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Volume 3 (1858-1859) (592 pages)
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Page: of 592
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HUTCHINGS’ CALIFORNIA MAGAZINE.
AN
appalling; while the men in some instances stand in sullen and unbroken silence, and in others join their notes of
woe to those of the devoted women. All
the relatives who are nearest and dearest
to the consuming dead, with long sticks
in their hands, commence a frantic dance
around the burning body, occasionally
turning it over and stirring it up, that it
may consume the more speedily.
The motive which impels them to this,
is their belief in a vast and pleasant
camping ground situated in some beautiful country in the direction of the setting
sun, where they again meet their relatives and friends, and live in perpetual
ease and plenty together. This camping
ground, they believe, is presided over
and governed by a chief of great power
and goodness, and about whom they need
give themselves no uneasiness whatever.
They also believe in an evil spirit, who
is capable of doing them any amount of
injury, and who is constantly upon the
look-out to give them all the trouble he
possibly can, and eventually to keep
them away from this pleasant camping
place and the society of their friends;
INDIAN SWEAT-HOUSE.
him they think it worth their while to
conciliate or cheat, according to circumstances; and as they believe also that
the heart is the immortal part, and that
he is seeking to make it a prisoner, by
noises and motions they try to attract his
attention while the body is burning, as
it is at that season the heart leaps out;
and, if his attention is attracted and
drawn off by their manouverings, the
heart makes its escape and is eternally
safe. This is the reason for the hideous
noises and waving of cloths practiced
during the process of burning.
Those Indians who burn their dead, believe that the evil one keeps perpetual
guard over the graves of those who are
buried, and when the heart would escape
it is secured, and perpetually employed
in giving sickness and ill luck, and other
annoyances to their living relatives, out
of revenge for their indifference and neglect of their future welfare.
After the body is nearly consumed, the
blackened remains are taken from the
fire and rolled in a cloth and blanket, to
cool it a little, when his wives separate
the remaining and unconsumed portions