Community, Memory, and Place in Native American Mourning Traditions
A place name on a road sign or a map can be familiar without telling the full story of the people who call that place home. The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians identifies the Palm Springs area as its home from time immemorial (Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, n.d.-a).
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian (n.d.) explains that Native peoples do not share one culture or one language. Native nations have distinct cultures and ways of life. The accounts below concern particular communities, not a shared set of Native American mourning practices.
Care that continues
A 2020 article in the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma’s Iti Fabvssa series describes death, in traditional Choctaw belief, as a transition from one part of life to the next. It explains that burial practices included preparing the deceased for a spiritual journey and that love was expressed through continued care for their remains (Iti Fabvssa, 2020).
The museum also identifies kinship and extended family relationships as longstanding and continuing elements of Native cultures. It describes elders passing values, traditions, and beliefs to younger generations through their own Tribal languages, social practices, arts, and ceremonies (National Museum of the American Indian, n.d.).
Remembering together
The Choctaw article also describes the historical Feast of the Dead. Families and community members gathered to remember those who had died during the previous year. The community’s two traditional social groups took turns honoring the deceased and supporting one another. After the burial observances, community members returned to their settlement for a feast (Iti Fabvssa, 2020).
This is a historical account, not a description of a present-day funeral. The National Museum of the American Indian (n.d.) explains that Native cultures have changed over time in response to their environments and to social and economic conditions. It also emphasizes that Native people and their cultures are part of contemporary life.
The places connected to remembrance
The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians describes another form of ongoing care through its Tribal Historic Preservation Office. The office manages cultural resources significant to the Tribe, including burials, trails, archaeological sites, and sacred places. The Tribe explains that protecting cultural sites maintains connections to the land and brings the community together through shared history and ancestry (Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, n.d.-b).
The office’s work includes monitoring construction and archaeological excavations, protecting burials, and maintaining an archive. Its mission includes protecting cultural heritage for future generations of Agua Caliente people. The archive holds documentation about cultural resources on the Reservation and in traditional use areas (Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, n.d.-b).
The Choctaw Nation’s Cemetery Restoration Program also carries out practical work at burial sites. Its Cultural Services website describes a mission to locate, preserve, and protect Choctaw burial sites while respecting those who have died. Listed services include clearing brush, mowing, and landscaping at eligible cemeteries (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, n.d.).
The program’s description also addresses family preferences and individual grave markers. Trees meeting its removal criteria can be left standing when the family specifically requests it. For an intact headstone that has fallen, the listed work is to set it upright, with the family’s consent (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, n.d.).
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References
Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. (n.d.-a). History. Vision Agua Caliente.
Link: https://visionaguacaliente.com/history/
Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. (n.d.-b). Tribal historic preservation office.
Link: https://www.aguacaliente.org/trbl-historic-preservation
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. (n.d.). Cemetery restoration program. Choctaw Nation Cultural Services.
Link: https://choctawnationculture.com/historic-preservation/cemetery-restoration-program.aspx
Iti Fabvssa. (2020, November 1). Choctaws have long history of remembering and honoring loved ones. Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.
Link: https://www.choctawnation.com/news/iti-fabvssa/choctaws-have-long-history-of-remembering-and-honoring-loved-ones/
National Museum of the American Indian. (n.d.). Essential understandings. Smithsonian Institution.
Link: https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/about/essential-understandings
