widespread custom among our kindred races in Europe.[1]
The survivors also carry their own possessions out of the house, that the smell of death may pass away from them. They are either brought in again at evening, or, as on the east coast, are left lying out for several days. The relatives of the dead man, on the east coast, go so far as to leave off wearing their old clothes, which they throw away.[2]
When the body is carried out, a woman sets fire to a piece of wood, and waves it backwards and forwards, saying: 'There is nothing more to be had here.' This is, no doubt, done with a view to showing the soul that everything belonging to it has been thrown out.
Bodies are either buried in the earth or thrown into the sea (if one of the dead man's ancestors has perished in a kaiak(?)). The possessions of the deceased—such as his kaiak, weapons, and clothes; or, in the case of a woman, her sewing materials, crooked knife, &c.—are laid on or beside the grave, or, if the body is thrown into the sea, they are laid somewhere upon the beach. This seems to be partly due to their fear of a dead person's property and
