Question

In line 14 of "The Indian Burying Ground," Freneau mentions "arrows, with a head of bone" that are buried with the deceased. These arrowheads, made of stone or bone, may be contrasted with the headstones put on Christian graves. In about 100 words, compare the different views of death revealed by stone arrowheads versus gravestones.

Answer 1

An Indian arrow head or “head of stone”, symbolizes the opposite of a headstone namely, the enduring vitality of the dead person’s spirit unlike the cold, engraved memorial for a dead white man. The indians bury them in a sitting position; they think that the dead are with life, in their own world. The Christians, at contrary, buries their dead in an horizontal possiton, like they were resting for the ethernity. The posture we keep to our dead determines how we look at life after death. Death is not end but it is a release for life is seen as bondage. American Indians believe in life as lasting or existing forever it is an ad infinitum process. Christians don't, we believe in Heaven and Hell, and our actions or sins will determinate our destiny when we die.The Indian concept of life after death is quite different from Christian concept that believes in an annual of earthly activities after death.