THE PAINTING OF HUMAN BONE.S AMONG THE INDIANS. (ill 



in which, in addition to, or possibly without, the deposit of some pig- 

 ment with the deceased, the l)ody, or at least the face, was painted. 

 If the pigment used was mineral in character, as was almost invari- 

 ably the case, the prol)ability of the bones becoming more or less 

 stained by it after the flesh had decayed was very strong. The custom 

 of painting the body is especially well described by Lafitau. Sj)eak- 

 ing of the Indians of New France, he says that among them every 

 " cabane " had special individuals who took care of the deceased. 

 Those who are thus employed " wash the body, oil it, and paint its 

 face and head. * * * Sometimes the man while yet living an- 

 nounces his death, arranges a feast, and lets himself be Avashed, oiled, 

 and painted, and bundled up still alive into the position which he is 

 to have in the grave." 



Loskiel gives similar information about the Indians of the Eastern 

 States and Canada : "• Innnediately after the death the corpse is 

 dressed in a new suit, with the face and shirt painted red, and laid 

 upon a mat or skin in the middle of the hut or cottage." Charlevoix 

 (A'oI. VI, p. 107) says that among the Canadian Indians ''the dead 

 man is painted, enveloped in his best robe, and, with his Aveapon be- 

 side him, is exposed at the door of his cabin in the posture which he 

 is to preserve in the grave." Sagard (vol. iii, p. 640), speaking also 

 of more than one northeastern tribe and without mentioning any 

 separately, says that '' not only are the savages in the habit of paint- 

 ing their faces black when any of their relatives dies, but they paint 

 also the face of the cadaver." 



The Iroquois, according to La Potherie (vol. in, p. et seq.), 

 "visit from time to time the burial place, paint the half-rotten bodies, 

 change their clothing, and rearrange them in the fossa." Morgan 

 also mentions the face painting of the dead Iroquois. 



All the nations of the uj)]X'r Missouri, according to Perrin du Lac, 

 painted the bodies of their dead warriors with red ocher. These 

 tribes comprised the Ricaras, Mandans, (rrosventres, Chugayennes. 

 Sioux, Cayoroas, Tocaninambiches, Tokionakos, Pitapahatos, Pa- 

 daws, Ilalisanes, Assiniboins, and Crows. The custom was witnessed 

 among the Crows as late as 1870 by Col. P. W. Norris, superintendent 

 of the Yellowstone Park (cited by Yarrow), and quite as late among 

 the Dakotas by Surg. L. S. Turner. U. S. Army (also cited by Yar- 

 row). "The work among the Dakotas," says Doctor Turner, "be- 

 gins as soon as life is extinct. The face, neck, and hands are thick 

 painted with vermilion or a s))ecies of red earth found in various 

 portions of the Territory.'' 



The Creeks practiced a similar custom," and there are indications 

 of the former existence of a similar habit among the Omalias. 



Professor Boas and Mr. Swanton inform me that many of the 



a Schoolcraft, Vol. V, p. 270. 



