INHUMATION— WICHITAS. 7 



"At last [says Mr. Lawson], the corpse is brought away from that 

 hurdle to the grave by four young men, attended by the relations, the king, 

 old men, and all the nation. When they come to the sepulchre, which is 

 about six feet deep and eight feet long, having at each end (that is, at the 

 head and foot) a light-wood or pitch-pine fork driven close down the sides 

 of the grave firmly into the ground (these two forks are to contain a ridge- 

 pole, as you shall understand presently), before they lay the corpse into 

 the grave, they cover the bottom two or three time over with the bark of 

 trees; then they let down the coi'pse (with two belts that the Indians carry 

 their burdens withal) very leisurely upon the said barks; then they lay 

 over a pole of the same wood in the two forks, and having a great many 

 pieces of pitch-pine logs about two foot and a half long, they stick them in 

 the sides of the grave down eac 1 end and near the top, through of where (sic) 

 the other ends lie in the ridge-pole, so that they are declining like the roof 

 of a house. These being very thick placed, they cover them many times 

 double with bark; then they throw the earth thereon that came out of the 

 grave and beat it down very firm. By this means the dead body lies in a 

 vault, nothing touching him. After a time the body is taken up, the bones 

 cleaned, and deposited in an ossuary called the Quiogozon " 



Dr. Fordyce Grinnell, physician to the Wichita Agency, Indian Ter- 

 ritory, furnishes the following description of the burial ceremonies of 

 the Wichita Indians, who call themselves " Kitty-Tca-tats n or those of the 

 tattooed eyelids: 



"When a Wichita dies the town-crier goes up and clown through the 

 village and announces the fact Preparations are immediately made for 

 the burial, and the body is taken without delay to the grave prepared for 

 it reception. If the grave is some distance from the village the body is • 

 carried thither on the back of a pony, being first wrapped in blankets and 

 then laid prone across the saddle, one walking on either side to support it. 

 The grave is dug from 3 to 4 feet deep and of sufficient length for the 

 extended body. First blankets and buffalo robes are laid in the bottom of 

 the grave, then the body, being taken from the horse and unwrapped, is 

 dressed in its best apparel and with ornaments is placed upon a couch of 

 blankets and robes, with the head towards the west and the feet to the east; 



