After death, the family gives the deceased a final bath. We also have our traditional prayer service (priye) before and after burial where friends, family members get together to support the mourners follows by a light reception. Cremation is not an option, because Haitian people deeply respect the body, and they strongly believe in resurrection and paradise as well. Autopsies are done unless it is a legal request. When it comes to time orientation, Haitian people accord enormous importance to the past. They believe that they owe a lot of respect to their ancestors who fought hard to bring freedom to this nation. We celebrate our independence day on January 1st which is the day we became free from French slavery. On this day, everyone gather together partying, sharing, sending good wishes card from distance to love ones and even enemies become friends. On this day, we serve a nice traditional squash (joumou) soup. During French imperial we were not allowed to eat that. We are proud to be the first black nation in the Western Hemisphere to achieve independence from Europe colony. We believe that our future depends on how we honour our ancestors. Every day, Haitian people mount their national flag and sing the national anthem in sign of remembrance of our past and where we want to