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

Chapter 3: Dr. H. C. YARROW,
By H. C. Yarrow
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A systematic compilation cataloging mortuary practices among North American indigenous peoples, presenting a classification of burial types — inhumation, pits, stone graves and cists, mounds, house and cave interment, embalming and mummification, urn and surface burials, cairns, cremation and partial cremation, aerial and scaffold sepulture, canoe and aquatic rites, and living sepulchers — together with associated rituals of mourning, sacrifice, feasting, songs, dances, games, posts, fires, and superstitions. The volume synthesizes scattered reports and illustrations, preserves variant spellings and bibliographic notes, and focuses on descriptive documentation rather than causal interpretation.

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Title: A Further Contribution to the Study of the Mortuary Customs of the North American Indians

Author: H. C. Yarrow

Release date: March 1, 2004 [eBook #11398]
Most recently updated: October 28, 2024

Language: English

Credits: Produced by Louise Hope, Anne Folland, Juliet Sutherland
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A FURTHER CONTRIBUTION TO THE STUDY OF THE MORTUARY CUSTOMS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS ***

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Tsinūk, tamahno-ūs, mé-mel-ūs-illa-hee; Kaw-a-wāh, Tāh-zee:
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Much of this article is quoted from other published sources. The resulting incon­sistencies in spelling and punctuation are unchanged. Typographical errors are shown with mouse-hover popups. Differences in punctuation or hyphenization between the List of Illustrations and the captions themselves are not noted.

The Table of Contents and Index were supplied from the beginning and end of the Annual Report volume. The List of Illustrations was printed with the article. For this e-text, illustrations were placed as close as practical to their discussion in the text; the List of Illustrations shows their original location.

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Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Mortuary Customs
Index
Note on Illustrations

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION—BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY

J. W. POWELL, DIRECTOR

A FURTHER CONTRIBUTION

TO THE

STUDY OF THE MORTUARY CUSTOMS

OF THE

NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

BY

Dr. H. C. YARROW,

ACT. ASST. SURG., U.S.A.

CONTENTS

List of illustrations 89
Introductory 91
Classification of burial 92
Inhumation 93
Pit burial 93
Grave burial 101
Stone graves or cists 113
Burial in mounds 115
Burial beneath or in cabins, wigwams, or houses 122
Cave burial 126

Embalmment or mummification

 130
Urn burial 137
Surface burial 138
Cairn burial 142
Cremation 143
Partial cremation 150
Aerial sepulture 152
Lodge burial 152
Box burial 155
Tree and scaffold burial 158
Partial scaffold burial and ossuaries 168
Superterrene and aerial burial in canoes 171
Aquatic burial 180
Living sepulchers 182

Mourning, sacrifice, feasts, etc.

 183
Mourning 183
Sacrifice 187
Feasts 190
Superstition regarding burial feasts 191
Food 192
Dances 192
Songs 194
Games 195
Posts 197
Fires 198
Superstitions 199

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

In the original, Figure 12 was printed before Figure 11 (both full-page Plates). Figure 45 (on page 196) was printed before the group of plates 34-44 (between pages 196 and 197).

1.— Quiogozon or dead house 94
2.— Pima burial 98
3.— Towers of silence 105
4.— Towers of silence 106
5.— Alaskan mummies 135
6.— Burial urns 138
7.— Indian cemetery 139
8.— Grave pen 141
9.— Grave pen 141
10.— Tolkotin cremation 145
11.— Eskimo lodge burial 154
12.— Burial houses 154
13.— Innuit grave 156
14.— Ingalik grave 157
15.— Dakota scaffold burial 158
16.—

Offering food to the dead

 159
17.— Depositing the corpse 160
18.— Tree-burial 161
19.— Chippewa scaffold burial 162
20.— Scarification at burial 164
21.—

Australian scaffold burial

 166
22.— Preparing the dead 167
23.— Canoe-burial 171
24.— Twana canoe-burial 172
25.— Posts for burial canoes 173
26.— Tent on scaffold 174
27.— House burial 175
28.— House burial 175
29.— Canoe-burial 178
30.— Mourning-cradle 181
31.—

Launching the burial cradle

 182
32.— Chippewa widow 185
33.— Ghost gamble 195
34.— Figured plum stones 196
35.— Winning throw, No. 1 196
36.— Winning throw, No. 2 196
37.— Winning throw, No. 3 196
38.— Winning throw, No. 4 196
39.— Winning throw, No. 5 196
40.— Winning throw, No. 6 196
41.— Auxiliary throw, No. 1 196
42.— Auxiliary throw, No. 2 196
43.— Auxiliary throw, No. 3 196
44.— Auxiliary throw, No. 4 196
45.— Auxiliary throw, No. 5 196
46.— Burial posts 197
47.— Grave fire 198

A FURTHER CONTRIBUTION
TO THE
STUDY OF THE MORTUARY CUSTOMS OF
THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS

By H. C. Yarrow.