The Navajo Indians

The Navajo Indians are the largest Native group in North America. They are primarily located in the Southeast Basin, nearby Mexico. Being such a large group of over 250,000 members, covering an area of about 27,000 square miles, they all lived by their beliefs and rituals. Having such strong beliefs made them kind of predictable, not in harm’s way but as to their process of death, ceremonies and burials. The Navajo Indians have a very strong beliefs that were passed down from there ancestors and still they practice them to this day. According to traditional Navajo beliefs, birth, life and death are all part of an ongoing cycle. First, the Navajo burial and funeral rituals follow a certain procedure that they believe, that when a person dies he makes his way to the underworld. This process of burial and funeral rituals is followed attentively because the Navajo people want to ensure that the dead to do not return to world of the living. They are truly scared in the death believe that if the process is not done the right way, that the spirits of the will come back and haunt them. |
Basically when a fellow Navajo Indian is about to die, the entire tribe is aware of what is going on, they immediately remove the person to a separate place until he passes away. During this time only family members and the shaman are allowed close to the person. When death was imminent, the person was taken to a separate place until he or she died. If a person passes away in their home, then the dwelling is torn down and destroyed. However, just before the person dies, all but a couple of people leave. The two people who stay back are the closest family members of the person and are those who are most willing to confront the evil spirits. These two men are given the responsibility of preparing the body for the burial. These men do not wear any clothes but rub their entire body with ash as there is a belief among the Navajo that the ash will protect the people from evil spirits.