There is a tradition in the Iroquoian tribes concerning burial rites. It was believed that when a leader died, he was to roam in a purgatory-like realm after being unceremoniously buried in a shallow grave. Here the chief or shaman would subsist on rotting bark and dwell in sickness and disease, sometimes for ten or twelve years. The bones were then dug up, cleaned, and reburied in a great ceremony with others who had transcended the Coffin of the Flesh.
