e. An elevated structure used for the storage of food.
f. A box with wrappings, containing the corpse of a child. The small lines, with ball attached, are ornamental appendages consisting of strips of cloth or skin, with charms, or, sometimes, tassels.
g. Grave post, bearing rude illustrations of the weapons or implements used by the deceased during his life.
h. A grave scaffold, containing adult. Besides the ornamental appendages, as in f preceding, there is a “Shaman stick” erected over the box containing the corpse as a mark of good wishes of a sorrowing survivor. See object a, in Fig. 724.
Schoolcraft (m) gives a good account, with illustration, of the burial posts used by the Sioux and Chippewas. It has been quoted so frequently that it is not reproduced here. The most notable feature connected with the posts is that the totems depicted on them are reversed, to signify the death of the persons buried.
Fig. 728.—Menomoni grave post.
Fig. 728 represents the grave post of a Menomoni Indian of the bear totem. The stick is a piece of pine board 2½ inches wide at the top, gradually narrowing down to a point; three-fourths of an inch thick, and about 2 feet long. On one side are two sets of characters, the oldest being incised with a sharp-pointed nail, while over these are a later set of drawings made with red ocher, represented in the illustration by shading. The figure of the bear, drawn with head to the ground, denotes the totem of which the deceased was a member, the remaining incised figures relating to some exploits the signification of which was not known. The red marks were put upon the stick at the time of the holding of a memorial service, when the father of the deceased furnished a feast to the medicine priests just previous to his being received into the society of shamans to fill the vacancy caused by the death. The number of red crosses denote the number of speeches made at the grave upon that occasion, while the band at the top refers to the person acting as master of ceremonies, who had been requested to make all the arrangements for the medicine ceremonies and initiation. So said some Menomoni in the neighborhood, but later the Indian who actually painted the red crosses came to Washington and explained that they signified the number of war parties in which the deceased had taken part.
Fig. 729.—Incised lines on Menomoni grave post.