I loved talking with my dear friend Jodie Buller about her work at the White Eagle Memorial Preserve, a Natural Burial Ground at Ekone Ranch. She spends part of her time near me in western Washington, but one of her many roles is as Cemetery Director on the other side of the mountains in Goldendale, WA. This was an extra special conversation since Jodie and I used to host a radio show for our local station (KSVR, 91.7) in the years before she took on this important work. I appreciated what I learned about the process of natural burial, how ceremony is created, and the healthful ways we can think about and prepare for death.
Jodie has been a friend of Ekone since 2008, and stepped into leadership of White Eagle Memorial Preserve in 2013. She works with families directly to walk through end-of-life choices and burial logistics, and supports White Eagle’s Stewards, hosting tours, burials, and special events. Jodie lives part-time in the White Eagle Cabin in the Ekone Valley, and part-time in a wee cabin in Skagit Valley. Her background in outreach work for the Skagit Valley Food Co-op informs her passion to introduce White Eagle to communities throughout Washington and Oregon, with presentations and workshops on natural burial. She is a founding member of the Conservation Burial Alliance, and part of the Washington Funeral and Oregon Funeral website team, creating public service websites which provide resources for family and community directed death care.
Resources mentioned:
Corpse Care: Ethics for Tending to the Death
Western Pine Beetles & Forests in WA
All episodes were recorded at Jack Straw Cultural Center in Seattle, WA and edited at my farm in the Skagit Valley called Harmony Fields. Thank you to sound engineer Ayesha Ubayatilaka.
We have four fascinating conversation in season one that will be released weekly-ish, starting on April 22nd on Substack!
Please send any comments or questions to: jessicagigot@gmail.com
NOTE: All podcast episodes are available for free, no paid subscription required.
