Tooker] ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE HURON 137 



skins and robes the chiefs made a bed of tomahawks, then kettles, 

 beads, necklaces, and bracelets of wampum and other gifts (S 212), 

 as knives and sword blades (C 163). Wlien this had been done, the 

 bags of bones were emptied into the grave from the top of the scaffold. 

 The grave then was covered with more new skins, then with tree 

 bark (S 212) , and finally with earth and big pieces of wood. Wooden 

 poles were sunk into the gromid aromid the grave and a covering put 

 over it (C 163; S 212). A feast followed, after which all returned 

 to the places from which they came (S 212) . 



In the village in which the Jesuits were, the bones were brought to 

 one of the largest houses a day or so before setting out for the Feast of 

 the Dead. One portion was hung on the poles of house and the other 

 spread out through it. The chief made a magnificient feast in the 

 name of the deceased chief whose name he bore. At this feast, the 

 chief sang the song of the deceased chief, as the latter had, before he 

 died, expressed the desire to have it sung on this occasion. The pres- 

 ents (robes, wampum collars, and kettles) that the relatives brought 

 were hung on poles on both sides of the house. All the guests shared 

 with one another whatever good things they had, and even took these 

 home, contrary to the usual custom at feasts. In order to compliment 

 the host, at the end of the feast the people imitated the cry of souls 

 and left the house crying haee, hoe ( JR 10 : 287-289) .«° 



The 7 or 8 days before the Feast of the Dead were spent in as- 

 sembling the souls, and in the arrival of strangers [foreigners]. 

 During this time, presents were made to the youth in honor of the dead. 

 The women shot with a bow for a prize — a porcupine girdle or a 

 collar or string of wampum — and the young men shot at a stick to see 

 who could hit it for a prize of an ax, some knives, or a beaver robe 

 (JE 10: 289-291). 



From day to day more souls arrived at the village where they were 

 to be reburied. Some of these processions had 200 or 300 people in 

 them, each with his souls (bones) in parcels under a robe on his back. 

 Some had arranged their parcels in the form of a man, ornamented 

 with wampum collars and elegant bands of long red fur. When the 

 procession left their village, they cried out Aaee, hae and repeated 

 this cry of the souls along the way. If they did not do this, the burden 

 would weigh heavily on their backs and cause them a backache for the 

 rest of their lives. The procession moved slowly : the village in which 

 the Jesuits lived took 3 days to go the 4 leagues to Ossossane where 

 the ceremonies took place. When they came near a village, they cried 

 haee^ hae. The entire village came out to meet them and gifts were 

 given. Each person went to one of the houses while the chiefs held a 



«> Hewitt (1898; 1917: S25 ; 1918: 544; see also Beauchamp 1907: 353) thought that 

 this cry was the same as the haii hai used in the present Iroquois Condolence ritual. 



