Chippewa Native Americans 

    The Chippewa Native American, also known as Ojibwa, customs are very simple and very respectful of their dead. As soon as a person died their hair was washed and braided and their best clothing was put on them. They would cover the face with brown fungus and vermilion which they believed prepared the dead to join the dance of the ghosts. As they prepared them for burial, they would talk to their dead providing them guidance to the afterlife instructing them to be cautious and trust that spirits would be there to greet them. The body is then wrapped in very heavy birch bark and tied with a basswood cord, then placed in a shallow grave, feet facing west as believed that was the direction of the afterlife. The mother or other close relative dances next to the grave for awhile, then the grave is filled. On top of the grave markers were placed. There would either be a wooden house or a wooden marker or “totem” with the symbols of who they were, their accomplishments and clan affiliation, they would also draw totem animals inverted to indicate death.

The Chippewa believed that it would take four days for the dead to reach the afterlife; therefore they would provide them with items to comfort them in their travels. It is believed if the spirit didn’t have what they wanted then they may not leave right away. If a man smoked then they would place his tobacco pipe or if they were a hunter they would bury them with their gun. They would also provide them with cooking utensils and food so that the deceased would still be able to eat on their way to the afterlife. For four days after the death food is placed beside the grave and a fire is kept burning, providing the spirit with warmth and the ability to cook. The Chippewa believed that once they got to the afterlife all their necessities were taken care of so they did not provide them with everything, just some stuff to take with them on their journey.

Family members mourned for one year, which at the end of the year is terminated by a ceremony where people within the village provide compassion to the people in mourning. There were two main ways of mourning. First, men in mourning painted their faces, either fully or if not extreme mourning partially. Woman covered entire face in black and would cut their hair or leave it unbraided keeping an unkempt appearance. Closed loved ones may also carry a spirit bundle. The spirit bundle consisted of a lock of hair of the diseased removed soon after death, wrapped in birch bark. The night of the burial the family would take the “spirit bundle” to a fire and sit and talk with the family members, this is done four nights consecutively as the spirit makes its journey to the afterlife. The family member holds the spirit bundle until the mourning period has passed. If it is a wife, after a year of mourning, she must go to her in-laws to request that she be freed from mourning. If the family disagrees with her she must continue to carry with her the spirit bundle where ever she goes. Initially the spirit bundle is small but as time passes the family member who cares for it wraps anything new of value around it, such as clothes and blankets making the spirit bundle larger and larger throughout the mourning period.