. Annual report of the Bureau of ethnology to the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution ... nces that have beennoted among whites, extending into times that are in the memory of those still living. The Pimas of Arizona, actuated by apparently the same motives thatled the more eastern tribes to endeavor to prevent contact of earth withthe corpse, adopted a plan which has been described by Oapt. F. ,* and the account is corroborated by M. Alphonse Pinarttand Bancroft.^ Captain Grossmans account follows: The Pimas tie the bodies of their dead with ropes, passing the latter around the
. Annual report of the Bureau of ethnology to the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution ... nces that have beennoted among whites, extending into times that are in the memory of those still living. The Pimas of Arizona, actuated by apparently the same motives thatled the more eastern tribes to endeavor to prevent contact of earth withthe corpse, adopted a plan which has been described by Oapt. F. ,* and the account is corroborated by M. Alphonse Pinarttand Bancroft.^ Captain Grossmans account follows: The Pimas tie the bodies of their dead with ropes, passing the latter around theirneck and under the knees, and then drawing them tight until the body is doubled upand forced into a sitting position. They dig the graves from four to five feet deep andperfectly round (about two feet in diameter), and then hollow out to one side of thebottom of this grave a sort of vault large enough to contain the body. Here the bodyis deposited, the grave is tilled up level with the ground, ami poles, trees, or pieces oftimber placed upon the grave to protect the remains from FIG. 2.— Pima burial. Burials usually take place at night without much ceremony. The mourners chantduring the burial, but signs of grief are rare. The bodies of their dead are buried, ifpossible, immediately after death has taken place; and the graves are generally pre-pared before the patients die. Sometimes sick persons (for whom the graves had alreadybeen dug) recover. In such cases the graves are left open until the persons for whomthey are intended die. Open graves of this kind can be seen in several of their burialgrounds. Places of burial are selected some distance from the village, and, if possi-ble, in a grove of mesquite trees. Immediately after the remains have been buried, the house and personal effects ofthe deceased are burned, and his horses and cattle killed, the meat being cooked as a *Rep. Smithsonian Institution, 1871, p. 407. tVoy. dans 1Arizona, in Bull. Soc, de Geogra
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