Cultural Funeral Customs Project
Name:__________
Objective: The purpose of this lesson is to explore your personal understanding of
the concept of a death and dying, the possibility of an afterlife, as well as compare
and contrast the funeral customs of other cultures with traditional American ones.
Procedure: Consider the following quote:
“There is no death, only a change of worlds.”
-Chief Seattle, Leader of six Indian tribes in the Pacific NorthwestWhat do you think he
meant?______________________________________________________________________________.
Do you agree with him? Why or why not?________________________________________________.
Reflect for a moment, then write down your own feelings about an afterlife? ___________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________.
Homework
Due for Thursday, March 11, 2010
Research and write out the stages of grief processing. Put them on the grid sheet for class. Bring
popcorn or snacks for a movie (you may want Kleenex, too.)
Due for Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Interview your parents, grandparents, or older friends about death. Ask the following questions
(and any others you may feel appropriate for follow up). Write out the results of your interview.
Did you know you loved one held this opinion?
a. What do they remember about their first experience with death?
b. How did they learn about death?
c. What did their parents teach them?
d. How did their family talk about death? Did they say things like, “passed away,”
“joined the ancestors,” “met their maker,” “gone to sleep,” “lost,” or “won’t be with
us?” Was that language ever problematic?
e. Ask them how they feel about how popular media represents death. Do you agree?
Due Thursday, April 1, 2010
2. Write a letter to a loved one, or a beloved pet, who has died. Include things like
a. How you feel
b. What do you miss about them?
c. Anything you wish you could tell them
d. How they are remembered
e. How they stay a part of you
(be candid, you don’t HAVE to share)
On the computer Tuesday, March 30, 2010:
1) Get in groups of 2 or 3.
2) Each group is assigned a website.
Authorized WEB LINKS for this project
Preparations for death - Catholic
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04660c.htm
Christian and Jewish Traditions
http://entertaining.about.com/library/weekly/aa041601a.htm
Quaker beliefs and grief
http://www.religioustolerance.org/quaker2.htm
Judaism and death (huge list of resources)
http://www.jewfaq.org/death.htm
Jewish Funerals
http://www.jewish-funerals.org/
Muslim Buddhist and Hindu Traditions
http://entertaining.about.com/library/weekly/aa041601b.htm
Hindu last rites
http://www.hindunet.org/last_rites/
Islamic death rituals
http://www.understanding-islam.com/rb/mb-108.htm
Chinese Buddhist funeral ries
http://www.buddhanet.net/cfuneral.htm
Buddhist funeral rites in thailand
http://www.buddhanet.net/bfuneral.htm
Buddhist ceremonies and funeral rights
http://www.buddhanet.net/d_cermon.htm
Buddhist meditation on death
http://www.beliefnet.com/frameset.asp?pageLoc=/story/8/story_840_1.html&boardID=1265
Jain rituals
http://www.indianmirror.com/culture/cul2.html
Mormon Burial Practices
http://www.mormon.org/mormonorg/eng/
natives - MAYAN rituals
http://www.unexplainable.net/artman/publish/article_10552.shtml
American Natives
http://www.deathreference.com/Me-Nu/Native-American-Religion.html
A Wiccan Funeral Ritual
http://www.tryskelion.com/tryskelion/fun13.htm
Bantu customs
http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/ERA/Ancestors/gluckman.html
Victorian death rituals
http://www.ancestry.com/library/view/ancmag/151.asp
Rituals in Iran
http://www.iranchamber.com/culture/articles/rituals_of_death.php
Romani death rituals and customs
http://www.reocities.com/~patrin/death.htm
Funeral Customs of the northern Khants
http://folklore.ee/folklore/vol7/khants.htm
African rituals
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/africanlives/ghana/ghana.htm
Tibetan Sky Burial
http://www.ciolek.com/WWWVLPages/TibPages/tib-burial.html
Note: Anyone left out? Let me know if you have interest in another group’s customs. Remember, the
more we learn about how to respect one another’s beliefs, the better healthcare providers we can be
for our diverse patients.
3) Find and record 10 pieces of information from the site about the funeral custom of that
culture.
4) Prepare a brief poster presentation to share what you have learned with the class. Include a
comparison between the culture you researched and American cultural beliefs, values, and
attitudes toward death.