Stéphanie Eveno |
Nipun and Tshipai : Death and Funeral Rites of the Innuat, From the Arrival of the Missionaires to the Beginning of Sedentary Life |
This paper suggests that there is continuity in funeral rites and eschatology for the Innuat of the North Shore of Quebec over a period of three hundred years, i.e., from the arrival of the missionaries to their beginning a sedentary life. This means questioning the Innuat perception of death by focusing on their treatment of death and the elements that surround it. Both the observation of funeral rites (care for the body, mourning period, burial, etc.) and their conceptions of after-life (the future of the deceased) constitute the raw elements of the data. The analysis is supported by written witness accounts and data collected during fieldwork. |