House That Faced The East

from ALO by TOPHETH

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When the time comes for burial, the body is removed from the home feet first. Many native peoples around the world break a new exit through the home in order to remove the corpse (presumably to confuse the spirit if it should try to return), but the Shawnee remove the corpse through the
ordinary doorway, sweeping the ground or scattering ashes behind the corpse as they go—which appears to serve the same purpose. The body is laid on the ground near the home, head pointed west and feet east, while the grave is dug and the initial funeral ceremonies are held. The gravediggers
(which must include a woman) should not be related to the dead person.

Wearing a special necklace for the occasion, the diggers prepare a plot 3 to 4 feet deep, and when it is ready, the grave is temporarily “closed” with a shovel or stick laid across it while funeral ceremonies proceed. A speech is directed at the deceased, praising his or her heroic deeds and
personal attributes, and then the body is carried to the grave. It is laid extended on its back, head west and feet east, with a pillow underneath the head. (Many other Native American tribes tie the bent legs up to the chest and bury the corpse in a seated fetal position.)

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from ALO, released November 5, 2012

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Topheth Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

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