YARROW. | INHUMATION—CREEKS AND SEMINOLES. 95 
was deposited, a plank covering made and secured some distance above the body. 
The plank was made by splitting trees, until intercourse with the whites enabled them 
to obtain sawed lumber. The corpse was always enveloped in a blanket, and pre- 
pared as for a long journey in life, no coffin being used. 
Modern burial.—This tribe now usually bury in coffins, rude ones constructed by 
themselves, still depositing the body in the grave with the head towards the east. 
Ancient funeral ccremonies.—Every relative of the deceased had to throw some arti- 
cle in the graye, cither food, clothing, or other material. There was no rule stating 
the nature of what was to be added to the collection, simply a requirement that some- 
thing must be deposited, if it were only a piece of soiled and faded calico. After the 
corpse was lowered into the grave some brave addressed the dead, instructing him to 
walk directly westward, that he would soon discover moccasin tracks, which he must 
follow until he came to a great river, which is the river of death; when there he would 
find a pole across the river, which, if he has been honest, upright, and good, will be 
straight, upon which he could readily cross to the other side ; but if his life had been 
one of wickedness and sin, the pole would be very crooked, and in the attempt to cross 
upon it he would be precipitated into the turbulent stream and lost forever. The 
brave also told him if he crossed the river in safety the Great Father would receive 
him, take out his old brains, give him new ones, and then he would have reached the 
happy hunting grounds, always be happy and have eternal life. After burial a feast 
was always called, and a portion of the food of which each and every relative was 
partaking was burned to furnish subsistence to the spirit upon its journey. 
Modern funeral ceremonics.—Provisions are rarely put into the grave, and no por- 
tion of what is prepared for the feast subsequent to burial is burned, although the 
feast is continued. All the address delivered by the brave over the corpse after being 
deposited in the grave is omited. A prominent feature of all ceremonies, either funeral 
or religious, consists of feasting accompanied with music and dancing. 
Ancient mourning observances.—The female relations allowed their hair to hang 
entirely unrestrained, clothed themselves in the most unpresentable attire, the latter 
of which the males also do. Men blacked the whole face for a period of ten days after a 
death in the family, while the women blacked only the cheeks; the faces of the children 
were blacked for three months; they were also required to fast for the same length of 
time, the fasting to consist of eating but one meal per day, to be made entirely of 
hominy, and partaken of about sunset. It was believed that this fasting would en- 
able the child to dream of coming events and prophesy what was to happen in the 
future. The extent and correctness of prophetic vision depended upon how faithfully 
the ordeal of fasting had been observed. 
Modern mourning observances.—Many of these of the past are continued, such as 
wearing the hair unrestrained, wearing uncouth apparel, blacking faces, and fasting 
of children, and they are adhered to with as much tenacity as many of the professing 
Christians belonging to the evangelical churches adhere to their practices, which con- 
stitute mere forms, the intrinsic value of which can very reasonably be called in 
question. 
The Creeks and Seminoles of Florida, according to Schooleraft,* made 
the graves of their dead as follows: 
When one of the family dies, the relatives bury the corpse about four feet deep in 
a round hole dug directly under the cabin or rock wherever he died. The corpse is 
placed in the hole in a sitting posture, with a blanket wrapped about it, and the legs 
bent under and tied together. If a warrior, he is painted, and his pipe, ornaments, and 
warlike appendages are deposited with him. The grave is then covered with canes 
tied to 2 hoop round the top of the hole, then a firm layer of clay, sufficient to support 
the weight of aman, The relations howl loudly and mourn publicly for four day. If 
the deceased has been a man of eminent character, the family immediately remove 
*Hist. Ind. Tribes of U. S., 1855, pt. 5, p. 270. 
