INHUMATION— MOHAWKS. 5 



attention to similar or almost analogous customs among the peoples of the 

 Old World. 



For our present purpose the following provisional arrangement of 

 burials may be adopted : 



1st. By inhumation in pits, graves, holes in the ground, mounds, cists, 

 and caves. 



2d. By cremation, generally on the surface of the earth, occasion- 

 ally beneath, the resulting bones or ashes being placed in pits, in the ground, 

 in boxes placed on scaffolds or trees, in urns, sometimes scattered. 



3d. By embalment or a process of mummifying, the remains being 

 afterwards placed in the earth, caves, mounds, or charnel-houses. 



4th. By aerial sepulture, the bodies being deposited on scaffolds or 

 trees, in boxes or canoes, the two latter receptacles supported on scaffolds or 

 posts, or on the ground. Occasionally baskets have been used to contain 

 the remains of children, these being hung to trees. 



5th. By aquatic burial, beneath the water, or in canoes, which were 

 turned adrift. 



These heads might, perhaps, be further subdivided, but the above seem 

 sufficient for all practical needs. 



The use of the term burial throughout this paper is to be understood 

 in its literal significance, the word being derived from the Anglo-Saxon 

 "birgan," to conceal or hide away. 



In giving descriptions of different burials and attendant ceremonies, it 

 has been deemed expedient to introduce entire accounts as furnished, in 

 order to preserve continuity of narrative. 



INHUMATION. 



The commonest mode of burial among North American Indians has 

 been that of interment in the ground, and this has taken place in a number 

 of different ways; the following will, however, serve as good examples of 

 the process: 



"The Mohawks of New York made a large round hole in which the 

 body was placed upright or upon its haunches, after which it was covered 

 with timber, to support the earth which they lay over, and thereby kept 



