Traditional Banyankole Funeral Beliefs
Traditionally, the Banyankole didn’t believe in naturally-occurring deaths. They attributed deaths to some sort of sorcery. They took the bodies to witch doctors to determine the cause of death and who to blame. However, they believed that God controlled death by old age.
Preparation of the Body
To prepare the body for burial, the deceased’s family washes the body and closes the deceased’s eyes. They wait for all the extended family to arrive before having the burial. Then everyone lines up to view the body and remember the deceased. If you don’t attend, then there might be a suspicion that you’re involved in their death — although this is more of a traditional belief than a modern one.
There also are village committees that have funds and resources for funerals, such as dishes and chairs. They also coordinate food and drinks for the funeral meal.
Banyankole Burial Traditions
Burials typically are in the afternoon. They bury the bodies in the ground facing east. They place men on their right side and women on their left side, so married couples can face each other. Their family also might bury the deceased with various objects to prevent them from haunting them — especially if the deceased died while still holding a grudge against someone.
They may hire professional mourners for the funeral. Women also may weep loudly and roll on the ground during the burial.
Mourning Period
The mourning period lasts for at least four days. They slaughter cattle to feed the mourners. Everyone may stay and sleep at the deceased’s home. During this time, they can’t do manual labor because they believe a hailstorm will ruin their crops.
When a Ugandan Catholic dies, local custom dictates that the extended family and neighbors help share the costs of a funeral and burial to relieve the family of the financial burden. Family and neighbors converge on the house of the deceased. People collect food from their houses and bring it to the house of the bereaved family. The body is washed and clothed by relatives at home, and spends at least one night in the home of the family. The church choir might come by to sing, and catechists visit. If possible, the priest might say Mass the next morning before burial, which is generally held from 2-4 pm. In many cases, bodies are brought back to the person’s ancestral village for these rituals and burials.
After burial, a fire is lit in the family yard, and neighbors and friends spend four days and nights with the family1 — including sleeping there overnight— to keep the bereaved company, crying and grieving, and praying for blessings and forgiveness for the deceased. One interviewee suggested that in the traditional understanding, not entirely lost now, the fire helps sweep away the spirit of the deceased. On the last day, they make a celebration to close out the life of the person who has died and there are final formal funeral rites. People remember good things in life of deceased, and discuss what others would remember the deceased for.
Visitors and bereaved prepare food and eat together and, if there is no will, choose an heir to replace the role of the deceased in the family and to parcel out responsibilities within the home. After this, the friends disperse, but close relatives stay around for perhaps five more days. A wife who buries a husband includes some of her clothes with the body to signal that they are not separated by death.
Ancestors are very much a presence in the lives of Ugandans. Many people, including Catholics, believe that ancestors can mediate as sources of blessings or favors, or can intervene in malevolent ways and can be the cause of illness and loss. This is especially possible if a person was not treated well, or if a person was not a good person.
Some people put items in the coffin to keep the spirits from coming back. Catholic rites discourage this—some Catholics said that they no longer do this— however after the services, when holy water is sprinkled on the coffin, it is also sprinkled on homes, to reassure believers about the spirits at home.
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