Uncollected Bones and Ambiguous Loss: Okinawan Mourning Rituals in the Northern Mariana Islands

The study expounds upon the psychological concept of 'ambiguous loss,' proposed by Pauline Boss. The article attempts to broaden the concept's individualistic focus by offering a more ethnographically nuanced and socioculturally contextualized application of the concept. It examines how Okinawan WWII survivors, who repatriated from the Northern Mariana Islands after the war, relied on their belief system to make sense of 'abnormal' deaths during war, and the lack of proper mortuary rituals usually conducted for 'normal' deaths. The article argues that religio-spiritual rituals during their pilgrimages to the Marianas were the means with which those struggling with ambiguous loss attempt to deal with their psychological trauma and spiritual pain. It is also argued, however, that the uncollected bodies/bones continue to haunt the bereaved families, so their struggle with the loss cannot come to a complete 'closure,' resulting in their repeated visits to the sites of their loved ones' violent deaths.