Drawing from Jay Miller’s Indien personhood III: Water burial, I want to discuss the significance of water that Miller found in both the ethnographic and archaeological record among Native American groups across North America.
A brief article, Miller goes over a belief that is found in many Native American groups: that the way in which the body is buried or the way in which the person dies is a reflection of how they entered and were during their life1. Miller goes on to discuss how the archaeological record fails to properly observe the existence of Native American water burial practice, and gives readers a few examples. The concept of water as being both a giver and taker of life seems to be a common theme among many Native American groups, and in quite a few folktales this idea of water renewing life and strength shows up. In sum, Miller’s article serves as a friendly reminder to archaeologists – and anthropologists – not to come to conclusions too quickly as there are some pieces of the archaeological puzzle which cannot physically be accounted for.
I thought it would be interesting to write up a few questions on the article and answer them briefly; hopefully they will be broad enough that my readers can come up with their own answers (not necessarily related to the Miller paper… I’m sure you all have better things to do than read obscure scholarly articles!)
1. Miller describes a site called Windover in central Florida; at this site over 150 bodies – male, female, and a variety of ages equally accounted for – were uncovered during excavation of a peat-filled pond. Archaeologists were able to find information about the group’s funerary ritual and the grave goods given. The kicker? This site was only discovered due to an expansion of a space launch pad. What does this say about archaeology’s attitude toward water burials?
I would argue that archaeology has traditionally been about physical, topographical burial! Once a body or its ashes are tossed into a body of water we are powerless to find it and must rely on purely folklore or – in some lucky cases – modern practices to realize the existence of these practices. I definitely feel that in the past archaeology has ignored the possibility of water burial which could certainly have taken away from a more holistic understanding of social and political ranks of individuals.
| Image of a female Windover bog body |
2. Miller tells another story from the Kootenay about an individual - Ya’ukwekam – who was killed by his tribe and thrown into the water. Due to his father’s close relationship with the water, Ya’ukwekam was rejuvenated by the element and able to come back to the tribe stronger than ever. Do you think that traditions with folktales like this indicate the possibility of practices of water burial?
| Reconstruction of what (above) bog body may have looked like |
I feel that if there are stories about the rejuvenating, or even treacherous, powers of water in a tradition, the possibility for water burials cannot be overlooked. Who knows, maybe there was a period when the dead were laid to rest in lakes, oceans, bogs, ponds etc. Who are we, really, to decide what normal practice is to an ancient cultural group with equally aged traditions?
Reference:
1. Miller, J. "Indien Personhood III: Water Burial." American Indian culture and research journal 29.3 (2005): 121-4. Print.
Pictures:
No comments:
Post a Comment