Anthropologist Peter A. Metcalf observed the practices of the Berawan tribe, found along Borneo’s north-central waterways, including the tribe’s four-stage funeral rites (Metcalf 1993, p. 325). The first stage lasts two to ten days and includes ‘rites performed immediately after death’ (Metcalf 1993, p. 325). The second stage, eight months to several years in duration (Metcalf 1993, p. 325), sees the corpse stored on a platform or in the communal residence with the remains contained in a coffin, earthenware jar or similar vessel (Metcalf 1993, p. 325). During this period the corpse decomposes, allowing the soul’s transformation to ‘perfect spirit’ (Metcalf 1993, p. 326). However during this period the soul lurks close by, restless and uneasy, spreading the risk of illness to the living and the possibility of corpse reanimation by an evil spirit (Metcalf 1993, p. 326). During the third stage, which Hertz referred to as ‘the great feast’ (Metcalf 1993, p.326), the remains are brought into the residence and guests celebrate the deceased for six to ten days (Metcalf 1993, p. 325). The bones may be removed and cleaned in preparation for the fourth stage - the deceased’s final burial wherein the physical remains are housed in a receptacle of value, such as a glazed jar or wooden coffin, with that receptacle accommodated in a large mausoleum; safe in the knowledge the soul had transcended (Metcalf 1993, p. 325).
American funeral practices, by contrast, aim to preserve the body’s appearance (Hertz 1907, p. 201); embalming fluids replace bodily fluids, injections fatten gaunt corpses, cosmetics enhance skin colour, padded coffins give impressions of a peaceful, endless slumber (Metcalf 1993, p. 327). The American death/afterlife transition is perceived as immediate, with little time between death and spiritual judgement (Hertz 1907, p. 197). In contrast, the Berawan’s soul must await the body’s decomposition - and transformation - before beginning its journey to the afterlife (Hertz 1907, p. 202). Only when dry bones remain, is the soul ready (Metcalf 1993, p. 326).
American practices offer horrifying outcomes for the Berawan exemplar. For a body not given appropriate time for full decomposition and a premature final burial, ‘death will not be fully consummated, the soul will not leave the earth, the mourning of the living will not be ended’ (Hertz 1907, p. 204). The American rites suspend the deceased in a limbo between life and death - the period the soul is most discontent, still with great capacity to affect the living through illness. During this time potential corpse reanimation is also believed possible (Metcalf 1993, p. 326). ‘For the Berawan, America is a land carpeted with potential zombies’, all awaiting reanimation via the evil spirits that exist in Berawan culture (Metcalf 1993, p. 326). With such a spiritual context it can be understood why Berawan are horrified by their belief the American culture traps a soul at the point of greatest unhappiness, dooming them to restlessly wander eternally; the dead never finding peace and the living never progressing past grief and mourning.
The Berawan-American comparison demonstrates that to fully comprehend a culture’s significant, spiritual customs one must first seek to understand the social, spiritual and cultural paradigms surrounding those customs. Every culture has specific cultural practices and the more informed one is regarding these practices, the more objective and culturally relativist one’s perspective can be.
References
Hertz, R 2009, [1907] ‘A Contribution to the Study of the Collective Representation of Death’, in ACGM Robben, Death, Mourning, and Burial: A Cross-Cultural Reader. Blackwell Publishing, Malden, Massachusetts, pp. 197-212
Metcalf, P 1993, 'Death Be Not Strange', in A Lehmann, P Moro & J Myers (eds) Magic, Witchcraft and Religion: An Anthropological Study of the Supernatural, Mayfield Publishing Company, Mountain View, California, pp. 324-327.
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