138 BUREAU OP AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 99 



two chains from a pole laid horizontally and lengthwise across the 

 wagon. 



"When the cemetery is reached the coffin is put down near the 

 grave which has been dug in the meanwhile by the "grave-digging 

 company." A Christian hymn is sung in Cherokee, or maybe in 

 English,^^ by a couple of men or women present; this again is not 

 determined by the sex of the deceased, but depends merely on who 

 is able and willing to sing. 



The "preacher" again says a few words, bidding good-by to the 

 departed one. Before being lowered, the coffin is opened and the 

 cover laid back so that only the face of the corpse can be seen. Every- 

 body passes by the cofiin to cast a last look on it. The nearest rela- 

 tives — father, mother, wife, children' — pass first ;^^ when the last 

 person present has passed by the cover is nailed down definitely and the 

 coffin is lowered into the grave. The grave is dug and the coffin is 

 lowered into it in such a way that the head lies toward the west. 

 The grave is immediately filled, and those present climb down the 

 hill in different directions, all the people but the relatives of the 

 deceased going to their respective homes. 



After Burial 



Immediately after the burial the nearest relatives of the deceased, 

 i. e., the members of his household, have to go to the river, accom- 

 panied by the priest, who recites a prayer to purify them. If, for some 

 reason, this ceremony is not performed immediately, before the 

 family has gone home, it may be performed the following day; but in 

 this case, one purification is not held to be sufficient, and the ceremony 

 is repeated every morning for four days. The formula recited on this 

 occasion is the same as the one used when "going to water" every new 

 moon; white cloth and beads are also used, and the officiating medicine 

 man also chews "old tobacco," the juice of which he sprays from his 

 mouth into the necks of the members of the party, who stand facing 

 the water. 



Not one member of the household must go out for a period of four 

 days (some say seven days, which is probably the older and more 

 correct belief) for "anything which is not strictly necessary." Such 

 essential duties as cutting wood for firewood, hunting for the daily 

 sustenance, etc., are not prohibited, but there is to be no visiting 

 of neighbors, no partaking in social functions, as the baU game, a 

 dance, etc. 



The belief prevails that whatever is done by the members of the 

 household during the four days of this period will be done by them for 



88 "Nearer, my God, to Thee," was sung at one funeral I witnessed. 

 *^ Unless a woman with child be present. (See p. 121.) 



