Cremation Association of North America

07/28/2025

"After death, the body was left in a basket in the river so that fish would consume the soft tissues, or it was buried in the ground," Holanda said. "Afterwards, the disarticulated [jumbled] bones were cremated and placed inside funerary urns, which symbolized a new body, a new skin. Finally, many Amazonian cultures buried these pots beneath their homes."

Giant ceramic pots made centuries to millennia ago were found to hold human bones, while others held a mixture of seeds and the remains of fish, frogs and turtles.

07/25/2025

"New understandings of grief suggest that, unlike traditional Western approaches that tend to sever ties, people now seek to maintain their bonds with the deceased and integrate their memory into life even in their absence."

Cemeteries have long been seen as quiet places of reflection, but changing mourning practices are redefining them as spaces not only for the dead. "Above ground, a cemetery is also a place for the living," says Christian Jäger, managing director of a funeral directors' association in Germany.

07/24/2025

It's International , so "It is time to take some of the attention and concern that you show every family that walks through your front door and begin practicing better care for yourself and your colleagues."
Check in with Jason Troyer PhD & Mt Hope Grief Services in his post in the CANA Cremation Logs blog:

Funeral and cemetery professionals deal with extraordinary stressors and work conditions. Not everyone is able to survive these unique demands. But I hope that death care professionals can go beyond simply “getting by” in this challenging field. It is tim

07/23/2025

"...an important evolution of thought has taken place over the last couple of decades. We’ve transitioned from focusing on front line personnel as the provider of customer experiences to understanding that the entirety of the organization provides customer experiences... However, many other organizations are still operating under potentially fatal assumptions."
Expert consultant on customer service and leadership excellence, Joan Fox, covers Fatal Assumptions that are Killing the Customer Experience in the CANA Cremation Logs blog. Read on:

Despite or perhaps because of stories of insolent cashiers, phone calls not being returned, car repair hell, endless waits in a physician’s office, frustrating phone systems without human access, indifference, there is a huge opportunity.

07/22/2025

Founded in 1831, Mount Auburn Cemetery pre-dates modern cremation – but that doesn’t mean the organization has been restrained by past tradition. In her session at CANA's 107th Convention, Historic Cemeteries Facing the Future, Regina Harrison shares how the cemetery offers a wide selection of cremation burial options. These range from simple, unmarked direct-earth interment to centrally located premium graves, meeting a variety of customer needs and budgets. She’ll show you how these solutions can work for you and your families, too.
Join us in August! Register today: https://site.pheedloop.com/event/cana25/home/

07/21/2025

"Not only did excavations here yield the remains of a stone structure — but beads, gold coins, pipes, miniature plates and pots, dolls, and a Buddhist mortuary tablet were also found. According to Archaeology, the dead here were buried individually in square wooden coffins and tubs or cremated and held in urns."

The burial ground was discovered at a redevelopment site where four skyscrapers are slated to be built.

07/18/2025

It's !
Because we have two eyes, two ears, but only one mouth, CANA’s Communication Skills Fundamentals course devotes an entire section to Listening.
When done right, listening leads to understanding. In the workplace, effective listening skills can help you reduce mistakes, resolve challenging situations, negotiate and build quality relationships. But how do you become a better listener?
CANA’s Communication Skills Fundamentals course is available online and on-demand for just $15 for 1hr of CE. It’s filled with practical tips you can use right away. Learn more: https://www.cremationassociation.org/eduonline

07/17/2025

“Having a morbid best friend who works in funeral and cemetery services is not for the weak.”
“I used to be super afraid of death. Like, don’t even talk about it,” Jasmine admits. “But being friends with her, going through my own medical traumas and things, I’ve learned to cope with it through comedy, laughing, and accepting it. We all know we’re going to pay taxes, and we’re all going to die. None of us know when.”

After a long history with losing family, Alexis decided to take control of her own legacy — by creating a funeral montage of her life. Her best friend Jasmine was the first to see it, then TikTok got a look too.

07/16/2025

Succession planning and driving enterprise value should always be in our minds as owners, managers, and key stakeholders in a business. That’s why Jake Johnson, President & CEO of Johnson Consulting Group, will show you how to Exit with Success: Succession Planning and Your Business at CANA's 107th Annual Cremation Innovation Convention!
Get the steps to develop your succession plan and communicate with frontline employees. Register today: https://site.pheedloop.com/event/cana25/home/

07/15/2025

What does it really mean to go “above and beyond” in our work? How do we decide when to do it—and is it fair to do it sometimes but not always? Tonight, let’s talk about the gut feelings, boundaries, and values that guide our care at the monthly Funeral Professionals Peer Support meeting: Tuesday, July 15 at 8pm ET / 7pm CT / 5pm PT.
Join the conversation and offer your support: cremationassociation.org/peersupport

07/14/2025

"Cremated human and animal bones confirm the bucket was used as a cremation vessel.
"The human bones included part of an ankle bone and fragments of skull, and these are being analysed to understand the cremation process and what was on the funeral pyre."

The entire base of the Bromeswell bucket was found intact and a comb, probably made from antler, was found unburnt.

07/11/2025

"Contemplation of the existential mysteries, those around being and ceasing to be, is what separates humans from the rest of creation; our humanity is directly tied to how we respond to mortality. In short, how we deal with our dead in their physical reality and how we deal with death as an existential reality define and describe us in primary ways. This intimate connection between the mortal co**se and the concept of mortality is at the core of our religious, artistic, scientific and social impulses."

The dead are no longer welcome at their own funerals. So how can the living send them on their way?