When searching for a name for our company, we wanted something that embodied our vision and also symbolized strength. We soon discovered the fascinating practices with which elephants honor and mourn their dead.
Like humans, each community of elephants have different traditions. Some bury their dead under leaves. Others have been seen lifting their loved ones’s bodies with their tusks and carrying them in line with the herd in an awe-inspiring funeral procession.
Unlike humans, elephants have the freedom to grieve. Photographs of elephants show them honoring their dead amongst vast landscapes. They don’t have to do paperwork. They don’t have to go to probate court or file taxes, or bring their death certificate to banks.
Of course our lives are much more complex. We have assets to pass down and laws which govern our society. When a person dies we don’t have the freedom to focus on our own emotional and physical health as we grieve. Instead, we have to plan a funeral, we have to close accounts, we have to read books on what probate is and how to navigate it. We have to fit all this and more into our already demanding lives. There is no space to just grieve.
But what if there was?
Our vision at Tusk is to provide surviving family members the freedom to grieve after the death of a loved one. Grief is an innate instinct and we believe that everyone deserves the space to process grief in their own individual way.
An elephant's tusk is a source of strength. Beyond offering freedom, we want to give the families we serve a sense of strength during such a difficult and challenging time.
Death is hard. And always will be. Settling a late loved one's affairs shouldn't add to your pain.