Grief Programs: Native Americans and Death
Grief Programs: Native Americans and Death
Lisa Shewmaker
University of the Rockies
Abstract
This paper will look at existing organizations and programs that provide parent home visits for infant and child loss in culturally diverse populated areas in the United States. These programs generally do not encompass grief recovery for the Native American community. As social workers and providers of these services, it is important to understand this cultural group, know their rituals and beliefs surrounding death and the burial of their dead, and to be open to changes that might be needed within their programs to address the needs of the Native American community. This paper will address the Native American beliefs on death, their rituals after death, the funeral process, and suggestions to organizations for modifications to accommodate this community.
Many multicultural textbooks openly discuss migration, sociopolitical controversies, gender roles, and family structures in the cultural context. However, there is little exploration into how culture affects the way a person or family deals with death, particularly the death of a child. The experience of death within the family system is common across cultures. Yet, the expressions of grief and ritualization are often very different. Thus, an individual’s cultural identity should be carefully assessed when dealing with a grieving family. Parental grief spawns a subset of characteristics that seems to traverse culture. The death of a child is acknowledged in many cultures as one of the worst human experiences (Kubler-Ross, 1978). This paper presents a case study in how social workers can enrich their understanding of culture, while attending competently to the unique needs of Native American families experiencing the death of a child.
There are more than 550 American Indian and Alaskan Native tribes in North America (Ortiz, 2002). The federal government officially recognizes more than 300 of those tribes (Nichols,
Lisa Shewmaker
University of the Rockies
Abstract
This paper will look at existing organizations and programs that provide parent home visits for infant and child loss in culturally diverse populated areas in the United States. These programs generally do not encompass grief recovery for the Native American community. As social workers and providers of these services, it is important to understand this cultural group, know their rituals and beliefs surrounding death and the burial of their dead, and to be open to changes that might be needed within their programs to address the needs of the Native American community. This paper will address the Native American beliefs on death, their rituals after death, the funeral process, and suggestions to organizations for modifications to accommodate this community.
Many multicultural textbooks openly discuss migration, sociopolitical controversies, gender roles, and family structures in the cultural context. However, there is little exploration into how culture affects the way a person or family deals with death, particularly the death of a child. The experience of death within the family system is common across cultures. Yet, the expressions of grief and ritualization are often very different. Thus, an individual’s cultural identity should be carefully assessed when dealing with a grieving family. Parental grief spawns a subset of characteristics that seems to traverse culture. The death of a child is acknowledged in many cultures as one of the worst human experiences (Kubler-Ross, 1978). This paper presents a case study in how social workers can enrich their understanding of culture, while attending competently to the unique needs of Native American families experiencing the death of a child.
There are more than 550 American Indian and Alaskan Native tribes in North America (Ortiz, 2002). The federal government officially recognizes more than 300 of those tribes (Nichols,
References: Garrett, M., Tlanusta, P., & Eugene, F. (2000). Red as an apple: Native American acculturation and counseling with or without reservation. Journal of Counseling and Development, 78 (1), 3-13. Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development (2004). Key Statistics about Native America: September 2004 Retrieved from http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/hpaied/documents/FactSheet-HPAIED Kubler-Ross, E. (1978). To live until we say goodbye. Miller, S. (1999). Finding hope when a child dies. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. Nichols, R. (1998). Indians in the United States and Canada: A comparative history. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. Ortiz, J. (2002). Tribal governance and public administration. Administration and Society, 34(5) Sutton, C. T., & Nose, M. A. (1996). American Indian families. Ethnicity and Family Therapy (pp. 31-41). New York, NY: Guilford Press.