The Politics of Being Dead

I'm still pretty hung up on the politics of cemeteries. What we have seen with the examples of the Black cemetery in Ontario, as well as the Black slave cemetery found in New York during the 1990's, and many cases of found Indigenous remains is a power relation played out between the more "dominant" population of European-descent and a minority population who have been racialized. In a society where people believe everyone are supposedly equal, and in Canada where multiculturalism is enshrined in our constitution, there seems to be some pretty contradictory views about just whose cultural traditions should get recognition over others.

In North American "Western" society, continual growth and development are the order of the day. It seems as though everything needs to be bigger, better, more developed, and not only that but also faster as well. As mentioned before in my previous blog post, sometimes during construction Indigenous cemeteries or archaeological sites are found. So in the developer's mind the question might be when does a cemetery (or other types of habitual-use, or other archaeologically important sites) become unimportant, or void of their meaning? Or, as Erin brought up last class, when is it appropriate to re-use spaces? I really think it's important to know the context of who we're asking about because it really depends on the people who once used the site.  For some, it is important for bodies to remain in tact for them to be corporeally whole in heaven. For others, disturbing ancestral remains might mean that their spirits have been relinquished and perhaps disrespected, and thus may act upon the living until the problem is rectified. Who is anyone to tell anyone else that what they believe is wrong?

This power dynamic can affect how people view cemeteries/burials, and the beliefs about when it is appropriate to disturb burials. The often talked about process of creating "otherness" also can be played out through through the decisions that are made of what happens to remains once they are exhumed. As I've written before, I think that a divestment of decision making power and a mutual respect for different cultural traditions, especially historically marginalized ones (like African Americans or Aboriginal peoples for example) is really important. It is important because we live in a population with a very mixed and diverse ethnic makeup, but also it is important to begin to repair any historically (or contemporary) tumultuous relationships between conflicting groups. Perhaps there could be creative solutions to some of these "issues" once the typically marginalized group's concerns gets taken seriously and are treated with respect. I would argue that any people who are pushing for development at all costs need to be more willing to budge and compromise on these issues as well.

"You can't have your cake and eat it, too."