86 BUREAU OF AMERTCAX ETHNOLOGY fBtiLL. 71 



bodies had reached the cemetery they were placed at the side of the 

 graves which had been prepared for them, and all their clothing and 

 ornaments "were taken off." 



The old engraving showing the procession after it had entered the 

 cemetery is here reproduced as plate 11, l>. The open graves are 

 shown, all surrounded by a palisade, and beyond are the cabins. 

 "Whilst this last office was being performed the men formed a large 

 circle around them, said prayers in a loud A^oice, and sung three 

 hymns as follows, one after the stjde of our Dies irae^ dies ilia, the 

 other like our Libera me Domine and another like our De Profondis; 

 these hymns were really the same as ours, which the Jesuits had 

 doubtless translated for them. After the Indians had finished these 

 three Canticles each one placed their hands on those of the two 

 bodies, as if to say good bye. Then they cut a lock of hair from the 

 tops of their heads which were given to the nearest relative, and they 

 were lowered into the gi^aves. It was then that the women vied 

 with each other in making grimaces and shedding tears, and groan- 

 ing in a horrible manner. It was now that they said indeed : Adieu 

 my good friend, the great warrior, the splendid hunter. Adieu then 

 Jeanne, the fine singer, the graceful dancer." The bodies were placed 

 in separate graves, very deep. " The graves were filled in with straw 

 and they were not filled up with earth. They were simply covered 

 with strong pieces of bark placed in the form of a roof, surmounted 

 by stones. Finally they placed at the head of the graves the same 

 crosses which had been on the bodies. There were a number of others 

 in the cemetery. When these crosses begin to decay the Indians are 

 careful to renew them, as well as the palisade with which the burial 

 ground is surrounded, for fear that dogs or wild beasts might come 

 and dig up the dead." (Le Beau, (1), pp. 300-315.) The writer 

 continues, saying that in earlier days the graves of these people were 

 '" hollowed out round like pits." 



This was the principal town of the Seneca, and the river which 

 flowed near by, and to which the body of the man was carried to 

 wash away the black and white with which it had, at first, been 

 covered, was the Genesee. The valley of this stream, passing through 

 the counties of Monroe and Livingston, was the home of the Seneca, 

 and, as Squier wrote when describing the latter region, "It is un- 

 surpassed in beauty and fertility by any territory of equal extent 

 in the State, and abounds with mementoes of its aboriginal posses- 

 sors, who yielded it reluctantly into the hands of the invading 

 whites. Here, too, once existed a considerable number of ancient 

 earthworks, but the levelling plough has passed over most of them; 

 and though their sites are still remembered by the eai'ly settlers, but 

 few are sufficiently well preserved to admit of exact survey and 

 measurement." (Squier, (1), pp. 43-44.) 



