A Death in the Village

This past week has been very strange in our village.  Last Tuesday one of the elders past away at her home from pneumonia. Tradition dictates that the body is to remain in the home for three days while family and friends pass through to give their respects.  All after-school and community activities are cancelled until after the funeral.  Students come and go from school all week – staying home to be respectful, but then coming back either from boredom or driving the parents crazy, I imagine. I had to go out to the school’s play deck several times to “shoo away” students who were not attending school because they were related to the elder, but were disturbing classes by bouncing basketballs and making noise. 

Obviously, there are no funeral homes here. After three days, the body is taken to the church to be placed in the casket.  That is, if the casket has arrived.  This week we had freezing rain and a low cloud layer, so for several days there were no planes.  So, poor Mrs. Carl’s body stayed in the home for over five days waiting for the coffin to come.  Once the coffin/casket has arrived, they can begin digging the grave in the hard frozen ground.  They believe that if they begin to dig the grave before everything is ready, others will die. 

Mrs. Carl was from two particularly large families – the Carls and the Juliuses.  Because she was originally from Newtok, half the village of Newtok is here, having flown in the day she passed away.  The extra people have really changed the “feel” here.  It just seems bustling and eerie at the same time.  Last night there was a big sing-along event at the community center next door, so everyone was out way past curfew, and the streets sounded like a freeway with four-wheelers buzzing everywhere.

Today, school was let out early so that everyone could attend the funeral at 1:30.  It was at the Catholic Church, with a full mass and communion.  Tonight there will be a large feast; then again, in 40 days from her death, the family will host another feast.  Our school secretary, Susie, told me this morning that all the upcoming babies will be named after the woman that passed away. 

Saint Peter the Fisherman Catholic Church

Finally, every year on the anniversary of her death, the family will hold a large feast in her memory.  Over time, people combine the feasts for several members of the family – otherwise there would be a feast every week!!