The Navajo. Some Navajos still live in traditional hogans (one room mud and log cabins). If a person dies in his hogan or any other dwelling, that dwelling must be abandoned because it is believed the spirit is trapped inside. When someone has died in the hogan, people hurry to get the body outside it to prevent the spirit from becoming trapped. Because of this belief, some Navajo might not choose for a loved one to die at home.
In the past, when a Navajo died, only certain tribal members were allowed to prepare the body for burial. They had to be purified in a special ceremony beforehand to protect them from being ensnared by the spirit of the dead. Today, it is likely that a nontribal mortician will prepare the body. A piece of turquoise is usually placed in the casket. The burial takes place on or after the fourth day following the death. During that time, a special ceremony may be performed to keep the spirit of the dead from trapping the souls of the living. The body can either be buried in the desert without markers or in a graveyard. Customarily, family and friends help dig the grave and cover it with earth. Because the Navajo have so strongly maintained their tribal beliefs and customs, it may be less likely that the majority culture or Christian religions will influence funeral and burial rites.
Service delivery issues. A provider must become skilled at learning what is helpful to an individual family, rather than relying on vague ideas about tribal customs.
And remember Mitakuye Oyasin—we are all related.
Ojibwe grieving. (Adapted from the presentation of Kathleen Headbird)
History and culture. Madeline Island is in Lake Superior and is part of a group of islands now called the Apostle Islands. It is not far from the city of Ashland, Wisconsin. Many years ago, my Ojibwe ancestors migrated to this area from their original home- land on the Eastern shores of North America. Now the Ojibwes and their offspring are spread from the Atlantic coast, all along the St. Lawrence River, and throughout the Great Lakes region of this country. Madeline Island was the final stopping place on the great migration. This island later became the capital of the Ojibwe nation.
During this migration, the Creator told the Ojibwe people to keep going until they came to where the food grew in the water. This food is wild rice, which has special spiritual significance to the Ojibwe people.
The Ojibwe spread over a vast territory that reached from the northeastern plains of present-day North Dakota across Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan to the forests just east of Lake Superior and Lake Huron. It extended northward into present-day Canada, from central Saskatchewan across Manitoba and Ontario. Much of this region was shared with other tribes, but the Ojibwe became the dominant people and, eventu- ally, one of the largest Native American tribes.
The Ojibwe language is a group of several closely related languages that belong to the large Algonquian family of languages. This group consists of more than 30 languages spoken throughout North America, from the Atlantic coast to the Rocky Mountains. Many Native American tribes speak Algonquian languages, including the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Blackfoot, Fox, Shawnee, Abenaki, and Delaware.
VOICES FROM THE COMMUNITY: CROSS CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS OF GRIEF AT THE LOSS OF AN INFANT 21
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