NELSON] MORTUARY CUSTOMS 311 
is completed, either on the same day or the next, the body is placed 
in a sitting posture with the heels drawn back against the hips and 
the knees resting against the chest; the elbows are drawn down 
against the sides, and the forearms and hands are bent so as to clasp 
the abdomen, the right hand and arm being placed above the left. 
Figure 99 shows the position of the body ready for burial. It is then 
wrapped in grass mats or deerskins and bound tightly with rawhide 
cords. By means of cords the body is usually raised through the smoke 
hole in the roof, but is never taken out by the doorway. Should the 
“smoke hole be too small, an opening is made in the rear side of the house 
and then closed again. The body is taken to the grave and placed 
upon one side in the box, below it being placed the deerskin bed of 
the deceased, and over it his blankets. If the deceased be a man, his 
pipe, flint and steel, tinder, and pouch of tobacco are placed in the box, 
and, if a snuff taker, his snuff-box and tube. Then the cover of rough 
planks or logs is put on and fastened down 
with logs or stones. In ease of a man, his pad- 
dle is planted blade upward in the ground near 
by, or is lashed to a corner post of the box itself, 
so that the relatives and friends may see the 
@ hlit-wk or totem mark, and thus know whose 
remains lie there. 
If the grave box is made of planks the totem 
picture is usually drawn upon its front in red or 
black, or sometimes the front bears the picture 
of some animal which the father of the dead 
man excelled in hunting. If the father took 
part 1p a war party against the common enemy 
of his tribe, then the figure of a bow is painted 
on the box. Should this receptacle be of such 
a nature as not to permit the making of pic- 
tures upon its surface, they are drawn on a small piece of board made 
for the purpose and fastened to the end of a stick five or six feet long, 
and the latter is planted at the side or at one end of the box. In acon- 
spicuous place on a corner post of the graye, or on posts set up for 
the purpose, are placed the dead man’s snowshoes, spears, bow and 
arrows, or gun; upon the ground by the grave is laid his open work 
bag, with all the small tools in place, and his kaiak frame is set 
close by. 
Should the deceased be a woman, her workbag, needles, thread, and 
fish knife are placed beside her in the box. Her wooden dishes, pots, 
and other belongings are placed by the grave, and to the corner post 
are hung her metal bracelets, deer-tooth belt, and favorite wocden dish, 
and sometimes a fish knife. The markings upon the grave box, or on 
the small board made for the purpose, are those of her family totem, 
or illustrate the exploits of her father, as is done in the case of a man, 
Fic. 99—Position of burial of 
the dead at St Michael. 
