recounts the exploits of the deceased, his
valor, skill, love of country, property, and influence; alludes to
the void caused by his death, and counsels those who remain to
supply his place by following in his footsteps; pictures the
happiness he will enjoy in the land of spirits to which he has gone,
and concludes his address by an allusion to the prominent traditions
of his tribe.
Let us here pause to remind the reader that this custom has prevailed
throughout the civilized world up to the present day--a custom, in the
opinion of many, "more honored in the breach than in the observance."
At last [says Mr. Lawson], the Corpse is brought away from that
Hurdle to the Grave by four young Men, attended by the Relations,
the King, old Men, and all the Nation. When they come to the
Sepulcre, which is about six foot deep and eight foot long, having
at each end (that is, at the Head and Foot) a Light-Wood or
Pitch-Pine Fork driven close down the sides of the Grave firmly into
the Ground (these two Forks are to contain a Ridge-Pole, as you
shall understand presently), before they lay the Corps into the
Grave, they cover the bottom two or three time over with the Bark of
Trees; then they let down the Corps (with two Belts that the
_Indians_ carry their Burdens withal) very leisurely upon the said
Barks; then they lay over a Pole of the same Wood in the two Forks,
and having a great many Pieces of Pitch-Pine Logs about two Foot and
a half long, they stick them in the sides of the Grave down each End
and near the Top thereof, where the other Ends lie in the
Ridge-Pole, so that they are declining like the Roof of a House.
These being very thick plac'd, they cover them [many times double]
with Bark; then they throw the Earth thereon that came out of the
Grave and beat it down very firm. By this Means the dead Body lies
in a Vault, nothing touching him.
After a time the body is taken up, the bones cleaned, and deposited in
an ossuary called the Quiogozon.
Figure 1, after De Bry and Lafitau, represents what the early writers
called the Quiogozon, or charnel-house, and allusions will be found to
it in other parts of this volume. Discrepancies in these accounts impair
greatly their value, for one author says that bones were deposited,
another dried bodies.
It will be seen from the following account, furnished by M. B. Kent,
relating to the Sacs and Foxes (_Oh-sak-ke-uck_) of
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