American Indian View on Death

There are over 500 American Indian nations in the United States and even though the nations share similarities, there is not one uniform religion or view on death. There are also not organized religious meetings similar to the ones held by people who practice other religions. Spirituality is integrated into everyday life, not just on special occasions and many nations interact and intermarry which leads to similar ideas but not one collective view. There is not one holy document or set of laws that guides all nations, customs are traditionally handed down to new generations through oral traditions and by inviting members to participate in various gatherings and ceremonies.

The living world and the spiritual world are connected and there is a sense of connectivity among all members of the nation. Man is not above nature, all things are related and all things and beings have a soul. American Indians by nature are nonlinear and believe in the cycles of time. Some believe in reincarnation as spirits continuing the circle of life.

American Indian’s concept of death follows a similar idea as other religions around the world in the belief that a spirit lives on after a physical death and journeys to another world where it will live a life similar to their life on Earth.

Everything exists in relation to everything else including the world around in nature. American Indian spirituality is not the same as most other religions, in American Indian spirituality, the spiritual world is the same as the real world.

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People can access everything spiritual just as easily as they can feel the sun. (powwows) Some nations believed that communication with the spirits of the dead was possible, and that spirits could travel to and from the afterlife to visit the living. Multiple examples of interacting with the spirit world exist including the idea of vision questing such as a sweat lodge, pipe ceremonies, and many dances. There is not, however, a concept of heaven and hell.(powwows) It incorporates a strong connection with the natural environment. There are many ceremonies that represent the growing of crops and hunting for food, connecting with nature for the survival of the members. Some tribes have spiritual leaders they believe can speak with the spirits to understand what happened on a hunt or why the crops are not thriving. American Indians believe the land belongs to all and must be cared for and respected.

“When I am dead, cry for me a little. Think of me sometimes, but not too much. It is not good for you to allow your thoughts to dwell too long on the dead. Think of me now and again as I was in life. At some moment it is pleasant to recall. But not for long. Leave me in peace and I shall leave you too, in peace. While you live, let your thoughts be with the living.” (Urban Law Journal) This traditional American Indian burial prayer emphasizes that death is just a part of the journey. Ceremonies also exist to help the spirit’s transformation to the next life. This journey is seen as a natural progression of life, the next chapter for the spirit of the person. This is similar to most religious views on death that loved ones are celebrating the transition from physical life to the spiritual one. Some call on their ancestors to come and join the deceased on the journey to help with the transition.

For example, there is a smoke that is put upon the body for a blessing and a prayer to the body that is now taking off on their journey. The smoke ceremony is also for those left behind so they don’t take the death too hard. On occasion, a spirit might get stuck on Earth and not make the transition and this is similar to the idea of ghosts in other cultures. Many nations believe in a singular great spirit, others believe that that many different deities control specific things in nature. There also is the idea of a great force that lives in every person, animal, plant, or object in nature and this force extends into the afterlife. (powwows) The spirit of a person may be associated with a particular part of nature such as an animal, plant, or water. Symbols of these may be part of the death ceremony. American Indians truly believe in the permanence of the spirit and view death as one part of the external spiritual journey. (Urban Journal)

Autopsies are typically not favorably thought of and in most occasions American Indians tend to discourage any contact with the deceased body. Many believe the spirit will leave the body through rituals and ceremonies where tribal members must help it on its way. If the body is cut open in an autopsy, the spirit may not properly begin its journey after death. This has led to some controversy in Minnesota where two American Indians died in separate car accidents and autopsies were ordered before the bodies would be released to the families. (Star Tribune) The families called for respect for their beliefs even if they were not understood. (Star Tribune) Both families practiced Midewiwin which requires a body to be persevered intact for burial four days after death and holds that the spirit of the person travels everywhere they’ve ever been during that period. (Star Tribune) “The family attorney contended that this religion isn’t well-known outside of tribal communities, partly because American Indians historically hid many of their cultural practices from public view after past attempts to forcibly assimilate them.” (Star Tribune) Other nations also hold this custom, the Sioux believe it takes four days after burial for the spirit of the deceased to journey to its next resting place.(Love to Know) They believe death is not an end of life, but the beginning of another journey.

The belief that natives should stay in their homeland and be near sacred lands is important for the journey to the afterlife. This is the belief that they will join their ancestors so they may also inhabit the land to which their loved ones will return. Many American Indians want ancestral remains returned to their final resting places. They also believe the living have a responsibility to see that the dead is undisturbed and if their remains are removed every American Indian has a duty to see their reburial. (Urban journal) Removing the remains interrupts the spiritual journey, but this is only temporary and can be corrected by properly reburing the remains. (Urban Journal)

Many American Indian death rituals are focused on providing the spirit with the things it needs to arrive safely in the afterlife (funeral guide). Traditionally, many different nations would leave offerings of food, jewellery, tools, and weapons for the spirit which are all valuable items in the afterlife. Several nations would traditionally leave the body to naturally decompose in a tree or on a platform, or by leaving an opening in the burial chamber so the spirit could escape. The natural decomposition also reflects the American Indians’ deep connection with nature and the cycle of life and death.(funeral guide) Indians are cyclical by nature. Day changing into night is a cycle, the full moon’s monthly repetition is another cycle, and the seasons rotate as well. Life itself, then, is a rotation of cycles and the afterlife is part of this cycle, a reunion with nature.. (Oklahoma Historical Society) Some nations believe in the significance of burying people with the reference to a circle.

Traditionally the Sioux would place the body of the deceased in a tree or on a platform above the ground for one year. The deceased would be dressed in their best clothing and would be covered with animal skin. The body would be treated as if it still had life. After one year, the body was buried in the ground. Today traditional rituals are combined with Christian death traditions. The whole tradition might take two days as the family would have the wake and the funeral and not move the body until actual burial. After the Christian funeral, a medicine man would perform a more traditional ceremony with prayers, songs, and a drum. Gifts might be placed in the casket.

Cherokee Indians are very spiritual and view death as a transition. Services are conducted by a shaman the day after death. The deceased are buried in the ground with the idea that they will provide nutrients for the earth. Cherokee are traditionally not embalmed and their organs are not donated. (Timm, classroom) There is a traditional mourning period and this is considered a time away from the other nation members to be spiritually cleansed. Family members are not allowed to be angry or happy and must restrict the amount of food and water. The shaman will cleanse the house with tea and removes any items deemed unclean from the house of the deceased. After seven days, the shaman will take the mourners to the water and ask them to immerse themselves seven times, alternating between east and west. After this ceremony, the mourners are presented with fresh clothes, an offering of tobacco, and sanctified beads. After the ceremony, the mourners are welcomed back with the other members.(Timm, classroom)

Traditions of how people honor their dead help to define their culture. Seminole traditions changed after assimilation and have been influenced by more modern practices, but are still very private occasions. Once upon a time, the family would place the body on a chickee which was a house with open sides. Once the body was placed on the chickee, the family would leave the deceased alone to make their own journey. Seminoles were also known for gathering the belongings of a loved one who had died and then throwing the items into the swamp. Many would break the items so as to break the spirit free from the objects. Seminoles do not pass on a deceased’s belongings to family members, they believe that to hold on to these possessions would hinder the journey of their loved one. Because of their original location in Florida, a family might also lay a body to rest above the ground because it may take a few days to complete the ritual.

The Navajo people are very family oriented and have a fear of the dead. There is a strong belief that the spirit of the dead may return to the land of the living if not properly buried. There are serious precautions taken to make sure that the dead never come back. Even today, embalming is not allowed and bodies must be buried in a ceremony soon after death. They do believe the body is blessed, but should be cleaned and buried right away. There was also a tradition of not using the name of the person for at least a year after their death because of the belief that it would call back their spirit from the afterlife. The Navajo also believed that sudden and violent deaths could cause bad spirits to haunt the family. It is thought to be better to die away from home so that the spirit would not linger in the house. There appears to be a time when they might have burned the house if the person died in the house and a time when they carried the body on a horse as far north as possible to pick funeral ground and then slay the horse and bury the horse too so the dead person would take the new horse on the journey to the afterlife.

Chippewa traditionally believe the spirit leaves the body after burial, not after death and prefer immediate burials. They believe it takes four days after burial to reach happiness and it is the family’s duty to help the spirit move on as quickly as possible. Traditionally a powwow would be held each of the four nights and a person would light a fire at the head of the grave each of the four nights to help guide the spirit. On the end of the fourth day, the medicine man would preside over a feast and is responsible for giving away deceased belongings. Each person who receives an item must give a new piece of clothing and these are wrapped with a dish and given to the closest relative. This person would give the gift to a worthy person and the person would keep the dish and carry it for one year to every meal to honor the deceased. The Kiowas also believed in ground burial is the only acceptable way to release a body after death. Cremation would be taboo as the body is considered a temple. They believe the body came from the earth and so it must return to the earth through decomposition. Cremation would not go along with the traditions of keeping the body around and allowing the spirit to go and visit lands during the four days.

Some American Indian nations felt that the deceased person was resentful of those that were still living and so the ghost of the dead would come back and haunt and make trouble for anyone who used their possessions. The family would move and burn their house and all possessions to escape the ghost of the deceased. This goes on in the Ponca nation today. They take all the property that belonged to the deceased out into the country and burn them, destroying all possessions of the deceased person. They would not give anyone an opportunity to steal any of their belongings to use. Another example is if the person had cancer, they would take the hair and burn it and leave nothing behind.

When a member of the Otoe-Missouria nation dies, the body would be taken to the funeral home and the family would come to make arrangements. On the fourth day from the time of death, the rituals would be that the body is fed at different times. Cooks would make breakfast, lunch, and dinner so that the soul and body would continue to be nurtured. The belief is when the soul leaves the body on the day of death, the soul wanders wherever family members may live. At high noon on the day of the funeral, the custom is to have a feast. Someone in the community takes the responsibility of being a cook and will fix the deceased favorite foods. They fry bread soup called corn soup with cut up beef in it and hominy with cut up pork and all the community will come together. They then attend the funeral ceremony and sing native songs. An elder will get up to talk about the person that has died and there will be gifts from the family, giving back to those who have helped them. There is also a period of mourning. An elder will braid the family’s hair and cut it off as a sign of mourning. In the past, a sign of mourning would have been to cut off a finger because you are hurting so much. The family member would then bury the finger on top of the person that passed away. The family members would also separate themselves from the tribe for a year of mourning. During this year, the family member would not participate in anything joyous such as dancing. The person would just concentrate on the loss and after the anniversary of the death would not speak of the person anymore.

Many death rituals have continued in the Muscogee (Creek) Nation despite the influence of Christianity into modern Creek society. The belief that death is a transition and spirits exist is still commonly held. Even though the relationship with the deceased doesn’t continue directly, there is the belief that they will meet their loved ones again. There are some families that have integrated more Chrisitan ideas and some that adhere to the traditional ceremonial grounds, however, there are still rituals both of these families use from Creek tradition. One of these traditions is that someone stays with the body constantly until burial so that the body and the spirit will not be alone. This person is usually a family member of the deceased. The family also encloses personal items in the casket and holds a wake the night before burial. The graves are usually dug by hand by family members and at the burial ceremony, everyone honors the deceased and says goodbye with a farewell handshake which is to throw a handful of dirt onto the casket. There are also instances of building a replica house over gravesites so that if the spirit wanders, it knows where to come back. Ceremonial grounds families will also adhere to the waiting period of four days before burial and a socialized mourning period. The four day waiting period seems to be influenced by the value of four, earth, wind, water, and fire, that strike balance and harmony in the world.

Even though there are many American Indian nations, there are similarities in how they handle death. Many American Indian nations perceive time as being circular, not linear. They do not see death as an end, but rather as just the next step. Life is a journey and death is just the next step and a passage to the next world. The journey takes the person to join their ancestors in their homeland and is the logical progression back to the earth. Even though some of the American Indian rituals and traditions have been combined with more Christian traditions, there still is the belief that death is the next part of the journey and the spirit continues.