INHUMATION.


The commonest mode of burial among North American Indians has been
that of interment in the ground, and this has taken place in a number
of different ways; the following will, however, serve as good examples
of the process.

"The Mohawks of New York made a large round hole in which the body was
placed upright or upon its haunches, after which it was covered with
timber, to support the earth which they lay over, and thereby kept the
body from being pressed. They then raised the earth in a round hill
over it. They always dressed the corpse in all its finery, and put
wampum and other things into the grave with it; and the relations
suffered not grass nor any weed to grow upon the grave, and frequently
visited it and made lamentation." [Footnote: Hist. Indian Tribes of
the United States, 1853, part 3, p 183.]

This account may be found in Schoolcraft.

In Jones [Footnote: Antiq. of Southern Indians, 1873, pp 108-110] is
the following interesting account from Lawson, of the burial customs
of the Indians formerly inhabiting the Carolinas:

"Among the Carolina tribes, the burial of the dead was accompanied
with special ceremonies, the expense and formality attendant upon the
funeral according with the rank of the deceased. The corpse was first
placed in a cane bundle and deposited in an outhouse made for the