How do we approach death? What beliefs and practices provide direction during the upheaval in end of life?

 

Our pathways during this crucial phase are greatly influenced by culture. The food we cook, the home remedy we employ, the adornment we wear, the memento we clasp or the ceremony we practice - all provide stability when we grieve, mourn a loved one, or face our own end of life. Culture puts the unknown into context.

 

In May 2014, the Southwest Folklife Alliance received a grant to engage in a year-long project to explore these rich cultural practices involving end of life. The project, called Continuum, was supported by the Shaaron Kent Endowment Fund held at the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona.  Our Continuum team, which included SFA staff and a group of citizen folklorists, attended an ethnographic field school to learn about exploring place-based grief and death as part of the program.

As we studied the interchange between individuals and the practices that help make sense of loss experiences, a "continuum" of nested cultural narratives resulted. A broad picture - of how culture interacts within every level in end of life and endows it with meaning - was constructed.

In the end, the fieldwork helped put into new context how strongly a cultural blend enriches our communities:

Get the big picture of SFA's year-long project to research, document, interpret and present cultural practices involving end of life here.

 

We are grateful to a Continuum team, which remained dedicated to ethnographic intentions while enthusiastically embodying a folklorist spirit respectful of culture and end of life.  Glimpsing the traditions of so many, we became guests in varied worlds. We listened and recorded what we heard and saw. We hope this resulting Continuum project finds resonance.

The body of SFA's Continuum Reports/Work resides online at: SouthwestFolklife.org/Continuum

To request a copy of the Journal, write to: swfolklife@gmail.com