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Title Exhumation Ceremony, a Two-Day Festival During Which Bones of Ancestors are Freshly Rewrapped and Reburied
Full text http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/SSRecIDSearch?repl1=AfricaFocus&repl2=AfricaFocus.2217as01.bib
Author(s) Schroeder
Abstract Exhumation and rewrapping of the bones of ancestors is done by about 10% of the population of Madagascar to gain the blessings of the ancestors for a special event in the community such as a marriage. Villagers unwrap the bones and then rewrap them in beautiful linens. The bodies are placed on covered stretchers and brought back to the village. There they are placed in a special tent where villagers hold a day-long party keeping vigil, dancing, and making music before returning the bodies to their tombs. The ancestors are accorded such respect for a few generations. Old cloths removed from the ancestors may be given to childless women with the intent that the "spirit of human continuity" symbolized by the cloths will enable these women to become fertile and bear children
Subject(s) Schroeder; Funeral rites and ceremonies
Publisher General Library System of the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Relation Burial Traditions; Africa Focus
Type of publication Image
Format image/jpeg; Color Slide; Landscape
Rights African Studies Program; Copyright © Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
Repository Wisconsin - University of Wisconsin
Added to C-A: 2008-12-22;00:20:35