BYGONE ERA : Death And Burial

Written by History Writer
Wednesday, 03 December 2008
Extract from George Turner 100 years ago WHENEVER the eye was fixed in death the house became a scene of indescribable lamentation and wailing. “Oh, my father, why did you not let me die, and you live here still?” “Oh, my brother, why have you run away and left your only brother to be trampled upon?” “Oh, my child, had I known you were going to die! Of what use is it for me to survive you; would that I had died for you!” these and other doleful cries might have been heard two hundred yards from the house; and they were accompanied by the most frantic expressions of grief, such as rending garments, tearing the hair, thumping the face and eyes, burning the body with small piercing firebrands, beating the head with stones till the blood ran, and this they called an “offering of blood” for the dead. After an hour or so the more boisterous wailing subsided, and, as in such a climate the corpse must be buried in a few hours, preparations were made without delay. The body was laid out on a mat, oiled with scented oil, and to modify the cadaverous look, they tinged the oil for the face with a little turmeric. The body was then wound up with several folds of native cloth, the chin propped with a little bundle of the same material, and the face and head left uncovered, while, for some hours longer, the body was surrounded by weeping relative. If the person had died of a complaint which carried off some other members of the family, they would probably open the body to “search for the disease.” Any inflamed substance they happened to find they took away and burned, thinking that this would prevent any other members of the family being affected with the same disease. This was done when the body was laid in the grave. While a dead body was in the house no food was eaten under the same roof; the family had their meals outside, or in another house. Those who attended the deceased were most careful not to handle food, and for days were fed by others as if they were helpless infants. Baldness and the loss of teeth were supposed to be the punishment inflicted by the household god if they violated the rule. Fasting was common at such times, and they who did not ate nothing during the day, but had a meal in the evening. The fifth day was a day of “purification.” They bathed the face and hands with hot water, and then they were “clean,” and resumed the usual time and mode of eating. The death of a chief of high rank was attended with great excitement and display; all work was suspended in the settlement; no stranger dared to pass through the place. For days they kept the body unburied, until all the different parties connected with that particular clan assembled from various parts of the islands, and until each party had, in turn, paraded the body, shoulder high, through the village, singing at the same time some mournful dirge. The body, too, was wrapped up in the most valuable fine mat clothing which the deceased possessed. The burial generally took place the day after death. As many of the friends as could be present in time attended. Every one brought a present, and the day after the funeral these presents were all so distributed again as that every one went away with something in return for what he brought. The body was buried without a coffin, except in the case of chiefs, when a log of wood was hollowed out for the purpose. The body being put into this rude encasement, all was done up again in some other folds of native cloth, and carried on the shoulders of four or five men to the grave. The friends followed, but in no particular order; and at the grave again there was often further wailing and exclamations, such as, “Alas! I looked to you for protection, but you have gone away; why did you die? Would that I had died for you!” Comments (1) Subscribe to this comment's feed why??? written by okaoka, December 03, 2008 why are these writings brought here?? do we have to exercise such rituals again? let the by-gone be by-gones..it's of no use to us these days unless we are looking into earning a piece of paper I mean a degree out of it. Write comment Name Email Title Comment
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 03 December 2008 )

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