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On reincarnation
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Subject: On reincarnation
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From: "(Chinookan)Tina Stinnett" <teleport.com!lelookly>
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Date: Wed, 24 Aug 1994 01:51:19 GMT
Original Sender: "(Chinookan)Tina Stinnett" <teleport.com!lelookly>
Mailing List: NATCHAT
Hi,
The information I have on "Traditional" Lower Chinooks beliefs and
reincarnation is this:
If a child in a family dies and another one is born later on to the same
family, it may be the same child returning. Sometimes, if it died after it
had it's ears pierced,(a ceremony that was done about 4 days after the
infant's birth), the new-born child would have it's ears pierced.
Babies have a special Guardian Spirit, that a man may possess
that helps him understand the baby.(This is not the baby's father.) A baby,
through it's cries and coos, may tell the Spirit where it came from. The
baby may say to the Guardian Spirit, "After a certain amount of
days I will go home." And then, after that number of days, the baby will die
in 'our life' and return to it's 'other' home/life. This special Guardian
Spirit, told the Chinook people that the land of the children is in Sunrise.
When the soul of a chief leaves his/her body, it goes to the
beach.(the Chinook are a coastal people, remember.)
The "land of the ghosts," or dead, is across the river. It is much like
Indian country. This is where the souls of the dead go. The souls of
the dead always drink the water from a specific place where it springs forth
from the ground. Sometimes the newly dead are escorted by dead relatives and
friends, to their new homes in the "land of the ghosts." The newly dead are
often fed, at any point in the journey to the "land of the ghosts," by
their dead relatives and friends.
Humans have two souls. If both are taken out of the body their owner will
die.
Old souls cannot return as new-born souls.
**I would be interested in knowing if any other "traditional"
belief is similar.**
Thanks,
Tina
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