34 BUREAU OF AMERICAN I':TMN0L0GY [bull. 71 



faithor west, osixM'ially up the valley of th(i Missouri. There a plat- 

 form was c'onsti'ucted between foiii- or more supports, some G or 8 feet 

 iil»o\(' llie <j:roun(l, and on Uiis ])hitform tiie body Avas placed after 

 bein^ wrapped and bound with skins oi- some other covering. These 

 were of a more teni|)orai'y nature. 



'rniO MKXOMINl 



The Menomini; whose home when first encountered by F^uropeans 

 dui-injr the early years of the seventeenth century was west of Lake 

 Mi('hin:an, evidently possessed many customs quite similar to those 

 of the Ojibway. Their dead were usually dei)osited in excavated 

 graves, but tiiey also had some form of scall'old burial. (PI. 5, a.) 



"The Menomini formerly disposed of their dead by inclosing the 

 bodies in louf? pieces of birchbark or in slats of wood, and burying 

 them ill a shallow hole. When not in the nei<2:hboi'hood of bii-ch or 

 other trees, from wdiich broad pieces of bark could be obtained, some 

 of the men would search for the nearest du^jout, from which they 

 would cut a [)iece lonj^- enough to contain the body. In some in- 

 stances sections of hollow trees were used as coffins. In order to 

 afford protection a<2:ainst wild beasts, there Avore placed over the 

 grave three logs — two directly on the ground and the third on the 

 others. They were prevented from rolling away by stakes driven 

 into the earth. [Plate 5, &, represents the old method of protecting 

 graves.] 



" More modem customs now prevail with the greater body of the 

 tribe, and those wdio have been Christianized adopt the following 

 course: A wooden coflin is made and the body laid out in the ordi- 

 nary manner. The burial takes place usually the day on which 

 death occurs. The gi'aves aie about 4 feet deej). Over the mound 

 is erected a small board stiucture resembling a house. . . . This 

 structure measures about 5 feet in length and 3 feet high. In the front 

 and near the top is an opening through which the relations and 

 friends of the deceased put cakes of mai^le sugar, rice, and other 

 food — the first fruits of the season. In some grave-boxes, imme- 

 diately beneath the opening, there is placed a small drawer, which 

 is used for the same j)urpose as the o|)eiiing. Sometimes I'ven on 

 the grave-boxes of Christianized Indians, the totem of the clan to 

 which the deceased belonged is drawn in color or carved from a 

 piece of wootl and securely nailed. These tolemic characters are 

 generally drawn or attached in an inverted j^osition, which is de- 

 notive of death among the Menomini as among other tribes. Around 

 the grave-boxes claj)board fences are usually erected to keep sti'ay 

 animals from coming near, and (o prcNcnl wayfarers and sacri- 

 legious pei'sons from desecrating llie graxes. An oi'dinary 'worm*' 

 fence is also sometimes built for the same purpose. 



