are
invited to a feast of all the provisions that can be procured, which
must be all consumed. The relations of the deceased do not join in the
banquet; they cut off their hair, cover their heads, blacken their
faces, and for a long time deny themselves every amusement.[264]

The deceased is buried with his arms and ornaments, and a supply of
provisions for his long journey; the face is painted, and the body
arrayed in the richest robes that can be obtained; it is then laid in
the grave in an upright posture, and skins are carefully placed around,
that it may not touch the earth. At stated intervals of eight, ten, or
twelve years, the Indians celebrate the singular ceremony of the
Festival of the Dead; till this has been performed, the souls of the
deceased are supposed still to hover round their earthly remains. At
this solemn festival, the people march in procession to the
burial-ground, open the tombs, and continue for a time gazing on the
moldering relics in mournful silence. Then, while the women raise a loud
wailing, the bones of the dead are carefully collected, wrapped in fresh
and valuable robes, and conveyed to the family cabin.[265] A feast is
then held for several days, with dances, games, and prize combats. The
relics are next carried to the council-house of the nation, where they
are publicly displayed, with the presents destined to be interred with
them. Sometimes the remains are even carried on bearers from village to
village. At length they are laid in a deep pit, lined with rich furs;
tears and lamentations are again renewed, and for some time fresh
provisions are daily laid, by this simple people, upon the graves of
their departed friends.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 238: "At night the savages direct their course by the polar
star; they call it the _motionless star_. It is a curious coincidence
that the constellation of the Bear should be called by the savages the
Bear. This is certainly a very ancient name among them, and given long
before any Europeans visited the country. They turn into ridicule the
large imaginary tail which astronomers have given to an animal that has
scarcely any such appendage, and they call the three stars that compose
the tail of the Bear, three hunters who are in pursuit of it. The second
of these stars has a very small one very close to it. This, they say, is
the kettle of the second hunter, who is the bearer of the baggage and
the provision belonging to all three.[239] Th