INHUMATION— PIM AS AND APACHES. 1 1 



The question may well be asked, is the big knife a " sop to Cer- 

 berus"? 



Capt. F. E. Grossman,* U. S. A., furnishes the following account of 

 burial among the Pimas of Arizona : 



" The Pimas tie the bodies of their dead with ropes, passing the latter 

 around the neck and under the knees and then drawing them tight ttntil 

 the body is doubled up and forced into a sitting position. They dig the 

 grave from four to five feet deep and perfectly round (about two feet in 

 diameter), then hollow out to one side of the bottom of this grave a sort of 

 vault large enough to contain the body. Here the body is deposited, the 

 grave is filled up level with the ground, and poles, trees, or pieces of timber 

 placed upon the grave to protect the remains from the coyotes (a species of 

 wolf). Burials usually take place at night, without much ceremony. The 

 mourners chant during the burial, but signs of grief are rare. The bodies 

 of their dead are buried, if possible, immediately after death has taken place, 

 and the graves are generally prepared before the patients die. Sometimes 

 sick persons (for whom the graves had already been dug) recovered ; in 

 such cases the graves are left open until the persons for whom they were 

 intended die. Open graves of this kind can be seen in several of their 

 burial-grounds. Places of burial are selected some distance from the vil- 

 lage, and, if possible, in a grove of mesquite bushes Immediately after the 

 remains have been buried, the house and personal effects of the deceased 

 are burned, and his horses and cattle killed, the meat being cooked as a 

 repast for the mourners. The nearest relatives of the deceased, as a sign 

 of their sorrow, remain in the village for weeks and sometimes months ; the 

 men cut off about six inehes of their long hair, while the women cut their 

 hair quite short." 



The Coyotero Apaches, according to Dr. W. J. Hoffman, f in disposing 

 of their dead, seem to be actuated by the desire to spare themselves any 

 needless trouble, and prepare the defunct and the grave in this manner : 



" The Coyoteros, upon the death of a member of the tribe, partially 

 wrap up the corpse and deposit it into the cavity left by the removal of a 



" Rep. Smitbson. lust., 1871, p. 411. 



t U. S. Geol. Surv. of Terr, for 1876, p. 473. 



