Ghosts, Spirits & the Afterlife in Native American Folklore and Religion

Death. We deny it. We fear it. Some of us welcome it. No matter what age we live in we keep the traditional feelings for our departed. We try to ease the soul into the afterworld as best we can. "Celebrations of life" provide a time for friends and loved ones to gather, share food and stories and grieve. Some who pass on are cremated to free the soul. Some are buried believing that the body will not become corrupted but will survive until the final judgment day. "Grave goods" are still commonly buried or are cremated as well with the body.

While we believe we are more "advanced" than those who lived before us, we actually do the same things they did to honor and to provide for our deceased loved ones. We are not so very different after all.

This book provides a brief survey of how America's first people reacted to death, how they disposed of their dead, their thoughts about the spirit world and the possibilities of being reborn.