Death among the Luos of Kenya: A Pastoral Challenge
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Date
2001-02-07
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Tangaza University College
Abstract
The Luo are a Nilotic people with a rich base of traditional knowledge about their cultural
beliefs, practices and environment. The Luo of Kenya inhabit the territories bordering Lake
Victoria— to the North and South of Nyanza gulf, extending into Tanzania. The Luo are both
agriculturalists and pastoralists. Grain, fish and milk make up their main diet. Cattle used to be
a chief criterion for judging wealth but today it is scarce. Sheep and goats are also kept.
For the Luos, nothing is done without having in mind the Supreme Being (Nyasaye). There is
always religious meaning and implication to everything. All things, events and phenomena alike
are interpreted in terms of the divine will. Accordingly, nothing happens simply by mere
chance. Death too does not just strike a blow without a reason. There must be something
communicated by each and every kind of death. The rituals on the other hand are not
performed just at the surface level as such. They directly bridge the living to the spiritual world.
This essay is focused on the basic principles that underline the Luo understanding of death, the
relevant and common rituals and other contemporary issues which need to be addressed in the
present society.
"Death among the Laos of Kenya: A Pastoral Challenge" is centred on a few questions which
seem to be common among the other ethnic groups of Africa. These are the questions on the
origin of death and its meaning; what will come after death. It should be emphasized that the
concept of death, the destiny of human being and life after death, has been, among the Luo, a part of an orally transmitted wealth of proverbs, songs, myths, prayers, religious ceremonies
and various rituals of daily life.
The insight I have in order to write this essay is basically to explain that the Luos conceive
death as a departure and not a complete annihilation of a person. The person moves to join the
company of the departed, and the only major change is the decay of the physical body, but the
spirit moves on to another state of existence. Some of the words describing death imply that a
person goes "home", which means that this life is Ile a pilgrimage, the real "home" is in the
hereafter, since one does not depart from there. Death is cruel, it "stiffens", "cuts down" or
"evaporates" a person, even if he / she continues to exist in the hereafter. This explanation
doesn't contradict any Christian teaching. In this case, the way the Luos view death is in line
with biblical understanding of death. My main concern is the question of rituals. Some rituals
are "beautiful" and in line with Christianity. The problem is that of feasting at the time of
death, levirate union, the question of where someone is to be buried and the famous present
epidemic AIDS. Feasting after the death of someone brings poverty not only to the deceased's
family, but also to the whole society. Due to the expense in transporting the body when
someone dies should be looked at because it also brings poverty and misunderstanding in the
community. AIDS is a serious problem that should be dealt with in a careful way. The mass
spread of AIDS in Luoland is mostly due to levirate union and the society being adamant in
accepting the real essence of it. Levirate union which most people call "wife inheritance",
violates the biblical standard of marriage, which is one — man — with — one — woman affair. It also conflicts with the Christian belief that death means the end of the marriage union. It denies
a widow's right to decide her own future and also puts a heavy financial burden on the widow.
This is because the way levirate union was practised in the past is totally different to how it is
contemporarily practised.
I have tried to give some pastoral approach in various issues and some biblical references,
which I do hope can bring several Sights in dealing with this problem.
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Keywords
Death, Luo, Pastoral, Myths about death, Death Rituals, Biblical doctrine of death