In a message dated 4/6/2007 1:32:16 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
This belief is almost universal among traditional Native Americans (as
it was among the Pagan Romans). One who comes in contact with the dead
is expected to go through some sort of purification process such as a
sweat before re-entering the community, so as to avoid spreading this
contagion.
This brings me to the observed cremation rites of the local Kumeyaay, one of
the Native American groups from San Diego County, California. Only the
Kwaipai, a spiritual specialist and organizer of the Keruk (cremation ceremony)
and the Kwaipai walmun (something of an apprentice) were allowed to arrange the
bodies of deceased individuals for the cremation ceremony. I believe this
had to be conducted before the next period of darkness to ensure the spirit
found its path to the other world. The bodies were tied with willow strips, both
of which burned during the process, and the bodies would constrict and
writhe. The Kwaipai and Kwaipai walmun had to restrain the body in the pyre to
prevent other spirits from entering the body and walking among the living. No
one but these people touched the dead for fear of the spirit deviating from the
path or entering someone else. After the cremation, only those special
individuals collected the remaining bone fragments and placed them in ceramic jars
for burial. Afterwards, the Kwaipai burned sage for many hours for both
people to cleanse themselves in the sage smoke. Variations in these cleansing
rituals have been recorded. Apparently, some portions of the deceased were
cached away in sacred places for use in another Keruk in which images were made
from woven mats, eyes made from marine shell, and the real teeth set in a part
of the mat cut to resemble the head. As the mats were cut in the shape of
people and the eyes and teeth attached, mourners yelled and groaned with each
movement. Clothes from the deceased were used to dress the mat image. Watches
with chains and other items were installed on the images. Then the Kwaipai
and several Kwaipai walmun led a processional around the grounds with the
ultimate destination a special brush house built to contain the mat images. Some
drawings show cloth streamers set on poles. The final ritual involved igniting
the brush house and burning the images. All involved in this Keruk were
bathed in sage smoke to cleanse themselves. (detailed accounts can be found in
the journals of Edward H. Davis, who attended several Keruk ceremonies between
1906 and the 1920s). Mourning relatives burned the houses and property of the
dead, cleansed properly, often shore their hair, beat themselves with
stones, and never uttered the name of the dead again.
Ron May
Legacy 106, INc.
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