88 BULLETIN 134, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



and general welfare of the tribe. The employment of mortised 

 beams and joinery in the Chocoan spirit house is unique among 

 the tribes of Central America. The Tule do not have similar 

 structures. No record of the existence of similar spiritualistic de- 

 vices or aids in primitive medicine exists regarding the Cam a of 

 the interior of Darien. 



Spirit images are usually made from cedar wood. Those used 

 in case of sickness by the San Bias Tule are called "soowamimi " 

 and represent everything from an alligator to a bumble bee. The 

 so-called cacique sticks are among the lesser spirits. The practices 

 that have been built up regarding the treatment of the sick and 

 regarding religion are so complicated that it is often necessary for 

 the individual to consult the chief regarding the efficacy of cer- 

 tain spirits and their images. If all remedies fail it is because 

 the great spirit has sent for the sick person. 



Dreams have a significance not to be overlooked, for if the Tule 

 Indian dreams that a moist breeze is blowing from the north or 

 from the east, some important news is coming to him. If he 

 dreams that he is losing a tooth, a member of his family will die. 



Wafer's reference to the Indian custom observed by him of 

 swearing by the tooth is not substantiated in modern Tule practice. 



Burial practices. — Pinart says that during the mortal illness of a 

 Cuna Indian, the lele is called for. This personage proceeds to fumi- 

 gate the patient from head to foot with fumes from the cacao 

 bean, peppers, and other materials, meanwhile muttering a doleful 

 monotonous sacred incantation. Relatives then recite the good 

 deeds of the sick person. Immediately upon his death a small 

 clearing is made in the plantation formerly belonging to the de- 

 funct; in this clearing is erected a small hut of leaves at the center 

 of which a hole is dug some 2 meters square. Two uprights are 

 erected to which are attached a hammock bearing the body of the 

 deceased. All of his personal belongings are then placed in the 

 hammock at his sides. An arch of palm leaves is then constructed at 

 the sides and above the corpse in such a manner as to hermetically 

 seal the burial. The widow of the deceased visits the burial hut 

 daily for a year to clean and sweep out the hut and to carry nourish- 

 ment and ehica to the departed. A strange practice lies in the taboo 

 connected with the name of a dead person. To even allude to his 

 name to a friend or relative constitutes a grave offense. 



The present practice among the San Bias Tule is burial by in- 

 terment. The body is wrapped in a cloth and buried to a depth of 

 five or six feet. Songs are chanted by the lele during the cere- 

 mony. Burial houses, " uwannega " (Tule), are constructed in the 

 cemeteries, which are located along the river courses far from the 

 settlements. Interment is with the head placed to the east and 



