[9] Literally, little men, who vanish.
REPOSE OF THE SOUL.
When an Indian corpse is put in a coffin, among the tribes of the Lake-Algonquins, the lid is tied down, and not nailed. On depositing it in the grave, the rope or string is loosed, and the weight of the earth alone relied on, to keep it in a fixed position. The reason they give for this, is, that the soul may have free egress from the body.
Over the top of the grave a covering of cedar bark is put, to shed the rain. This is roof-shaped and the whole structure looks, slightly, like a house in miniature. It has gable ends. Through one of these, being the head, an aperture is cut. On asking a Chippewa why this was done, he replied,—“To allow the soul to pass out, and in.”
“I thought,” I replied, “that you believed that the soul went up from the body at the time of death, to a land of happiness. How, then, can it remain in the body?”
“There are two souls,” replied the Indian philosopher.
“How can this be? my friend.”
“It is easily explained,” said he.