The Huron-wendat Feast Of The Dead: Indian-european Encounters In Early North America (witness To History)
by Erik R. Seeman /
2011 / English / PDF
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"Two thousand Wendat (Huron) Indians stood on the edge of an
enormous burial pit... they held in their arms the bones of
roughly seven hundred deceased friends and family members. The
Wendats had lovingly scraped and cleaned the bones of the corpses
that had decomposed on the scaffolds. They awaited only the
signal from the master of the ritual to place the bones in the
pit. This was the great Feast of the Dead."
"Two thousand Wendat (Huron) Indians stood on the edge of an
enormous burial pit... they held in their arms the bones of
roughly seven hundred deceased friends and family members. The
Wendats had lovingly scraped and cleaned the bones of the corpses
that had decomposed on the scaffolds. They awaited only the
signal from the master of the ritual to place the bones in the
pit. This was the great Feast of the Dead."
Witnesses to these Wendat burial rituals were European colonists,
French Jesuit missionaries in particular. Rather than being
horrified by these unfamiliar native practices, Europeans
recognized the parallels between them and their own understanding
of death and human remains. Both groups believed that deceased
souls traveled to the afterlife; both believed that elaborate
mortuary rituals ensured the safe transit of the soul to the
supernatural realm; and both believed in the power of human
bones.
Witnesses to these Wendat burial rituals were European colonists,
French Jesuit missionaries in particular. Rather than being
horrified by these unfamiliar native practices, Europeans
recognized the parallels between them and their own understanding
of death and human remains. Both groups believed that deceased
souls traveled to the afterlife; both believed that elaborate
mortuary rituals ensured the safe transit of the soul to the
supernatural realm; and both believed in the power of human
bones.
Appreciating each other’s funerary practices allowed the Wendats
and French colonists to find common ground where there seemingly
would be none. Erik R. Seeman analyzes these encounters, using
the Feast of the Dead as a metaphor for broader Indian-European
relations in North America. His compelling narrative gives
undergraduate students of early America and the Atlantic World a
revealing glimpse into this fascinating—and surprising—meeting of
cultures.
Appreciating each other’s funerary practices allowed the Wendats
and French colonists to find common ground where there seemingly
would be none. Erik R. Seeman analyzes these encounters, using
the Feast of the Dead as a metaphor for broader Indian-European
relations in North America. His compelling narrative gives
undergraduate students of early America and the Atlantic World a
revealing glimpse into this fascinating—and surprising—meeting of
cultures.