3 Mississippi Funeral Customs Newcomers Get Wrong

A funeral in a place you’re new to can leave you wondering what’s expected of you.

Mississippi communities honor loved ones in ways that may surprise other Americans, some with deep roots.

Here’s what to understand before you attend, so you can show up with care.

Note: This is general information, not insurance or legal advice. Contract terms and state rules are subject to change.

1. Choctaw Wakes

A Choctaw wake is typically a community event, according to a 2020 essay in the Mississippi Free Press on the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.

That community role traces to an old custom called iyyi kowa, translated as “broken foot.”

When a Choctaw family suffered a setback such as a death, the community came together to gather what the family needed.

Some newcomers expect a funeral to be a single afternoon service.

If you’re invited to a wake, it typically runs 24 hours at the home of the person who died or at a relative’s home.

Some families hold it at the church instead, if the person who died attended there.

Choctaw tradition also has a firekeeper designated through the wake, and those fires provide the heat for the outdoor cooking.

The wake includes three meals a day, plus a final meal right after the funeral services.

The dishes usually include frybread, Choctaw hominy, fried chicken, okra and black-eyed peas.

Expect a long day.

2. Horse-Drawn Carriages

Some families pay extra for a horse-drawn carriage procession at Delta Burial Corp. in Marks, according to a July 2025 Mississippi Today report.

That adds a couple hundred to a thousand dollars.

Some families also rent a Cadillac hearse.

Many newcomers picture a funeral procession as a line of cars behind a hearse.

If you’re comparing costs, here are two numbers.

A majority of Delta Burial funerals cost $3,000 to $6,000, and the state average is roughly $8,000.

Delta Burial offered services on a sliding scale or with small monthly premiums throughout the Jim Crow era.

The funeral home also has to negotiate with pastors to keep services short enough to make the reserved time at the cemetery.

The report calls a wooden coffin assembled on site the most affordable option for a traditional burial.

3. Police-Led Processions

Police in Jackson and Gulfport had pulled back on funeral processions by 2010, according to an Associated Press report from that February.

Jackson police hadn’t led funeral processions for the general public in several years.

Gulfport police had decided to limit processions to five cars, with exceptions only for first responders who die on duty and soldiers killed in combat.

Officers there often worked up to six funerals a day.

The five-car limit upset some people who saw funeral processions as a Southern tradition.

The report says that across the country, private companies provide funeral escorts in the majority of areas where police don’t.

Lots of newcomers expect a police car to lead a funeral procession.

That report is from 2010, so if you’re counting on a police escort, ask the funeral home how processions work today.

Burial Associations

A Mississippi burial association sells contracts that pay burial costs, and the Mississippi Insurance Department publishes a guide on how they work.

A lot of newcomers assume a burial association works like life insurance.

Life insurance pays cash to whoever the policy owner names.

A burial contract pays a designated funeral home.

You keep paying premiums for the rest of your life, and the guide says you get no refund or cash settlement if you stop.

That’s the catch.

If you ever sign a burial contract, check which funeral home it names.

That funeral home generally honors the contract.

Decoration Day

Decoration Day commemorations typically included a procession of townspeople to a nearby cemetery with Confederate remains.

Mourners decorated gravestones with wreaths and flowers, and the commemorations included prayers and speeches.

In keeping with Victorian bereavement customs, women took the leading and organizing role.

Mississippi’s legislature added Confederate Memorial Day on April 26 to the list of official state holidays in 1917.

The twist?

Many communities kept celebrating on dates they picked themselves.

So the date wasn’t the same everywhere.

Family Cemeteries

A private family cemetery in Mississippi can come before the county under Section 41-43-1 of the state code.

A county’s board of supervisors can establish or designate the location of one once someone petitions it.

More than a few newcomers don’t realize the county can have a say.

If you’re picturing a family plot behind your house, the board of supervisors is the office the statute names.

Call the county first.

The 48-Hour Window

A Mississippi regulation sets a 48-hour window for a body to be buried, cremated or otherwise disposed of after death.

More than a few newcomers assume embalming is part of a funeral.

If you wait past 48 hours, the body has to be embalmed by a licensed embalmer or kept under refrigeration.