"bury the body in the ground in a standing position, the shoulders
nearly even with the ground. The grave is prepared by digging a hole
of sufficient depth and circumference to admit the body, the head
being cut off. In the grave are placed the bows and arrows, bead-work,
trappings, &c., belonging to the deceased; quantities of food,
consisting of dried fish, roots, herbs, &c., were placed with the body
also. The grave was then filled up, covering the headless body; then a
bundle of fagots was brought and placed on the grave by the different
members of the tribe, and on these fagots the head was placed, the
pile fired, and the head consumed to ashes; after this was done, the
female relatives of the deceased, who had appeared as mourners with
their faces blackened with a preparation resembling tar or paint,
dipped their fingers in the ashes of the cremated head and made three
marks on their right cheek. This constituted the mourning garb, the
period of which lasted until this black substance wore off from the
face. In addition to this mourning, the blood female relatives of the
deceased (who, by the way, appeared to be a man of distinction) had
their hair cropped short. I noticed while the head was burning that
the old women of the tribe sat on the ground, forming a large circle,
inside of which another circle of young girls were formed standing and
swaying their bodies to and fro and singing a mournful ditty. This was
the only burial of a male that I witnessed. The custom of burying
females is very different, their bodies being wrapped or bundled up in
skins and laid away in caves, with their valuables, and in some cases
food being placed with them in their mouths. Occasionally money is
left to pay for food in the spirit land."

This account is furnished by General Charles H. Tompkins, deputy
quartermaster-general, United States Army, who witnessed the burial
above related, and is the more interesting as it seems to be the only