THE FINAL CYCLE......DEATH

FROM INFORMATION SUPPLIED BY JOHN CONWAY, JR.

The funeral ceremonial depended on the social position of the deceased. Immediately following death ,the body was prepared for burial by bathing it carefully and dressing it in fine clothing. For ordinary people, burial might follow by only a few hours, but for the important people, it might be deferred for two days so that the entire confederacy might gather for the last rites. Before the burial, members of the household displayed their grief by copious weeping.

For more important persons, a coffin might be made, and when it was completed they put tobacco, another herb, and a bow and arrows in it. They spoke in low voices while they circled the coffin. Next an exact location would be decided on, they grave dug and then they returned to the house and directed the placing of the corpse in the coffin. Saying they were going to speak with God, they then went off a little way, returning after a while to relate to the corpse their conversation with God. The Priest then spoke of what a great warrior and hunter the deceased had been and how hard-working and caring for his family. He admonished the crowd to mourn-weep-for him. When he had finished he sat down near the corpse and repeated to him all the things he had told the living and instructed him to go peacefully to "That other House" to join the other dead,m and take up their life. The body was then take to the grave accompanied by a volleys of arrows shot into the air to arouse the keeper of the house "on the other side."

For the ordinary person, the grave was dug immediately and the body placed in it, with the head to the west. Large quantities of food and much personal equipment were interred with the body. A man's bow, arrows, knife, and other tools were placed with him: a number of household utensils were placed with a woman's body.

Caddoes believed that the soul did not leave the vicinity of the body until six days after death, so the living had to supply them with food. The items left on the grave were for the soul's use. The Caddos believed that messages could be sent through a recently-deceased person to dead relatives, and apparently the custom of running the hands over the corpse and then one's self was associated with this belief.