Makatakiya etunwan yo Nikunsi k'un heciya he yunkelo Cekiya yo, cekiya yo! Anagoptan yunke lo	Towards the Earth look Your Grandmother lies beneath us Pray to Her, Pray to Her! She is laying there listening to your prayers
Unci Maka nawecijin na Wowah'wala wan yuha wauwelo.	Grandmother Earth I defend and I come humbly with these ways.

- Lakota Four Directions & Prayer songs

family & friends - when i die ...	i'd like what good organs my body has left that may be of use to others to be given away to those who might be able to use them, and for my body to go back to the earth in hopes it might provide her some nourishment or at least less damage and less energy consumption. so ... i'd like to be buried very simply - no embalming, no concrete vault, no metal or wood coffin - in a simple shroud, in a place where my body would do the earth some good.   to this end i've collected some resources here on 'green' burials that you might find interesting, too. (we need a green/natural/native cemetery in Tennessee.) - tpk august 1999 march 2005 - and please, don't keep my body alive when my mind, and presumably spirit, are gone. thanks. btw, anybody else who wants their similar wishes noted publicly like this, lemme know and i'll put them up here too. first, help others ... I hereby certify that i am older than 48 years, of sound mind and body, and upon my death wish to make an anatomical gift of Any Organ and Tissues and Entire Body. / O+ blood type signed tpk, 25 march 2005 / witness JPK
	A Gravestone Made of Wheat by Will Weaver a story about the death of a Minnesota farm family's dad, and his burial. 1990 Graywolf Press ISBN: 1555971253 Twelve short stories that won the Minnesota Book Award for Fiction in 1989 and also earned a second place national award from Friends of American Writers.
Eco-Funerals	Weekend All Things Considered - June 12, 1999 NPR's Adam Hochberg reports on Ramsey Creek Preserve, a newly opened environmentally-sensitive cemetery in South Carolina. At Ramsey Creek, the first US eco-cemetery, the deceased are buried in a forest, in biodegradable caskets, without the use of of toxic embalming fluid.
Memorial Ecosystems	was formed in 1996 to create a nationwide system of for-profit nature preserve cemeteries. We offer a thoughtful alternative to those of you who care deeply about the environment but are unhappy with the tremendous escalation in funeral and burial expenses. Our company legacy will be thousands of acres of ecologically significant, functioning nature preserves that will also serve as important open spaces for contemplative recreation.
What is a "natural" burial?	One stipulation in our sales contract for burial spaces in Memorial Ecosystems nature parks has to do with what we are calling "natural", or environmentally sensitive burial. The concept is as old and traditional as the phrase "dust to dust". All caskets must be of non-toxic, biodegradable materials. Toxic embalming fluids and vaults are not allowed. Where top soil is removed, it is carefully replaced after burial. While we will not encourage them, we will allow small, flat markers. No headstones or plastic flowers are allowed. Vegetation management over graves will be minimal, and consistent with restoring native ecosystems (for more details on grave markers, interment location and vegetation management, see related article). In many ways, "green burial" is much more akin to cremation and ashes scattering, and the total cost for funeral and burial (including the space) is about halfway between the average funeral/burial cost and the average cremation/scattering cost. The idea is that the remains will eventually become a part of other living things. We can work with your funeral director and make green burial arrangements at their facility, provide specific information for individuals, or provide a consult for your family mortician.
Comparison of Jewish and Islamic Practices Associated with Funerals, Burial and Afterlife by Leah Zinner	In both Judaism and Islam, the body is prepared for the funeral by being wrapped in a white cloth or shroud. In both traditions, embalming is not practiced because of the idea that we came from dust and, upon death we should return. Islam and Judaism also share the use of a plain wooden coffin, although in Judaism the body remains in the coffin, and in Islam the body is taken out of the coffin and placed directly into the grave. Neither religion permits the body/coffin to be left out of the grave through the entire funeral service, as they believe that it is important that friends and family watch or help lower the coffin as a symbol of the reality of the death.
World Mourns King Hussein	Amman, Jordan, 8 feb 1999 If overwhelming in scale, the rites were also haunting in their simplicity, with ceremonial elements unchanged over the centuries.   The king's body was to be washed in accordance with Islamic practice, scented with musk, and buried in a humble white shroud.
The Natural Death Handbook	Chapter 1: The Natural Death Movement
Green Burial in the UK	http://www.globalideasbank.org/greenburial.html http://www.consciouschoice.com/environs/dusttodust1203.html In these cemeteries, people are buried in a shroud or biodegradable coffin of wicker or cardboard or other simple material. Instead of a headstone, a tree is planted over the grave.