Burials of the Algonquian, Siouan and Caddoan tribes west of the Mississippi / by David I. Bushnell, Jr.

  • David I. Bushnell
Date:
1927
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Burials of the Algonquian, Siouan and Caddoan tribes west of the Mississippi / by David I. Bushnell, Jr. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    souri, by the high scaffold burials of the tribes who frequented the plains, and by the log-covered graves of the people of the lake and forest country beyond the headwaters of the Mississippi. In describing the burial customs of the tribes of the three stocks they will be discussed in the same sequence as was observed when referring to their villages, in the work mentioned above. However, it is to be regretted that no specific references to the burial customs of certain tribes have been discovered in the many journals and narratives examined. ALGONQUIAN TRIBES The Algonquian tribes were the northernmost of the three groups certain of whose customs are to be described at this time. True, a great majority of the tribes of this stock, the most numerous lin¬ guistic family in North America, lived eastward from the Mississippi and their burial customs have already been discussed (Bushnell, (2)), but others occupied large areas west of the river, and many of the latter retained their primitive manners and ways of life until recent times, little influenced by contact with Europeans. Within the past two centuries many of the Algonquian tribes have removed from their earlier habitat, some advancing before the encroaching settlements of the whites, others seeking better hunting grounds. Two centuries ago the region about the headwaters of the Mississippi was occupied by the Dakota tribes, soon to be driven to the south and west by their inveterate enemies, the Ojibway, who continued to hold the country where game was so abundant and where the lakes and streams teemed with fish, all so easily secured for food. The Algonquian tribes to be mentioned on the following pages include the Ojibway or Sauteux; the Cree; and the Cheyenne, Blackfoot, and Arapaho, the three usually being considered as constituting the western division of the stock. In addition to the preceding we shall also refer to the Sauk and Foxes, and others who crossed the Mississippi within recent times. Ojibway, or Sauteux The Ojibway, one of the largest native tribes of North America, when first encountered by the French missionaries early in the seven¬ teenth century, lived along the timbered shores of Lake Huron and Lake Superior, quite remote from the region occupied by Europeans for more than a hundred years. Later, having obtained firearms from the traders, they were enabled to attack the neighboring tribes with greater success, and gradually they pushed westward across the present State of Minnesota to the Valley of Red River and beyond.
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