What These Native American Tribes Believed About Death

The ancient Mayans of modern-day Mexico have a bit of a reputation when it comes to violence. Namely, they were pretty down with it, from human sacrifice to stories about their deities killing one another. The Mayans weren't afraid to get their hands dirty, and death and pain were things they embraced. So it's probably no surprise that their beliefs on death seem to match this pretty closely.

The Mayans believed in an afterlife, unlike many indigenous peoples before Europeans arrived with Christian ideals of heaven and hell. Their afterlife, however, was frankly quite scary. Xibalba (she-bal-ba), the Mayan underworld, literally translates to "Place of Fright." Obviously, it's not a great place to wind up. This series of caves is ruled over by not one but a dozen death gods and demons, the lords of Xibalba, who spend all of their time and effort making Xibalba as awful as possible, according to Mythology.net. They existed primarily to cause suffering.

Xibalba even had a supposed physical entrance inside a cave in Belize, which you can visit today if you're feeling particularly brave, according to Archaeology Magazine. One particular thing to keep in mind about Xibalba is that everyone goes there and stays forever, regardless of how good they were in life, unless they die a violent death, such as in battle or as a human sacrifice, or die as a small child. Only then can one avoid the lords of Xibalba.