130 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 190 



of all their dead, saying, "And my father is dead, and my mother is 

 dead, and my cousin is dead" and so with the rest of their dead. All 

 burst into tears except the little girls. When there had been enough 

 weeping, the chief said, "It's enough, stop weeping" and they all 

 stopped. The men did not do this, but put on a mournful and melan- 

 choly look with their heads sunk on their knees (S 206). Often, at 

 this time, someone of importance spoke in praise of the deceased, 

 lauding his patience, his good nature, his liberality, his magnificence, 

 and, if he had been a warrior, his courage (JR 10: 267).^^ 



BURIAL 



Other villages were told of the death. Each family had someone 

 who took care of its dead and these came as soon as possible to take 

 charge of everything and to determine the day of the funeral. The 

 burial, usually on the third day, began with a feast, in order to feed 

 the guests from other villages, to feed the deceased, and to provide 

 an occasion for the exchange of food to console each other. At this 

 feast, all the food that was not eaten was distributed (JR 10: 269).*^ 



After the chief published throughout the village that the body was 

 about to be borne to the cemetery, the village assembled and wept 

 again.*^ The corpse was then put on a mat, covered with a beaver 

 robe, and carried by four men to the cemetery [agosayS (S 75)], 

 which was usually a harquebus-shot from the village. All followed 

 in silence. At the cemetery had been constructed a tomb 8 to 10 feet 

 high made of bark, supported on four posts, and somewhat painted. 

 Before the corpse was put into it and before the bark was arranged, the 

 chief presented the gifts : kettles, axes, beaver robes, wampum collars, 

 and the like. If the deceased had been a person of importance, the 

 chiefs of the other villages also presented gifts. These gifts were not 

 placed in the grave, however, but rather, sometimes, only a wam- 

 pum collar, comb, gourd of oil, tomahawks, and two or three 

 little loaves of bread would be left there, and the tomb closed. 

 Most of the gifts were distributed among the relatives "to dry their 

 tears"; the remainder went to those who directed the funeral cere- 

 monies, as a reward for their trouble. These were distributed by an 

 official standing on a tree trunk. Everything he received he lifted up 

 to be seen by all and said, "Here is such-and-such, that so-and-so has 

 given to dry the tears of so-and-so," and then put it into the hands of 

 the deceased's widow or other nearest relative. Often, while this was 



*" Correspondingly, in present practice, after the meal and before the final rites, a 

 speaker comes to the house and again consoles the mourners in a formal address (Shimouy 

 1961 a: 243). 



" Similarly, among modern Iroquois, a meal is served at noon to the gravediggers and 

 mourners on the day of the burial (Shimony 1961 a : 243). 



" See footnote 45, p. 129. 



