Abanyala ba Kakamega: Deciding the Burial Site

Abanyala ba Kakamega have elaborate cultural guidelines in relation to the place of burial of a dead person.

The factors considered before determining burial site include the following

1. The marital status of the person- bachelors (abasumba), spinster (nasikoko) etc were accorded different burial site treatments.
2. The relation with the burying clan- foreigners to the clan such as children to daughters or refugee workers were treated differently in relation to burial.
3. Personal attributes of the dead person- albinos, those with leprosy, those with hunchbacks etc received different treatments in relation to burial.
4. The nature of death- some death like lightening and fire could take place at the exact point of death.
5. The sex of the dead- male and female have burial sites predetermined by culture.
6. The age- burial place vary with age or stage of development.
7. Presence of a home- a person is buried in a home defined by Abanyala as engo diferent from bachelor's hut called esimba. A house build by a woman alone, without the husband's visit to 'enter the house' in an official family ceremony called okhwingisa was considered as enchu for the woman and not engo.

1) Death at birth or still births

Children who come out dead or die few minutes after delivery have no elaborate funeral ceremony held for them. Burial is done immediately behind the mother's main house- kitchen. No evening communal fire is lit. No esiayo is slaughtered. This was because the spirit of a child was considered harmless.

2) Death of an infant and those aged below fifteen years.

It is believed that an infant is yet to be accorded its societal gender roles and social place in society; hence, no elaborate ritual activities take place. It is just a burial mourning ceremony that is organized putting into consideration basic respect to the dead. No esiayo is slaughtered. Their spirits are still considered harmless.

3) Death of married man who has child(ren) and one wife

In relation to tume, burial is done in the afternoon; not in the morning. In relation to place, the body is buried on the left side of the door of his wife’s house. Invrelation to the home of burial, there are usually no complications in relation to the wife's right to burry the dead unless other cultural aspects come in. For example, if a man moved to a new settlement and had no son, then his body was brought back to his ancestral land or father's home for burial. 

4) Burial of widower who remarried a wife with no rights to bury.

A widower could at time remarry a wife who has no right to bury him. Such wife included an inherited wife or childless one. If such a man moved outof the old house, the body could be place in the verandah, olusimbo, of the care-taker wife during the funeral then the man is taken for burial near the grave of his first wife or any of his dead wives who had a right to bury him- in case the first one had no burial rights. If that dead wife’s house is already demolished, the dead man’s sons and relatives build a temporal hut or the body is moved from the caretaker wife's olusimbo to the burial place in the morning on day of burial. 

5) Death of married polygamous man 

Of late, polygamous marriages have always been riddled with burial place struggles upon the death of some men. The wealthier the man, the more the struggle. Such issues were never there before the 1970s.  Abanyala called these emerging conflicts at death as effects of wives'-jealousy (embalikha). They never entertained them; they adhered to strict code of cultuaral regulations. The few cases in the past can also be because the man had all the wives in one compound home called engo together with all his other farm structures collectively called etaala.

At times, the man solves these issues with sons and relatives before his death by giving valid reasons in relation to burial site. Any reasons not among those listed below were dismissed by the clan and the man's wishes overruled especially if they came up after his death. Where there is consensus among all the children and widows, based on valid reasons, the burial site's wish of the dead is expressely accepted. Where there is any complaint, then traditions were strictly adhered to to avoid setting precedent.

Burial home is supposed to be where all the children, wives and family members will be CULTURALLY free to visit and perform any after-burial ceremonies. This is why burying in the home of the younger wife was discouraged when the eldest or second eldest wife is still alive. It affected the family of the younger wife's generation starting with at least one of the children to the said wife. Also, a brother to the dead, son to first wife or first wife could not slaughter an animal at the younger wife's home during funeral- it brought a curse to the younger wife's children.

Abanyala have tested ways of solving burial issues in a polygamous home. There are many polygamy-based disputes that have been solved basing on these tested customs. Even rulings in any Kenyan court of law on burial disputes have quoted these customs in many cases involving Abanyala, Isukha, Bukusu and Abakabras. Two major things cut across many other non Luhya communities: the first widow is given the rights to bury the husband and/or burial is done on ancestral land. In case of death of the first wife, the second widow in order of seniority takes over. One musician, Kennedy Khaemba puts it: "The younger wife's house is only a ward but the first wife's house is the mortuary."

Besides the above general guiding principles, it is worth noting that there are situations that limited the first wife from enjoying this right expressly. Once this right is shifted, any meetings to plan for the burial rituals are shifted to the appropriate wife's compound or burial place compound. A meeting can take place in any of the other co-wive's homes in case the body of the dead shall spend a night in such home.

The following key issues were considered in relation to burial rights conflicts resolution.

1. Omukhasi mukoosa. If the first wife was inherited, then the second wife is given the right to bury. That is why men were discouraged from inheriting a wife as first wife. In fact, such wife cannot stand in the arena to eulogise the husband who inherited her since she did it for the former dead husband. In such case, she can only stand at a distance from the main arena.
2. Omukhasi yi bachakhwa. If the first widow did not have her dowry paid but second widow's dowry was paid first and ceremony of echio (echio is the equivalent of a marriage certificate) done, then this right moved to the second wife or any other wife whose dowry was paid first. This was once a case where a man married, the wife went away before dowry was paid, the man married the second wife and paid dowry. Then, the first wife came back. It is worth noting that divorce in an Abanyala setting was marked by the cows walking back in a process called okhuwolola.
3. Omukhasi wa oluswa. If the first widow is a product of oluswa of incest type (such was usually kept confidential), then she never burried the husband.
4. Omukhasi 'omubisi' omukumba. If the first wife did not give birth to any child with the husband, this right was lifted. This was the case of young barren widows or woman an elderly widower picked on to help him in old agen.
5. Omukhasi owa halikhakho. If the first wife was officially married elsewhere before getting re-married to the dead, then that right of burying is denied. This was called okhwalikha or khuba elia ie to count marriages.
6. Omukhasi owali nasikoko. If the first widow had given birth to a living boy child while still at their home (nasikoko) then the second wife could claim the body by quoting this. It was feared that the widow could move back to be buried by her son elsewhere.
7. Omukhasi wa khunuungo. This involved a varieties of wives generaly refered to as concubines. First, if the first wife was never introduced to the family or clan, then she was never allowed to bury. Also, if a wife had her house door locked by rails from Olusiola tree (Makhamia litea) by the husband (and she was aware) for more than seven years, then she could not come into the same house to bury the husband. Furthermore, if the first widow was moved out of ancestral land and her husband was not involved in the 'house opening ceremony' of the new house (okhwingisa) where the first wife moved to, then the husband was never buried there.
8. Omukhasi oyu bawolola. If the first wife separated from the husband and cows walked back, then she was not allowed to bury. 
9. Omukhasi owatesia omusacha. If the family moved from ancestral land and settled in a land linked to the ancestral land of his in-laws (ewukhwe), then the man's body is returned to the man's ancestral land in case it is still there. There is one case where a dug grave had a banana stem burried and  covered as the man's dead body was carried back to the ancestral land when elders pointed out that the said land was a gift from the wife's kins.
10. Omukhasi owafwa. Upon the death, burial and COMPLETION OF FUNERAL of the first wife, the second wife, who is alive, automatically received this right to bury. The conditions that applied to the first wife above have to be fulfilled by the second wife. 
11. Omukhasi wa embosii. A wife who was got at time of war as part of a peace deals (omukhaaye wa embosii) or kidnapped from enemy group which was still an enemy by time of the man's death or whose parents and/or father were not yet known was denied this right.
12. If the wife opened up some verifiable secrets about herself in relation to aspects of burial tradittions that she believed could affect her if she buried the husband. Here the clan were left with the option of ceremony of reconciling the dead husband and the wife and making a decision of burial sites basing on the content of the message from the wife. In such case, such a wife (just like an unfaithful wife) never sat near the dead husband's head side. She sat towards the legs end. Burial was not at any of the other wive's houses but at what the called 'each woman's distance' within his home.
13. The first wife who sired a child with another man out of wedlock, and the husband never added any other child, lost this right for she was nolonger an omukhaye (rightful first wife)

NB:

• Leaving a verbal will of burial site has always been overruled by Abanyala on many occassions if it is not in line with the culture. The making a verbal will was a cultural practice that involved one being given a will feeding the sick man a piece of meet in a rite called okhufumba amakumba. However, some wills are respected based on the strong content therein.
• In case of disputes of burial sites, the issue of dead's ancestral land played a great role in influencing a decision. In case of a deadlock, then the place where the dead husband's parents were burried, any of his legal wife's burial site or any of his dead children's burial place was considered if the sites are still part of the dead's ancestral land.

6) Death of married man without his own compound 

An Omunyala man must be buried in the compound they belong to called engo. A man without his own compound is buried on the right side of his natural mother’s house in his father’s compound.

A married man, still staying in his esimba is considered as not having his own compound unless he is the only boy in his father's compound and the father is dead. In this case, a make shift structure is made besides esimba into which the body is put.

A man whose new settlement has complications, and has ancestral land is treated in the same way. That is why Abanyala men left a structure in their ancestral land until the processes of making one safe in new land is assured.

7) Death of a married man whose burial is not at a place where he lives.

A married man could stay in a place away from his ancestral land. For example in a house at his uncles, in a house where he was employed to look after animals or anywhere else. Such a man was taken back home.

• The clan members, mainly the immediate in-law or the eldest married son, had the first duty to build a strucure  (house) called esikaali. The wife, qualified by culture to burry him, was called by the members of the clan to officially enter the house before the day of bringing back the corpse. On the material day, the corpse was the first to enter (taken into) the house followed by the wife who officially announce the death of the husband by crying.
• If the man was poligamous, this house structure was said to belong to the man. The senior wife only used the structure for ceremonial purposes.
• In case the man died in any of the younger wife's house, he was carried back into the house he was in first then to other younger wive's houses on order of seniority and lastly to a makeshift structure in which the first wife sat. However, his 'shadow' is supposed to be picked from wherever he died to this makeshift structure after burial.
• Main funeral ceremony, to mark the start of a funeral, is done at the place the man will be buried.

8) Death of married man without his own compound 

Such a man will have all the burial rituals performed. Since an Omunyala man must be buried in the home compound they belong to, a man without his own compound is buried on the right side of his mother’s house in his father’s compound. If the dead has no hut called esimba, and has a wife, a temporary structure must be build where the body is to be buried.

When building the above structure, the items could only  be kept at the construction site or in another widow's home.

A widow was not allowed to enter any compound or house of someone else unless three factors are met: the other wife is a widow, the othet wife is beyond giving birth and the two call each other mwalikhwa or kukhu.

9) Death of married man with his own compound and no child

Death can be announced any time it occures. If the man dies married but childless, he is still said to have had a home and is buried near his house.

If the man died in a land away from ancestral land, with ownership to an ancestral land, he was brought back to the ancestral land.

At times, the wife took off at burial. 

In case the cause of death is suspected to be the wife, then the body is buried near the mother's house.

10) Death of unmarried adult male

When a mature person die but has never married or sired children, even out of wedlock (omusumba), the first person to scream is an aunt or grandmother. The communal fire called amagenga is set up by an oldman past the age of siring children. The body is brought out of house through a new door made behind his house called okuhandiako or esibanga. His grave is dug facing the fence towards the gate. Before burial, a man pierced his ass near pelvic area with a thorn from a tree called Omukunjangao while saying ‘we welcomed you to the world but you did not sire any child; go peacefully". At the burial site those still in the age of siring children did not put soil in his grave to avoid a similar thing happening in their lineage. No memorial service (olung’anyo) was held for him.

11) Attending burial of a man who sired a child with you but never married you or divorced you.

The burial of such man is organised by his community and at no point should the mother to the child sired by the dead get involved in clan issues directly. In case of any help, she has to do it through her child. The child is free to go to the funeral ceremony as clan member with responsibilities bestowed to him by the clan. In case the mother to the child has to attend burial of the father to her child, then she moarn from afar (okhulilira mu machemwa)

12) Unmarried adult female.

This can be a barren woman called omukumba or a senior virgin called omusisira or one who has given birth before called nasikoko.

For one who is confirmed to have died while still a virgin, omusisira, a man was hired to ceremoniously break her virginity using a stick from a tree called omutomolo. He was paid a cow and a goat. Young girls are advised to be away during burial time.

For a mature girl who never got married like her agemates (nasikoko) but had sired a child or engaged in sex before, her burial rites were not like that of omusisira. The first person to scream on her death was her grandfather or niece or one with grandson status. The male wailed wailed yee yee yee. The female  wailed woi woi woi. Such lady  was buried near the fence or at the banana plantation near her mother's house.

At times, nasikoko could be allowed to be taken to be burried by their sons in case the father to their son consented and paid something during the funeral or the father to the son passed on.

13) Death and burial of those who committed suicide by hanging.

The burial place is not interfered with but have a special burial ceremony. The person who stumbled on the hanging body remained on site mourning until he was paid some token of esiayo. If the deceased is male, he is paid a small bull; and, a heifer for a female. The body is then ceremoniously whipped whilst it dangled on the same tree. The rope is then unceremoniously cut to let the body fall with a thud. The tree is then cut down and uprooted completely. If the person hunged in a house, it is demolished. It is an abomination for people to engage in procreation sex in such a house of such type. It was believed that children conceived in such a house would inherit the incurable death spirit (esinomindo).

If one hangs on a rock or cliff, the protruding rock was crushed and buried with him. That is why the Abanyala did not make love on a stone. The rock is not uprooted but the family has to relocate to new place. The rope used for suicide was a treasure for thieves, hunters, fishermen and for making portent love potions. It is also used for witchcraft (okhuwowa omunchu, okhufundikha omunchu) or to send death to another person or animal (efwa esindikise).

The body of one who committed suicide is then carried to the home through a new gate and 'asked to walk' home. Two people (mainly brothers, in- law or grandfather) puts the deceased’s hands on their shoulder on either side and 'walk' with him chanting: ‘We are not the ones who send you to this death. Do not come to ask us anything. Walk into your home.’ On the burial night a sheep is slaughtered and the digested grass in the stomach (owuse) mixed with amanyasi is sprinkled on the house and put at the door for family members to step in so as to exorcise the spirits to prevent such future deaths in the family. Such a person was buried at night by old men who have lived past the siring stage. Those still siring are required to stay away. When lowering the body in the grave, the ropes are jerked for the body to drop in the grave with a thud. Such a person is not expressly named after. If the name forcefully comes, then the child is named after whoever hung was named after.

17) Burial for one with a hunchback

The Abanyala observes special burial rites for their dead people who were born with hunchback (esikufu). The family got a grandson or someone from another clan to pierce it open using a small axe (okhuchundula echumba). If the hunchback was for the young, then only miming of the cutting was done. They often look for someone with mental deficiency and who does not have a family. He pierces the hunchback at night on the eve of burial and threw away the tools not to be found by anyone. He is then paid a cow and a goat. A hen is also roasted for him on the evening's communal fire (amakenga).

18) Burial involving twins

Refer to the write-up of twins.

19) Death and burial of unmarried young boy

No complicated burial rituals is performed. He is buried on the right side of his mother’s house.

20) Old married woman with children in monogamous marriage 

Her body was laid sideways on her right shoulder. Her body is buried on the right side of her house. If the woman died childless, only her husband is shaved during the shaving ceremony, olubeko. If the woman was the first wife, then her grave is dug on left next to the grave of the husband even if her house was shifted to new place in same compound.

21) Married woman with her own house in her husband’s compound

The same burial rituals ensue as for an old woman. If her husband has not paid dowry to her parents, he must give them at least a few heads of cattle before he buries her. Also, he has to slaughter an animal (esiayo sy'omuchwe) to give the clan permission to bury a foreigner in their land- called eya omuchwe.

22) Married woman whose husband did not have his own compound 

Her body is buried on the right side of the husband mother’s house or on the left of his hut called esimba in his father’s compound. If the esimba was not build by the husband, then no burial takes place there- unless esisakatia is build.

23) Burial of wives in polygamous home. 

Once one of the wives passes on she is buried on the apt side of her house in the man's home. If the husband had shifted to that wife's house, then he was freeabout to move back to any of the houses.

24) Burial of an unmarried woman who dies while giving birth

The man who sired the child (made the girl pregnant) had the rights to bury the dead girlfriend upon payment of dowry. He had also to give a fine called eng'ombe ya efumo (the cattle of the spear). The spear was the featus that caused the death. If the boy was unmarried, the body was buried in the boy father's home the same way he could burry his daughter. If the man was married to another wife, the body had a hut build for it in the man's home.

25) Burial of those struck by thunder and lightening.

It was done at night. If the body could not be recognized, it was buried at the exact place where it was found. The grave was filled with some rain water at the time of burial or the grave dug in whetland areas. Only the elderly participated in this burial.

26) Burial of a remarried widow

A widow who remarried officially after the death of the husband was not buried where the late husband was burried. The new husband burried her.

27) 'Burial' of a person whose dead body was not found.

Once it was accertained that a person indeed died, a banana stem was burried to signal that a person is burried in a home where she or he belongs. There are rules in relation to the type of banana stem to be used and ritual that followed. If the person reappeared after pseudo burial, a sheep was slaughtered before integration into the family. No banana burial was done for mature girls who disappeared. The graveside was marked for re-digging during the real death.

Also, if a grave is dug and no burial takes place, then a banana stem is buried.

28) Burial of unclaimed servants and foreigners.

At times, there were refugee servants who ended up passing on in a homestesad. Such were buried extremely close to the fence. There were no eulogies made during the funeral since shaving ceremony was not done. Those refugee servants who had wives had their wives hidden or send away and the house locked by clan members during the burial. No meal was given to the family during burial. Nobody spend a night at the place of burial. Communial fire was not lit. They were thrown into the grave and the grave levelled and covered with chaff. Any slaughtering of animals was done out of the home yard compound or on fence.

29) Burial is grandchildren whose father did not claim the body

Though very rare cases arise due to this, it so happens. If a girl gave birth while at their home and the father does not claim the body upon its death, the grandfather took the responsibility to bury the child now refered to as 'wife' to her kuka or the grandmother took the responsibility to bury the child now refered to as a 'husband' to her kukhu. That is why there was a relationship of owukulo between grandparents and grandchildren. Such a child was buried based on the rules of 'wife' and 'husband' in relation to the kitchen but at a sligh distance from where the real husband or real wife is to be buried in the home. At times, some were buried at a designated place away from home as relatives but from different clan- their burial was not like those of unclaimed servants or strangers.

For the boy, olukhola was tied in the grandmother and if the dead was a girl, then olukhola has to be tied in the mother.

30) Burial of a married woman who died at her parents' home.

Abanyala never allowed a married woman whose dowry is fully paid to be buried at her parents' home. The clan to woman could easily cast a potent spell on the absentee husband during biurial. Such burial at their home could only happen if the woman had her dowry returned (okhuwolola). At times, such woman who got 'married' elsewhere could still be picked at burial by the clan of the official husband who paid dowry.

In an unfortunate situation where her husband did not pick her for decent burial, then such woman was buried behind the main house or near the fence by her clan members. Such body was washed by the sister-laws to the lady or hired people who are from out of the clan.

At times, the woman was buried at her granfather's compound in case of strong extended family ties. That is why grandfathers called grandchildren as 'my wife.'

DEATH, DEATH, DEATH....

With gratitude to the following informants

1. Mwalimu Hon Francis Mulika Nyikuri

2. Omwami Alexander Wanjala Wasike

3. Mwalimu Manyasi Oluta

4. Mwalimu Mutali Ang'ayi

5. Mwalimu Ngero