Mourning the Dead among the Luo of South Nyanza: Reconsidering Some Traditional Luo and Christian Ways of Mourning
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Date
2005
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Publisher
Tangaza University College
Abstract
It is observed that many Christians, when faced with crisis moments revert to their
traditional African practices.' This could be taken to mean that the Christian faith is not
firmly rooted in them. Such a move is most explicit particularly during death, among
others. Consequently, many Christians seem to live in a dualistic state of mind by
practicing syncretism of Christianity and African Traditional Religion as they strive to
meet their spiritual needs.
The Christian missionary work in Africa, and now in Kenya, was characterized by
demoniz_ation of the African cultural practices of the various ethnic communities. The
Roman Catholics missionaries, for instance, allowed all other indigenous practices except
those related to death.
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For them, such rituals were related to ancestor worship.
Accordingly, they called for radical discontinuity of the values that Kenyans and others
viewed as salient.
This dichotomy threatens to tear the heart of our faith. Inculturation could be the
'medicine' for it. Evidently, many African communities valued traditional practices since
they adequately treated their major ideals and issues such as those regarding life and
death.
Christianity, however, introduced new categories of responding to similar issues.
Unfortunately, some of the issues of the Africans were not adequately responded to in
this new religious dispensation. Christianity failed to profoundly address what the people felt that their whole existence and survival hinged on. Consequently, the whole system of
Christianity weakens whenever the people are confronted with real critical issues of life.
The present study examines the traditional mourning rituals of the Luo of South
Nyanza, hoping to bring to light, some of the elements that were 'buried' in the process
of "planting" Christianity in Africa through the medium of other cultures. We aim to
capture some of the values embedded in the rituals and find means of expressing them in
a much more familiar categories.
Among the ethnic groups of Kenya, the traditional Abaluyia and Luo
communities are known to be very scrupulous in their funeral rituals. Being a Luo, I have
taken the challenge to do this task as an insider. The Luo are believed to have migrated
southward from Sudan to where they currently stay.
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They thus have undergone a great
transformation. Accordingly, it would be unrealistic to generalize about them all. This is
why this study focuses on a smaller group of the Luo in South Nyanza. Nevertheless,
there have been certain practices in common. Consequently, some reference to those Luo
outside South Nyanza may be helpful. It should also be noted that the present tense used
in most of the text signifies that the traditional values, practices and institutions are still
substantially maintained.
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Keywords
Dead, mourning, Luo, Traditional, Christian