A Good Death

In ancient American Indian Culture
not only was a good & honorable
death achievable, it was sought after. 

 Is there such thing as good death? According to ancient American Indian culture once all of an individual’s biological, ecological, and spiritual mandates from the Creator were satisfied, a good death was achieved in a passing in which the individual’s honor and integrity were preserved. The moment of death was considered as intimate a moment between the dying and Mother Earth as that of the mother-child relationship at birth.

For the human species, emotionally speaking, if not sudden, the departing soul is certainly subject to many emotions and the survivors are certainly subject to much grief.  For many the subject is so uncomfortable that it proves too difficult and painful to contemplate.  However, lives led close to Mother Nature tend to lead to a vastly different point of view.  My grandfather, a devoutly religious man, used to say, “death is a change in range and nothing strange.” I suppose contemplating those words in conjunction with my ever-evolving experiences in the outdoors lead to my seemingly indifferent emotional views regarding my own eventual demise.

Ironically, when considering the aversion held by many today in our society, in the perfect system of the circle of life, death is one of the two fundamental ingredients - birth and death. And, no matter what megalomaniacal reasoning we employ to convince ourselves otherwise, we are all subject to the rules of nature and we will all eventually pass from this physical world. For man, a good death is the all encompassing worthy end for which a human soul responsibly strives and humbly prays. In nature a good death occurs by default for all Nature’s creatures as they expire while playing their respective roles in the circle of life.



Four participants in the circle of life.

Today in our society there are those who would suggest that there is something inherently wrong with participating in the circle of life. The modern animal rights movement suggests that it is somehow wrong, inhumane, or cruel to harvest from Nature’s bounty for our own sustenance. While all moral and ethical beings would subscribe to the basic underlying principle of the animal rights movement’s premise of respectful treatment of all life, it is flawed reasoning to suggest that causing an animal's death is inhumane and/or disrespectful in and of itself.

First of all, Nature does not subscribe to the parameters of human emotional reasoning. A hunter and/or trapper who spends their allotted time during the harvest season in Nature understands above all others that the modern animal rights movement would surely consider Nature itself the most inhumane perpetrator in existence.

There are no hospitals, hospice care, or pain and maintenance medications to provide comfort for a diseased or dying animal.  There is no policing authority to prevent unfair or premature death. There is no peaceful passing in the night. There is only death from the harsh elements, disease, accident, and/or being consumed.  The old and weak are caught and consumed by the strong - a gazelle being disemboweled by lions while still conscious, a squirrel having it’s skin ripped apart by the razor sharp talons and beak of a red-tailed hawk, or a whitetail deer slowly and agonizingly succumbing to the long and drawn-out ravages of blue-tongue disease, these are just a few of the many brutal alternatives wildlife have as opposed to death at the hands of a hunter, trapper, or fisherman. Even though Nature does not ask for or understand human ethics and morals, if one is comforted by human precepts, then it is an undeniable truth that, for those of us who frequently witness true life and death in Nature, death at the hands of man is exponentially more desirable than the end that awaits those creatures who perish by other natural means.

Without question predators are unapologetic purveyors of death.
As such are predators in Mother Nature somehow inhumane
in their methods of death...and are we as human beings somehow
beyond the bounds of Mother Nature?

In Nature’s Economy, just like any other predator,  as outdoorsmen, we are all active participants, or unapologetic purveyors of death. Just as the coyote, bobcat, and mountain lion play their roles, so do we, as wild men, in a sense, do the same. As each of these creatures go about their daily routine of sustaining themselves, they dispatch and consume numerous and various creatures in the wild. Death in Nature, while savagely beautiful, is neither good nor bad, right nor wrong. Rather, it is viewed by the whole of Nature with stoic indifference and as just another integral part of the continuum of life.



One of the most brilliant minds in the
history of the human race...and yet he still
accepted our true station within the fabric
of life

 The creatures of Nature ask for no quarter from death, for there is none. They inherently understand that there are no promises of fairness in life, there is only natural indifference regarding their survival or death. It is as if they are inborn with the same nurtured reasoning that our own species’ super-genius Albert Einstein took many years to develop regarding his own death, ‘The end comes sometime; does it matter when?’ This does not suggest that an individual does not struggle to survive. Quite the contrary, all creatures in Nature are programmed to survive at all costs and have an inherent right to do so, if they can. Ultimately, however, death will touch us all and, physically speaking, once in its embrace, there is no escape.

So, is there such thing as good death? Absolutely. In the animal kingdom, wildlife harvested and consumed by humans have completed their ecological mandate just as sufficiently as those consumed by any other predator, thus resulting in a good death in Nature. We, as humans, are not outside the scope of Nature. No matter how grandiose our ideals and beliefs, we are simply consumers of Mother Nature's bounty, regardless of our chosen level of consumptive participation within the cycle of life.

It is our responsibility to participate in the circle of life and to teach others to understand and accept the indifferent yet perfect and beautiful design provided in Nature. When a soul is regularly exposed to the true life and death cycle in Nature it becomes exponentially easier to confront our own mortality. Understanding Nature’s Economy makes for easier discussion, understanding, and acceptance of death in the animal kingdom as well as the human kingdom. Physically speaking, they are one in the same. Setting a personal goal of an eventual good death is not a taboo subject but rather an honorable pathway through life. So says the One-Eyed Hillbilly.

Greg Stephens is a 35-year veteran & life-time student of the great outdoors. His column appears weekly in print & online publications. You can email him at gregstephens@one-eyedhillbilly.com. For more columns go to www.one-eyedhillbilly.blogspot.com.