Dennis Tedlock: An American Indian View Of Death

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Discussion Questions (Tedlock): In An American Indian View of Death, Dennis Tedlock describes the very complicated idea of death in adherence to traditional Zuni belief. According to the Catholic religion, the afterlife has basic two options: heaven or hell. While purgatory is a stage in the afterlife, it is a step closer towards heaven. This is a deep contrast to the ideas of the Kachin Village, “raw” vs “cooked” realms, and reincarnation that the Zuni people believed in. Were the two contrasting ideas of death a possible reason for the Zuni people not fully accepting and connecting to Catholicism?

In American society it is a common belief that one can pass away from a “broken heart” and in comparison Tedlock writes that The Zuni believe that, “The most common case of intending one’s own death is that of a person who mourns too much and too long over a lost loved one, usually a spouse…” (page 258). …show more content…

In The Zuni Ceremonial System: The Kiva, Edmund J. Ladd writes, “If you are a female, you have really no problems because there’s only a small number of options left as far as a religious position is concerned. If you are an adult and you become ill and you can’t be cured by regular medicine, your life is “given” to the curing society. If they cure you of whatever ails you, then you are obligated to become a member of that particular curing society. If you are of the right clan, you might inherit the position of rain priest. But those are about the only options you have as a woman.” (page 18) In this quote, Ladd uses the word “problems” to describe a Zuni inheriting a religious position. Is it plausible that women do not participate in the Zuni religion be due to the fact that the men are protecting women from the dangers of their

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