NELSON] 



MORTUARY CUSTOMS 



311 



is completed, either on the same day or the next, the body is placed 

 in a sitting posture with the heels drawn back against the hips and 

 the knees resting against the chest; the elboM's" are drawn down 

 against the sides, and the forearms and hands are bent so as to clasp 

 the abdomen, the right hand and arm being placed above the left. 

 Figure 99 shows the position of the body ready for burial. It is then 

 wrapped in grass mats or deerskins and bound tightly with rawhide 

 cords. By means of cords the body is usually raised through the smoke 

 hole in the roof, but is never taken out by the doorway. Should the 

 smoke hole be too small, an opening is made in the rear side of the house 

 and then closed again. The body is taken to the grave and jilaced 

 upon one side in the box, below it being placed the deerskin bed of 

 the deceased, and over it his blankets. If the deceased be a man, his 

 pipe, flint and steel, tinder, and pouch of tobacco are placed in the box, 

 and, if a snuff' taker, his snuff-box and tube. Then the cover of rough 

 planks or logs is put on and fastened down 

 with logs or stones. In case of a man, his pad- 

 dle is planted blade upward in the ground near 

 by, or is lashed to a corner post of the box itself, 

 so that the relatives and friends may see the 

 a' hliii-nk or totem mark, and thus know whose 

 remains lie there. 



If the grave box is made of planks the totem 

 picture is usually drawn upon its front in red or 

 black, or sometimes the front bears the picture 

 of some animal which the father of the dead 

 man excelled in hunting. If the father took 

 part m a war party against the common enemy 

 of his tribe, then the figure of a bow is painted 

 on the box. Should this receptacle be of such 

 a nature as not to permit the making of pic- 

 tures upon its surface, they are drawn on a small piece of board made 

 for the purpose and fastened to the end of a stick five or six feet long, 

 and the latter is planted at the side or at one end of the box. In a con- 

 spicuous place on a corner post of the grave, or on posts set up for 

 the purx)ose, are placed the dead man's snowshoes, spears, bow and 

 arrows, or gun; upon the ground by the grave is laid his open work 

 bag, with all the small tools in place, and his kaiak frame is set 

 close by. 



Should the deceased be a woman, her workbag, needles, thread, and 

 fish knife are placed beside her in the box. Her wooden dishes, pots, 

 and other belongings are placed by the grave, and to the corner post 

 are hung her metal bracelets, deer tooth belt, and favorite wooden dish, 

 and sometimes a fish knife. The markings upon the grave box, or on 

 the small board made for the purpose, are those of her family totem, 

 or illustrate the exploits of her father, as is done in the case of a man. 



Fig. 99— Position of burial of 

 tlio dead at St Michael. 



