Burial customs practiced by Freedmen
As told by
Lucinda Davis
Creek Freedwoman
....The Creek sho take on when somebody die!
Long in de night you wake up and hear a gun go off, way
yonder somewhar. Den it go again and again, jest as fast
as they can ram de load in. Dat mean somebody die. When
somebody die, de men go out in de yard and let people
know dat way. Den dey jest go back in de house and let
de fire go out and don't even tech de dead person till
somebody get dar who has a right to touch de dead.
When somebody had sick dey build a fire in de house, even in
de summer and don't let it die down till dat person git well
or die. When dey die dey lit de fire out.
In de morning everybody dress up fine and go to de house
whar de dead is and stand around in de yard outside de
house and don't go in. Pretty soon along come somebody
what got a right to tech and handle de dead and dey go in.
I don't know what give dem de right, but I thinking dey has
to go through some kind of medicine to get de right, and
I know dey has to drink de red root and purge good before
day tech de body.
When dey git de body ready dey come out and all go to de
graveyard, mostly de family graveyard, right on de place
or at some of the kinfolkses.
When dey git to de grave somebody shoots a gun at de north,
den de west, den de south, and den de east. Iffen dey had four
guns dey used em.
Den dey put de body down in de grave and put some extra clothes
in with it and some food and cup of coffee, maybe. Den dey takes
strips of elm bark, and lays over de body till it all covered up,
and den throw in de dirt.
When de last dir throwed in, everybody must clap dey hands and smile,
but you so hadn't better stomp on any of the new dirt around de grave,
because it bring sickness right along wid you back to your own house.
Dat what dey said, anyways.
Jest soon as de grave filled up, dey built a little shelter over it
wid poles like a pig pen and over it over wid elm bark to keep de
rain from soaking down in de new dirt.
Den everybody go back tot de house and de family go in and scatter
some kind of medicine round de place and build a new fire.
Sometimes dey feed everybody before dey all leave for home.
Every time day have a funeral dey always a lot of de people say,
"Didnt you hear de "stikini" squealing in de night" I hear dat stikini
all the night! De "stikini" is de screech owl, and he suppose
to tell when anybody going to die right soon. I hear lots of
Creek people say day hear de screech owl close to de house, and sho'
nuff somebody in de family die soon.
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As told by
Lucinda Vann, Cherokee Freedwoman
When anybody die, someone sit up with them day and night
till they put them in the ground. Everybody cry, everybody'd
pretty nearly die. Lord have mercy on us, yes.
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Cultural Practices of Freedmen
Black Choctaw Page
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