_Modern funeral ceremonies._--Provisions are rarely put into the
grave, and no portion of what is prepared for the feast subsequent
to burial is burned, although the feast is continued. All the
address delivered by the brave over the corpse after being deposited
in the grave is omitted. A prominent feature of all ceremonies,
either funeral or religious, consists of feasting accompanied with
music and dancing.

_Ancient mourning observances._--The female relations allowed their
hair to hang entirely unrestrained, clothed themselves in the most
unpresentable attire, the latter of which the males also do. Men
blacked the whole face for a period of ten days after a death in the
family, while the women blacked only the cheeks; the faces of the
children were blacked for three months; they were also required to
fast for the same length of time, the fasting to consist of eating
but one meal per day, to be made entirely of hominy, and partaken of
about sunset. It was believed that this fasting would enable the
child to dream of coming events and prophesy what was to happen in
the future. The extent and correctness of prophetic vision depended
upon how faithfully the ordeal of fasting had been observed.

_Modern mourning observances._--Many of those of the past are
continued, such as wearing the hair unrestrained, wearing uncouth
apparel, blacking faces, and fasting of children, and they are
adhered to with as much tenacity as many of the professing
Christians belonging to the evangelical churches adhere to their
practices, which constitute mere forms, the intrinsic value of which
can very reasonably be called in question.

The Creeks and Seminoles of Florida, according to Schoolcraft,[4] made
the graves of their dead as follows:

When one of the family dies, the relatives bury the corpse about
four feet deep in a round hole dug directly under the cabin or rock
wherever he died. The corpse is placed in the hole in a sitting
posture, with a blanket wrapped about it, and the legs bent under
and tied together. If a warrior, he is painted, and his pipe,
ornaments, and warlike appendages are deposited with him. The grave
is then covered with canes tied to a hoop round the top of the hole,
then a firm layer of clay, sufficient to support the weight of a
man. The relations howl loudly and mourn publicly for four days. If
the deceased has been a man of eminent ch