J Jacksonville HISTORIC Cemetery photo by Leah Nash
Haunted oregon pirits of the past are present everywhere. They dwell in our lands, haunt our historic buildings and cemeteries, and inhabit our songs, literature, films and holy texts. From ancient Egypt to today’s pop culture, stories of ghosts, apparitions and spir- its—whatever you call them—are found in nearly every society and every religion. “Ghosts are a desire to believe in the afterlife,” says Sharon Sher- man, a folklorist and professor at University of Oregon. “None of us can conceptualize nothingness after death. We want to think that our spirit or life force will continue or go on in one form or another.” About one-fourth of Americans believe they’ve had contact with the dead, whether seeing an apparition or sensing the deceased through anomalous phenomena such as a clock stopping or an object falling, says Daniel Wojcik, professor and director of U of O’s Folklore Program. “These sorts of experiences reinforce widely held folk beliefs about ghosts, souls and life after death,” he explains. “Everyone’s a skeptic until it happens to them,” says Jeff Davis, ghost hunter, archeologist, author of several books on ghosts of the Pacific Northwest and co-author of Weird Oregon: Your Travel Guide to Oregon’s Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets. Although paranormal activities have been reported throughout the state, in wild landscapes, small towns and even state parks, he advises recreational ghost hunters to visit Oregon’s larger cities, where spirits are easily unearthed. OREGON’S GHOSTLY SPIRITS PREDATE THE ARRIVAL of Europeans by thousands of years. Native inhabitants of the Pacific Northwest had a spiritual connection with nature and all life around them, including the belief that plants and animals talk to people. The Creator gave the knowledge of life’s ways to each tribe, and those gifts were passed along through language, song and sacred rites. “A very important part of our belief system is that the spirit leaves the body at death,” says Wilson Wewa, an elder of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, a Northern Paiute on his father’s side and a Palouse-Nez Perce on his mother’s. “We are honoring the life of the deceased and helping ourselves to mourn with our funerary ceremonies. “We believe that both good and bad spirits continue to roam the lands,” says Wewa. “These spirits are a part of everyday life and sometimes are found in favorite places, such as fishing holes, caves, buttes and mountains, where they make themselves known to people. “Long ago, Indian children were taught not to be afraid of nature, or fear the dark or unknown voices; or songs they may hear in the dark or in a lonely or sacred place,” he says. When a bad spirit leads someone astray or makes the person sick, they seek help from healers. Through sometimes complex ceremonies, healers put malevolent spirits to rest, allowing peace and health to be restored. Burial customs varied from tribe to tribe, ranging from cremation and ground interment to tree or forest “burial” in a canoe. A fascinating story comes from the Chinook Indians of the lower Columbia River Basin near 0 <strong>1859</strong> oregon's mAgAzine SEPT OCT <strong>2012</strong>
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located in Eugene Oregon, Go! Fight
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