Hopper gets Indian-style burial

Dennis Hopper laid to rest in simple Native American burial after memorial service attended by Jack Nicholson and Val KilmerThis humble grave--little more than a mound of rocks--is the final resting place of Hollywood legend Dennis Hopper.

The Native American-style burial mound in the Jesus Nazareno Cemetery in Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico, is believed to have been the Easy Rider star's final request.

Flowers and a wreath from well-wishers cover the top of the rubble pile.
Native American burial: Hopper was laid to rest in the traditional grave he had requested

And the only marker identifying the plot is a small plastic wallet with the star's name written on paper skewered into the ground.

The 74-year-old actor, who died on Saturday, was laid to rest at the site in a private ceremony on Wednesday. He died of prostate cancer.

The service was attended by friends and relatives including his friends Jack Nicholson and Val Kilmer.

Before the ceremony, Peter Fonda spoke to the small crowd and opened up about the death of Hopper, his co-star in the iconic Sixties film Easy Rider.Comment:  Following the link for photos of Hopper and his mourners.

So they left Hopper's casket aboveground and covered it with dirt and rocks? Why not bury it underground instead? The mound looks rather unsightly to me. And I don't think it's more environmentally friendly than an underground burial. The mound takes up more space than a burial plot, not less.

I believe some tribes, especially in the West and Southwest, did bury people this way. They probably had reasons for it: no shovels to dig a hole in the hard ground, no time to linger in potentially hostile territory, etc. I'm not sure anyone believed that burying people aboveground was better than burying them underground.

For more on Dennis Hopper, see Hopper Supported Native Rights. For more on Indian burials, see Nicholson Wants Indian Burial and Indian Burial Grounds.

Hopper supported Native rights

Iconic actor Dennis Hopper died today. A few of the tributes hinted at his interest in Native issues.

Dennis Hopper, Hollywood icon and antihero, diesWith Hopper hailed as a brilliant filmmaker, Universal Pictures lavished $850,000 on his next project, “The Last Movie.”

The title was prescient. Hopper took a large cast and crew to a village in Peru to film the tale of a Peruvian tribe corrupted by a movie company. Trouble on the set developed almost immediately, as Peruvian authorities pestered the company, drug-induced orgies were reported and Hopper seemed out of control.

When he finally completed filming, he retired to his home in Taos, N.M., to piece together the film, a process that took almost a year, in part because he was using psychedelic drugs for editing inspiration.

When it was released, “The Last Movie” was such a crashing failure that it made Hopper unwanted in Hollywood for a decade. At the same time, his drug and alcohol use was increasing to the point where he was said to be consuming as much as a gallon of rum a day.An uneasy ride with Dennis HopperHopper also was a man who could charm while seeing the truth beneath the masks of Hollywood. His eye for modern art was uncanny, resulting in a multimillion-dollar collection. He was committed to a variety of social causes, including African American and Native American rights.Actress Joanelle Romero posted this note on Facebook:Hi Rob--Dennis was my legal guardian from age 12 to 18, oh the stories I have. Maybe a book someday, it's been in the making since I was 22.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Stacey Thunder Joins Crash and The Best Indian Movies.