194 



THK PIMA INDIANS 



[ETH. AXN. 26 



The dead are never cremated, as they are by the adjoining tribes on 

 the west. There is an apparent exception to this rule in the occasional 

 cremation practised while on the warpath. The writer is unable to 

 account for tins, unless it be due either to the influence of the Mari- 

 copas or to a survival pointing toward western affinities of the Pinian 

 stock. So far as ascertained, no disinterment for removal had ever 

 been made by the Pimas. They never buried beneath the floors, as 

 did the Ilohokam. 



FUNERAL RITES 



Water and pinole are placed on the grave for the use of the soul in 

 the other world, not on the journey thither, as that takes but a 



Fk;. 1111 Fimrriil Ciiclii' ,-niitli (ii I'^i-.i 1 



moment's time. In order that the soul may betake itself to the proper 

 abiding place and not disturb the survivors, the latter are accustomed 

 to say at the grave, " We put you here. Go to your home in the 

 East. Do not come back." Ghosts are uncanny things to have 

 about and are liable to touch sleeping persons, tliis meaning that the 

 one touched must accompany the visitor back to the land of shades. 



When a householder died his ki was formerly burned — an excellent 

 hygienic precaution, but detrimental to the development of architec- 

 ture. The other structures about the premises were either burned or 

 piled on the grave. Personal property was similarly destroyed, and 

 if there was any live stock, it was killed and eaten by anyone who 

 chanced to be on hand, though the immediate relatives never partook 



