Burial Practices

Funerals in freedom colonies were considered an important social event. When a resident passed away, the news of their passing was usually “tolled” from the church bell for the community to hear. Women in the family would bathe the body, and lay it out on a “cooling board”, which was often a door taken down for this purpose. The eyes of the deceased were sometimes closed with silver coins, and then the body would be covered with a sheet, while friends and neighbors sat up with the body to show respect for the family. The next day, neighbors would dress the body, place it in a coffin, and make the journey to the church for a graveyard service.

While emancipated Texans and their ancestors wholly embraced Christianity, the burial traditions that survived into the first decades of the 20th century can be directly linked to West African cultural beliefs and practices. An afterlife populated by spirits is a common part of West 

It is exceedingly rare that these grave goods survive, due to their own fragile nature as well as outside circumstances impacting historic black cemeteries. The 21st century has seen a resurgence in efforts to preserve these important historical cemeteries, as evidenced by the introduction to congress in 2022 of the African-American Burial Grounds Preservation Act. When historic cemeteries become the focus of revitalization efforts, many grave goods are, with the best of intentions, mistaken for garbage and removed from the site, resulting in the loss of even more priceless cultural heritage. The survival of such a large number of grave goods at Canaan Cemetery is unique, and makes this historic cemetery one of the most well-preserved in Texas.