128 MORTUARY CUSTOMS OF NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 
custom to secure, if possible, for the purpose of wrapping up the corpse, the robes and 
blankets in which the Indian died. At the same time that the body is being fitted 
for interment, the squaws having immediate care of it, together with all the other 
squaws in the neighborhood, keep up a continued chant or dirge, the dismal cadence 
of which may, when the congregation of women is large, be heard for quite a long 
distance. The death song is not a mere inarticulate howl of distress ; it embraces ex- 
pressions eulogistic in character, but whether or not any particular formula of words 
is adopted on such occasion is a question which I am unable, acs the materials atmy 
disposal, to determine with any degree of certainty. 
The next duty falling to the lot of the squaws is that of placing the dead man on a 
horse and conducting the remains to the spot chosen for burial. This is in the cleft 
of a rock, and, so far as can be ascertained, it has always been customary among the 
Utes to select sepulchers of this character. From descriptions given by Mr. Harris, 
who has several times been fortunate enough to discover remains, it would appear 
that no superstitious ideas are held by this tribe with respect to the position in which 
the body is placed, the space accommodation of the sepulcher probably regulating this 
matter; and from the same source I learn that it is not usual to find the remains of 
more than one Indian deposited in one grave. After the body has been received into 
the cleft, it is well covered with pieces of rock, to protect it against the ravages of 
wild animals. The chant ceases, the squaws disperse, and the burial ceremonies are 
at anend. The men during all this time have not been idle, though they have in no 
way participated in the preparation of the body, have not joined the squaws in chant- 
ing praises to the memory of the dead, and have not even as mere spectators attended 
the funeral, yet they have had their duties to perform. In conformity with a long-estab- 
lished custom, all the personal property of the deceased is immediately destroyed. 
His horses and his cattle are shot, and his wigwam, furniture, &c., burned. The per- 
formance of this part of the ceremonies is assigned to the men; a duty quite in accord 
with their taste and inclinations. Occasionally the destruction of horses and other 
property is of considerable magnitude, but usually this is not the case, owing to a 
practice existing with them of distributing their property among their children while 
they are of a very tender age, retaining to themselves only what is necessary to meet 
every-day requirements. 
The widow “goes into mourning” by smearing her face witha substance composed of 
pitch and charcoal. The application is made but once, and is allowed to remain on 
untilit wears off. This isthe only mourning observance of which Lhave any knowledge. 
The ceremonies observed on the death of a female are the same as those in the case 
of a male, except that no destruction of property takes place, and of course no weapons 
are deposited with the corpse. Should a youth die while under the superintendence 
of white men, the Indians will not as a rule have anything to do with the interment 
of the body. In a case of the kind which occurred at this agency some time ago, the 
squaws prepared the body in the usual manner; the men of the tribe selected a spot 
for the burial, and the employés at the agency, after digging a grave and depositing the 
corpse therein, filled it up according to the fashion of civilized people, and then at the 
request of the Indians rolled large fragments of rocks on top. Great anxiety was ex- 
hibited by the Indians to have the employés perform the service as expeditiously as 
possible. 
Within the past year Ouray, the Ute chief living at the Los Pinos 
agency, died and was buried, so far as could be ascertained, in a rock 
fissure or cave 7 or 8 miles from the agency. 
An interesting cave in Calaveras County, California, which had been 
used for burial purposes, is thus described by Prof. J. D. Whitney :* 
The following is an account of the cave from which the skulls, now in the Smithso- 
nian collection, were taken: It is near the Stanislaus River, in Calaveras County, on 
*Rep. Smithsonian Inst., 1867, p. 406. 
