THE MOUNDS OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 575 
interesting accounts of the manner in which these funerals were con- 
ducted among the Huron and Algonquin tribes of the north; and the 
frequent mention made of the custom of the Indians south of the Ohio 
of preserving the bones of the dead* leaves no doubt as to the preva- 
lence of this form of interment throughout all that region, from the 
time of De Sotot down to a comparatively recent period, even if there 
were not other and positive evidence of the fact. It is worthy of note, 
however, that neither one of the Jesuit fathers named makes any men- 
tion of the erection of a mound or cairn upon the oceasion of one of 
these general burials, or, in fact, at any other time, though Morgan, 
speaking of the funeral customs of the Iroquois, is of the opinion that 
the “barrows and bone mounds, which have been found in sueh num- 
bers in various parts of the country,” are to be ascribed to the practice 
of disposing of their dead in this fashion, and this is confirmed by De 
Vries.¢ Be this as it may, there seems to be good ground for the asser- 
tion that some of the tribes belonging to the Huron-Iroquois fainily 
were, at one time and under certain conditions, in the habit of erecting 
stone heaps over the single graves in which their dead were temporarily 
deposited. Lafitau § states the fact positively, and Adair|| tells us, on 
the authority of “a gentleman of distinguished character,” that the 
Mohawks—one of the Six Nations—were accustomed thus to honor their 
dead. From other sources we learn that the Onondagas, another mem- 
ber of the same confederacy, whenever they lost a friend away from 
*Bartram, Travels, p.514. Adair, p.183. Lawson, p.182. Du Pratz, vol. u, p. 214, 
Beverly, book m1, p. 29. Bossu, Travels through Louisiana, vol. 1, p.298: London, 
1771. Bernard, Romans, pp. 89, 90. 
t Knight of Elvas, in Hist. Coll. of Louisiana, part u, p.125. La Vega, Hestorie de 
la Floride, premiere partie, pp. 264 et seq., and seconde partie, pp.39 et seq.: Paris 
1709. 
¢ League of the Iroquois, p.173. “I have seen at the north (Fort Orange), great 
multitudes of Indians assembled, who had collected together the bones of their an- 
cestors, cleaned them, and bound them up in small bundles. They dig a square grave, 
the size and length of a person. - - - They then bury the bones in the grave, 
with a parcel of Zeewan, and with arrows, kettles, knives, paper, and other knick- 
knacks, which are held in great esteem by them, and cover them with earth, and place 
palisades around them as before mentioned.” The “‘as before mentioned” refers to 
a grave that was ‘‘seven or eight feet in the shape of a sugar-loaf.” De Vries, Voy- 
ages, p. 164: New York, 1853. 
§ “‘Leurs fosses sout de petites loges creusées en rond comme des puits; - - - 
on les natte en dedans de tous cotés avec des écorces; et apres y avoir logé le cada- 
vre, on y fait une voute presque au niveau du sol avec des écorces semblables, et des 
pieux qu’ on charge de terre et de pierres 4 une certaine hauteur, qui fit aussi donner 
& ces tombeaux les noms d’ Agger et de Tumulus:” 
quains, vol. 1, p. 416. 
| ‘‘ Many of these heaps are to be seen in all parts of the continent of North America. 
- - - Althongh the Mohawk Indians may be reasonably expected to have lost 
their primitive customs, by reason of their great intercourse with foreigners, yet I 
was told by a gentleman of distinguished character that they observe the aforesaid 
sepulchral custom to this day:” North American Indians, note to p. 185. 
Moeurs des Sauvages Ameri- 
