Culture: Mourning and birth rituals: view article

The Nolwynn have elaborate ceremonies and taboos surrounding death.

When someone dies, they are placed on a mat of reeds and left at what land-dwellers call “Nolwynn graveyards” : small sea caves, tidepools, or other enclosed areas near the ocean. Sometimes the body is actually tied down. This way, the tides can't carry the body away, but animals and elements can still decompose it.

All their possessions are burned. For a month after the person dies, the clan partakes in stringent rituals designed to purify and protect the living and assist the deceased in moving on. To that end, the Nolwynn abstain from sex and avoid going onto land. Prayers are recited 24/7 - they take shifts with everyone reciting prayers or playing drums for the wandering soul. It is believed that it takes one lunar cycle for the soul to successfully navigate to the afterlife.

After one month has passed and animals and the elements have done their work, the clan takes one small bone as a token of respect, the idea being that family will always watch out for each other even after death. Finger and toe bones are preferred, if they can be found. In Nolwynn belief, fingers represent justice, while toes represent dignity, things they hope the recently deceased can find in the afterlife. The clan's shaman often has accrued several little bones this way; they are used in divination.

In addition, a Ka’obelenazšaraw ("death name") is reserved for the deceased. It is considered dangerous to say the person's real name until they are safely in the afterlife. The Nolwynn use several names for different purposes, but the "real name" is the name everyone uses on a day-to-day basis, and in general* the clan returns to using it after the mourning month is up. The death name, which is just a collocation describing the person, is never used again. [Doing so is considered rude to surviving family members.]

*In the rare instances that someone is banished, the clan proceeds with the death rituals. The death name is used thereafter, whether the person is still alive or not.

During the mourning period, it is considered bad luck for any babies to be born.

The Nolwynn don't believe that babies are immediately "in" their bodies after they born - they think the baby's soul is still trying to get used to the physical realm. It is said that the recently-deceased may either be distracted by the baby - and therefore have trouble entering the afterlife - or that the baby's spirit may be distracted and not ever fully enter their body. [They think this is one cause of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.] So when/if a baby is born during this time, they try very hard to ensure the child's safety with magic and ritual.

Pregnant women are routinely separated during labor, but not during the rest of their pregnancy even if it is during a mourning period. A midwife and the woman's partner stay with her in a little boat that trails near the rest of the clan. During labor the rest of the clan is doing their part to ensure her safety/the baby's safety by using drums and incense.

After delivery, the baby and the new parents spend a few days alone in the hut. The idea is to give the mother and baby time to recover from birth. This gives the baby a chance to fully enter its body, and it gives the parents a chance to bond with their child without well-meaning but tiresome friends/family interfering.

If the birth took place during a mourning period, the clan attempts to keep the baby “secret” from the the recently deceased. They do this by sequestering the mother, the baby, and sometimes the father in the birthing hut. [The mother can leave if she wants, but the baby must stay in the hut. Sometimes both parents and the midwife will all take turns taking care of the little one.] During this time, the entire clan takes turns making a special basket, called a bxorakwey "womb basket," using the finest materials available. At the end of the month long mourning period, the baby is placed in the basket, dipped in the ocean, and “born.” This is considered the child’s true birth day.
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