Fig. 729 shows the incised lines on the front of the post before color was applied. The manner of placing the grave posts at the head of the grave box is shown in Fig. 730, the left-hand grave being that of Oshkosh, the late head chief of the Menomoni in Wisconsin, after whom the city of Oshkosh was named.
Fig. 730.—Grave boxes and posts.
Before the grave is a small board, upon which tobacco is placed to gratify the taste of the dead, and during the season of sugar making pieces of that delicacy are pushed through the small openings in the head board, that the spirit of the deceased may be gratified and give success to the donors at future seasons.
The right-hand grave box is that of another member of the family of Oshkosh, at which the board, with tobacco, is also placed, as well as the grave post. This, however, does not bear any indications of characters, which probably had been washed off by the rain.
Pieces of bark, stones, and sticks are also placed upon the grave boxes, but the signification of this practice could not be ascertained.
The next two figures come from the Dakotas.
Fig. 731.—Commemoration of dead. Dakota.