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The End of Mourning This book has the first published description of a unique event: a traditional burial ritual known as the End of Mourning. The occasion marked the end of a long process of repatriation. When the Haida were decimated by smallpox more than a hundred years ago, their villages and burial grounds were left unprotected. Collectors, trophy hunters, anthropologists and others descended on Haida Gwaii (the Queen Charlotte Islands), and carried off the bones of ancestors, traditional artifacts and other treasures. The ancestral remains found their way into galleries and museums throughout Europe and North America, where they were analyzed by scientists studying diseases, genetics and other aspects of human biology. Looking for the secrets of mask making and tradition, Dahl interviewed Haida carver Reg Davidson. A skilled artist, Davidson reveals the mix of skill and cultural awareness that make him a superb craftsman of costumes and masks among Haida people. Garth Dahl witnessed the End of Mourning ceremony while visiting Davidson in July 2005. This traditional burial of ancestral remains ended an epic political struggle of repossession. Dahl concludes his book with a moving account, of crossing the invisible boundary between white outsider and Indian community. It is a fitting end to his journey of discovery in the world of masks and the cultures they represent. It also inspires the reader to explore the links between all human cultures and ethnicities. |
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