136 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 190 



reference to it: in speaking of hastening or delaying, they spoke of 

 scattering or of stirring up the fire beneath the kettle and, in speaking 

 of holding no Feast of the Dead, they would say that "the kettle is 

 overturned" ( JR 10 : 279) . 



In order to decide on the time that the feast would be held and 

 what other nations should be invited, the old and important men of 

 the country assembled. After they had made these decisions, each 

 family went to get the bodies so that they could bring them to the 

 village where they were to be reburied in a common grave. In each 

 village on a particular day, the people went to the cemetery where 

 the aiheoTide (those who took care of the graves) removed the bodies 

 from the tombs and the relatives wept as they had on the day of the 

 funeral. On some of these bodies, the flesh was gone and only skin 

 remained on the bones ; others looked as if they had been dried and 

 smoked, and others were still swarming with worms. After the 

 bodies had been exposed for a while, they were covered with quite 

 new beaver robes. Next, the corpses were stripped of their flesh, 

 and the flesh and skin, and the robes and mats in which the deceased 

 had been buried were thrown into the fire. Recently dead bodies 

 were left as they were and simply covered with new robes. If, while 

 cleaning the bones, a charm (as, for example, a turtle's ^gg with a 

 leather strap or a little turtle the size of a nut) was found, they 

 said that the deceased had been bewitched (JR 10: 281-285; C 161). 



After the bones had been well cleaned and washed by the women, 

 they were wrapped in fine new beaver skins. Relatives and friends 

 contributed glass beads and wampum necklaces to the bundle, saying, 

 "Here, this is what I am giving for the bones of my father, my mother, 

 my uncle, cousin, or other relative." The bundle was then put into a 

 new bag decorated at the top with many little ornaments, with neck- 

 laces, bracelets and other things, to carry on their backs. The whole 

 bodies were carried on a type of litter. All these were taken back to the 

 village where each family made a feast for its dead ( JR 10 : 283-287 ; 

 S 211-212). Skins, tomahawks, kettles, and other valuable articles, 

 and much food then were carried to the appointed place. The bags 

 and skins were hung in the house of the hosts and the food put together 

 to be used for the feasts on the day when all were to be buried (C 161 ; 

 S 212) . Fishing nets were not left in the houses, for they would be 

 profaned by the corpses there during the Feast of the Dead ( JR 10 : 

 169). 



A very large and deep grave, 10 fathoms square (C 162), capable of 

 containing all the bones, furniture, and skins offered to the dead, was 

 dug outside the village. A high scaffolding was erected along the 

 edge and all the bags of bones carried to it. Then the grave was lined 

 on the bottom and sides with new beaver skins and robes. On the 



