On the third day after the death, the relatives begin to prepare the first feast for the dead, which is held within a fortnight.  One or two sheep or goats are killed, and the lungs, the heart, and the windpipe are hung from a stick outside the burial-cave.

As soon as the tesvino is ready the feast comes off, although comparatively little of the liquor is used at this first function.  The relatives, men and women, visit the grave and leave a jar with pinole, a small jar with tesvino, three tortillas, and three cigarettes with the dead, if he was a man; with a woman, four tortillas, etc., are required.  The size of the tortillas varies with the age of the person.  For adults the ordinary tortilla is used; to young people over six years old, medium-sized ones are given; and children get small ones, about an inch and a half in diameter.  I have seen medium-sized ones made into the shape of a cross.

All the mourners talk to the departed, the shaman first.  He tells him that he had better take away everything they have given him, and not come and disturb the people he has left behind.  He should leave them alone, and some day they, too, will have to go where he is.  He should not kill any of the animals belonging to the family, as they have killed a sheep for him and given him the best part, the lungs, that he may eat and be satisfied and not take what now is theirs.

At the first feast I have seen worn in the hair by both men and Women a peculiar kind of artificial flower.  It is made from a short bit of reed in one end of which four incisions are made, with the parts turned outward to stand out like the corolla of a flower.  It is stuck under the hair-ribbon at one side of the head.  The mourners also make crosses on their foreheads with charcoal.

The second feast is given half a year later, and again animals are killed and a large quantity of tesvino is made.  Three men and three women carry food and tesvino to the grave, the relatives remaining at home.  On their return they stop at a distance from the house and throw ashes over each other’s heads before entering.

For the third function, which is the largest, an animal is selected from among those last acquired by the deceased, and quantities of food and beer are prepared.  This feast is the final effort to despatch the dead.  A large earthen bowl is made especially for the purpose.  It is about two feet in diameter and six inches deep.  It is filled with water, and a drinking-gourd placed inside of it, upside down.  The shaman beats this gourd with a corn-cob fastened to the end of a little stick.  His assistants help him, one by swinging the rattle, the other by singing.  After a while the shaman lifts the bowl up and after carrying it about in three ceremonial circuits throws it into the air.  It falls to the ground and breaks into many pieces, and the people dance and trample on the shreds and on the drinking-gourd.

The young people conclude the function by running a race of some hundred yards.  The men have their ball, and as they run they scatter ashes to the four cardinal points to cover the tracks of the dead.  They return rejoicing, manifesting their delight by throwing up their blankets, tunics, and hats, because now the dead is at last chased off.  If the deceased be a woman, the women run a race with rings and sticks.