eating[68] thus describes burial scaffolds:

On these scaffolds, which are from eight to ten feet high, corpses
were deposited in a box made from part of a broken canoe. Some hair
was suspended, which we at first mistook for a scalp, but our guide
informed us that these were locks of hair torn from their heads by
the relatives to testify their grief. In the center, between the
four posts which supported the scaffold, a stake was planted in the
ground, it was about six feet high, and bore an imitation of human
figures, five of which had a design of a petticoat indicating them
to be females; the rest amounting to seven, were naked and were
intended for male figures; of the latter four were headless, showing
that they had been slain, the three other male figures were
unmutilated, but held a staff in their hand, which, as our guide
informed us designated that they were slaves. The post, which is an
usual accompaniment to the scaffold that supports a warrior's
remains, does not represent the achievements of the deceased, but
those of the warriors that assembled near his remains danced the
dance of the post, and related their martial exploits. A number of
small bones of animals were observed in the vicinity, which were
probably left there after a feast celebrated in honor of the dead.

The boxes in which the corpses were placed are so short that a man
could not lie in them extended at full length, but in a country
where boxes and boards are scarce this is overlooked. After the
corpses have remained a certain time exposed, they are taken down
and burned. Our guide, Renville, related to us that he had been a
witness to an interesting, though painful, circumstance that
occurred here. An Indian who resided on the Mississippi, hearing
that his son had died at this spot, came up in a canoe to take
charge of the remains and convey them down the river to his place of
abode but on his arrival he found that the corpse had already made
such progress toward decomposition as rendered it impossible for it
to be removed. He then undertook with a few friends, to clean off
the bones. All the flesh was scraped off and thrown into the stream,
the bones were carefully collected into his canoe, and subsequently
carried down to his residence.

Interesting and valuable from the extreme attention paid to details is
the following account of a burial case discovered by Dr. George M.