Death Rituals among the Chagga Of Tanzania: A Pastoral Challenge
Date
2002-02
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Tangaza University College.
Abstract
This thesis is a study of Chagga death rituals, their pastoral challenge to the mission and
their significance for Christian inculturation. In this chapter we are going to focus mainly on;
the background of the study, statement of the problem, objectives of the study, significance
of the study, the research hypotheses, scope and organization of the study, methodology and
finally limitations of the study. My choice of this topic has been prompted by many questions raised by the Catholic church
in Moshi diocese - Kilimanjaro Tanzania about the Chagga funeral rites, and other
commemorative rituals connected with the dead. In most of African cultures, people value
their traditional practices very much. Some of these practices are categorized according to
their values in the society. Among these practices are the rituals performed for the dead, the
spirits and for appeasing the ancestors. In some other places, some rituals are performed for
the living. One finds these rituals and sacrifices having cosmological and vertical
dimensions. But after Christianity had been introduced to the African people, these cultural
and traditional practices have been deteriorating. In most of East Africa, especially among
the Chagga, in Central Africa, where I did my pastoral work, and the several places I visited in 1998, these traditional practices have been considered as a kind of double standard by the
missionaries. You find that on the one hand keep the traditional practices are very strong and most valued. Some of these practices are being performed in hidden places while others are
done openly. On the other hand, Christianity is very strong and explicitly practiced. This
does not only apply to funeral rituals but also in every kind of traditional beliefs and
practices. The teachings which African people received from the early Missionaries were
very negative to their cultural and traditional practices. They were told that their traditional
practices were pagan and devilish. People grew up in this mentality and this led many to
perform these traditional practices secretly out of fear. According to Mzee Bernard Kiwory,
"the people fear that spirits of the clan will turn against them, harm them and even cause
death in the family". During funeral rites among the Chagga, you find that traditional rituals are performed first
and then Christian ones follow later. The traditional rituals are done secretly and hurriedly
before the arrival of the priest who comes to conduct the Christian funeral service. I have
seen these in many places where I have attended funerals or burials. In these practices, I
discovered that most of what is practiced traditionally is related to what is done by
Christians. This has prompted me to deepen my understanding through this study in order to
discover more about our culture. The aim is to find out the good elements which can be
incorporated in Christian funeral rites as one way of bringing the Gospel message closer to
the Chagga People. It is obvious that, not every thing which is practiced traditionally is
positive and can be incorporated in Christianity. Some traditional practices have very good
elements which can be useful for inculturation while some are against Christian values.
Description
Keywords
Death, Abuse, Ritual, Dead, Burial of the Body, Mourning the Dead, Song of Mourning, Chagga, Tomb