Culture is a very interesting thing that not only defines a people, but also guides their day to day living to the point of death. At the core of these cultural norms lies not only the need to preserve the legacy of the respective communities but also, very importantly, maintain the respect and dignity of its people.
The Luo as a people have been known to have very many and complex cultural practices and traditions that they also guard and adhere to almost to a T. However, these cultural norms have gone through an evolution just like the entire world has been evolving. With inventions, innovation, and the coming of Christian missionaries to the remotest parts of the Luo Nyanza communities, some of these practices have been rendered null and void though some remain in practice to date. We delve into these practices particularly for the Luo burial.
The backdrop of some of the old cultural norms was the fact that people died at home and so there were no mortuaries, or any preservation done on the bodies. The essence was also to give the dead dignity and accord them proper last respects, according to who they were in the community.
a. Ancestral Land
The Luo communities believed, and to this very date still believe in burying their dead on ancestral land. It is reckoned that burying someone away from their ancestral land is like throwing them away. The place of burial can be a designated portion that serves as a family cemetery or depending on which member of the family it is whether it is a son, daughter, child, married or unmarried, they will be buried somewhere within the ancestral land while staying within the cultural norms. We will look at each as we go along.
b. In the House
Though this is no longer practiced, in the very olden time the burial of a spouse happened inside the house. The grave was dug right in the middle of the house,but the surviving spouse would still need to live in that same house.
In the past the burial and burial rites had to be carried out before sunset. It could be any time of day but before sunset, and this is after all the other rites had been observed. Most probable reason for this was just being able to have all rites performed in daylight.
Presently the burial time may be determined by the one leading the burial procession and carrying out the burial rites. This could be a church affiliated to the family or community elders in the case that the deceased was not a member of any denomination or if he had no religious affiliation. In essence the one carrying out the final burial rites are at liberty to decide the timings.
a. The grave is to be dug 6 feet deep, at a location that had been determined and agreed by the elders in the family. This is mostly dependent on who exactly has passed away; that is whether it is the father or mother of the home, son or daughter, married or unmarried. All these will dictate the exact location of the burial site. For the head of the home for example, the grave had to be dug facing the gate known as Rangach.
This is an anniversary celebration that happens about one year after burial. It is a more modern practice as the family will invite religious leaders to officiate this ceremony. There will be slaughtering of a cow then the meal will be shared. The icing on this cake is that the family will get to share out the deceased’s clothes after this celebration.
This was also an anniversary celebration that happened one year after the burial. Unlike the Sao it entailed a lot of eating and taking of alcoholic drinks. People could indulge in Busaa drinking from a big pot with a straw called oseke. Oseke is a reed and each person would have their own planted in the pot and to their mouths to aid sipping the Busaa. It had a lot more people attending in the name of celebrating the life of the deceased.
This happened exactly one day after the burial of a male in the community. Burial in this case should have happened one day after death since the dead were not taken to any place for preservation of the body. It was therefore expected that the deceased be buried within 48 hours.
Tero Buru was then likened to sending out a cry where a group of people with cows would set out running and beating drums. The group went out with shields and spears in their hands, as if going to war, with ashes (buru) rubbed on their bodies. Cows on the other hand had bells tied around their necks to produce a sound as they too ran. Within the group, not all had spears and shields in their hands but carried drums that they also hit as they ran.
In summary,this activity did send out a cry literally; the wails, bells, drums,people’s feet stomping the ground, all mixed to raise up a loud cry. The aim was to reach far and beyond the affected family and community, expressing their sorrow for the loss.
This is like a bonfire that was lit from the first night after burial. A cock was slaughtered and literally roasted whole, on top of that fire then eaten by the congregants of the Magenga. This could happen every night for three nights if it was a male who had died, then for four nights in the case of the death of a female.
a. This may sound a bit barbaric but the moment a husband breathed his last, the wife needed to run naked to the gate and back then come and dress in an outfit that the husband had specifically bought her. It didn’t matter what time of day the husband had died, the wife just had to do this.
b. After all the burial rites had been done the wife was shaven clean together with all the children in their order of birth. If the children were married, they had to leave and go to their respective homes and make sure that the first son or daughter lay with their partners to give way to the rest. If this did not happen, death could be the aftermath of going against this rule.
This is also known as wife inheritance and was a must in the old luo traditions. It was believed that it was a way to care for the widow and the children left behind after the man passed away. The appropriate candidate, who had to be a brother of the deceased, was chosen by the community elders. They held a meeting to discuss which brother was best suited to inherit their brother’s wife.
This practice has however been slowly fading and has even been branded retrogressive by pro-women rights activists. Women have also gone through an evolution to become a lot more independent such that they don’t find themselves tied to such traditions in the name of being taken care of.
a. The husband had to sleep on the verandah of the couple’s house if not; a makeshift structure called a KIRU could be built for the husband. He was to sleep there until they dreamt that they were lying with their deceased wife. It was believed that if a husband was on good terms with the wife at the time of demise he could spend a very short time sleeping outside as the wife would quickly appear to him. On the other hand, if there was conflict between the two at the time of demise the husband could end up staying out for very many days.
b. If a husband lied about having dreamt with the wife, the repercussion was death; so, the husband had to stay out on the verandah or Kiru until they had this dream.
c. After all the burial rites had been done the husband’s head was shaven clean, together with those of all his children in their order of birth. Same rule applied for the wife, when the husband died.
If a son has died whether married or unmarried, he is to be buried next to his mother’s house especially if he had not yet built and moved into his own home. If however he had or has his own homestead he would be accorded a burial as a senior male in his own home facing the gate (Rangach).
The unmarried daughter (Mgogo) was and is still to be buried outside the homestead behind the fence. The specific reason for burying the unmarried daughter behind the home is for fear that she will haunt the family.
When a baby died, they were and still are buried next to its mother’s house. This applies to both boys and girls.
This term refers to the period the bereaved is to stay home after the burial of a loved one and is especially important in the case that it is one’s spouse . In the loss of a spouse or son the wife and mother respectively, where to stay for three days after burial. If it is a wife or daughter that had died,the directly affected will stay for 4 days after burial before they could leave the homestead.
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