Spirit Houses
Upper peninsula musems make for great Michigan day trips. The historical museum in Caspian, Michigan contains a number of
unique exhibits. One item seems unremarkable, but it tells a story
that is nearly forgotten. A small wooden crate or box with a peaked
roof sits near a wall with a photograph above it. It is made of
unpainted wood and is an exhibit that many visitors simply walk by.
This plain looking box is actually a replica of a Native American
“spirit house”. It is difficult to find information about these
“houses”. It should be noted, again, that these structures are
tombs. Their construction and maintenance are part of sacred
ceremonial activity. It is considered bad manners, an insult and
disrespectful, to question Native Americans about these ceremonies
and structures.
With that caveat in place, here is a description of the “spirit houses”.
According to the inscription at a Chippewa burial ground at
Chicaugon Lake:
“After death, the Indian’s body was clothed in his finest clothes,
wrapped in birch-bark and together with his earthly belongings, his
most prized possessions, was buried. A small shelter was built over
the grave in the shape of a house, which was to protect him from the
elements, and prevent wild animals from digging up his body. At one
end of the shelter, a small opening was inserted so food could be
placed inside to sustain him on his way to the Happy Hunting
Grounds. A small staff was erected near the entrance on which was
placed the totem of his family. The Indian placed the home of the
soul in the sun, either in the East where it came from, or in the
West, where it made its bed. Thus, we find, the Indians always
buried their dead facing the West or the setting sun.”
Protected by a split rail fence the wooden burial structures have endured time to protect and mark the graves of the ancient Ojibwa.