CHAPTER XV.

_Of the Manner in which they treat their_ DEAD.

AN Indian meets death when it approaches him in his hut, with the same resolution he has often faced him in the field. His indifference relative to this important article, which is the source of so many apprehensions to almost every other nation, is truly admirable. When his fate is pronounced by the physician, and it remains no longer uncertain, he harangues those about him with the greatest composure.

If he is a chief and has a family, he makes a kind of funeral oration, which he concludes by giving to his children such advice for the regulation of their conduct as he thinks necessary. He then takes leave of his friends, and issues out orders for the preparation of a feast, which is designed to regale those of his tribe that come to pronounce his eulogium.

After the breath is departed, the body is dressed in the same attire it usually wore whilst living, his face is painted, and he is seated in an erect posture on a mat or skin placed in the middle of the hut, with his weapons by his side. His relations being seated round, each harangues in turn the deceased; and if he has been a great warrior, recounts his heroic actions nearly to the following purport, which in the Indian language is extremely poetical and pleasing:

“You still sit among us, Brother, your person retains its usual resemblance, and continues similar to ours, without any visible deficiency, except that it has lost the power of action. But whither is that breath flown, which a few hours ago sent up smoke to the Great Spirit? Why are those lips silent, that lately delivered to us expressive and pleasing language? why are those feet motionless, that a short time ago were fleeter than the deer on yonder mountains? why useless hang those arms that could climb the tallest tree, or draw the toughest bow? Alas! every part of that frame which we lately beheld with admiration and wonder, is now become as inanimate as it was three hundred winters ago. We will not, however, bemoan thee as if thou wast for ever lost to us, or that thy name would be buried in oblivion; thy soul yet lives in the great Country of Spirits, with those of thy nation that are gone before thee; and though we are left behind to perpetuate thy fame, we shall one day join thee. Actuated by the respect we bore thee whilst living, we now come to tender to thee the last act of kindness it is in our power to bestow: that thy body might not lie neglected on the plain, and become a prey to the beasts of the field, or the fowls of the air, we will take care to lay it with those of thy predecessors who are gone before thee; hoping at the same time, that thy spirit will feed with their spirits, and be ready to receive ours, when we also shall arrive at the great Country of Souls.”

In short speeches somewhat similar to this does every chief speak the praises of his departed friend. When they have so done, if they happen to be at a great distance from the place of interment appropriated to their tribe, and the person dies during the winter season, they wrap the body in skins, and lay it on a high stage built for this purpose, or on the branches of a large tree, till the spring arrives. They then, after the manner described in my Journal, carry it, together with all those belonging to the same nation, to the general burial-place, where it is interred with some other ceremonies that I could not discover.

When the Naudowessies brought their dead for interment to the great cave, I attempted to get an insight into the remaining burial rites; but whether it was on account of the stench which arose from so many bodies, the weather being then hot, or whether they chose to keep this part of their customs secret from me, I could not discover; I found, however, that they considered my curiosity as ill-timed, and therefore I withdrew.

After the interment, the band to which the person belongs, take care to fix near the place such hieroglyphicks as shall show to future ages his merit and accomplishments. If any of these people die in the summer at a distance from the burying-ground, and they find it impossible to remove the body before it putrefies, they burn the flesh from the bones, and preserving the latter, bury them in the manner described.

As the Indians believe that the souls of the deceased employ themselves in the same manner in the country of spirits, as they did on earth, that they acquire their food by hunting, and have there, also, enemies to contend with, they take care that they do not enter those regions defenceless and unprovided: they consequently bury with them their bows, their arrows, and all the other weapons used either in hunting or war. As they doubt not but they will likewise have occasion both for the necessaries of life, and those things they esteem as ornaments, they usually deposit in their tombs such skins or stuffs as they commonly made their garments of, domestic utensils, and paint for ornamenting their persons.

The near relations of the deceased lament his loss with an appearance of great sorrow and anguish; they weep and howl, and make use of many contortions, as they sit in the hut or tent around the body, when the intervals between the praises of the chiefs will permit.

One formality in mourning for the dead among the Naudowessies is very different from any mode I observed in the other nations through which I passed. The men, to show how great their sorrow is, pierce the flesh of their arms, above the elbows, with arrows; the scars of which I could perceive on those of every rank, in a greater or less degree; and the women cut and gash their legs with sharp broken flints, till the blood flows very plentifully.

Whilst I remained among them, a couple whose tent was adjacent to mine, lost a son of about four years of age. The parents were so much affected at the death of their favourite child, that they pursued the usual testimonies of grief with such uncommon rigour, as through the weight of sorrow and loss of blood, to occasion the death of the father. The woman, who had hitherto been inconsolable, no sooner saw her husband expire, than she dried up her tears, and appeared cheerful and resigned.

As I knew not how to account for so extraordinary a transition, I took an opportunity to ask her the reason of it; telling her at the same time, that I should have imagined the loss of her husband would rather have occasioned an increase of grief, than such a sudden diminution of it.

She informed me, that as the child was so young when it died, and unable to support itself in the country of spirits, both she and her husband had been apprehensive that its situation would be far from happy; but no sooner did she behold its father depart for the same place, who not only loved the child with the tenderest affection, but was a good hunter, and would be able to provide plentifully for its support, than she ceased to mourn. She added, that she now saw no reason to continue her tears, as the child on whom she doated was happy under the care and protection of a fond father, and she had only one wish that remained ungratified, which was that of being herself with them.

Expressions so replete with unaffected tenderness, and sentiments that would have done honour to a Roman matron, made an impression on my mind greatly in favour of the people to whom she belonged, and tended not a little to counteract the prejudices I had hitherto entertained, in common with every other traveller, of Indian insensibility and want of parental tenderness.

Her subsequent conduct confirmed the favourable opinion I had just imbibed; and convinced me, that, notwithstanding this apparent suspension of her grief, some particles of that reluctance to be separated from a beloved relation, which is implanted either by nature or custom in every human heart, still lurked in hers. I observed that she went almost every evening to the foot of the tree, on a branch of which the bodies of her husband and child were laid, and after cutting off a lock of her hair, and throwing it on the ground, in a plaintive melancholy song bemoaned its fate. A recapitulation of the actions he might have performed, had his life been spared, appeared to be her favourite theme; and whilst she foretold the fame that would have attended an imitation of his father’s virtues, her grief seemed to be suspended:—

“If thou hadst continued with us, my dear Son,” would she cry, “how well would the bow have become thy hand, and how fatal would thy arrows have proved to the enemies of our bands. Thou wouldst often have drank their blood, and eaten their flesh, and numerous slaves would have rewarded thy toils. With a nervous arm wouldst thou have seized the wounded buffalo, or have combated the fury of the enraged bear. Thou wouldst have overtaken the flying elk, and have kept pace on the mountain’s brow with the fleetest deer. What feats mightest thou not have performed, hadst thou staid among us till age had given thee strength, and thy father had instructed thee in every Indian accomplishment!” In terms like these did this untutored savage bewail the loss of her son, and frequently would she pass the greatest part of the night in the affectionate employ.

The Indians in general are very strict in the observance of their laws relative to mourning for their dead. In some nations they cut off their hair, blacken their faces, and sit in an erect posture, with their heads closely covered, and depriving themselves of every pleasure. This severity is continued for several months, and with some relaxations the appearance is sometimes kept up for several years. I was told that when the Naudowessies recollected any incidents of the lives of their deceased relations, even after an interval of ten years, they would howl so as to be heard at a great distance. They would sometimes continue this proof of respect and affection for several hours; and if it happened that the thought occurred, and the noise was begun towards the evening, those of their tribe who were at hand would join with them.