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How did Southeastern Indigenous peoples explain death and the afterlife?

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Map of the southeastern United States showing the historical locations of various Indigenous peoples, with tribal names such as Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole, Natchez, Catawba, and Calusa labeled across the region. A red outline marks the general boundary of the Southeast cultural area, extending from eastern Texas and Louisiana through the Gulf Coast, up to the Atlantic coast and into parts of the Carolinas and Virginia. Major bodies of water like the Gulf of Mexico and the Atla
Indigenous peoples of the American Southeast

Traditional Southeastern Indigenous worldviews did not consider death a natural occurrence. Instead, it was viewed as the result of malevolent animal spirits, witchcraft, or the actions of sorcerers.1

Because of these beliefs, funerary practices were highly elaborate and served as a protective measure for the living as much as a commemoration of the deceased. It was widely believed that the souls of the recently departed would linger near their community, attempting to persuade friends and relatives to join them on their journey to the afterlife.1

If a death was caused by human agents, it was believed the soul could not rest until vengeance had been secured by the deceased's living relatives. Once the soul was appeased, it would travel to a final resting place. While the specific location varied among different groups, these destinations were typically thought to be in the celestial firmament, in the direction of the setting sun, or in a non-hellish region of the underworld.1