Chieftain doesn't say that he knows any of those people. He could just like to go to funerals or be in a profession such as being a grave-digger, or priest or mortician, where contact with death is part of daily life. Alternatively he could be using language quite differently from most others and/or claim poetic license.You must be a very social person and/or have a lot of work colleagues.
So, many possibilities exist, but if taken at face value, it sounds hard to believe.