Oldal 109 [109]
OCR
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 demonstrates, Native American tribes believe it is also connected with death. According 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 formation 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, according 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 following paragraph he paints a very different picture, according to which the Denesuline do not wear mourning clothes, but they do mourn a close family member 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. + 107 +
