Oldal 109 [109]
THE IMPACT OF LANDSCAPE AND CLIMATE ON THE DENESULINE RELIGION
abundance of deer up in the sky." From Hearnes emphasis, as he notes that
they had not yet ventured to try to hunt these deer, we can see how simple he
found this interpretation (Hearne, 227).
The Handbook of Native American Mythology also links the northern lights
with the dead. In fact, the Inuit of the area and, as Hearne’s writing demon¬
strates, Native American tribes believe it is also connected with death. Accord¬
ing to some Native beliefs, the dead are in a good mood when the light shines
brightly (Bastian and Mitchell 50-51).
In contrast, Hearne mentions only in a footnote how to interpret the for¬
mation of the northern lights. Today the idea he describes here could be called
an electric charge: “[e]xperience has shewn them, that when a hairy deer-skin
is briskly stroked with the hand in a dark night, it will emit many sparks of
electrical fire, as the back of a cat will” (Hearne 234).
A connected and relevant topic is the Denesuline encounter with death. If
a dead person is found, then they immediately suspect that he/ she died a
violent death: either another Indigenous person or an Inuk could have killed
the deceased person. However, they do not bury the dead: “[t]he Northern
Indians never bury their dead, but always leave the bodies where they die, so
that they are supposed to be devoured by beasts and birds of prey...” (Hearne,
224). The lack of burials can be ascribed to two reasons: the freezing of the
ground (permafrost) and the holistic worldview of indigenous cultures, accord¬
ing to which the dead must become one with nature and thus benefit from it
(Friderers 58-59).
Hearne first states that indigenous people have no empathy for the dying,
they laugh even at their most painful fellow sufferers, but right in the follow¬
ing paragraph he paints a very different picture, according to which the Dene¬
suline do not wear mourning clothes, but they do mourn a close family mem¬
ber for up to a year in the lunar calendar. They mark this by tearing their
clothes, crying, and making mournful noises. They often gather in small groups
and cry together, supporting each other. On feast days, they do not join in the
celebrations, only weep. They do not change their clothes, and they cut their
hair (Hearne 224). The Denesuline display clear signs of grief at the death of
their companions, constantly showing their suffering to others. Ihe depth of
their grief is shown by the fact that they cut their hair, which, based on Mary
Douglas! theory, proves that they took the passing of their loved ones very
seriously, believing that if they did not cut their hair, it would bring bad luck
upon them (20).
Next, we will look at the complex Denesuline taboo system. First, in order
to determine whether we can actually speak of a religious prohibition or just
$ Surprisingly, Hearne is more sympathetic to this idea, finding it romantic. The other, more
common idea is that dead Denesuline relatives dance in the clouds.
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