88 ' BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 71 



on^the earth ; and the outside and top were painted very curious with 

 a great man}^ colors. In eacli end of the casement was a small hole 

 where the friends of the deceased or anybody might see the corpse 

 when they pleased. Then over all was built a large shed of bark 

 so as to prevent the rain from coming on the vault." The painting 

 on this tomb may have resembled the decoration on the Oneida 

 graves described by Van Curler nearly a century and a half earlier. 



In Onondaga County, on lot 13 of the town of Lafayette, is the 

 site of a village, with an orchard. This was a settlement of the 

 tribe whose name is now perpetuated by the county, and was aban- 

 doned in 1779. The objects found on the site are of both native and 

 European origin ; " a burial-place has the graves in rows, and also 

 scattered promiscuously. The bodies were inclosed in boxes of wood 

 or bark." Evidently this cemetery and the adjoining village existed 

 during the transition period, when some material was being derived 

 from the Avhites, but before it had entirely replaced the products 

 of the Iroquois. 



When enlarging the canal in Oriskany, in Oneida County, during 

 the year 1849, " ten or more skeletons were found in logs hollowed 

 out by burning. They had medals and ornaments. One medal of 

 (leorge I was dated in 1731. The othei's were dated from 1731 to 

 1735. In two instances the heads of three or four skeletons were 

 placed together and the bodies radiated froni these. There are 

 ear and nose ornaments of red slate and some pipes." These were 

 probably Oneida burials, as this was within the limits of their tribal 

 lands. In the southern part of the region occupied by the Oneida, 

 later the home of the Tuscarora, near Richfield Springs, in Otsego 

 County, " skeletons were found with flat stones over the face." And 

 in the adjoining county of Chenango were many embankments on 

 the east side of the Chenango, south of Oxford. " There were also 

 traces of graves nearby, lined above and below with cobble stones. 

 The upper stratum of these had fallen in." And at another place 

 in the same county "were human bones in grealt abundance, the 

 skeletons buried nearly upright." 



BELIEF IX A FUTURE STATE AFTEF^ DEATH 



The Iroquois belief in a future state after death was thus related 

 by Morgan : " The religious system of the Iroquois taught that it was 

 a journey from earth to heaven of many days' duration. Originally, 

 it was supposed to be a year, and the period of mourning for the de- 

 parted was fixed at that term. At its expiration, it was customary 

 for the relatives of the deceased to hold a feast ; the soul of the de- 

 parted having reached heaven, and a state of felicity, there was no 

 longer any cause for mourning. The spirit of grief was exchanged 



