.MTM1OA.MTE1MTEy

336 [crossed out: D. & B. Ghost Lodge]

general expression of grief.

   When one dies it is supposed by the indians that his spirit haunts the locality where the body is and does not depart for some time during this period. it is the common belief among the Dakota tribes that if they do not provide a suitable place. and make presents to the ghost it will disturb them and to provide for the rest of the ghost a teepee set up and known as the "Ghost lodge."

Some of the Dakota tribes hold the tradition that the spirit reaches the happy hunting ground in a few days others several months. and during this time the spirit is supplied with food and for a longer or shorter time the women repair to the grave and wail. and the cry raised by the grief stricken squaws certainly does strike terror into the heart of a white man. who coming upon a village and not having heard the sound before experiences them for the first time. Some writers speaking of the burial in a two state that great care is taken that the tree is a sound one and sheltered. Our illustration is taken from a photograph and it will be seen that the tree which contains two bodies is the only tree on the prairie for miles. We have another photograph showing the isolation and the fact that the tree is not sound. but one likely at any moment to be over turned by the wind.. The position of the cemetery is not selected with any great care. a high part any where will do. In [?] at the old Crow Agency the scaffolds are quite near the old stage road. on the summit of the bluff. The corpse is dressed in the most splendid style of indian custom. and the face painted. In olden times the article of [?"virtue".?] belonging to the indian were buried with him. In the south it is the custom to hastily bury squaw and children. In some places the rivers and water courses are full of cores cut in the soft [?] rocks and these are used as burial places by the indians. This circumstance. have given rise to a curious mistake as no river it Mr. Thornton in a splendid work on the Flint Chips shown a picture of "an ancient stone hammer." found in Arkansas. which is the exact reproduction of the red granite pemmican powder shown in this work in chapter IV. and if any thing not so old looking as our own. The "Ancient Stone hammer." was most likely buried with some Dakota years ago. and the rocks being pulled away from the mouth of the grave revealed the core.

  The Dakota indian is not like his white brother permitted to die in peace in his home.