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Since the 1950s, the traditional funeral rite has undergone far-reaching changes in Iparralde and continues to do so at an ever-increasing rate. Some of them, already irreversible, are above all testament to a social order and a view of the world that are very alien to the new generations. However, a significant part of the rituals survives, but they are often mere “points of reference” and “organisational frames” lingering in people's memory. But for how long?
Since the 1950s, the traditional funeral rite has undergone far-reaching changes in Iparralde (the part of the Basque Country within France) and continues to do so at an ever-increasing rate. Some of them, already irreversible, are above all testament to a social order and a view of the world that are very alien to the new generations. However, a significant part of the rituals survives, but they are often mere “points of reference” and “organisational frames” lingering in people’s people's memory. But for how long?
The coastal strip can be seen to have totally broken away from the inland area. There, death is dealt with outside the context of the home, ''etxe'', and of the framework that forms a neighbour-based society. As regards Christians, here more than anywhere else, they have to embrace their faith in the midst of indifference, in the best of cases.
== Christian care ==
There is nothing original in this regard as the viaticum and extreme unction are practices defined by the Church. Both mark the start for the dying person of the time where he will unite with the Mystical Body of Christ, that uninterrupted solidarity that will last for eternity and be continuously revived by worshipping one’s one's ancestors.
That care also clearly means that that the time has come for each of us to put our deepest thoughts in order and to attune with other realities. Therefore, it was a dreaded moment and the priest was often called too late, as they did not want to “scare” the person who was dying by making him face that terrible end awaiting everyone.
A new character, the carpenter, would then be involved and was in charge of organising the funeral in many places. He would place the deceased with the help of one of his helpers or of the first neighbour in the quickly fashioned coffin. As custom would have it, the family did not handle the body or be present as the body left. The deceased was usually wrapped in a shroud, sometimes with its head on a small cushion; the corpse would be dressed in its best suit or dress. With shoes on its feet and a beret on its head, it was ready to set off. It was then the eve or the morning of the funeral.
The coffin was an aedicula made up of canvases decorated with branches. In Lower Navarre, the carpenter built in the hall, ''eskaratze'', against the main door, a small chapel with canvases that the female neighbours decorated with green branches (boxwood, bay). The background canvas, known as ''hil mihisia'', was special. The carpenter places the coffin on two chairs in the centre of this closed space. Candles in holders provided by the family or borrowed from the neighbours (each homestead wrote its name on the base to then get it back later) were placed on each site. Two symbolic items were important: a marble crucifix bought by the first neighbour (which would be placed on the funeral monument), along with the house’s house's ''ezko'' (mourning candle used in the church during the funeral masses).
In general, the first neighbour wife, accompanied by her husband, welcomed the visitors at the entrance to the hallway. She took the relatives to the kitchen where the residents of the house would be.
