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The Native Races [of the Pacific states], Volume 1, Wild Tribes, Volume 1

Note 498 — Chapter IV · CALIFORNIANS.

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On Pitt River they burn their dead and heap stones over the ashes for a monument. 'No funeral ceremonies.' The Shastas and their Neighbors, MS. On the ocean frontier of south Oregon and north California 'the dead are buried with their faces looking to the west.' Hubbard, in Golden Era, March, 1856. The Patawats and Chillulas bury their dead. The Tolewahs are not allowed to name the dead. Powers' Pomo, MS. 'It is one of the most strenuous Indian laws that whoever mentions the name of a deceased person is liable to a heavy fine, the money being paid to the relatives.' Chase, in Overland Monthly, vol. ii., p. 431. 'The bodies had been doubled up, and placed in a sitting posture in holes. The earth, when replaced, formed conical mounds over the heads.' Abbott, in Pac. R. R. Rept., vol. vi., p. 69. 'They bury their dead under the noses of the living, and with them all their worldly goods. If a man of importance, his house is burned and he is buried on its site.' Johnson, in Overland Monthly, vol. ii., p. 536. 'The chick or ready money, is placed in the owner's grave, but the bow and quiver become the property of the nearest male relative. Chiefs only receive the honors of a fence, surmounted with feathers, round the grave.' Gibbs, in Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. iii., p. 175. 'Upon the death of one of these Indians they raised a sort of funeral cry, and afterward burned the body within the house of their ruler.' Maurelle's Jour., p. 19.

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