Original - North Central Michigan College Library

andit remained till we went to the Jake, on theborder of which was the burial ground of thefamily.On our arrival there, which happened in thebeginning of April, I did not fail to attend thefuneral. The grave was made of a large size,and the whole of the inside lined with birchbark. On the bark was laid the body of thechild, accompanied with an axe, a pair ofsnowshoes, a small kettle, several pairs ofcommon shoes, its own strings of beads, andbecause it was a girla carrying-belt and apaddle. The kettle was filled with meat.All this was again covered with bark; andat about two feet nearer the surface logs werelaid across, and these again covered with bark,so that the earth might by no means fall uponthe corpse.The last act before the burial, performed bythe mother crying over the dead body of herchild, was that of taking from it a lock of hairfor a memorial. While she did this I endeavoredto console her by offering the usual arguments,that the child was happy in beingreleased from the miseries of this present life,and that she should forbear to grieve, becauseit would be restored to her in another world,happy and everlasting. She answered that sheknew it, and that by the lock of hair she shoulddiscover her daughter; for she would take itwith her. In this she alluded to the day whensome pious hand would place in her own145