article
Variations on a rite of passage: some recent Navajo funerals
American Indian quarterly • 4 (4) • Published In 1978 • Pages: 367-381
By: Griffen, Joyce.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
In this article Griffen comments on how Navajo funerals have become more sociable affairs focused on the survivors rather than the deceased's spirit. Traditional burials involved as few people as possible to avoid any harmful contact with the ghost. In contrast, contemporary funerals can involve upwards of 500 people, who are not shy about seeing or even touching the body, unusual even by Anglo standards. Using Van Gennep's division of rituals into the three phases of separation, transition, and incorporation, Griffen argues that Navajo burial practices have shifted their emphasis to the last phase.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Acculturation and culture contact
- Sorcery
- Burial practices and funerals
- Mourning
- Eschatology
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Navajo
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2004
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- North America
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Southwest and Basin
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Ian Skoggard ; 2003
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1977
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1917-1977
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Navajo resservation and environs, southwestern United States
- NotesAdditional notes
- Joyce Griffen
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 380-381)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 74647596
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Navajo Indians