216 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 184 
notifies all the members of the society, and they gather in their cere- 
monial house to prepare the costume and paints for the deceased. 
When they are ready they go to the home of the deceased and prepare 
him for burial: they put on his ceremonial costume, paint him, and 
wrap him in a blanket. 
When the body is ready for burial the sacristan and fiscale are no- 
tified. They come to the house where the body lies, bringing a ladder 
with them. They leave the ladder outdoors and go inside where the 
family of the deceased are gathered. The sacristan and the fiscale 
say some prayers. ‘The members of the household pray also. Then 
the fiscale and his capitani helpers carry the body outside and place 
it upon the ladder and carry it to the grave. The family of the de- 
ceased remain in their house. At the grave the sacristan and the fis- 
cale pray again as the body is lowered into the grave with ropes. Then 
the grave is filled; a big tamping stick is used to pack the earth firmly. 
All tools used in digging and filling the grave are taken down to the 
river and washed. 
Right after the body has been taken out for burial, the mother, 
mother’s mother, or eldest sister of the deceased puts a sheep skin on 
the floor where the deceased had lain and upon this she places an ear 
of corn, symbolizing “the living breath,” a stick that has been used 
to poke or stir the fire (opaiyakanyi), which symbolizes the dead body, 
and a heap of beads (itsatyunyi) of different kinds, the symbolism of 
which could not be ascertained. 
A small basket, bowl, or shell of hadawe (pollen) and one of petana 
(prayer meal) are placed nearby. The little pile of beads is covered 
with a sheet. Candles are kept burning day and night. When any- 
one from outside the household comes into the room he takes a pinch 
of prayer meal with his left hand and a pinch of pollen with his right 
and sprinkles them on the sheet covering the beads. ‘“The dead are 
always fed with the left hand.” 
Four days after death occurs, or four days after the body is interred, 
a ceremony is held to send the tsa’ts (literally ‘breath,’ i.e., soul) 
back to the underworld whence it came. This ceremony must be 
performed by the Flint, Giant, Fire, Snake, or Kapina society; no 
other society is qualified. In order to perform this mortuary cere- 
mony a society must be honawai’aiti (like Flint, Giant, or Fire) or at 
least part-honawai’aiti (like Snake and Kapina). If the deceased were 
a member of one of the honawai’aiti societies, then it will perform this 
ceremony. If he were not, then his family will decide which society 
they wish to have. The entire membership of a society is not needed 
if it exceeds three men; women members are not qualified to take part 
in this ceremony. The members of the deceased’s family will decide 
how many tcaiyanyi they want. If the deceased were a member of a 
