282 Expedition to the 



and if on a march, they walk barefoot at a distance from then 

 people, in testimony of the sincerity of their mourning. 



For a considerable time, they nightly visit the grave of the 

 deceased, to lament over it. A sorrowing relative may be 

 seen, of a bleak wintry night, bending over the grave, clad 

 in a scanty robe, which scarcely conceals the middle of the 

 back, as an additional self- punishment and unequivocal mani- 

 festation of grief. 



For the death of a brave warrior, or of a chief, the lamen- 

 tation is more general, and many of those, who visit the bo- 

 dy previous to its removal, present to it blankets, bison 

 robes, breech-cloths, and mockasins, which are sometimes 

 thus accumulated in considerable numbers ; of these 

 presents, part is retained by the orphans, if any, but the 

 greater number is entombed with the body. Over the grave 

 of a person of this description, a kind of roof or shelter is 

 constructed, of pieces of wood reared against each other, 

 and secured at top, then sodded over with grass sod. 



The season prescribed by custom for mourning, is a period 

 of from seven to twelve months ; during this time the vio- 

 lent expressions of their grief gradually diminish, and to- 

 wards the expiration of the allotted season, the state of 

 mourning is only manifested by the coating of white clay, 

 and even this, like the black apparel of civilized mourners, is 

 at length dispensed with, and with the same decorous gra- 

 dation. 



A cruel proof of heartfelt grief, is exhibited by some of 

 the natives, on the upper parts of the Missouri ; they cut off 

 joints of their fingers ; the individual cuts the skin and liga- 

 ments of the joint with his common eating knife, then places 

 the joint between his teeth, and twists it off with violence, 

 the teeth performing at the same time, the offices of a wedge 

 and a vise. 



In form, the Missouri Indian is symmetrical and active,and 

 m stature, equal, if not somewhat superior, to the ordinary 



