Anthropology – Funeral rituals

Close by is the cemetery where frequent ceremonies – sacrifices, libations, gifts of food – are organised to facilitate the passage of the dead into the world of the spirits. The cemetery is an extremely important place for the Jaraïs the Tampuns and the Katchas who have particularly developed the funeral rites. The elaborate graves have in each of their four corners statues supposedly representing the relatives of the departed. The sensibility of each tribe is sublimated in its funeral art but the Jaraïs, whose ‘mourners’ are famous, are the best. Yet Tampoun Priapus (es) and women showing off their pubes are not bad either.
Some of their statues – different sorts of animals, elephant tusks… – evoke pre-colombian art while others remind us of their common origin, the primitive statues of the Dayaks in Borneo.