"These scaffolds are 7 to 8 feet high, 10 feet long, and 4 or 5 wide.
Four stout posts, with forked ends, are first set firmly in the
ground, and then in the forks are laid cross and side poles, on which
is made a flooring of small poles. The body is then carefully wrapped,
so as to make it watertight, and laid to rest on the poles. The reason
why Indians bury in the open air instead of under the ground is for
the purpose of protecting their dead from wild animals. In new
countries, where wolves and bears are numerous, a dead body will be
dug up and devoured, though it be put many feet under the ground. I
noticed many little buckets and baskets hanging on the scaffolds....
These had contained food and drink for the dead. I asked Washtella if
she was sure the soul ate and drank on its journey, and if the food
did not remain untouched in its basket. She replied, 'Oh, no, the food
and water is always gone.' I looked at the hundreds of ravens perched
on the scaffolds and could account for what became of most of the food
and water."...

John Young, Indian agent at the Blackfeet Agency, Montana, sends the
following account of tree-burial among this tribe:

"Their manner of burial has always been (until recently) to inclose
the dead body in robes or blankets, the best owned by the departed,
closely sewed up, and then, if a male or chief, fasten in the branches
of a tree so high as to be beyond the reach of wolves, and then left
to slowly waste in the dry winds. If the body was that of a squaw or
child, it was thrown into the underbrush or jungle, where it soon
became the prey of the wild animals. The weapons, pipes, &c., of men
were inclosed, and the small toys of children with them. The
ceremonies were equally barbarous, the relatives cutting off,