Changes in Navajo Mortuary Practices and Beliefs
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4040347 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mary Shepardson (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1978 |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 383 |
| Publication date | 1978-11-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The American Indian Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0095-182X • E-ISSN: 1534-1828 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/1184564 |
| PMID | 11614175 |
| OpenAlex | W2324269657 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 5 |
There is an accelerating trend for change from traditional burial practices to full Christian funerals on the Navajo Reservation today. Two other types of mortuary practices intervene between the extremes: modified traditional, that is, a Navajo burial with Christian elements added, and modified Christian, a church funeral with traditional elements retained. All four kinds of ritual can be found in the 1970s but there is no necessary progression through each stage in turn. Change affecting mortuary practices may be analyzed from different theoretical perspectives: psychological, philosophical, religious, and symbolic. Death practices in most societies, with a few exceptions, are collective rites, informed by world views that vary from culture to culture. Since in Navajo society the complex of beliefs and acts concerning the proper disposal of the dead is institutionalized, I have chosen for this brief article to emphasize the effect of institutional change. TRADITIONAL BELIEFS ABOUT DEATH
Environmental ethics · Ethnology · Navajo · Political science · Reservation · Sociology · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · History · Law · Philosophy
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,38 |
| Citation span | 2013 - 2025 (13) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |