Burial Mounds of the Northern Sections of the United States

by Cyrus Thomas

As they were stripping the bodies they found in two of them a species of charm. The one that I saw with my own eyes was a turtle's egg with a leather strap (courroye); the other, which was examined by our fathers, was a small turtle the size of a nut. This leads to the belief that there were sorcerers in our village, on account of which some resolved to leave it as soon as possible. Indeed, two or three days after one of the richest men, fearing that some misfortune would befall him, transported his cabin two miles from us to the village of Arontaen.

Now, when these bones are well cleaned, part of them are placed in sacks, part in blankets, and they carry them on their shoulders, covering these bundles with other beautiful hanging robes. Entire bodies are put on a sort of litter and carried with all the others, each one taking his bundle into his cabin, where every family makes a feast to its dead.

Returning from this festival with a captain, who has considerable intelligence and who will be some day of high standing in the affairs of the country, I asked him why they called the bones of the dead Atisken. He explained as clearly as he could, and I learned from what he said that many believe that we have two souls, both divisible and material and yet both rational; one leaves the body at death, but remains, however, in the cemetery until the feast of the dead, after which it either is changed into a turtle-dove, or according to the more general belief, it goes immediately to the village of souls.

The other soul is attached to the body; it marks the corpse, as it were, and remains in the grave after the feast, never to leave it, "si ce n'est que [quelqu'un] l'enfante de rechef." He mentioned to me, as a proof of this metempsychosis, the perfect resemblance which some persons bear to others who are deceased. Here is a grand philosophy. This is why they call the bones of the dead Atisken, "the souls."

A day or two before departing for the feast they carried all these bodies into one of the largest cabins of the village, where some of them were attached to the poles of the cabin, and others laid around it, and the captain entertained and made a grand feast in the name of the deceased captain, whose name he bore. I was present at this "feast of spirits," and observed four things in particular: First, that the offerings which were given for the feast by the friends, and which consisted of robes, necklaces of shell beads, and kettles, were hung on poles extending the whole length of the cabin from one side to the other. Second, the captain sang the song of the dead captain, according to the desire he had expressed before his death, that it should be sung on this occasion. Third, all the guests had the privilege of dividing among themselves all the good things they had brought, and even of carrying them home, contrary to the custom at ordinary feasts. Lastly, at the close of the feast, as a compliment to him who had entertained them, they imitated as they sang the cry of the spirits, and left the cabin crying haéé haé.

The master of the feast, and even Anenkhiondic, captain-general of all the country, sent to invite us several times with much solicitation. You would have thought that the feast could not be a success without us. I sent two of our fathers several days beforehand to see the preparations and to learn exactly the day of the feast. Anenkhiondic received them very kindly, and on their departure conducted them himself a quarter of a league from there to where the grave was dug, and showed them with much display of emotion all the arrangements, &c., of the feast.

This feast was to have taken place on the Saturday of Pentecost, but some affairs which came up unexpectedly, and the uncertainty of the weather, caused it to be put off until Monday.

The seven or eight days before the feast were passed in collecting the bodies (les âmes) as well as assembling the strangers who were invited; meanwhile from morning till night gifts were distributed by the living to the young men in honor of the dead. On one side women were drawing the bow to see who should have the prize, which was sometimes a girdle of porcupine quills or a necklace of beads; on the other hand, in several parts of the village the young men were drawing clubs upon any who would try to capture them. The prize of this victory was a hatchet, some knives, or even a beaver robe. Every day the remains were arriving. There is some pleasure in seeing these funeral processions which number sometimes from two to three hundred persons. Each one carries the remains of his friends, that is the bones, packed upon his back after the manner that I have described, under a beautiful robe. Some arranged their packets in the shape of a man, decorated with strings of beads, with a fine crown of red hair. On leaving their village the whole company cried haéé haé and repeated this "cry of the spirits" all along the way. This cry, they say, comforts them greatly, otherwise their burdens, although souls, would weigh very heavily and cause a weakness of the side (costé) for the rest of their lives. They travel by short stages; the people of our village were three days in going four leagues and in reaching Ossossané, which we call Rochelle, where all the ceremonies were to be held. As soon as they arrive near any village they shout again the haéé haé. The whole village comes out to meet them; many presents are again distributed on this occasion. Each one repairs to some one of the cabins; all find a place to put their bundles; this is done without confusion. At the same time the captains hold a council to decide upon the time that the company shall spend in this village. All the bodies of the dead of eight or nine villages were taken to Rochelle on Saturday of Pentecost; but the fear of bad weather obliged them, as I have said, to postpone the ceremony till Monday. We were lodged a quarter of a league from there, at the old village, in a cabin where there were at least a hundred skeletons hung up to the poles, some of which smelled stronger than musk.

Monday at midday, word was sent that they were ready and that the ceremony would begin. The bundles of skeletons were at once taken down and the friends unfolded the wrappings to say their last farewells. Their tears flowed anew. I admired the tenderness of one woman towards the remains of her father and children. She is the daughter of a captain who died at a great age and who formerly occupied a high position in the country. She combed his hair; she touched the bones one after another with as much affection as if she would have given them life; she placed near him his Atsatonesai, that is, his packet of rods (bûchettes) of the council, which are all the books and papers of the country. As for her children, she put upon their arms bracelets of shells and glass beads and bathed their bones with her tears. She could hardly be separated from them, but they were in haste, and it was necessary to start at once. The one who carried the body of this old captain walked at the head, the men following and then the women. They marched in this order until they arrived at the grave.

The following is the arrangement of this place: There was a space about as large as the Place Royale at Paris. In the center was a large grave about 10 feet (pieds) deep and 5 fathoms (brasses) in diameter, round it a scaffolding and a sort of stage nicely made, from 9 to 10 fathoms (brasses) in diameter and 9 or 10 feet high; above the stage there were several poles raised and well arranged, and others laid across them on which to hang all the bundles of skeletons. The entire bodies, as these were to be placed at the bottom of the grave, were laid under the scaffolding the day before, resting on bark, or mats raised on stones to the height of a man around the grave. The whole company arrived with the bodies about an hour after midday, and divided into parties according to the families and villages, and laid their bundles upon the ground, almost as the pots of earth were made at the village fairs; they also unfolded their robes and all the offerings they had brought and hung them upon the poles which extended for from 500 to 600 fathoms (toises); there were nearly twelve hundred gifts which remained thus on exhibition for two whole hours, to give strangers an opportunity to see the riches and magnificence of the country. I did not find the company as great as I had expected; there were not more than two thousand persons. About 3 o'clock each one fastened up his bundles and folded his robes. Meanwhile each captain, in order, gave a signal, and all immediately took up their bundles of bones, ran as if at the assault of a city, mounted upon this stage by means of ladders which were placed all around, and hung them (the bundles) to the poles; each village had its department. This done, all the ladders were taken away. Some of the captains remained upon the platform and spent the rest of the afternoon, until 7 o'clock, in announcing the lists of presents which were given in the name of the deceased to some particular persons. For instance, they would say, here is what such a one, deceased, gives to a certain relative.