92 MORTUARY CUSTOMS OF NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 
erogation to continue a further examination of the subject, for nearly 
every author in writing of our Indian tribes makes some mention of 
burial observances; but these notices are scattered far and wide on the 
sea of this special literature, and many of the accounts, unless supported 
by corroborative evidence, may be considered as entirely unreliable. 
To bring together and harmonize conflicting statements, and arrange 
collectively what is known of the subject, has been the writer’s task, 
and an enormous mass of information has been acquired, the method of 
securing which has been already described in the preceding volume and 
need not be repeated at thistime. It has seemed undesirable at present 
to enter into any discussion regarding the causes which may have led 
to the adoption of any particular form of burial or coincident ceremonies, 
the object of this paper being simply to furnish illustrative examples, 
and request further contributions from observers ; for, notwithstanding 
the large amount of material already at hand, much still remains to be 
done, and careful study is needed before any attempt at a thorough 
analysis of mortuary customs can be made. It is owing to these facts 
and from the nature of the material gathered that the paper must be 
considered more as a compilation than an original effort, the writer 
having done little else than supply the thread to bind together the 
accounts furnished. 
It is proper to add that all the material obtained will eventually be 
embodied in a quarto volume, forming one of the series of Contributions 
to North American Ethnology prepared under the direction of Maj. J. 
W. Powell, Director of the Bureau of Ethnology, Smithsonian Institu- 
tion, from whom, since the inception of the work, most constant encour- 
agement and advice has been received, and to whom all American 
ethnologists owe a debt of gratitude which can never be repaid. 
Having thus called attention to the work, the classification of the 
subject may be given, and examples furnished of the burial ceremonies 
among different tribes, calling especial attention to similar or almost 
analogous customs among the peoples of the Old World. 
For our present purpose the following provisional arrangement of 
burials may be adopted, although further study may lead to some mod- 
ifications. 
CLASSIFICATION OF BURIAL. 
1st. By INHUMATION in pits, graves, or holes in the ground, stone 
graves or cists, in mounds, beneath or in cabins, wigwams, houses or 
lodges, or in caves. 
2d. By EMBALMMENT or a process of mummifying, the remains being 
afterwards placed in the earth, caves, mounds, boxes on scaffolds, or in 
charnel-houses. 
3d. By DEPOSITION of remains in urns. 
