This post will be centered around the event of death in life as it pertains to Haitian culture using the theoretical framework of the Long article. Religion and culture impact death in Haiti often but economic standing also impacts what happens to the bodies after death as well. While Haitians have hospitals and mortuaries like the US and other Western nations, the extreme poverty experienced by Haitians impedes their usage of these facilities (Porter, 2017). As noted in the Long article, there are many cultural scripts that are carried out across the world as well as in Haiti (Long, 2004). Some are able to afford medical treatment and face death in a hospital as one would in the US but many are not so fortunate. Thus many deaths move into the religious script which can be done through the Catholic church, similar to the US, or through Voodoo rituals. Voodoo rituals of death believe that the soul of the dead is still a part of the body and therefore a Voodoo Priest or Priestess must perform a traditional ritual allowing the soul to be released (MacFarland, n.d.). For those whose soul is not released by this religious figure is said to stay with humans as a bad omen (MacFarland, n.d.).
As noted earlier, many Haitians cannot afford funerals either in the Voodoo rituals or Catholic tradition. The average cost of a Haitian funeral is $540 but can range up to $8,000 (Macfarland, n.d.; Porter, 2017). Those who are rich tend to have elaborate funerals for their loved ones as well as a crypt where they are laid to rest and so the community can see and honor their life (MacFarland, n.d.). For those without money, many are abandoned on the streets deemed dead only to volunteers who collect bodies as a side task to their jobs (Porter, 2017). The St. Luke Foundation is one of the organizations that aides in cleaning up of abandoned bodies within Haiti’s poorest neighborhoods and while they are unable to properly bury and remember all those they have collected, the organization tries to give some dignity to the dead by including a funeral coffin of sorts along with hymns upon burial (Porter, 2017). Due to the poverty in Haiti along with the high costs of funerals, many are forced to not properly care for their dead.
On top of that, natural disasters are racking up death tolls to levels that are making it impossible to properly bury all the dead. In January of 2010, Haiti experienced an earthquake that killed as many as 200,000 people (Burnett, 2010). Many people were unable to find their loved ones, therefore, those who could afford proper burial often could not continue with honoring their loved ones because of the destruction (Burnett, 2010). This earthquake also devastated many Haitians financially leading to more people unable to honor their loved ones.
Most deaths in Haiti deal with infectious diseases or accidents from natural disasters and are thus not medicalized (Porter, 2017). Those who can afford medicalization do not die as often from these diseases, therefore, the cultural script is usually religious unless the family is forced to abandon their dead.
Burnett, J. (2010). Quake Takes Its Toll on Haiti’s Burial Rites. NPR: All Things Considered. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123331644.
Long, S.O., (2004). Cultural Scripts for a Good Death in Japan and the United States: Similarities and Differences. Social Science and Medicine 58, 913-928.
MacFarland, A. (n.d.) Death in Haiti. Retrieved from http://crudem.org/death-haiti/.
Porter, C. (2017) In Haiti’s Capital, Death is Often Harder to Afford than Life. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/13/world/americas/haiti-death-funerals.html.