372 FOX MORTUARY CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS. [EVH. ANN. 40, 
manitous listened to them. The people did that very (often) long 
ago. But to-day there is a different rule. That is how it is. 
Everything is placed with (the dead) there (i. e., food, etc.), in 
their caskets. (The dead) are brought it. That verily is how this 
rule is. That is how it is. 
The dead are always laid with their heads facing the west. And 
then (Indian) tobacco is cast on them, from the south side (Indian) 
tobacco is cast on them. (Tobacco) is cast on them in accordance 
with (the rules of) the individual gentes. (In accordance with the 
rules of) some (gentes) tobacco is cast on them from the north side. 
And that is another thing they do. Indian tobacco (not white 
brands) is always cast on them, when (the dead) are brought it. 
There is, in a way, a story that when an Indian dies, he really 
doesn’t die. He merely wanders (?) on this earth. When it is said 
“He is dead” he really is not. He is merely absent for a while. 
Soon he will be seen, and all will see each other again. That is one 
thing those who know tell. That is why some of those who know 
do not feel badly when any one dies. Oh, the younger people, to 
be sure, do not know this story. That is why they feel very badly 
when they lose sight of their relatives. That is how all the speakers 
tell their story. They are careful when they tell it. That really 
is how it was while (this was) still Indian country. To-day, to be 
sure, it is a little different. These Meskwakies do otherwise. They 
act a little differently because they all are of the younger generation. 
That is why these Indians act differently. That is how it is to-day. 
Well, these (people) have placed aside their dead. And we have 
helped them and so pleased them as they did not fail to obtain our 
assent when they employed us. And so they are glad. And so it 
is that they have placed this food in a pile (for us), and did not con- 
secrate it to their own mouths. To-day they think only of what is 
good. And he who has lost sight of this sky thus leaves these his 
relatives in peace; if he had a mother, grandmother, a maternal 
aunt, a grandfather—all his different relations—he left them all 
prosperous with life. Nor did he think of anything at all evil when 
he started to walk away. And they, these who are related to him, 
must think in exactly the same way, merely that they be blessed 
with life by this person who has left them. And we must continue 
to be kind relatives to each other. That is how this is told. We 
have eaten good food for the benefit of the dead (?) and in this way 
we shall sleep quietly this day when it is night. That is what I say, 
ye men and women, all to whom I am related. 
A point may here be raised—the likeness or dissimilarity of Fox 
(Meskwakie) mortuary customs and beliefs to those of other Algon- 
quian and non-Algonquian tribes, especially those geographically 
