death dying and afterlife exam 3

RR April 25th A. R. Radcliffe-Brown, The Andaman Islanders

talks about the one-way and reciprocal weeping rites to strengthen bonds and to further convey social solidarity

E.E. Evans-Pritchard

the azande tribe believes in witchcraft is the cause of all death, central africa

Godfrey Lienhardt, ch 11

the burying alive of the master of the fishing spear (the chief of the tribe) to symbolize the survival of the tribe

1. What is mortuary cannibalism?

the consumption of a human body after death

Antonius Robben, ch 12

the madres and the dirty war how they refused reburial of the children of the disappeared

16. What are some differences between the Vietnam War Memorial and the AIDS quilt

vietnam memorial= -showed patriotism, federalized by the government, permanent -official memorial to remember who died in the war, fixed location at nation's capital, dramatic monument, has an author, replicated all over the world, wall is complete AIDS quilt= -"warm"- blanket, funded by private donations, not permanent -no official status, no public funding, no place where it can be seen as a whole because it continues to grow because the deaths continue, authorless, fight for AIDS is not over

Beth Conklin, Robben, Ch. 20

Article about the Wari Tribe, mortuary cannibalism as a sign of respect, not eating out of power or resentment. Individuals want to be reincorporated into the tribe, to not be eaten was a sign of disrespect. Body is a locus for social relationships

12. Who/ what are the angel babies

Babies that die, they are seen as angels because they are pure so they go to heaven as long as their mothers do not cry or else it damages their tiny wing and would be bound as a wandering spirit.

7. who are the mothers of the disappeared? what did they want?

Group called Madre de Plaza de Mayo which were a human rights organization which consisted of the mothers of the people who have disappeared. Believed in 1982 that the exhumations of the bodies in the mass graves should done in order to give the disappeared a name and an identity.

4. In theory the system of vengeance could go on forever for the Azande? What stops it?

Otherwise the killing of others for vengeance of one's death would continue until no tribal members are left. If the King's oracle answers "yes" when asked if a certain person is responsible for killing a family's loved one, then the killing stops. Otherwise they keep vengeance searching.

4. what types of mortuary rituals (rites pertaining to the corpse) occur?

Separation: treatment of the deceased's body Transition: treatment of the deceased's soul Mourning: treatment of the living **embalment, mummification, cremation, cannibalism**

15. What did the dead body of Hungarian President Imry Nagy symbolize for the Hungarian people?

Susan Gal reported 5 different types of imagery: -Nationalist images emphasizing national unity around the hero of a nation -Religious images emphasizing rebirth, reconciliation, forgiveness, and presenting Nagy as a martyr rather than a hero -Nagy as a communist but as a true man of the people. His reburial representing the triumph of a humane socialist option and the death of a cruel Stalinist one. -Generational images presenting him as the symbol of a younger generation whose life chances had been lost with his execution. -Images associated with truth, conscience, rehabilitation so that his burial signified clearing one's name and telling the story of one's persecution - an opportunity to rewrite one's personal history. Interpretations of the death and reburial of Imre Nagy (d. 1958) -Nationalistic images -Religious images -Communist images -Symbol of younger generation -Ideas of truth, conscience -Reburied 1989, a national hero

17. What does this article tell us about the nature of justice for the living and the dead?

That in addition to the living owing justice to the dead, the dead can also be co-opted to provide justice for the living??

5. What does this article tell us about the nature of justice for the living and the dead?

That one of the most important things for us as humans to accomplish when somebody dies, is justice. Their death has to be justified & it's up to the living to make sure that this task is accomplished.

4. What does the body signify to the Wari?

(not sure if this is correct). View the body as a primary nexus of kinship, personhood, and social relationship. The bodies are potent embodiments of identity, social relations, and interpersonal bonds. Body transformations were a primary symbolic focus in traditional mortuary rites that aimed to restructure relations between the dead and the living. (Pg. 256) The dead person's' body served as the primary locus for the playing out of transformations of mourners' memories, images, and emotions related to the deceased. They "transform" into animals as a cycle.

5. Be able to describe the significance that the day of the dead has in mexico?

-According to Nobel Laureate Octavio Paz, Mexicans "caress death; sleep with it; celebrate it; and consider it their 'most steadfast love" -"Death enters into every aspect of their lives and it is more intimate than any other people." -Death obsessed national character inherited from the Aztecs

4. what are the 3 occasions of the reciprocal rite

-After separation in a reunion -Peace-making ceremony -end of mourning

8. Why is singing preferable to shouting or wailing, according to singers

-Because shouting and wailing is physically harmful and could cause illness. -uncontrolled screaming that could say something offensive, inappropriate or embarrassing that she may reveal private family information;

13. What did the Master of the Fishing Spear symbolize?

The Master of the Fishing Spear symbolically represented the embodiment of a village's life force. Since they were often outstanding citizens who made it their life's mission to see to the continued preservation of their kinsman life, they were often regarded along the same lines as spiritual beings.

3 Ms

-Mortuary Rituals - Of or relating to burial practices. Relating to or characteristics of death -Mourning - Act of person who mourns, sorrowing or lamentation. Outward symbols such as black garments. Period or interval during which the person grieves. Long-term reaction after initial period of grief subsides. (Grief is not mourning. It is the immediate physical, emotional, and psychological reaction.) -Memorialization Honoring the memory of the dead some way

2. what is the historical background of this day?

It refers to the All Saints Day and All Souls Day which takes place on Nov 1 - Nov 2 in Catholic Liturgical calendar and in some places it is celebrated by attending mass, praying novenas and with rosary beads. In other parts with pre-Catholic customs and rituals used to honor their ancestors or goddess; a fusion of two cultures called "syncretism"

8. Be able to describe the events leading up to the Jonestown incident

-People's Temple began in Indianapolis by Jim Jones moved it to San Francisco and Los Angeles investigations led people to move to Guyana South America -rehearsed a group suicide to deal with dissent and unhappiness to believe it as 'martyrdom' -Congressman Leo J Ryan visited the commune and escorting 15 defectors from the community, the jonestown people shot and killed him and others -parents murdered their children then drank poison tainted kool-aid to kill themselves -918 people died on nov 18th

1. What is the difference between the reciprocal weeping rite and the one sided weeping rite among the andaman islanders

-Reciprocal: Two distinct groups of persons weep together and embrace each other (like reuniting with someone after being separated - it is two sided) -One-sided: A person or group weeps over another person (or relic of that person) who has only a passive part in the ceremony (like a mother crying over her dead son)

10. What are the similarities and differences between weddings and funerals?

-death and marriage mark a point of separation -images of a long journey -existence of the similar songs -both consist of formal clothing -people carrying baskets -relatives must embrace each other -metaphor of death to marriage, moves death closer to life as a part of it by identifying it as an experience -death is more extreme because it is a departure of life

14. What was the motivation behind the creation of the AIDS quilt

-giant quilt that memorializes people that died of aids because it was a stigmatized death and they wanted something to show the extreme number of people that had died from AIDS. -a message that we could all die without knowing -memorialized people who had died from AIDS -enfranchised those disenfranchised who died a stigmatized death from AIDS -wanted to bring awareness and knowledge to the epidemic

11. What do children die of on the Alto Cruzeiro village in Brazil

-malnutrition -poverty -disease

10. How was grief "disenfranchised" in the case of the Jonestown

-shameful to mourn for people who killed their children and killed themselves -immoral stigmatized deaths -Horrifying deaths and the sensationalized responses to them by the mainstream -re-showing of the bodies -media

9. What is the significance of the fact that funeral laments sound alot like wedding songs

-similar with their musical form, narrative structure and iconography -so similar, the laments can be sung at both -lyrics and melody are similar but at weddings it's louder and vigorous -while at funerals, they are more somber and restrained

3. How did the catholic church reinterpret the indigenous practices?

-they reinterpret it in a way to fit the celebrations of All Saints Day and All Souls Day. Because shrine making and veneration was already common in Europe, it was easy to reinterpret already existing indigenous practices to fit in Catholic customs. -They moved the indigenous peoples' ritual day to Nov. 1 & 2.

1. What is the Day of the Dead (El Día de los Muertos)?

A fusion of indigenous peagan and Roman Catholic rituals to honor the deceased

6. What does Radcliffe Brown say are the purpose of these rituals

The rituals are meant to create a bond or attachment to one another. Show the importance of it through shedding tears. **Each ceremony has its own reason to weep**

Loring M. Danforth, Greek Funeral Lament

ladies sing as an alternative to wailing as a way to control output for grief

Peter Hawkins, AIDS quilt, Vietnam, Naming Names

memorialized people who had died from AIDS, enfranchised those disenfranchised who died a stigmatized death from AIDS, also wanted to bring awareness and knowledge to the epidemic

14. do you consider this murder or suicide

more like a sacrifice

Nancy Sheppard-Hues Death Without Weeping

mothers do not weep for the early deaths of their children to help defend against their grieving

Stigmatized Deaths in Jonestown by Rebecca Moore

online RR article by Dr. Moore *REREAD

15. What is the NAMES project?

public attention to the disease, 40 panels of names were displayed at LGBT freedom parade, more than 8000 panels displayed in DC. to denounce the country's indifference to the AIDS epidemic and to rally for greater attention to research and support

1. What is the Azande system of vengeance described by Evans-Pritchard?

(PG 115) Vengeance seems to have been less of a result of anger and hatred than the fulfilment of the pious duty and a source of profit. A prince declares that (person Y) has died from the magic of (person X's) kingsmen...

2. What does it mean to say that a death is caused by withcraft

(PG 116) Perhaps vengeance-magic and witchcraft participate in causing death. The part of the vengeance-magic explains the termination of mourning one family & the part of witchcraft explains the initiation of vengeance by another family. -witchcraft causes untimely death and vengeance

3. What is the difference between the social cause of death and death caused witchcraft? and otherwise what is the difference between a death as a natural fact and a social fact

(PG 117) They are foreshortening the chain of events, and in a particular social situation are selecting the cause that is socially relevant and neglecting the rest. In every case witchcraft is the socially relevant cause, since it is the only one which allows intervention and determines social behavior. Belief in death from natural causes & belief in death from witchcraft are not mutually exclusive. -actual cause (natural)= you cause your own death, death caused by the sins you have made -extensional cause (social)= untimely deaths, someone goes to the oracles to have witchcraft performed to try and avenge a death

13. What was the controversy that arose over the Vietnam War Memorial designed by Maya Lin

-Lin was asian -afraid it would be viewed as an antiwar movement because it showed how many had died from the war cause -?????

Themes Across Cultures

-Departure and Separation of the Dead -Transition and Transformation of the Dead -Mourning and Reintegration for the Living -Beliefs about Afterlife "drive" mortuary rituals -Rituals make sense within cultural worldviews which produce them

8. What are the disappearances? why are they a form of terror?

-Disappearances were a tactic used by the Argentine government against the guerillas. They would abduct the suspect, and family members (some were even present) never would know what happened to them. -They just disappeared after that. -They are a form of terror because it was converted and would be directed towards friends, colleagues, relatives and family members. They would be uncertain of their missing persons fate; whether they were dead or alive, being tortured, were deserters, or being interrogated for upcoming attacks.

9. What is disenfranchised grief? What is a stigmatized death?

-Disenfranchised Grief: when a right to grieve is not socially/culturally recognized/accepted. -reasons for disenfranchised grief= stigmized death, don't recognize the relationship, the loss is not recognized, the grief is not recognized, you did not know the person who died -Stigmatized Deaths: those in which people attribute the death to a immoral, illegal, or evil cause.

5. Why is mortuary cannibalism a sign of respect?

-Eat the body to free the soul and don't want to bury the body because the ground is thought to be a dirty wet place. Eating the corpse helps the process of the soul entering the next world. -Cannibalism presented a powerful symbolic condensation of beliefs about life's continuity after death. pg. 243

3. what are the two elements of the reciprocal rite

-Embracing: An expression, of attachment, love, friendship etc. -Weeping: The mind obtains relief from the condition of emotion tension. It has become too common, that weeping has become associated with painful feelings.

11. What are the four advantages of having an online memorial?

-Flexible timing -Access -Visiting -Sharing

3. Be able to describe a traditional funeral of the Wari.

-Funerals generally take place in the house of a senior kinsman of the deceased. The iri' nari or 'true kin' sit together apart from other mourners. From the time of death till the funeral's end there is a close kin always near the body. The nari paxi are mourners who are like kin but not truly related. They help to provide food and make preparation for the burning and disposal of the dead. -Another common funeral practice sees close relatives 'die' (mi' pin) by lying on top of the corpse, sometimes two or three at a time. **Until they lose conscious for it is an example of death** -> when someone faints from piling of bodies shows weeping rites -When the firewood bundle and roasting rack is completed the elders take the body from the deceased's family, dismember it, and roast. -The close kin iri's nari do not eat the flesh because they consider eating it an act similar to eating one's own flesh, or autocannibalism, so it is up to the nari paxi to consume the corpse

9. why didn't the mothers want the corpses (or bones) of their children reburied? what did they want instead?

-In the second half of 1984, the Mothers of the Disappeared began to be against the exhumations, which caused a separation among the group. The reasons against the exhumations was because they felt that this was the first step to reconciling with the government, and they felt they needed to remember this act by the government, as a reminder why they needed to fight; so things like that would never happen again. -They wanted the wound to keep bleeding and hurting so that people wouldn't become complacent or satisfied. Wanted the focus to stay on justice. -did they not want their loved ones forgotten -they wanted justice for their loved ones and their cause (struggle for democracy) -they did not want to give government satisfaction for not naming those who killed their children -they did not want their children to be buried in the same cemetery as their killers

16. How are relics or dead bodies used to make political statements?

-It is stated that it is much easier to rewrite history with a dead body because their words can be taken out of context or put into their mouth which can be very ambiguous. -not everyone agrees on its meaning but they still compell interest despite divergent views on what they mean

15. How does Scheper-Hughes explain the unusual mourning practices of these women?

-It is their experience of death that cause their beliefs to change so the woman of this town manage to continue on with their lives and feel relief that their child is in a better place. -Not crying is culturally conditioned for those living in the Alto

7. How is the Day of the Dead related to Mexican Nationalism?

-It represents the Mexican identity by the way the Day of the Dead is celebrated. The skulls, artwork and celebrations are more tied to the Mexican indigenous heritage than the its colonized history. -historical reference to Mexican revolution and renaissance (indigenous cultures and traditions) -valorizes those who died during the war -today has become very touristy

5. What are the 3 occasions of the one sided weeping rite

-Marriage -Initiation ceremony -weeping over bones/corpse

14. What are the women taught about grief and losing babies to death? how does that differ from traditional psychology or Americas view

-Since death is too common, their religion was adapted for when a child dies the mother does not weep for it damages their tiny wing and would be bound as a wandering spirit. -Mothers don't cry for the fear that their tears will wet their babies' angel wings and cause them to be too heavy, so that they won't be able to fly. Thus, will not be angels. -Weeping is also seen as selfish. -In western society, it is time to weep and mourn properly.

5. What occurs during the final burial? what happens to the body? what happens to the soul? what happens to the living?

-The bones are now brought to the second burial which is a sandong (a small hut). The bones are washed to remove any meat left on them. Once it is done, the widower then says a prayer to the casket before he/she is buried. -Once in the second burial and the rituals are performed, the soul is now able to enter the next world. -As for the living, they no longer are indebted to the soul and mostly the graves are left alone since they no longer exist in this world. The living (family) is re-assembled back into society -big ceremony festival

13. who generally takes the children to the cemetery? why?

-The children, to teach them how death is seen -The grown ups are too busy and it helps the separation -children socialized not to grieve so they can get acculutured to the common grievance since death is common in their culture -many times mothers neglect their children if they know they will not make it so they do not form an emotional bond with them

Disenfranchised grief

-The circumstances "in which a person experiences a sense of loss but does not have a socially recognized right, role, or capacity to grieve..." What are the reasons for disenfranchised grief? -The relationship is not recognized -The loss is not recognized -The grief is not recognized

2. how are the practices of the Wari tribe different from other mortuary cannibalism?

-The dead person's affines ideally consume all of the roasted flesh, brains, heart, liver, and sometimes the ground bones. -They also practice two different forms of cannibalism: exocannibalism and endocannibalism. -Exocannibalism refers to the eating of enemies and social outsiders. The Wari' would overtly express hostility towards these bodies. Their flesh would be eaten right off the bone ak karawa like animal meat. -Endocannibalism, in contrast, would be conducted with expressed honor and respect for the dead

1. What is the provisional, or temporary, burial? Why isn't this permanent?

-The exposure of the deceased body to the elements as it becomes bone. It is a time properly mourn and pay their respects to the person. -Either an exposed coffin to the atmosphere, or buried deep in the ground (to be dug up later) -It is also believed that the body must be purified/ exorcised -Corpse is exposed to great perils soon after death so long as the final rite has not been celebrated -Duty of the survivors: Keep watch by the side of the deceased and beat gongs frequently in order to keep malignant spirits away.

7. Who sings at the laments at rural greece?

-The older women sing it. The laments are complex and there are many variations to them. Because of rapid urbanization and modernization, many young women don't know them, approve of them, or will have to sing them at death rites they are responsible for in the future. They see laments as embarrassing and indicative of rural backwardness and superstition. -way to control grief inside of having the women screaming and wailing out of pain and grief -expressed grief in a metaphor instead

12. What is the significance of "naming names", that is, providing the names of the dead?

-The significance of naming the names is that it brings a sense of closure for the families that lost loved ones. -Publication of names, photographs and biographical data online, serves to disentangle the knots and to legitimize the grief -Faces were given to the corpses, to the "they" to the "others" -Individuality to those who died.

6. What is the importance of the skull iconography in Mexico

-The skulls are reminders of the brevity of life and inevitability of death -They urge people to appreciate life today because death may be around the corner -They are also a symbol for the indigenous population as a decolonization strategy to identify with their indigenous roots rather than their European history. -Representation of Aztec skull racks

2. where is the soul hanging out during this provisional period?

-The soul wanders around their body while they wait for their second burial. -Stays on earth in the proximity of the body -Wandering in the forest, frequenting the places it inhabited while alive -Being purified by its first burial. -Since it has no resting place, considered a malicious being. -Remembers all its wrongdoings and tries to seek revenge.

11. why did the Dinka leader bury their tribal leader alive

-The tribal elders were buried alive because the Dinka believed that the elders shouldn't die and be buried like normal tribes people and animals. -A form to "immortalize" the Dinka -augment their vitality and gratify his own desire, in honor to clan divinity, sense of serving, giving homage to their leader -died from dehydration and starvation not suffocation -did not want tribe to see him weak -pg. 132 -a social triumph over death

4. What observances or practices occur on this day?

-There was a strong sense of connection between agricultural fertility and human reproduction which ultimately was the basis for many observances by the cultures. Many Latino cultures use this time of year to make marital matches or engagements. -For more European-oriented Latino's: On November 1st, the living must pray to the saints (souls in communion with God and currently reside in heaven) for general help about life and to quicken their journey from purgatory to heaven. November 2nd is the day to remember those souls that are not yet in heaven and pray for their eventual deliverance. -Indigenous Latino's: Do not focus on the status of purgatory and heaven; believe that once their loved ones are deceased that they move on to a better and more positive place. Both days are seen as celebratory times. They ask the saints for solutions to more worldly affairs. They view this time as a way to celebrate with the returning deceased members of their family. -Small edible sugar skulls are made each year around this time and have become a synonymous symbol around this holiday. -The symbol of El Dia de los Muertos is the calavera, the skull or calaveritas, little skeletons. This skull is often crafted and placed in the homes of Mexicans or anywhere the holiday is celebrated. These skulls, little skeletons have a historical background representing political characters back in the 19th century, they also have the images act out and dance in a way representing the emotions felt and portrayed back then. Mexicans present these images in a humorous way to bring light to the holiday but they are really conveying the message about death's inevitability and the equality it brings to all people, no one single person can escape it. -Central America: kite flying in cemeteries (to help traveling spirits find their way back to Earth) often with notes for the dead attached, adornment of grave sites with flowers and decorations, eating/drinking, children go door-to-door asking for candles for the souls. Decorating of the grave sites and eating/drinking with the family appear to be the most important. -South America: food preparations followed by offerings for the recently deceased members of the family, prayer is also done. Young boys go from house to house singing songs in exchange for bananas and oranges. Horse races and competitive games take place on November 2nd in regions of Peru.

6. What kind of afterlife do the Wari have?

-They envision the afterlife: the spirits of the dead reside under the waters of the deep rivers and lakes. Everyone appears as they did in life, but everyone is strong, beautiful and free of deformity, disease, and infirmity. Life is easy and crops grow abundantly. No hunting or fishing. -"We'll let you kill us if you let us kill you"-> Water spirits visit earth in white lipped fish and allow the wari to eat them, the Wari reciprocate at the moment of biological death when human spirits allow themselves to be killed by the water spirits. this occurs when a dying person's spirit journeys to the underworld and becomes a guest at the huroroin party. The hosts, Towira Towira and his wife offer maize beer. If the spirit accepts it enters itam and "dies" underwater; on earth, the person's physical body dies. Then the dead person gains a new identity as a water spirit -this relationship is maintained because the Wari continues to have children allowing the Water Spirits enhancement to their society in return for the water spirits providing the Wari with food (cycle of animals, spirits, and water spirits)

3. what are the living doing during this time period?

-They perform rituals to help the wandering spirit find the next world -Trying provide needs of the deceased and to ease his/her conditions. -It is also because of the fear and pity the living have for the soul because if he/ she is not properly buried and or giving their rituals, the soul can inflict harm on the health of the living

17. Why is a quilt an appropriate memorial to the AIDS victims? ????

-a collage that is always being reformed, no ranking, no hierarchy, all equal opportunity -women of feminine art creating it, soft fabric made at home -men a part of the quilt and together as one sex -Its center is wherever you find it; no one tells the viewer where to start, finish, or pay particular attention. Nor does it require of the viewer anything like an "appropriate" response. -Unlike stone, with its illusion of an eternal witness, cloth fades and frays with time; its fragility, its constant need for mending, tells the real truth about "material" life. -And yet if the immensity and scale of its displays mark a rupture with a specifi- cally female and domestic past, it is also apparent that the AIDS Quilt has in effect made intimacy its object; it has enabled quite private reality (sometimes sentimental and homey, sometimes kinky and erotic) to "come out" in public.

7. be able to describe the cycle of life and death of the wari

-water spirits are the ancestors -animal human exchange transformation -hunt and eat water spirits and animals , -the destiny to end up being hunted and eaten too -each new death strengthens and reproduces the water spirits, ties to the living world The humans benefit bc this reproduces the primary human-nonhuman relation of their cosmology but also promises an enhancement of ecological resources important to their subsistence. Three elements central to Wari's socioecological security originated in this myth: rhe festival of inter village alliance that ensures peace among neighbors, humans postmortem transformation to peccaries, and the song that summons peccaries and fish to earth.

Funeral Costs

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Funerals

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Memorial Days

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rest of lecture notes

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2. what is the purpose of the reciprocal rite

An expression of that feeling of attachment between persons which is such importance in the almost domestic life of the Andaman society / to affirm the existence of a social bond.

6. what happened during and after the 1976 coup in argentina

During the 1976 coup, Argentina was considered to be in a state of terror. Bodies of military repression were incinerated, dumped at sea, or buried in mass graves by counterinsurgency task forces. 10,000 and 30,000 people disappeared. There was anxiety about what happened to the spirits of the dead, there was resistance by the relatives of those who disappeared and there was a concealment and funerary obstruction of victims in order to extend this state of terror. (State of terror because in Argentine culture, dead influence the world of the living, and a belief that you need to bury comrades with full hono

10. what does the article tell us about the nature of justice for the living dead

For the Argentine culture as well as many others, there is a human need to mourn the dead. Obstructing funerary rituals prevents people from coming to terms with their dead and reconciling with their opponents.

Hertz, RR chapter 17

Hertz will be analyzing the process of "double burial" among the Dayak tribe of Borneo, Indoesnia, but includes some facts about other indigenous groups. Overall, he sees three stages in mortuary rituals: treatment of the body; treatment of the soul of the deceased; treatment of the living -reading would be a good example in essay about mortuary rights

Katherine Verdery, ch 23

Hungarian, shows how our relicts or dead bodies used for political statements

lecture notes -mortuary rituals

The body is not a carcass Three elements of mortuary rituals (Hertz) -Separation - Separating the dead from the living -Transition - Transitioning from this world to the next world -Mourning - Mourning to reintegrate the bereaved into society

Stigmatized death

Those in which people attribute to the death an immoral, illegal, or evil cause. Negative stereotypes surrounding these deaths and are often extended to include survivors. -Stigmatized deaths lead to disenfranchised grief Individuals are not allowed to grieve or to mourn because the deceased is not "worthy" -Survivors are not allowed to talk about the deceased -Outsiders feel uncomfortable about comforting the bereaved -Antidote to disenfranchised grief =Naming names

12. what was the process of the burial

To the Dinka's the master of the fishing spear, the chief, is the ultimate symbol of the life of the tribe. Because of the standards the master of the fishing spear is held to such high standards he is expected to be buried alive to symbolize the Dinka's survival and will to carry on shall not die as ordinary human beings. The Master of the Fishing Spear is the tribal leader and represents the survival of the tribe. He is held above all members of the tribe and is acknowledged for his wisdom, strength and inspiration. The people of the Dinka tribe look up the tribal elder because he embodies their needs of survival. As Lienhardt states in the article, the various Dinka tribes all over the region participate in the same burial rites of the master of the fishing spear. The alive burial represents the social triumph the tribe has over death. The tribe does not grieve over the elder nor does the elder himself fear death. It is very important to the Dinka that the elder is buried alive and does not become ill or die beforehand. A master of the fishing spear is only buried at an old age, never after death or on the verge of sickness. They want the tribal elder to represent strength and continuation for the tribe. During the ceremony the close family of the elder is not allowed to watch the final steps of the burial, they are taken away so there is no emotion or sadness associated with the burial. As the cattle dung and animal sacrifices are prepared to be placed with the master of the fishing spear he sings and tells the historyof his past life and the traditions of the Dinka. The other tribe members feast, dance and sing during the ceremony. In some regions, the Dinka tribes have reported that the master of the fishing spear has given final words of advice such as when to harvest or forewarning when a war will occur with another tribe so the tribe will be prepared. One incidence was even reported that when the final burial was performed the master captured a teste fly just before he was completely buried. According to that tribe the master rid the tribe of the disease spreading fly. The burial of the master of the fishing spear represents the continuation of the DInka tribe. The tribe does not lose hope with the loss of their leader, but instead strength because he symbolizes a god like appearance greater than man. The Dinka perform these ceremonies of alive burial to show that the master of the fishing spear is superior to the death of any ordinary man or animal. He represents the transcendence and the continuing lineage that keeps their tribe and traditions alive.

"dia de los muertos" RR online

by regina marchi talks about the histry of the day of the dead in mexico, its symbolism to Mexico's nationality, the orgin of the culture and the importance (dia de los muertos origin of the day of the dead- video)