Miami and Pottawatomie Indian Burial Customs
History of Dekalb County, Indiana 1885 “The Pottawatomies and Miamies were the principal tribes in De Kalb County. Their manner of burying the dead was to dig a grave eighteen inches deep, put in the dead, cover with leaves, and then build a tight pen of poles over the grave. Sometimes they cut down a tree, split off a piece from the top of the log, dug out a trough, put in the body, and then covered it up closely with poles. They burnt the leaves around these burying places every fall, to keep the fire in the woods from getting to them. They disliked very much to have their dead interfered with, yet it was done by unprincipled whites. It was not uncommon to see their graves opened, the bones scattered around, and the skull of an Indian set out in the log in full sight.
History of Dekalb County, Indiana 1885 “The Pottawatomies and Miamies were the principal tribes in De Kalb County. Their manner of burying the dead was to dig a grave eighteen inches deep, put in the dead, cover with leaves, and then build a tight pen of poles over the grave. Sometimes they cut down a tree, split off a piece from the top of the log, dug out a trough, put in the body, and then covered it up closely with poles. They burnt the leaves around these burying places every fall, to keep the fire in the woods from getting to them. They disliked very much to have their dead interfered with, yet it was done by unprincipled whites. It was not uncommon to see their graves opened, the bones scattered around, and the skull of an Indian set out in the log in full sight.
