An Introduction to the mortuary customs of the North American Indians

In Short

This 1880 publication, commissioned by the Smithsonian Institution’s Bureau of Ethnology, provides a systematic survey of mortuary practices among North American tribes. It categorizes funeral customs—ranging from ground inhumation and cremation to aerial sepulture and aquatic burial—while drawing parallels to ancient traditions in the Old World. By preserving primary accounts from early explorers, missionaries, and agents, the work illuminates the social, ethical, and spiritual frameworks of the people it describes. It remains a vital archival resource for understanding the diversity of Indigenous mourning and the historical documentation of these cultures.

The Story

The narrative begins with a clear, administrative mandate: to gather and classify the myriad ways Indigenous peoples across the continent handle the deceased. The author posits that a culture’s approach to death—whether through burial, burning, or exposure—is a window into its deepest philosophy, reflecting the community’s love for the departed, their fears of the unknown, and their ethical standards. The text moves methodically through five primary categories of interment: inhumation (earth burials), cremation, embalming, aerial sepulture, and aquatic burial.

Throughout the text, the author relies on the firsthand accounts of those who witnessed these rituals. Readers are taken from the Mohawk custom of upright burial in mounds to the specific practices of tribes in the Carolinas and Pennsylvania. One particularly vivid thread follows the use of canoes as coffins, noting both the practical utility and the symbolic belief that the spirit would require the same tools in the hereafter that they used in life. The discussion of mounds, particularly those in Ohio, introduces the archaeological complexity of the subject, where secondary burials and the inclusion of grave goods—from arrowheads to mica mirrors—suggest long-standing traditions of reverence.

The text then shifts to more complex rituals, including mummification and the construction of cairns in the rugged landscapes of the Rocky Mountains. The author explores the intensity of mourning, citing the dramatic, often physically harrowing practices of the Crow and the Yo-kai-a. These accounts describe communal grief manifested through self-mutilation, rhythmic dancing, and the symbolic destruction of wealth, demonstrating how a group processes the loss of a leader.

The narrative reaches its conclusion by focusing on the spiritual dimension: the afterlife. Beliefs in a "happy western land" or the haunting presence of phantoms for the wicked underscore the moral weight placed on earthly actions. The final pages shift into a comprehensive index, transforming the preceding accounts into a reference tool. The book does not present a single linear plot, but rather an accumulation of human experience, ending with a detailed roadmap of tribes and their unique relationships to the inevitable end of life. By the final entry, the reader has surveyed a vast, continental tapestry of tradition, where every act of mourning, from the whisper in the ear of the dead to the burning of a chief’s belongings, is framed as a conscious effort to bridge the gap between the living and the departed.

How It Unfolds

The mandate for research The book opens by situating itself within a broader Smithsonian project meant to record the vanishing customs of North American tribes. It establishes that these mortuary rites are not merely logistical, but are fundamental expressions of the philosophy and social standing of the practitioners.

The classification of final rites The author provides a structured framework for the study, dividing burial methods into five distinct categories: inhumation, cremation, embalmment, aerial sepulture, and aquatic burial. This classification serves as the backbone for the rest of the work, allowing for a comparative analysis across different geographic regions.

The evidence of inhumation The text details diverse earth-burial practices, including the use of mounds, stone cists, and the symbolic placement of the body in canoes. These accounts illustrate the care taken to protect the deceased and provide them with necessary items for their journey.

Mummies and the ancient past Moving to more specialized methods, the book examines mummification, particularly in caves and shelters. The author debates the origins of these practices, referencing historical speculation about ancient connections to other global civilizations.

The intensity of grief The final section examines the performative and emotional aspects of death, such as mourning feasts, sacrificial fires, and complex dance rituals. It captures the visceral nature of communal loss, where the survivors engage in physical expressions of pain to honor the departed.

The People

The book serves as a mosaic of many voices, primarily featuring the Indigenous peoples themselves—such as the Mohawk, the Choctaw, the Crow, and the Karok—whose specific customs form the evidence for the author’s inquiry. These communities are the central figures; their collective actions, from the construction of a burial mound to the sacrifice of possessions during cremation, represent a profound commitment to their ancestors.

The author, H. C. Yarrow, acts as the primary curator. He is an observer who wants to preserve these fleeting details before they are lost to the encroachment of "civilization." Standing in his way is the sheer scale of the continent and the rapid changes brought by settlers, which he fears will erase the traditional knowledge of these tribes.

Interspersed are the voices of secondary observers—early explorers, army officers, and Indian agents like I. L. Mahan or George Gibbs. These individuals provide the eyewitness details that Yarrow synthesizes. They are often outsiders peering into cultures they do not fully understand, yet they remain the primary conduit for the information. By the end, the reader sees these Indigenous groups not as monolithic, but as distinct societies, each with a unique way of processing existence, while the author remains a persistent, albeit distant, archivist attempting to turn their grief and ritual into a permanent record.

In Its Own Voice

"The mortuary customs of savage or barbaric people have a deep significance from the fact that in them are revealed much of the philosophy of the people by whom they are practiced."

This passage serves as the foundational argument for the entire study, suggesting that burial rites are the key to understanding a culture’s belief system.

"The dead are mostly burned. Mr. Willard described to me a scene of incremation that he once witnessed which was frightful for its exhibitions of fanatic frenzy and infatuation."

This quote illustrates the intensity of communal mourning ceremonies, highlighting the author's focus on the emotional and physical manifestations of grief.

What It's Really About

This book is an investigation into the universal human impulse to honor the dead, framed through the specific lens of 19th-century American anthropology. It explores the tension between material existence and the afterlife, examining how people use physical objects—beads, canoes, mirrors, or overcoats—to navigate the transition of death. At its core, the book argues that funeral customs are the primary repository of a culture’s ethical and social values. It asks why humanity, across disparate tribes and regions, consistently develops elaborate rites to "conceal or hide away" the dead. By documenting these variations, the work poses a deeper question about human nature: how does the necessity of physical disposal inform our conceptualization of the soul?

Why Read It Today

Readers with an interest in archaeology, the history of anthropology, or the cultural history of North America will find this book a treasure trove of granular detail. It offers a rare glimpse into the specific, often intimate mourning practices of tribes that have been drastically transformed by time. The prose is clean and scholarly, reflecting the earnest, inquisitive spirit of late 19th-century scientific research.

However, the reader must be prepared for the limitations of the era. The book is a product of its time; the terminology—such as the author’s use of "savage" or "barbaric"—is colonial and dated, reflecting the paternalistic perspective of the Smithsonian Bureau of Ethnology in 1880. Because the text relies heavily on external observers and early settlers, it lacks the direct, contemporary voice of the Indigenous people themselves, providing instead a secondhand account of their spiritual lives. It is not a modern sociological study, but an archival artifact of how the American government once attempted to categorize the "native mind." Those who can look past the period-specific attitudes will find the descriptive accounts of these ceremonies incredibly moving and intellectually stimulating. It is a dense, repetitive, and deeply informative work that captures a lost epoch of American history.