Child Sacrifice in Pre-Columbian Cultures - North America

North America

Mound 72 at the Mississippian culture site of Cahokia contained the remains of "scores of clearly sacrificed female retainers" as well as four headless and handless male skeletons. The roughly contemporaneous site of Dickson Mounds, some 100 miles (150 km) to the north, also contained a mass grave with four headless male skeletons.

The Pawnee practiced an annual Morning Star ceremony, which included the sacrifice of a young girl. Though the ritual continued, the sacrifice was discontinued in the 19th Century.

The Iroquois are said to have occasionally sent a maiden to the Great Spirit.

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