in an excavation made for the purpose; upon it were put (edgewise) two similar stones of about the same length as the former, and two small ones were put at both extremities, so as to form an oblong cavity lined with stones, of the size of a-man; the place for the head and feet had the same dimen- sions. When a coffin was to be constructed next to it, one of the side stones serves for both, and consequently they lay in straight rows, in one layer only, I never found one above the other.” (Troost, (1), pp. 358-359.)
This very graphic description of a stone grave would apply equally well to those discovered in widely separated parts of the country. But it was not always possible to secure pieces of stone of sufficient size to allow a single one to serve as the side of a grave, in which event it was necessary to place several on each side. Again, the graves were made of a size to correspond with that of the body which was to be placed within it, and therefore they varied in length and breadth. Others which were prepared to hold a bundle of bones after the flesh had been removed, or had disappeared, were quite short—the latter were the “pygmy graves” of the early writers.
About 9 miles from Nashville is a hill “on which the residence of Colonel Overton stands ... was in former times occupied by an aboriginal settlement. The circular depressions of the wigwams are still visible.” (Jones, Joseph, (1), p. 39.) Many stone graves were discovered here, “the earth having been excavated to the depth of about eighteen inches, and the dimensions of the excavation corre- sponding to the size of the skeleton. The sides of each were lined with carefully selected stones, forming a perfect parallelogram, with a single stone for the head and foot. The skeleton or body of the dead person was then deposited at full length. In the square short grave the skull was placed in the centre and surrounded by the long bones.” Jones made another very interesting observation and dis- covered that “some of the small graves contained nothing more than bones of small animals and birds. The animals appeared to be a species of dog, also rabbits, raccoons, and opossums. The bones of birds appeared to belong to the wild turkey, eagle, owl, hawk, and wild duck. Occasionally bones of these animals and birds were
46 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 71
found in the large graves along with the bones of human adults.” (Op. cit., pp. 7-9.)
It may be difficult to determine the explanation of this strange custom, but similar discoveries have been made elsewhere in the southern country. Westward, across the Mississippi in Crittenden and Mississippi Counties, Arkansas, Moore encountered bones of — birds in graves associated with human remains. Bones identified belonged to the swan, goose, and turkey. And, as will be shown later, the Creeks within historic times buried various animals with or near the déad, and this may have been the survival of a more ancient custom.
In addition to the extensive cemeteries, similar graves were ar- ranged above the original surface and a mass of earth reared over them. A most interesting example of such a mound was described by Jones. It stood on the bank of a small stream about 10 miles from Nashville, and measures some 55 feet in diameter and 12 feet in height, and “contained perhaps one hundred skeletons, the stone graves, especially towards the center of the mound, were placed one upon the other, forming in the highest part of the mound three or four ranges. The oldest and lowest graves were of the small square variety, whilst those near or upon the summit, were of the natural length and width of the skeletons within. In this mound as in other burial places, in the small square stone graves, the bones were fre- quently found broken, and whilst some graves contained only a por- tion of an entire skeleton others contained fragments of two or more skeletons mingled together. The small mound now under considera- tion, which was one of the most perfect in its construction, and the lids of the upper graves so arranged as to form an even, round, shelv- ing rock surface, was situated upon the western slope of a beauti- ful hill, covered with the magnificent growth of the native forest. The remains of an old Indian fortification were still evident, sur- rounding an extensive encampment, and several other mounds. The graves of the mausoleum which chiefly engaged my attention were of all sizes, arranged in various directions, with no special reference to the points of the compass. In a large and carefully constructed stone tomb, the lid of which was formed of a flat rock over seven feet in length and three feet in width, I exhumed the bones of what was supposed to be an ancient Indian chief, who had passed his hundred summers. The skeleton was about seven feet in length and the huge jaw had lost every vestige of a tooth, the alveolar processes being entirely absorbed. From another sarcophagus near the base of the mound, were exhumed the bones of an Indian of gigantic stature and powerful frame, who died apparently in middle life.” (Jones, Joseph. (2).)
BUSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL AT
Another mound of equal interest, although of a somewhat different interior arrangement, was described by the same writer in the same manuscript volume. This stood on the eastern bank of the Cumber- land, opposite Nashville, and just across from the mouth of Lick Branch. It was about 100 feet in diameter and 10 feet in height, and near by was a larger mound. “In the centre of the mound, about three feet from its surface, I encountered a large sacrificial vase, or altar, forty-three inches in diameter, composed of a mixture of clay and river shells. The rim of the vase was three inches in height. The entire vessel had been moulded in a large wicker basket formed of split canes and the leaves of the cane, the impressions of which were plainly visible upon the outer surface.” Within this were the antlers and jaw bone of a deer, and a layer of ashes about 1 inch in depth which seemed to have been derived from burning animal matter. “Stone sarcophagi were ranged round the central altar, with the heads of the dead to the centre, and the feet to the circum- ference, resembling the radii of a circle. The inner circle of graves was constructed with great care, and all the Indians buried around the altar were ornamented with beads of various kinds, some of which had been cut out of bone, and others again were composed of entire sea-shells, punctured so as to admit of the passage of the thread upon which they were strung... . A circle of graves extended around the inner circle which we have described as radiating from the altar. The stone coffins of the outer circle lay at right angles to the inner circle, and rested, as it were, at the feet of the more highly honored and favored dead. In the outer graves no ornaments were found, only a few small arrowheads, and fragments of shells and pots.” Objects of shell, and an effigy vase, copper pendants, etc., were as- sociated with the burials in the inner circle of graves. Two skeletons were discovered on the southern slope of the mound, but their graves had not been lined with stones. Near one, supposed to have been the remains of a woman, was a beautiful vessel “composed of a mixture of light yellow clay and shells . . . and was painted with regular black figures.” Beneath the skull of the second burial, probably that of a man, “lay a splendid stone hatchet, with the entire handle, and ring at the end of the handle, cut out of a compact green chloritic primitive mineral.” (Op. cit.)
Graves in the vicinity of Nashville, as well as elsewhere, were in some instances lined with fragments of large earthenware vessels, similar to the one discovered in the mound just described. These were the great “salt pans,” or evaporating dishes, which may have been used for various purposes, but primarily for the evaporation of water from the salines. In referring to pieces of these large cloth-marked vessels found on different sites near Nashville, it was
AS BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 71
said “ The graves are frequently lined and covered with them, instead of slabs of stone.” (Thruston, (1), p. 159.) And again (p. 29): “ Many of the graves in the vicinity of Nashville are lined with large, thick fragments of broken pottery, as neatly joined together as if molded for the purpose.” The fragments were merely employed as a substitute for the thin slabs of stone, and therefore eliminated the labor of obtaining the latter. The use of similar fragments for a like purpose, in cemeteries farther north, will be mentioned on a sub- sequent page.
Stone-lined graves have been discovered in many widely sepa- rated places, both north and south of the Ohio, but in no other locality were they so numerous as in the vicinity of Nashville, Ten- nessee, and seldom were they found so carefully constructed as there. But the variations in form and size may be attributed rather to the material available for their lining than to the difference in the skill of the native by whom they were made. To illustrate the rariations and the manner in which the graves differed, it will be necessary to refer briefly to several scattered groups.
During his explorations along the valley of the Tennessee Moore examined mounds on Swallow Bluff Island, Decatur County, one of which was some 18 feet in height with a diameter of about 130 feet. This was considered a domiciliary mound, and around the margin of the summit plateau were discovered numerous stone-lined graves, but none was found in the central part of the top. An ex- ample of these burials is illustrated in plate 6, a, showing the grave after the removal of the cover stones, revealing the partly flexed skeleton; 6, the same grave before the removal of the cover, but after the excavation of the superimposed and surrounding mass of earth. In describing this burial Moore wrote: “ Burial No. 12, a few inches from the surface, was a fine example of the stone box-grave, the sides:and ends upright, the covering slabs resting squarely on them. This grave, oblong, 3 feet 8 inches by 2 feet 5 inches, had the sides and ends of single slabs, except at one point where there were two slabs. Surrounding the grave small gaps had been filled with slabs of inconsiderable size; other unimportant spaces had been left uncovered. The top was composed of three large slabs forming a single layer, the one at the lower end of the grave, however, having another slab upon it, forming a double layer at this place. The inside measurements of this grave were 3 feet 3 inches by 1 foot 8 inches. Its depth was 1 foot 1 inch,” (Moore, (4), pp. 213-214.)
It is extremely doubtful if the builders of the mound were respon- sible for the stone graves. The latter were probably of a much more recent date, and should therefore be regarded as intrusive
BUSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 49
burials. Continuing up the Tennessee, making many interesting dis- coveries on the way, the party reached Henry Island, near Gunters- ville, Marshall County, Alabama. At the head of the island were several mounds, one of which had been worn down to a height of about 1 foot. Much of the work had evidently been destroyed, but in the remaining portion were several graves, one of which, a stone-lined grave, was of much interest. It is shown in plate 7 before and after the removal of the top stones. It had an extreme outside length of 6 feet 8 inches and a width of 3 feet. Inside it measured 5 feet 10 inches in length, 2 feet 2 inches in width, and 1 foot 7 inches in depth. “This grave, of the regular stone-box variety, was made of limestone slabs carefully arranged, the slabs having been set a number of inches into the ground below the base of the grave, which was neatly floored with slabs in contact, the small spaces between the larger ones having been filled with frag- ments of a suitable size. A large single slab was upright at the head, which was directed SE.; another, at the feet.” (Moore, (4), pp. 286-289.)
This grave contained an extended skeleton, determined to have been that of an adult male.
Similar graves were discovered as far up the river as James County, Tennessee, a short distance beyond Chattanooga.
A mound in which were many intrusive stone graves, and therefore resembling the one examined on Swallow Bluff Island, stood on a high hill about 2 miles from Franklin, Williamson County, 'Tennes- see. It was about 20 feet in height and 400 feet in circumference. The mound was examined and “about four feet from the top, we came to a layer of graves extending across the entire mound. The graves were constructed in the same manner as those found in the ceme- teries . . . that is, of two wide parallel slabs, about two and one- half feet long for sides, and with the bottom, head, and foot stones of the same material, making when put together, a box or sarcoph- agus. Each of these coffins had bones in it, some of women and children together, and others of men.” (Clark, (1), pp. 269-276.)
Two classes of mounds containing stone-lined graves have now been described. The first had been made up of several tiers of such graves, reared one upon another, and the whole covered with a mass of earth; the second class included mounds in which such graves had later been prepared—intrusive burials in ancient mounds. Another class, though far less numerous than either of the others, each con- tained a single large grave. A most interesting example of this type was discovered and described by Moore. It stood on a high ridge, overlooking the valley of Green River, in Butler County, Kentucky.
130548 ° —20-——4
50 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL 71
Here were four mounds within a short distance of one another; each had contained a single large grave, ail of which had, unfortunately. been previously excavated. One mound, which measured 21 feet in diameter, contained a grave which measured inside 7 feet 10 inches in length and 3 feet 5 inches in width, “ built of slabs and masses of sandstone and of limestone, the masses in nearly every case showing flat surfaces which had been utilized in the construction of the grave, giving it interiorly a comparatively regular surface.” The large block on the left had been displaced by the roots of the tree. This large grave “had been regularly built up from the yellow, undis- turbed clay which served as a foundation, of slabs and blocks laid on their sides as in the case of walls, to a height of 2 feet 3 inches.” Many large slabs which lay scattered about were supposed to have served as the cover of the grave. A few fragments of human bones were found within the inclosure. (Moore, (5), pp. 485-487.) This most interesting burial place is shown in plate 8, 6. And how nu- merous the smaller graves were in the adjacent country may be learned from these references: In Warren County, “on the north bank of the river, near Bowling-Green, are a great many ancient graves, some of them with a row of stones set on edge around them. These graves, with a large mound on which large trees are growing, are included within the remains of an old fort built of earth. Some ancient relics were found here in 1838.” (Collins, (1), p. 542.) And of the adjoining county of Barren, when referring to a mound on — Big Barren River, 12 miles from Glasgow, in which stone graves were found, he said: “ In the neighborhood, for half a mile or more, are found many of these graves” (p. 176). Again, when writing of discoveries made in Bourbon County, many miles northeast of the preceding, he told that “on all of the principal water courses in the county, Indian graves are to be found, sometimes single, but most frequently several grouped together. Single graves are usually in- dicated by broad flat stones, set in the ground edgewise around the skeleton; but where a number have been deposited together, rude stone walls were erected around them, and these having fallen in- wards, the rocks retain a vertical position, sometimes resembling a rought pavement” (p. 194).
The latter must have resembled the burials encountered along the summits of the bluffs overlooking the Ohio, in Campbell County, iXentucky, and elsewhere.
Although stone-lined graves are so numerous in the valleys south of the Ohio, and may be regarded the most characteristic form of burial practiced in that region, nevertheless many other types of graves are to be encountered. During the past few centuries the coun- try in question was undoubtedly occupied, and possibly reoccupied, by various tribes belonging to different stocks and possessing unlike
BUSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 51
manners and customs in disposing of their dead. And here, as else- where east of the Mississippi, are found proofs of such tribal move- ments. Nor should all burials of a single type be attributed to one tribe or group of tribes, although there was undoubtedly a strong tendency to follow a traditional custom, and it is equally true that no one tribe practiced a single form of burial to the exclusion of all cthers. In addition to the forms of burial already described, others are found in the valleys of the streams flowing into the Ohio from the south, and of the cemeteries thus far discovered one of the most interesting, and one of unusual form, was encountered near the right bank of Green River, in Ohio County, Kentucky. Here an area of more than an acre had become somewhat more elevated than the sur- rounding surface as the result of long-continued occupancy, the ac- cumulation of camp refuse, and natural causes. The site was par- tially examined and 298 burials were revealed. These included both adults and children. “The graves at this place were in the main roughly circular or elliptical. Their size, as.a rule, was somewhat limited, there being usually but little space in them beyond that needed to accommodate the skeletons which, as a rule, were closely flexed, purposely, no doubt, for economy of space. In depth the burials ranged between one foot and eight feet five inches, many of them ending in the yellow sand (some being 2 feet, 3 feet, or excep- tionally nearly 4 feet in it) on which rested the made-ground com- posing the Knoll.” (Moore, (5), pp. 444-480.)
The photograph of one burial, designated as No. 132 in the account, is shown in plate 8, a. The body had been closely folded and placed in a circular grave pit having a diameter of about 20 inches. This will suggest similar burials, some in Ohio, others as far east as the upper James River Valley, in Virginia. And decidedly different from any of the preceding was a great communal, or tribal, burial mound which stood on the lowlands of Buffalo Creek, near the Ohio, in Union County, Kentucky. The mound was partially examined and “on the west side bodies were found covered with six feet of earth, forming there about five separate layers. The bones of the lowest layer were so tender that they could not be removed. ... It would appear that the general plan of burial was to scrape the surface free from all vegetable matter, and deposit the body on its back, with the head turned to the left side. The bodies at the bottom of the heap, so far as could be ascertained by the examination, were buried without weapons, tools, or burial urns. ... To the depth of three feet from the surface, some of the bodies had with them burial urns... . Three or four tiers of skeletons, of later burials, were covered with clay. It is probable that as many as three hundred bodies, infant and adult, were buried in this mound. ...* Adults and children were buried together.” (Lyon, (1), pp. 392-405.)
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This represented a type of burial mound encountered farther up the valley of the Ohio, a good example of which formerly stood within the city of Cincinnati. It was “ in the center of the upper and lower town, on the edge of the upper bank. The principal street leading from the water is cut through the barrow, and exposes its strata and remains. ... The dead repose in double horizontal tiers; between each tier are regular layers of sand, flat surface stones, gravel and earth. I counted seven tiers, and might have discovered more... . With the dead were buried their ornaments, arms and utensils.” (Ashe, (1), pp. 185-190.)
In the extreme northeastern corner of Indiana, almost due north of the preceding, was another mound of this type. In the southwest corner of Steuben County, on the north shore of Little Turkey Lake, stood a group of 10 small mounds. One of the group was examined and six strata of human remains were revealed, “ distinctly separated. by thin strata of earth; the skeletons lay on their backs, extended full length.” Neither pottery nor implements occurred with the remains. (Levette, (1), p. 443.)
Many groups of stone-lined graves have been discovered north of the Ohio. The majority of the groups are quite small and usually occupy a prominent point near a watercourse.
It is a well-established fact that the Kaskaskia, and undoubtedly members of the other allied Illinois tribes, constructed stone-lined graves on the bluffs near the Mississippi, not far from the mouth of the Kaskaskia River, in Randolph County, Illinois, long after the removal of the Kaskaskia from their ancient village on the upper Illinois, very early in the eighteenth century. Some graves near the
‘old French village of Prairie du Rocher, a short distance above the mouth of the Kaskaskia, were evidently made within a century, as “Mrs. Morude, an old Belgian lady who lives here, informed Mr. Middleton that when they were grading for the foundation of their house she saw skulls with the hair still hanging to them taken from these graves. It is therefore more than probable, and, in fact, is generally understood by the old settlers of this section, who derived the information from their parents, that these are the graves of the Kaskaskia and other Indians who resided here when this part of Illinois began to be settled by the whites.” (Thomas, (1), p. 136.)
The graves found here were of the usual forms, some containing skeletons extended at full length, others holding various bones which had been thus deposited after the removal of all flesh. With some were small earthenware vessels. but little else was associated with the fast crumbling remains.
As the Algonquian tribes are known to have occupied both banks of the Mississippi along this part of its course it is reasonable to attribute the similar graves encountered on the right bank of the
BUSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 53
stream to the Illinois, who undoubtedly crossed back and forth as wants and desires made necessary. Across from Kaskaskia, a few miles northward, was the Saline River, a small stream along which were many salt springs, and these served to attract both Indians and French, who, by evaporating the brackish waters, secured a supply of salt. An extensive camp site stood near the mouth of the Saline, and stone-lined graves cov- ered the summits of the sur- rounding hills. Four graves were encountered on the highest point just south of the site and proved of more than ordinary interest. None of the small group contained an extended burial, but in one which measured 5 feet in length and 18 inches in width were seven skulls and a large quantity of separated bones, all in a greatly decom- posed condition. Another of the graves presented several very interesting and unusual features. “The pieces of limestone used in forming the walls and bottom were rather smaller than were often employed. The ex- treme length was just 6 feet, and the width at the widest point 15 inches. This was divided into two compart- ments, the larger being 4 feet 6 inches in length. In this were the bones of a single skeleton, disarticulated be- fore burial. Near the skull lay a small earthen vessel (Cat. No. 278697, U.S.N.M.), which was saved. The smaller compartment was occupied solely by a skull, facing upward, and resting upon the stone which formed the bottom of the grave. It was quite evident that both sections were constructed at the same time, as stones on the bottom extended on both sides of the partition, and likewise the stone on the north wall. Another curious feature of this grave was the converging of the north and south walls to complete the inclosure
Vig. 3.—Stone-lined grave, Ste. Genevieve, Mo.
54 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [pute 71
at-the eastern end.” (Bushnell, (2), p. 653.) The grave is shown in figure 3.
It was not possible to determine the extent of the ancient cemetery of which these four graves formed a part, but originally it may have been quite large. From the high point occupied by this group of burials it was possible to obtain a wide view of the valley across the old bed of the Mississippi to the bluffs beyond the Kaskaskia, and to see the site of the Kas- kaskia town, created soon after the tribe had left their older village on the banks of the Tilinois. It is a region possessing much nat-
Fie. 4.—Small cemetery, Jefferson County, Missouri.
ural beauty, ideally suited to a large native population, such as it undoubtedly sustained during the days before the coming of the French.
Many similar groups of graves are scattered along the bluffs bor- dering the Mississippi and are less numerous inland. The salt springs of Jefferson County, Missouri, a little more than halfway between the mouth of the Saline on the south and the Missouri on the north,
BUSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 55
served to attract the Indians, as did the springs near the former stream, already mentioned. About a mile inland from the smal] vil- lage of Kimmswick, up the valley of Rock Creek, were discovered several small cemeteries in the vicinity of springs. One occupied a small level area just above the principal spring, and when examined proved of the greatest interest. A plan of this curious group is given in figure 4, and as it included many uncommon features it may be of interest to describe the burials in detail. Pottery on the sides and bottoms of the graves refers to the use of fragments of large earthen- ware vessels in the place of stones.
I. Stone at head, pottery bottom. Contained two skulls and many bones. Length 4 feet 2 inches.
II. Stones at ends, pottery sides and bottom. Traces of bones. Length 3 feet, width 1 foot, depth 11 inches.
III. Stone sides and ends, pottery bottom. Extended skeleton. Length 6 feet 4 inches, width 1 foot 6 inches.
IV. Stone at head, also large stone covering skull. Bones bunched.
V. Stone sides and ends, two layers of pottery on bottom. Two skulls rested upon many bones. Earthenware dish between the skulls.
VI. Pottery sides, ends, and bottom. Traces of extended skeleton. Length 4 feet 6 inches.
VII. Similar to preceding.
VIII. Stone sides, ends, and bottom. Contained four radii and four ulne, no other bones. Also eight bone implements and a per- forated disk of wood, discolored by, and showing traces of, a thin sheet of copper. Length 2 feet 6 inches, width 11 inches, depth about 1 foot.
IX. Pottery sides, bottom, and ends, with one stone covering the entire grave. One skull and many bones. Length about 3 feet.
X. End stones and two on north side remain, others fallen away.
XI. Stone sides and ends. Contained two skeletons, one above the other, separated by a layer of slabs of limestone extending from, the shoulders to the feet. Length 6 feet 3 inches, width 1 foot 9 inches, depth 1 foot 8 inches.
XII. Stone ends, pottery bottom. Traces of small skeleton ex- tended. Length about 5 feet.
XIII. Stone sides and ends. Traces of bones. Length about 5 feet.
XIV. Pottery sides, ends, and bottom. Was reduced in size. One skull rested on mass of bones.
XV. Pottery sides and ends. Small skeleton extended. Length 4 feet. .
XVI. Stene sides and ends. Two skulls and scattered bones. Length 2 feet 5 inches, width 1 foot 4 inches.
56 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 71
XVII. Pottery top and bottom. Traces of bones. Length about 4 feet.
XVIII. Similar to preceding.
XIX. Pottery bottom. Traces of small skeleton extended. Length about 4 feet.
XX. Stone ends, pottery bottom. No traces of bones. Contained a large piece of galena. Length 3 feet 10 inches.
XXI. Stone ends, pottery bottom. Three skulls rested upon many bones. Length 3 feet 4 inches.
XXII. Pottery bottom. Traces of small skeleton extended.
Thus it will be seen how great a variety of burials may be found in a single small cemetery. The bodies, when placed in the graves, were probably wrapped in mats or skins, which have long since disappeared, and in some instances bark may have served as a par- tial lining for the graves. This may explain the peculiar arrange- ment of XVIT, XVITI, XIX, and others. The use of fragmentary pottery will recall the similar use of pieces of large vessels by the people who constructed the cemeteries in the vicinity of Nashville. The heads of all the bodies deposited in the graves just described were placed between N. 5° W. and S. 80° W. (magnetic). (Bush- nell, (3), pt. 1.)
About 4 miles northwest of the preceding site, on the right bank of the Meramec, some 3 miles above its junction with the Mississippi, were many other graves, some of which were examined. Two of this group are shown in plate 9, a being that of a small child, with the bottom formed by a single stone; 6 that of an adult female. Large cemeteries are to be found on the Missouri shore north of the Missouri River, and it is interesting to know that intrusive stone graves were discovered near the summit of the “Big Mound” in St. Louis when it was removed in 1869.
Now, as to the age of the stone-lined graves. From the account of the old inhabitants in the vicinity of Prairie du Rocher it is quite evident that many in that locality were constructed by members of the Illinois tribes after the middle of the eighteenth century, al- though it is remarkable that objects of European origin are seldom, if ever, met with in burials along the banks of the Mississippi. Nev- ertheless such objects have been discovered in similar graves to the eastward. A large cemetery has been described in the northwestern part of Sullivan County, Indiana, near the left bank of the Wabash. It is said to cover a space 150 feet in width by 650 feet in length. The graves were lined with pieces of sandstone, and when first seen the stones extended above the surface. The bottom of the burials averaged about 2 feet below the surface, and in some graves as many as five skeletons have been revealed. In some of these stone-lined graves
BUSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 57
gun barrels, iron knives, and other articles of European origin have been discovered, consequently they may not be older than those justly attributed to the Kaskaskia and their neighbors.
One other cemetery may be mentioned to show the wide distribu- tion of this form of burial, although in the manner of covering the graves the makers differed somewhat from the usual method. The cemetery in question was in the southeastern part of Geauga County, in the far northeast corner of Ohio. Here “the graves were mostly constructed of flat stones, placed on edge at the sides and ends. They were paved and covered with the same flagging stones. ... Over
Fic. 5.—Small mortuary bowl.
these were piled loose stones. The location is a side hill, with a descent to the east. In one place the graves extended several rods up the hill in a line in such a manner that the foot of one grave made the head of the next and were all covered by a continuous pile of loose stone. This burial place has been almost entirely despoiled.” (Luther, (1), p. 593.) |
No other form of burial is more widely dispersed in eastern United States than that just described, and stone-lined graves have been en- countered up the valley of the Ohio into Pennsylvania, western Maryland, and Virginia, and farther south they have been traced
58 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 71
along the Tennessee from its mouth to the mountains, and a few scattered examples have been discovered in northern Georgia. Nat- urally the kind of stone with which they were lined differed in widely separated localities, but graves so formed appear to have been con- structed wherever suitable material was available, irrespective of the tribe who may have claimed or occupied the region.
An interesting fact was revealed as a result of the exploration of the small groups of graves on the right bank of the Missssippi, already mentioned. In one of the four graves discovered on the ridge just below the mouth of the Saline were two small bowls, each about 4 inches in diameter and somewhat less in depth. They were made of clay without the admixture of crushed shell or sand. Both were very thin and fragile and would have been of no practical use to the living, and differed materially from all vessels apparently made for actual use in the wigwam. Many similar pieces, of the same size and material, were recovered from the graves farther north near Kimmswick, and the near-by burial places. The dis- covery of so many such bowls associated with burials leads to the belief that they were made solely for use in connection with burial ceremonies, and the finding of these small mortuary vessels in dif- ferent localities proved the connection of the people by whom the sites were occupied. The bowl found in Grave III is shown in figure 5.
INCLOSURES IN MOUNDS
No attempt will be made at the present time to refer in detail to the many forms and variations of burials discovered in mounds north of the Ohio. Many reveal the bodies in an extended position, others in different degrees of folding, and in numerous instances the remains had been cremated and only the ashes placed in the tombs. In some mounds, evidently in some way associated with the human remains, are quantities of scattered animal bones often intermingled with wood ashes and charcoal, suggesting a feast or sacrifice at the time of burial of the dead. Again, many small masses of ashes dis- covered in mounds containing other forms of burials may be the cremated remains of some who had died away from their home vil- lage, and whose bodies had been burned by their companions, the ashes gathered up, and so carried to their homes. This, as told elsewhere in this sketch, was a recognized custom of the tribes of this region. But among the innumerable burials thus revealed are sey- eral distinct types, and the most interesting, excepting only the great structures encountered in southern Ohio, are the works in which the human remains had first been inclosed, or surrounded by walls of stones or logs, and in some instances of both stones and logs,
BUSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 59
The vaults so made were often covered and floored with sheets of bark, logs, stones, or a combination of the different materials. In some the logs were placed upright, in others horizontally, but these details in construction may have been from individual tastes of the makers rather than proving any tribal custom. One of the most re- markable of these structures, one among the first of the ancient works to attract the attention of early travelers and to be described by them, is the high, conical mound near the left bank of the Ohio, in Marshall County, West Virginia, usually known as the Grave Creek Mound. And to quote from a work of 70 years ago, “The Grave creek mound, although it has often been described, deserves, from its size and singularity of construction, more than a passing notice. It is situated on the plain, at the junction of Grave creek and the Ohio river, twelve miles below Wheeling. * * * It is one of the largest in the Ohio valley; measuring about seventy fect
Fig. 6.—Grave Creek Mound.
in height, by one thousand in circumference at the base. It was excavated by the proprietor in 1838. He sank a shaft from the apex of the mound to the base [fig. 6, a, b,| intersecting it at that point by a horizontal drift [@, e, ¢,]. It was found to contain two sepul- chral chambers, one at the base [a], and another thirty feet above [ce]. These chambers had been constructed of logs, and covered with stones, which had sunk under the superincumbent mass as the wood decayed, giving the summit of the mound a flat or rather dish- shaped form. The lower chamber contained two human skeletons (one of which was thought to be that of a female); the upper chamber contained but one skeleton in an advanced stage of decay. With these were found between three and four thousand shell beads, a number of ornaments of mica, several bracelets of copper, and various articles carved in stone. After the excavation of the mound, a light three-story wooden structure was erected upon its summit.” (Squier and Davis, (1), pp. 168-169.) A view of the mound, figure 56 in the work quoted, is reproduced in plate 15.
A mound of rather unusual form, covering a log inclosure, stood in Hocking County, Ohio. A plan of this work is produced in figure 7.
60 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY . [BULL. 71
It must have been the tomb of an important person, the burial place of some great man, highly esteemed by his companions. The mound is, as shown in the plan, surrounded by a ditch and embank- ment. “The mound, which covers the entire area, save a harrow strip here and there, is 115 feet long and 96 feet wide at base, with
Yr
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Tic. 7.—Inclosure in mound, Hocking County, Ohio.
a height of 23 feet. . . . The surrounding wall and ditch are interrupted only by the gateway at the east, which is about 30 feet wide. The ditch is 3 feet deep and varies in width from 20 to 23 feet. ‘The wall averages 20 feet in breadth and is from 1 foot to 3 feet high.” The upper 5 feet of the mound was of yellow clay, the balance of the work being formed of dark surface soil. “At the base, 30 feet from the south margin, was a bed of burnt clay, on which were coals and ashes. In the center, also at the base, were the re-
BUSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 61
mains of a square wooden vault. The logs of which it was built were completely decayed, but the molds and impressions were still very distinct, so that they could be easily traced. This was about 10 feet square, and the logs were of considerable size, most of them nearly or quite a foot in diameter. At each corner had been placed a stout upright post, and the bottom, judging by the slight remains found there, had been wholly or partially covered with poles. . . . Near the center was the extended skeleton of an adult, head south, with which were enough shell beads to make a string 9 yards in length.” (Thomas, (1), pp. 446-449.)
Quite similar to the preceding was a burial discovered in Ross County, Ohio. This mound, having a height of 22 feet and a diame- ter of 90 feet, stood on the third terrace of the Scioto, about 5 miles below Chillicothe. During the course of the exploration of the work a stratum of ashes and charcoal was encountered at a depth of 10 feet below the summit. ‘This mass was from 2 to 6 inches in thick- ness and about 10 feet square, and “ at the depth of 22 feet, and on a level with the original surface, immediately underneath the charcoal layer . . . was a rude timber framework now reduced to an al- most impalpable powder, but the cast of which was still retained in the hard earth. This inclosure of timber, measured from outside to outside, was 9 feet long by 7 wide, and 20 inches high. It had been constructed of logs laid one on the other, and had evidently been covered with other timbers, which had sunk under the superincum- bent earth as they decayed. The bottom had also been covered with bark, matting, or thin slabs—at any rate, a whitish stratum of de- composed material remained, covering the bottom of the parallelo- gram. Within this rude coffin, with its head to the west, was found a human skeleton.” And associated with the human remains were many beads, again resembling the similar burial in Hocking County. (Squier, (2), pp. 164-167.)
Burials of a like nature have been discovered westward to the Mis- sissippl, some very interesting examples having been found in the valley of the Illinois and the circumjacent country.
A stone inclosure discovered in a mound in Rush County, Indiana, about 34 miles southwest of the village of Milroy, may be considered a typical example of this form of burial. The mound was 5 feet in height and 30 feet in diameter. It stood “on a bluff 20 feet high, at the foot of which flows the stream Little Flat Rock. . . . Inside of it was what might be termed a stone wall inclosing 10 feet square of the mound. Though the wall was not of perfect masonry, yet very evidently it was built for some purpose. . . . On top was common soil 18 inches deep, then clay, next clay and ashes, with coal mixed in jt 2 feet thick; then a hardpan of clay, on top of
62 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 71
which were three human adult skeletons and the skull of an infant, all side by side, with their feet toward the east. Around the neck of one were a number of copper and bone beads, the latter of which crumbled immediately. The copper ones were made of sheet copper rolled up.” (Jackson, (1), pp. 374-376.)
A mound in Whiteside County, Illinois, was found to cover an in- closure built of the “ fossiliferous limestone common in the neigh- borhood. It was about three feet high, two feet thick at the top, and three feet at the base, piled up loosely, the lower stones broad and flat, rather heavier than one man could well carry. This inclosure was entirely at one side of the center of the mound.” The inclosure was about 10 feet square and within it were human remains. (Pratt, (1), pp. 354-361.)
All stone inclosures were not rectangular as were the two examples just described. Some were circular or oval in outline, and some of these were so formed as to converge near the top. Mounds of this nature are said to be quite numerous in Cass County, Illinois, where they occupy the summits of bluffs overlooking the Sangamon. “ Rarely exceeding eight or ten feet in height by twenty to thirty in diameter, and more frequently met of much smaller dimensions. The mode of inhumation in mounds of this kind consisted in placing the body or bodies (for they contain from one to six or eight each) of the deceased upon the ground in a sitting or squatting posture, with the face to the east, and inclosing them with a rudely-constructed circular wall of rough, undressed stones, which was gradually con- tracted at the top, and finally covered over with a single broad stone slab, over all of which the earth was heaped.” Implements of bone, a few flint implements, and fragments of pottery of a poor quality are found in these burials. “ I would conclude that the class of earth- works under consideration were very old were it not for the singular fact that in one of them, a few years ago, the decayed bones of a single individual were found, with a few flint arrow points, a small earthen cup or vase, and a zron gun-barrel very much corroded.” (Snyder, (1), p. 572.)
The discovery of the gun barrel in one of the mounds proves the latter to have been reared within two and one half centuries, un- doubtedly since the middle of the seventeenth century. Evidently the region was at one time comparatively thickly peopled. On the (VAnville map, published in 1755, the Sangamon appears as the Emicouen R. On the left bank of the stream, some 35 miles above its junction with the Illinois, is indicated the site of the Ancien village des Metchigamias. The Michigamea was a tribe of the Illinois confederacy, and were first visited by Marquette when he descended the Mississippi in 1678. At that time their village was on the west
BUSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 63
side of the Mississippi, in the northeast corner of the present State of Arkansas. The source of the statement on the map is not known. If, however, this was the early home of the tribe, it would be reason- able to attribute to them certain of the burial mounds standing in ‘the valley of the Sangamon, although they may have moved south- ward before the Illinois obtained firearms. In later years the Kick- apoo occupied a village on the Sangamon, but the exact location is not known. It was evidently protected by a palisade, for in men- tioning it a century ago it was said, “This fortification is distin- guished by the name of Etnataek. It is known to have served as an intrenchment to the Kickapoos and Foxes, who were met there and defeated by the Potawatomis, the Ottowas, and the Chippewas.” (Keating, (1), I, p.171.)° And according to the late Dr. William Jones, whose knowledge of the Algonquian language will probably never be equaled by another, the name /tnataek may have been derived from atanataheg', signifying “where the battle, fight, or clubbing took place.”
The burial mound on the Sangamon Bluff, in which the gun was discovered, may have been erected by the Kickapoo after the valley was abandoned by the Michigamea, and the Kickapoo may likewise have been the builders of other similar works occurring in the coun- try which they once occupied. :
A very remarkable example of rectangular stone inclosure was dis- covered in a mound on a bluff overlooking: the Mississippi, in the town of Dunleith, Jo Daviess County, Illinois. This is the extreme northwest corner of the State, and the mound was one of a large group. Its height was about 10 feet, with a diameter of 65 feet. To quote the description of the interior: “ The first six feet from the top consisted of hard gray earth. . . . This covered a vault built in part of stone and in part of round logs. When fully uncovered this was found to be a rectangular crypt, inside measurement showing it to be thirteen feet long and seven feet wide. The four straight, sur- rounding walls were built of small unhewn stones to the height of three feet and a foot or more in thickness. Three feet from each end was a cross wall or partition of like character, thus leaving a central chamber seven feet square, and a narrow cell at each end about two feet wide and seven feet long. This had been entirely covered with a single layer of round logs, varying in diameter from six to twelve inches, laid close together side by side across the width of the vault, the ends resting upon and extending to uneven lengths beyond the side walls.” In the central space were 11 human skeletons, as indi- cated in the drawings, figure 8 showing a section of the mound and figure 9 a ground plan of the inclosure. “They had all apparently been interred at one time as they were found arranged in a circle in a
64 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 71
sitting posture, with backs against the walls. In the center of the space around which they were grouped was a fine large shell, Busy- con perversum, which had been converted into a drinking cup by removing the columella. Scattered around this were quite a number of pieces of broken pottery. The end cells, walled off as heretofore stated, were nearly filled with a fine chocolate-colored dust, which,
f ial oy,
: a h m
Me aerate ete eam 396°C Miaka 2 a cn.
Fig. 8.—Mound in Jo Daviess County, Illinois, section.
when first uncovered, gave out such a sickening odor that it was found necessary to suspend operations until the next day in order to give it time to escape. . . . The covering consisted of oak logs, nearly all of which had been peeled and some of the larger ones somewhat squared by slabbing off the sides before being put in place. ac (Thomas, (1), pp. 115-117.) Similar inclosures were discovered in
Fic. 9.—Mound in Jo Daviess County, Illinois, base.
other mounds of the group. The true nature of the “fine chocolate- colored dust” was not determined.
While the preceding was one of the most perfectly formed stone inclosures ever found east of the Mississippi and represents a cer- tain high degree of skill of the people by whom it was constructed, another a short distance northward may be regarded as exemplify- ing the other extreme. This refers to a small mound, one of a group, on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi about 1 mile above Lynxville, Crawford County, Wisconsin. It was 17 feet in diameter
BUSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 65
and 24 feet in height. It covered a stone vault “ which, though only about three and one-half feet wide and of the form shown in the figure, extended from the top of the mound down a foot or more below the natural surface of the ground. This contained a single skeleton in a half-upright position. The head was southwest, the feet northeast. Near the right hip was a discoidal stone. There were no traces of coals or ashes in this mound.” (Thomas, (1), p. 72.) The ground plan is indicated in figure 10.
The hollowing out of a central space in the original surface, thus forming a resting place for the body or bodies, later to be entirely covered by a mass of earth, appears to have been a well-developed custom of the people who reared the many mounds in southern Wis- ~ consin and the adjoining country, but seldom do such works com- bine this feature with the stone in- closure as discovered in the small mound mentioned above.
The inclosures described are good examples of this peculiar form of tomb, but they are not confined to the country “east of the Mississippi, and many have been discovered ex- aN tending across the State of Missouri, up the valley of the Missouri.
(Fowke, (2).) It is one of the most distinctive forms of burial encoun- tered in eastern United States, and !1¢. 10—Mound in Crawford County,
: Pits : : Wisconsin. likewise one of the most interesting.
The numerous small burial mounds of Wisconsin do not reveal much of interest. They often occur in irregular groups, in some in- ‘stances being associated with the effigies. Entire skeletons are found in some, but in others the burials are represented by a confused mass of bones. The mounds are seldom more than 10 feet in height, often quite steep, and consequently of a relatively small diameter. Little can be added to the account prepared more than 60 years ago. (Lapham, (1).)
rays)
BURIALS IN CAVES
The early settlers of eastern Tennessee, eastern Kentucky, and the adjoining region discovered many caves of varying sizes in the broken, mountainous country. In many instances human remains which had been deposited in the caverns, together with the garments and wrappings of tanned skins or woven fibers, were found in a
130548 °—20——5
66 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 71
remarkable state of preservation, having been thus preserved by the natural salts which abounded within the caves. Fortunately several very clear and graphic accounts of such discoveries were prepared. One most interesting example, then recently made in a cave in Bar- ren County, Kentucky, was described in a letter written August 24, 1815: “In exploring a caleareous chamber in the neighborhood of Glasgow, for saltpetre, several human bodies were found enwrapped carefully in skins and cloths. They were inhumed below the floor of the cave; inhwmed, not lodged in catacombs. ... The outer envelope of the body is a deer skin, probably dried in the usual way, and perhaps softened before its application, by rubbing. The next covering is a deer skin, whose hair had been cut away by a sharp
instrument. . . . The next wrapper is of cloth, made of twine doubled and twisted. But the thread does not appear to have been formed by the wheel, nor the web by the loom. . . . The innermost tegument is
a mantle of cloth like the preceding; but furnished with large brown feathers, arranged and fastened with great art, so as to be capable of guarding the living wearer from wet and cold. The plumage is distinct and entire, and the whole bears a near similitude to the feathery cloaks now worn by the nations of the n.*w. coast of America. .. . The body is in a squatting posture. ... There is a deep and extensive fracture of the skull near the occiput. . . . The skin has sustained little injury. ... The scalp, with small excep- tions, is covered with sorrel or foxy hair.” (Mitchill, (1), pp. 318- 321.)
Four years earlier a similar discovery was made about 100 miles to the southward, near the center of the State of Tennessee. The entire account is quoted.
“In the spring of the year 1811, was found in a copperas cave in Warren County, in West Tennessee, about 15 miles southwest from Sparta, and 20 from McMinnville, the bodies of two human beings, which had been covered by the dirt or ore from which copperas was made. One of these persons was a male, the other a female. They were interred in baskets, made of cane, curiously wrought, and evi- dencing great mechanic skill. They were both dislocated at the hip joint, and were placed erect in the baskets, with a covering made of cane to. fit the baskets in which they were placed. The flesh of these persons was entire and undecayed, of a brown dryish colour, pro- duced by time, the flesh having adhered closely to the bones and sinews. Around the female, next her body, was placed a well dressed deer skin. Next to this was placed a rug, very curiously wrought, of the bark of a tree and feathers. The bark seemed to have been formed of small strands well twisted. Around each of these strands, feathers were rolled, and the whole woven into a cloth of firm texture,
BUSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 67
after the manner of our coarse fabrics. This rug was about three feet wide, and between six and seven in length. The whole of the ligaments thus framed of bark, were completely covered by the feathers, forming a body of about one eighth of an inch in thick- ness, the feathers extending about one quarter of an inch in length from the strand to which they were confined. The appearance was highly diversified by green, blue, yellow and black, presenting dif- ferent shades of colour when reflected upon by the light in different positions. The next covering was an undressed deer skin, around which was rolled, in good order, a plain shroud manufactured after the same order as the one ornamented with feathers. This article resembled very much in its texture the bags generally used for the purpose of holding coffee exported from the Havanna to the United States. The female had in her hand a fan formed of the tail feathers of a turkey. The points of these feathers were curiously bound by a buckskin string well dressed, and were thus closely bound for about one inch from the points. About three inches from the point they were again bound, by another deer skin string, in such a manner that the fan might be closed and expanded at pleasure. Between the feathers and this last binding by the string, were placed around each feather, hairs which seem to have been taken from the tail of a deer. This hair was dyed of a deep scarlet red, and was one third at least longer than the hairs of the deer’s tail in this climate generally are.
“The male was interred sitting in a basket, after the same manner as the former, with this exception, that he had no feathered rug, neither had he a fan in his hand. The hair which still remained on their heads was entire. . . . The female was, when she deceased, of about the age of 14. The male was somewhat younger. The cave in which they were found, abounded in nitre, copperas, alum and salts. The whole of this covering, with the baskets, was perfectly sound, without any marks of decay.” (Haywood, (1), pp. 163-165.)
A somewhat similar burial was encountered in a rock shelter on the bank of Cliff Creek, Morgan County, Tennessee, in 1885. This was some miles northeast of the cave described in 1811. The burial was reached at a depth of 34 feet in earth strongly charged with nitre. Rolled up in a large split-cane mat were very remarkable examples of aprons made of Indian hemp (A pocynum cannabinum), skeins of vegetal fiber, a dog’s skull, some bone implements, fragments of human bones, and some hair. All were inclosed in the mat, and together with it were preserved by the natural salts. The speci- mens are now in the United States National Museum, Washington. (Holmes, (1), p. 30.)
While the preceding burials do not appear to have been placed in prepared graves, other instances have been recorded where the bodies
68 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL, 71
had been inclosed in a cavity protected by flat stones, thus resembling the stone-lined graves of the region. Such were the conditions revealed in a cave some 4 miles distant from Mammoth Cave, in Warren County, Kentucky. Here the remains were * found at the depth of about ten feet from the surface of the cave, placed in a sitting posture, incased in broad stones, standing on their edges, with a flat stone covering the whole. It was enveloped in coarse clothes . . . the whole wrapped in deer skins, the hair of which was shaved off in the manner in which Indians prepare them for market. KEn- closed in the stone coffin, were the working utensils, beads, feathers, and other ornaments of dress, which belonged to her. .. . This place the cave had evident marks of having once been the residence of the aborigines of the country, from the quantity of ashes, and the remains of fuel, and torches made of reed, &c. which were found in it.” Other remains had been discovered in this cave previously to the one just described. This was written October 2, 1817. (Wilkins, (1), pp. 361-364.)
Differing from all the cave burials now mentioned, in which the re- mains had been carefully prepared and wrapped, then deposited with various ornaments, was a discovery made about 14 miles northeast of Hardinsburgh, Breckinridge County, Kentucky. Here a great mass of bones was found. ‘“ The cavern is open toward the south, the over- hanging roof protecting the space below from exposure to the ele- ments from above, while immense masses of fallen rock make a wall from ten to twelve feet high, directly in front, between which and the rear wall of the cavern the deposit containing the human remains
vas found. This deposit consists almost entirely of wood ashes. .. . The deposit is about eight by fifteen feet superficial measure, and was about seven feet in depth. In it, without order, were found thirty or more human skeletons, nearly all with a flat stone laid upon their heads. There were infants and adults promiscuously buried at various depths in the ashes, and at the bottom, on a layer of broken stones, some charred human remains were found. . . . Mingled with these remains many flint and other stone implements and weapons were found, with a few fragments of rude pottery.” (Robertson, (1), p. 367.)
Resembling the preceding was a cave in Marshall County, Alabama, about 1 mile west of Guntersville, a short distance from the bank of the Tennessee. “Its floor is covered to the depth of four feet with fragments of human bones, earth, ashes, and broken stones. This fragmentary condition of the deposits is chiefly due to the fact that they have been repeatedly turned over by treasure hunters. Much of this deposit has been hauled away in sacks for fertilizing the land. The number of dead deposited here must have been very great,
BUSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 69
for, notwithstanding so much has been removed, there is yet a depth of four feet, chiefly of broken human bones.” (Thomas, (1), p. 285.)
Other instances are recorded where a small room or cavity within a large cave had evidently been set apart and converted into a tomb. Haywood mentioned a cave “near the confines of Smith and Wilson Counties, on the south side of Cumberland river, about 22 miles above Cairo, on the waters of Smith’s Fork of Cany Fork.” The outer portion of the cave was examined and small cavities were entered through natural passages. They reached “ another small aperture, which also they entered, and went through, when they came into a narrow room, 25 feet square. Every thing here was neat and smooth. The room seemed to have been carefully preserved for the reception and keeping of the dead. In this room, near about the centre, were - found sitting in baskets made of cane, three human bodies; the flesh entire, but a little shrivelled, and not much so. The bodies were those of aman, a female and a small child. . . . The man was wrapped in
14 dressed deer skins. The 14 deer skins were wrapped in what those present called blankets. They were made of bark. ... The form of the baskets which enclosed them was pyramidal, being larger at the bottom, and declining to the top. The heads of the skeletons, from the neck, were above the summits of the blankets.” (Haywood, (1), pp. 191-192.) This would have been near the center of the State of Tennessee.
The same writer records another example quite like the preceding. (Op. cit., p. 195.) This was in Giles County, Tennessee, which touches the Alabama line. The cave was on the east bank of a creek, 74 miles north of the village of Pulaski. The cave contained several cavities or rooms, “ the first 15 feet wide, and 27 long; 4 feet deep, the upper part of solid and even rock. In the eave was a passage, which had been so artfully covered that it escaped detection till lately.” When the stones closing the opening had been removed, and the cavity en- tered, human bones were found scattered over the floor, which had been formed of “ flat stones of a bluish hue, being closely joined to- gether, and of different forms and sizes.”
Various other burials, similar to those already mentioned, could be described, but without adding materially to the details. Many such discoveries were undoubtedly made by the early settlers and pioneers, all traces of which have been lost and to which no references have been preserved. It is within reason to attribute these burials in caves to the same people who constructed the stone-lined graves, but in the lat- ter all objects and material of a perishable nature have long since disappeared, whereas garments and wrappings when deposited in caves in contact with certain natural salts have been preserved. Therefore, if the hypothesis is correct, and the builders of the stone-
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lined graves were the same people who would often deposit their dead in the natural caverns, many of the bodies when placed in the graves would probably have been similarly wrapped in skins or pieces of woven fiber, some decorated with feathers, some plain. But now little is encountered in the graves in addition to crumbling, de- caying bones.
The manner in which some of the cave burials had been prepared, with the outer wrappings formed of mats of cane or rushes, tends to recall Lawson’s account of the burial customs of the Carolina tribes with whom he came in contact very early in the eighteenth century. And undoubtedly there was intercourse between the occupants of the villages along the eastern slopes, in the western portion of the present State of North Carolina, and the people who claimed and occupied the valleys across the mountains. All may have had various customs in common.
TROQUOIAN GROUPS
Troquoian tribes occupied the greater part of the present State of New York, forming the League of the Iroquois, which often held the balance of power between the French and British colonies. Towns were numerous and frequently consisted of a strongly protected group of bark-covered houses, including the extended communal dwellings, some of which were 80 feet or more in length. The five nations of the league were the Mohawk, Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga, and Seneca. The Susquehanna, met by a party of Virginia colonists in 1608 near the mouth of the stream which bears the tribal name, the Cherokee of the southern mountain country, and the Tuscarora and neighboring tribes, were members of this linguistic family. The Tuscarora moved northward early in the eighteenth century and in 1722 became the sixth nation of the league.
THE FIVE NATIONS
Writing of the Iroquois or Five Nations, during the early years of the eighteenth century, at a time when they dominated the greater part of the present State of New York, it was said: “Their funeral Rites seem to be formed upon a Notion of some Kind of Existence after Death. They make a large round Hole, in which the Body can be placed upright, or upon its Haunches, which after the Body is placed in it, is covered with Timber, to support the Earth which they lay over, and thereby keep. the Body free from being pressed; they then raise the Earth in a round Hill over it. They always dress the Corps in all its Finery, and put Wampum and other Things into the Grave with it; and the Relations suffer not Grass or any Weed to
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grow on the Grave, and frequently visit it with Lamentations.” (Colden, (1), p. 16.)
The circular mound of earth over the grave was likewise men- tioned a century earlier, having been seen at the Oneida village which stood east of the present Munnsville, Madison County, New York. ‘“ Before we reached the castle we saw three graves, just like our graves in length and height; usually their graves are round. These graves were surrounded with palisades that they had split from trees, and they were closed up so nicely that it was a wonder to see. They were painted with red and white and black paint; but the chief’s grave had an entrance, and at the top of that was a big wooden bird, and all around were painted dogs and deer and snakes, and other beasts.” (Van Curler, (1), p. 92.)
Within recent years a cemetery has been discovered about 2 miles northeast of Munnsville, and just south of it has been located a site protected by a stockade. This may have been the position of the great Oneida town, but the nature of the burials is not known. Whether the two preceding accounts referred to graves of sufficient magnitude to be classed as mounds, or whether they alluded merely to a small mass of earth raised over an individual pit burial, is diffi- cult to determine; nevertheless burial mounds do occur throughout the country of the Iroquois, but they are neither numerous nor large.
In Erie County, near the bank of Buffalo Creek, formerly stood a rather irregular embankment, semicircular in form, and touching the steep bank at both ends. The inclosed area was about 4 acres. This was one of the favorite sites of the Senecas, and within the in- closure was one of their largest cemeteries. Here is the grave of “the haughty and unbending Red Jacket, who died exulting that the Great Spirit had made him an Indian! ... Tradition fixes upon this spot as the scene of the final and most bloody conflict be- tween the Iroquois and the ‘Gah-kwas’ or Eries.... The old mission-house and church stand in close proximity to this mark.
.. Red Jacket’s house stood above a third of a mile to the south- ward upon the same elevation; and the abandoned council-house is still standing, perhaps a mile distant, in the direction of Buffalo. A little distant beyond, in the same direction and near the public road, is a small mound, called Dah-do-sot, artificial hill, by the Indians, who, it 1s said, were accustomed to regard it with much veneration, sup- posing that it covered the victims slain in some bloody conflict in the olden times. .... It was originally between five and six feet in height by thirty-five or forty feet base, and composed of the ad- jacent loam.” It was partially examined, and only a few bits of charcoal, some half-formed arrowheads, etc., were found. (Squier,
(1), pp. 51-53.)
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Several other mounds may be mentioned, and these may be con- sidered as being typical of all existing in the country of the Five Nations. Schoolcraft referred to a mound which stood about 1 mile distant, up the Tonawanda, in Genesee County. Another was some 2 miles south of the first. Both were discovered in the year 1810, and contained many human bones. Glass beads were recovered from the one which stood farther north. In the adjoining county of Monroe were two mounds, the larger being not more than 5 feet in height. They were on the “high, sandy grounds to the west- ward of Irondequoit Bay, where it connects with Lake Ontario.” These are said to have been examined in 1817, at which time various objects of European origin were found, including a sword scabbard, bands of silver, belt buckles, and similar pieces.
The mounds already mentioned were within the territory of the Seneca, and those described in Genesee and Monroe Counties were erected within historic times.
The Oneida occupied the country northeast of Lake Ontario, and a site “near the east end of Long Sault Island,” in St. Lawrence County, may have been occupied by one of their villages. A mound south of this site was examined, and in it were discovered seven skeletons, and associated with the burials were various objects of native origin, including “a large pitcher-like vessel, four gouges, and some very coarse cloth, which looked lke our hair cloth, only very coarse. Also seven strings of beads.” (Beauchamp, (2).) A mound on St. Regis Island, in Franklin County, which touches St. Lawrence on the west, was opened in 1818. It contained deposits of human remains, those nearer the upper surface being the best preserved. This would have been in the Mohawk country.
Mound burials are likewise to be encountered in the southern coun- ties, one very interesting example having been discovered in Che- nango, the region later occupied by the Tuscarora. This was in Green Township, near the mouth of Geneganstlet Creek. It was origi- nally about 6 feet in height and 40 feet in diameter. “ It was opened in 1829 and abundant human bones were found, and much deeper be- neath them were others which had been burned. It was not an orderly burial, and the bones crumbled on being exposed. In one part were about 200 yellow and black jasper arrowheads, and 60 more in another place. Also a silver band or ring about 2 inches in diameter, wide but thin, and with what appeared to be the re- mains of a reed pipe within it. A number of stone gouges or chisels of different shapes, and a piece of mica cut in the form of a heart, the border much decayed and the laminz separated, were also dis- covered.” (Wilkinson, (1),)
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The finding of a piece of mica in this burial at once suggests the mound may have been the work of the Tuscarora. The mica “ cut in the form of a heart ” was probably carried by them from Carolina when they went northward in the early years of the eighteenth cen- tury, and became the sixth nation of the league. A short distance beyond, in the adjoining county of Otsego, is an island in the Sus- quehanna near the mouth of Charlotte River, and a mound stands on the island which is known locally as the grave of the chief Kaga- tinga, probably a village chief not known in history. In the extreme northern part of the same county, near Richfield Springs, was a mound often visited by the Oneida, and said by them to have been the burial place of one of their chief men. This will tend to recall . the visits made by parties of Indians to the burial mounds in pied- mont Virginia, a region once claimed and occupied by Siouan tribes.
From the few references just given it is quite evident the Iroquois followed a form of mound burial even after the coming of the French, and it is also clearly established that such burials were more frequent in the western than in the eastern part of their country. Mounds similar to those mentioned have been encountered in every county west of a line running north and south through Oneida Lake, but are far less numerous to the eastward.
OSSUARIES
Many ossuaries have been encountered in the western counties of the State of New York, which, however, may be attributed to the influence of the Huron. These great pits often contain vast quanti- ties of skeletal remains, together with numbers of objects of native origin which had been deposited as offerings to the dead, and mate- rial obtained from the early traders is sometimes found associated with the later burials. The ossuaries appear to have been rectangular in form, to have occupied rather prominent positions, and to have been carefully prepared. Such a communal burial place was dis- covered in May, 1909, about 1 mile southwest of Gasport, Niagara County, but unfortunately no detailed record of its contents was preserved. A part of the excavation is shown in plate 10, 0.
HURON CEREMONY, 1636
In contemplating the origin of the preceding burial it is of interest to read the description of a similar burial, as witnessed and recorded by the Jesuit Pere Le Jeune, in the year 1636. But the father had much to say about the manners and customs of the people among whom he labored—the Huron—whose villages were in the vicinity of Lake Simcoe. He told of the manner in which the: family
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and friends gathered about the sick person while making various necessary plans and preparations in anticipation of the end, and continued: “As soon as the sick man has drawn his last breath, they place him in the position in which he is to be in the grave; they do not stretch him at length as we do, but place him in a crouching posture, almost the same that a child has in its mother’s womb. Thus far, they restrain their tears. After having performed these duties the whole Cabin begins to respond with cries, groans, and wails... . As soon as they cease, the Captain goes promptly through the Cabins, making known that such and such a one is dead. On the arrival of friends, they begin anew to weep and complain. ... Word of the death is also sent to the friends who live in the other Villages; and, as each family has some one who takes care of its dead, these latter come as soon as possible to take charge of every- thing, and determine the day of the funeral. Usually they inter the Dead on the third day; as soon as it is light, the Captain gives orders that throughout the whole Village a feast be made for the dead.” This being accomplished, “the Captain publishes throughout the Village that the body is about to be borne to the Cemetery. The whole Village assembles in the Cabin; and weeping is renewed; and those who have charge of the ceremonies get ready a litter on which the corpse is placed on a mat and enveloped in a Beaver robe, and then four lift and carry it away; the whole Village follows in silence to the Cemetery. A Tomb is there, made of bark and supported on four stakes, eight to ten feet high. However, before the corpse is put into it, and before they arrange the bark, the Captain makes known the presents that have been given by the friends. In this Country, as well as elsewhere, the most agreeable consolations for the loss of friends are always accompanied by presents, such. as kettles, axes, Beaver robes, and Porcelain collars... .” All these gifts were not deposited with the dead. Some were distributed among the rela- tions of the deceased and others were given to those persons who assisted with the ceremonies. Others were offered as prizes in games played by the younger men.
“The graves are not permanent; as their Villages are stationary only during a few years, while the supplies of the forest last, the bodies only remain in the Cemeteries until the feast of the Dead, which usually takes place every twelve years.” During the years between the death and the time of the final disposition of the re- mains the departed were often honored in many ways by the mem- bers of the family or by the entire village. And then came the great ceremony: “The feast of the Dead is the most renowned cere- mony among the Huron; they give it the name of feast be- cause , , . When the bodies are taken from their Cemeteries, each
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Captain makes a feast for the souls in his Village,” and the feast was conducted with much form, “ now usually there is only a single feast in each Nation; all the bodies are put into a common pit. I say, usually, for this year, which has happened to be the feast of the Dead, the kettle has been divided; and five Villages of the part where we are have acted by themselves, and have put their dead into a private pit.... Twelve years or thereabouts having elapsed, the Old Men and Notables of the Country assemble, to deliberate in a definite way on the time at which the feast shall be held to the satisfaction of the whole Country and of the foreign Nations that may be invited to it. The decision having been made, as all the bodies are to be transported to the Village where is the common grave, each family sees to its dead, but with a care and affection that cannot be described: if they have dead relatives in any part of the Country, they spare no trouble to go for them; they take them from the Cemeteries, bear them on their shoulders, and cover them with the finest robes they have. In each Village they choose a fair day, and proceed to the Cemetery, where those called Atheonde, who take care of the graves, draw the bodies from the tombs in the presence of the rela- tives, who renew their tears and feel afresh the grief they had the day of the funeral . .. after having opened the graves, they dis- play before you all these Corpses, on the spot, and they leave them thus exposed long enough for the spectators to learn at their leisure, and once for all, what they will be some day. The flesh of some is quite gone, and there is only parchment on their bones; in other cases, the bodies look as if they had been dried and smoked, and show scarcely any signs of putrefaction; and in still other cases they are still swarming with worms. When the friends have gazed upon the bodies to their satisfaction, they cover them with handsome Beaver robes quite new: finally, after some time they strip them of their flesh, taking off skin and flesh which they throw into the fire along with the robes and mats in which the bodies were wrapped. As regards the bodies of those recently dead, they leave these in the state in which they are, and content themselves by simply cov- ering them with new robes.... The bones having been well cleaned, they put them partly into bags, partly into fur robes, loaded them on their shoulders, and covered these packages with another beautiful hanging robe. As for the whole bodies, they put them on a species of litter, and carried them with all the others, each into his Cabin, where each family made a feast to its dead.” The bones of the dead were called by the Huron A tisken, “ the souls.”
For several days between the removal of the bodies from the tombs and the starting for the scene of the last rites, these many bundles of
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bones were either hung from the walls of the dwellings or lay upon the floor, and in one “ Cabin there were fully a hundred souls hung to and fixed upon the poles, some of which smelled a little stronger than musk.” At last the time arrived when all were gathered about the great excavation in which the remains were to be deposited: “Let me describe the arrangement of this place. It was about the size of the place Royale at Paris. There was in the middle of it a great pit, about ten feet deep and five brasses wide. All around it was a scaffold, a sort of staging very well made, nine to ten brasses in width, and from nine to ten feet high; above this staging there were a number of poles laid across, and well arranged, with cross- poles to which these packages of souls were hung and bound. The whole bodies, as they were to be put in the bottom of the pit, had been the preceding day placed under the scaffold, stretched upon bark or mats fastened to stakes about the height of a man, on the borders of the pit. The whole Company arrived with their corpses about an hour after Midday, and divided themselves into different cantons, according to their families and Villages, and laid on the ground their parcels of souls, almost as they do earthen pots at the Village Fairs. They unfolded also their parcels of robes, and all the presents they had brought, and hung them upon poles, which were from 5 to 600 toises in extent; so there were as many as twelve hun- dred presents which remained thus on exhibition two full hours, to give Strangers time to see the wealth and magnificence of the Coun- try.” Later in the day the pit was lined with new beaver robes, each of which was made of ten skins. The bottom and sides were thus covered, and the robes lay a foot or more over the edge. Forty-eight robes were required to form the lining, and others of a like nature were wrapped about the remains. The entire bodies were first placed in the bottom of the pit, and the bundles of bones were depositect above. “On all sides you could have seen them letting down half- decayed bodies; and on all sides was heard a horrible din of confused voices of persons, who spoke and did not listen; ten or twelve were in the pit and were arranging the bodies all around it, one after an- ether. They put in the very middle of the pit three large kettles, which could only be of use for souls; one had a hole through it, an- other had no handle, and the third was of scarcely more value.” The. entire bodies were placed in the pit the first day, and the bundles of loose bones were deposited on the morning of the second, after which the beaver robes were folded over the remains which reached nearly to the mouth of the pit. And then all was covered “ with sand, poles, and wooden stakes, which they threw in without order,” after which “some women brought to it some dishes of corn; and that day, and the following days, several Cabins of the Village provided nets quite
BUSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL vr
full of it, which were thrown upon the pit.” (Le Jeune, (1), pp. 265-317.)
Much detail not quoted at this time is to be found in this vivid narrative, and many of the beliefs and superstitions of the people are recorded. He told of the treatment of the body of a person acci- dentally drowned: “ Last year, at the beginning of November [1635], a Savage was drowned when returning from fishing; he was interred on the seventeenth, without any ceremonies. On the same day snow fell in such abundance that it hid the earth all the winter; and our Savages did not fail to cast the blame on their not having cut up the dead person as usual. Such are the sacrifices they make to render Heaven favorable.” (P. 165.)
And regarding the Huron belief in the future state the same father wrote (p. 143): “As to what is the state of the soul after death, they hold that it separates in such a way from the body that it does not abandon it immediately. When they bear it to the grave, it walks in front, and remains in the cemetery until the feast of the Dead; by night, it walks through the village and enters the Cabins, Hee it takes its part in the feasts, and eats what is left at evening in the kettle; whence it happens that many, on this account, do not willingly an from it on the morrow; there are even some of them who will not go to the feasts made for the souls, believing that they would certainly die if they should even taste of the provisions pre- pared for them; others, however, are not so scrupulous, and eat their fill. At the feast of the Dead, which takes place about every twelve years, the souls quit the cemeteries, and in the opinion of some are changed into Turtledoves, which they pursue later in the woods, with bow and arrow, to broil and eat; nevertheless the most common belief is that after this ceremony . . . they go away in company, covered as they are with robes and collars which have been put into the grave for them, to a great Village, which is toward the setting Sun, except, however, the old people and the little children who have not as strong limbs as the others to make this voyage; these remain in the country, where they have their own particular Villages.”
Several very interesting details are revealed in the account of this great burial which occurred nearly three centuries ago. The first is the reference to the entire bodies being placed in the bottom of the pit. This obviously alludes to entire skeletons as distinguished from the bundles of detached or dissociated bones. If this was a recognized custom of the makers of the ossuaries it would be ex- pected, when examining a great burial of this sort, to find the posi- tions and general arrangement of the remains differing in various parts of the ancient pit; to find several strata, with a greater variety of bones in one than in the other. The second point of interest men-
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tioned in this early narrative is that in which reference is made to the richness of the material deposited in the pit with the remains, but the greater part was of a perishable nature and should this pit be encountered at the present day its contents would probably resemble those of the ossuary discovered near Gasport in 1909.
Other great burial places, similar to that discovered near Gasport, have been encountered in the same county, 10 miles or more south of Lake Ontario, on the Tuscarora Reservation. On the northern border of the reservation stood an ancient inclosure, and “a little over half a mile west of the inclosure,” and about 20 rods distant from the edge of the bluff upon which it stood, “was a large bone pit. It was marked by a low conical elevation, not over a foot and a half high and 27 feet in diameter. Directly in the center was a slight depression in which lay a large flat stone with a number of similar stones under and around it. At the depth of 18 inches the bones seemed to have been disturbed. Among them was a Canadian penny. This, Mount Pleasant (the Tuscarora chief) thought, may have been dropped in there by a missionary who, thirty years before, had found on the reservation a skull with an arrowhead sticking in it; or by some Indian, for it is, or was, an Indian custom to do this where bones have been disturbed, by way of paying for the disturbance or for some article taken from the grave. The bones seemed to have belonged to both sexes and were thrown in without order; they were, however, in a good state of preservation. Three copper rings were found near finger bones. The roots of trees that had stood above the pit made digging quite difficult; yet sixty skulls were brought to the surface, and it is quite likely that the pit contained as many as a hundred skeletons. The longest diameter of the pit was 9 feet; its depth 5 feet. There were no indications on the skulls of death from bullet wounds., Two similar elevations, one 18 or 20 feet, the other 10 rods, directly east of this pit, were opened sufficiently to show that they were burial places of a similar character. Like the first, these contained flat stones, lying irregularly near the top. Charcoal occurred in small pieces in all. Indian implements and ornaments, and several Revo- lutionary relics, were found in the adjoining field.” (Thomas, (1), pp. 512-513.)
Another ossuary, evidently quite similar to the one described by Pére Le Jeune, was discovered in 1824, some 6 miles west of Lock- port, in Niagara County. “The top of the pit was covered with small slabs of Medina sandstone, and was 24 feet square by 44 in depth, the planes agreeing with the four cardinal points. It was filled with human bones of both sexes and all ages. ... In one skull, two flint arrow heads were found, and many had the ap-
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pearance of having been fractured and cleft open, by a sudden blow. They were piled in regular layers, but with no regard to size or sex. Pieces of pottery were picked up in the pit, and had also been ploughed up in the field adjacent.” The finding of “some metal tools with a French stamp” prove the later burials to have been of comparatively recent origin. (Schoolcraft, (1), pp. 217- 218.)
In the adjoining county of Erie, “upon a sandy, slightly elevated peninsula, which projects into a low tangled swamp,” about 14 miles southwest of Clarence Hollow, stood a small, irregular in- closure. Human remains were discovered when plowing the neigh- boring heights. About 1 mile to the eastward of the inclosure, oc- cupying a dry, sandy spot, was an extensive ossuary, estimated to have contained 400 skeletons, “heaped promiscuously together. They were of individuals of every age and sex. In the same field are found a great variety of Indian relics, also brass cap and belt plates, and other remains of European origin.” Near this point was discovered, “a year or two since, a skeleton surrounded by a quan- tity of rude ornaments. It had been placed in a cleft of the rock, the mouth of which was covered by a large flint stone.” (Squier, (1), p. 56.)
Many other references to great communal burials, similar to those already described, could be quoted. All, however, seem to have been quite alike in appearance, the principal difference at the present time being in their size. When constructed some were undoubtedly more richly lined with robes of beaver skins and other furs than others, and the number and variety of objects deposited with the dead naturally varied. But as the greater proportion of the material placed in the pits with the remains was of a perishable nature all this has now disappeared, leaving only the fragmentary decomposed bones, which in turn will soon vanish, and little will remain to indicate the great communal burial places.
A note in Graham’s Magazine, January, 1853, page 102, may refer to the discovery of an ossuary, similar to those already described, but if so it was not recognized as such. The note stated that “ Work- men on the line of the New York, Corning, and Buffalo Rail Road, on the east side of the Genesee River, and about fifteen rods from the water’s edge, while cutting through a sand-bank, have exhumed many human skeletons, piled one above another, with every sign of a hasty military burial. ... These discoveries strengthen a be- hef long entertained, that in 1687 the Marquis de Nouvellé fought his famous battle with the Senecas at or near the burial place men- tioned, that on the banks of the Genesee, within the limits of Avon, Frank and Red Man closed in mortal death-struggle.” . This would
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have been across the river, and not far distant from Canawaugus, and may have been a burial place belonging to that village.
LATER HURON BURIAL, 1675
Having such a clear and vivid description of the early burial cus- toms of the Huron, and the various ceremonies which were enacted by members of that tribe at the time of the death of one of their number, as recorded by Pére Le Jeune, in 1636, it is of interest to compare them with the later customs of the same people, after they had become influenced by the teachings of the missionaries. The later account relates to the people of Ja Mission de Notre-Dame de Lorette, in the year 1675, at which time “ about 300 souls, both Huron and Troquois,” were gathered about the Mission and heard the teachings of the Jesuits. And regarding the burial of their dead it was said: “Their custom is as follows: as soom as any one dies, the captain utters a lugubrious cry through the village to give notice of it. The relatives of the deceased have no need to trouble themselves about anything, beyond weeping for their dead; because every family takes care that the body is shrouded, the grave dug, and the corpse borne to it and buried, and that everything else connected with the burial is done,—a service that they reciprocally render to one another on similar occasions.
“When the hour for the funeral has come, the clergy usually go to the cabin to get the body of the deceased, which is dressed in his finest garments, and generally covered over with a fine red blanket, quite new. After that, nothing is done beyond what is customary for the French, until the grave is reached. Upon arriving there, the family of the deceased, who hitherto have only had to weep, display all their wealth, from which they give various presents. This is done through captain, who, after pronouncing a sort of funeral oration, which is usually rather short, offers the first present to the church,—generally a fine large porcelain collar,—in order that prayers may be said for the repose of the dead person’s soul. Then he gives, out of all the dead man’s effects, three or four presents to those who bury him; then some to the most intimate friends of the deceased. The last of all these presents is that given to the relatives of the deceased, by those who bury him. Finally, the whole ceremony concludes by placing the body in the ground in the following man- ner. A wide grave is dug, 4 to 5 feet deep, capable of holding more _ than six bodies, but all lined with bark on the bottom and four sides. This forms a sort of cellar, in which they lay the body, and over which they place a large piece of bark in the shape of a tomb; it is supported by sticks placed crosswise over the excavation, that this bark may not sink into the tomb, and that it may hold up the earth that is to be thrown on it; the body thus lies therein as in a cham-
BUSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL
ber without touching the earth at all. Finally, some days after the burial, when the tears of the relatives have been dried to some extent, they give a feast to give the deceased back to life, that is, to give his name to another, whom they urged to imitate the dead man’s good actions while taking his name.” (Dablon, (1), pp. 35-37.)
A large grave as described in the preceding account would, in after years, when the supporting bark had be- come decayed and fallen, have been sunken and irregular. The remains would have become scattered within the ex- cavated space, and all the lining would have disappeared. This may, and undoubtedly does, explain the origin of many burials in the eastern part of the country, espe- cially in New England.
When telling of the presents exchanged and given at the time of burial, Pére Dablon mentioned particularly that the first was made to the church, and this was “ gen- erally, a fine large porcelain collar,’ porcelain here re- fering to wampum. Such a specimen is now in the small museum connected with the Collegio di Propaganda Fide, at Rome, where it was deposited many years ago by some missionary when he returned from America. Unfortu- nately the history of the remarkable piece is not known, but is one of the most interesting examples of wampum preserved in any collection. This is shown in plate 1, the reproductions being made from photographs of the origi- nal, made by the writer in 1905. It measures nearly 6 feet 6 inches in length and about 44 inches in width, made up of 15 rows of beads, each row consisting of 646 beads, or 9,690 in all. The design suggests the attempt to represent on one side Christianity, on the other paganism. At the end of the first side is evidently shown the chapel of the mission, with one window and a cross above the doorway. Next are several characters which may identify the mis- sion; and beyond these are two keys, crossed. In the middle are two figures, evidently a missionary on the right and an Indian on the left, holding between them a cross, the Christian symbol. This most unusual and interesting piece of native workmanship, although showing so clearly the influence of the teachings of the missionaries, should undoubtedly be considered as having served as a “ present to the church” at the time of burial of some native con-
81
11.—Design on wampum collar.
Fia.
vert, possibly two centuries or more ago. Arranged and fastened as it is suggests its use as a collar or stole, something more elaborate than an ordinary wampum “belt.” The entire design is shown in figure 11.
130548 °—20——_6
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Having described this remarkable piece of wampum, the most in- teresting example of such work known to exist, it may be well to refer briefly to wampum in general. '
The term wampum, derived from an Algonquian word, has often been applied to all shell beads, but the true wampum beads are of a cylindrical form, averaging about one-eighth inch in diameter and one-fourth inch in length. They are of two sorts, white and violet, the latter by many writers being termed black. The violet beads were made of a part of the Venus mercenaria, while various shells were used in making the white variety. It is quite probable that such beads were made and used by the. native tribes along the Atlantic coast before the coming of Europeans, although it is equally probable that after acquiring metal tools, or bits of metal capable of being fashioned into drills, they were made in greater quantities and of a more regular form.
In the year 1656 there appeared in London a small printed cata- logue of the collections belonging to John Tradescant. This was the first publication of such a nature in the English language. The title of this little volume is “ Museum Tradescantianum: or a Collection of Rarities preserved at South Lambeth near London, by John Tradescant. London, M.DC.LVI.” On page 51 of the catalogue is mention of a “Black Indian girdle made of wampum peek best sort.” This is probably the earliest reference to a piece of wampum in a European collection, and it proves that various qualities were recog- nized. This was made clear by an entry in the Catalogue and De- scription of the Natural and Artificial Rarities, belonging to the Royal Society, and preserved at Gresham College, London, 1681. A most valuable reference to and description of wampum appears on page 370, and is quoted in full:
“ Several sorts of Indian Money, called wampam peage, ’ Tis made of a shell, formed into small Cylinders, about a + of an inch long, and + over, or somewhat more or less: and so being bored as Beads and put upon Strings, pass among the Indians, in their usual Com- merse, as Silver and Gold amongst us. But being loose is not so current.
“The meanest is in Single Strings. Of which here is both the White and Black. By measure, the former goes at Five shillings the Fathome; the latter, at Ten. By Number the former at Six a penny; the latter, at Three. .
“The next in value is that which is Woven together into Bracelets about + of a yard long: Black and White, in Stripes, and six pieces in a Row; the warp consisting of Leathern Thongs, the Woofe of Thread. The Bracelets the Zauksquaes or Gentlewomen commonly wear twice or thrice about their Wrists.
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“The best is woven into Girdles. Of this there are two sorts. One about a yard long; with fourteen pieces in a Row, woven, for the most part, into black and white Squares, continued obliquely from edge to edge. The other, not all-out so long, but with fifteen pieces in a Row woven into black Rhombs or Diamond-Squares and Crosses within them. The spaces between filled up with white. These two last, are sometimes worn as their richest Ornaments; but chiefly used in great Payments, esteemed their Noblest Presents, and laid up as their Treasure.” .
Such were the varied uses of the true wampum, and the great collar in the Collegio di Propaganda Fide, at Rome, would have belonged to the last group, one of “ their Noblest Presents,” in this instance undoubtedly serving as a “ present to the church,” as related by Pére Dablon.
SENECA CEREMONY, 173
Throughout the greater part of the region once occupied by the Five Nations are discovered their ancient cemeteries, often situated near the sites of their former villages. Some have been examined, and these usually reveal the human remains, now rapidly disappear- ing, lying in an extended position. Few accounts of the ceremonies which attended the death and burial of these people have been pre- served, but one of the most interesting relates to the Seneca, as en- acted during the month of June, 1731. True, the two persons who were buried at this Seneca village were not members of the tribe, but, nevertheless, the rites were those of the latter. The relation is pre- served in the journal of a Frenchman who visited the Seneca at that time, accompanied by a small party of Algonquian Indians. During the visit one of the Algonquian women was killed by her husband and he in turn was executed by the Seneca. The double funeral which followed was described by the French traveler, who recorded many interesting details. He first referred to a structure where the bodies were kept for several days after death and there prepared for burial, and when he arrived at this cabin it was already crowded with men and women, “all seated or rather squatting on their knees, with the exception of four women, who, with disheveled locks, were lying face downward, at the feet of the dead woman.” These were the chief mourners. The body of the woman was placed on an elevated stage. It was-dressed in blue and white garments and a wampum belt was the only ornament. The face was painted, with vermilion on the lips. In her right hand was placed a garden implement, “ to denote that during her life she had been a good worker,” and in the left hand rested “ the end of a rope, the other end of which, floating in a large bark dish, indicated the sad fate which brought her life to an end.”
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This refers to her having been drowned. The body of her husband, who had been executed by the Seneca, was on the opposite side of the cabin, “ but in a most humiliating posture, for he had been stretched at length on his blanket, face downward, with his hands joined over his head, as if to bear witness to the despair or the repentance which he would have felt for his crime, had he been alive.” His body and face were painted with white and black, and he was partly covered with rags. Suspended from a pole placed for the purpose between his legs were “his gun, his hatchet, his knife, his pouch of tobacco, and all his belongings.” The interior of the cabin was crowded, and as many more were grouped about outside, and now the “ Mistress of Ceremonies . . . began to chant her doleful lamentations.” She re- lated how the two had met their deaths, and “ scarcely had she made the first movement, weeping alone, when the four other women whom IT have mentioned, arose and responded regularly to her cadence— that is to say, they made their lamentations in turn and with the same intonation as the leader, whose every gesture they imitated. . . . These women tore their hair, joined their hands toward heaven, and poured forth in a plaintive tone a torrent of words suitable to the person, whose part they represented, according to the different degrees of relationship or connection, which this same person bore to the deceased man or woman.” This chanting continued for nearly half an hour, when “an Algonquian, who was no relation of the dead woman, imposed silence, rising, and instantly no more lamenta- tions were heard. This Indian first made the Funeral Oration of this unfortunate woman, whose good qualities he set forth in par- ticular, as I was told, to make it understood that she must be happy in the land of departed souls, and that her relatives should be con- soled for her loss.” The Algonquian speaker was immediately fol- lowed by an old man of the Iroquois, who “made a defense for the dead man, that is to say he undertook to account for his action in representing to the assembly that this unfortunate husband had doubtless been possessed with the evil Spirit on the day that he had drowned his wife, and that consequently this Indian not having been master of himself at the time of this evil deed, he rather merited pity than the condemnation of the present assembly.” He referred to the dead man as a great warrior and hunter, and deplored the act which made it necessary for the 7’sonnontouanne to slay him. He then called attention to the position of the body. “ Finally, in order the more to excite the compassion of the spectators, this Iroquois threw himself at the feet of the dead woman whose pardon he be- sought, in the name of her husband, and he protested that had it been in his power to restore her to life, she would certainly not be in her sad plight. Then to crown his discourse he addressed the father-in-law of the executed man and asked if he was not satisfied
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with the repentance of his late son-in-law. At