BCSHNELL] 



NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



35 



"Among the non-Christianized Menomini the grave covering is of 

 a slightly different character. These grave-boxes are more like an 

 inverted trough, as shown in plate 5, c, which illustrates the graves 

 of the late chief Osh'kosh and his wife. The openings in the head 

 end of the box are used for the introduction of ordinary food, as 

 well as maple sugar and other tributes of the first fruits of the year, 

 on Avhich the shade of the departed may feast before it finally sets 

 out for the land of the dead. Formerly, also, bodies were scaffolded, 

 or placed in trees, according to the wish of the deceased. In some 

 instances it was customary to dress and paint the body as during 

 life, seat it on the ground facing the west — in the direction of the 

 path of the dead toward the land of Naq'pote — when a log inclosure, 

 resembling a small pen, was built around it. In this manner the 



Fig. 1. — Menomini graves. 



corpse was left. . . . Mourners blacken their faces with charcoal or 

 ashes. Formerly it was sometimes customary to add pine resin to 

 the ashes, that the materials might remain longer on the skin, and 

 a widow was not presumed to marry again until this substance had 

 entirely worn off. In some instances of great grief, the hair above 

 the forehead was cropped short." (Hoffman, (1), pp. 239-241.) 

 Typical graves are shown in figure 1. 



Quite similar to the preceding were gi'aves discovered in the vicin- 

 ity of Prairie du Chien, near the banks of the Mississippi, when 

 visited by Maj. Long's party in June, 1823. The graves resembled 

 those of the whites, but they were " covered with boards or bark, 

 secured to stakes driven into the ground, so as to form a sort of 

 roof over the grave; at the head, poles were erected for the pur- 

 pose of supporting flags; a few tatters of one of these still waved 

 over the grave. An upright post was also fixed near the head, and 

 upon this the deeds of the deceased, whether in the way of hunting 



