Tag Archives: Mourning

Uganda’s Banyankole Tribe’s Death and Burial Traditions

Today we explore some of the unique death and burial traditions of the Banyankole tribe in southwestern Uganda

Contrary to many cultures, the Banyankole tribe, who reside in Ankole in southwestern Uganda, traditionally believed that death did not occur naturally but rather through methods of sorcery, scourge or spite. Therefore, when people died, their loved ones, wanting to … Continue reading

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Mourning Loss in Brazilian Funerals

This week, we look at how the traditions in Brazilian funerals memorialize the pain of loss

Like the act of death, Brazilian funerals are celebrations that happen almost instantaneously at first, before they extend into a long, drawn out, grieving process. This is a tradition that is born out of necessity, as the warm and moist … Continue reading

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Death and the Birth of the Little Black Dress

An exhibit of mourning attire from 1815 to 1915 at the Met reveals the changing role of a bereaved woman in Victorian culture

“Death Becomes Her: A Century of Mourning Attire,” a current exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is more than just a tour through the epoch of Victorian funeral fashion: It is a look at the changing stature of a … Continue reading

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“Condolence” by Dorothy Parker

Dissecting the strange ways that mourning takes hold of people after the hour of a death.

Brief and charming and full of a spectacular wit, Dorothy Parker’s “Condolence” is the the kind of poem that you would bring to a funeral or memorial service that is acting as as a life-celebration event. The poem invites readers … Continue reading

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An Undying Love: “Around Her” by Marc Chagall

How the tragedy, joy and beauty of Marc Chagall and Bella Rosenfeld's romance was immortalized in the artist's work

Bella Rosenfeld met Marc Chagall in the summer of 1909 on a visit to St. Petersburg. Marc was an aspiring artist, in the throes of creating his now famous oeuvre. Bella, the daughter of a successful jeweler, was in the … Continue reading

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Death and Turkey

The history of Thanksgiving as a holiday of life, death and mourning

In American culture, there are two different thought processes behind the history and tradition of Thanksgiving. The most prevalent of which is the school-taught story of a celebration between the Pilgrims and Indians (most likely with the Wampanoag tribe) in … Continue reading

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