Ritual
... truly hurting inside. We usually throw the flowers in the grave. We also throw dirt into the grave to show that we acknowledge that they have passed. Also, a eulogy is read. This is a time when people can tell stories about the person and express their true feelings and are even allowed to publically mourn the death. Depending on the family, there is sometimes a reception held. Where people express their sorrows to the family of the deceased. In military families, there is a special salute to the deceased. Seven soldiers each fire three shots. This is the “21 gun salute”. There is also a presentation of the flag to the next of kin. Also, the song “Taps” is normally played. This ritual is reserved for the families of anybody who has served in the armed services. The Dagara and our culture have more differences than that. The Dagara have the whole tribe mourn, while we only have the people who directly knew the dead mourn. The Dagara do a ritual in which they scatter white ash around in the circle where the invocation is taking place. The entire ritual itself is a whole elaborate example of how different the two cultures are. Our funeral ritual is very simple and basic. The Dagara also sing songs to the dead and make it a point to call out the names of people who are not there and will even hesitate to go to the funeral if anyone from that family dies. They hold grudges about not attending funerals. In out culture, if you don’t go to a funeral there are no repercussions. The Dagara also believe that the more one grieves the closer the dead gets to being free. The Dagara also believe that if there is not enough grieving the spirit of the dead will be stuck and will continue to wait until they are grieved for before they enter the ...