DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49272#0258
242
HARVARD AFRICAN STUDIES
to fire off his gun as long as his powder lasted. During the period of mourning, drumming
went on continuously, chindimba being played on the three small drums called ichoma.
With the exception of the flexed attitude of the body, the foregoing description is a
correct account of what happens today. The body is now fully extended.
The awilo are two or four in number, although other friends may assist in all their ser-
vices. On about the third day, the awilo sew up the body in bark cloth, completely envelop-
ing it; a bamboo needle is used and left sticking in the cloth at the last stitch. The body
is then enclosed in a mat slung on a pole, and carried from the hut to the grave. First, the
procession makes a round of the village, passing by all the houses which the dead man used
to visit, and over all the paths he used to cross. His children and those of his relatives under
seven or eight years old gather in the village, and throw pieces of charcoal toward the body
as it passes, “so that they shall forget the dead man,” or run after the corpse, while some
one sprinkles medicine over them.
As the procession leaves the village, it is headed by the drums playing chindimba, but
after a few hundred yards, only the ching’anga drum, now called chitanda, beats time for a
short distance; the procession then goes on quietly. Following the drums, walks the mother
or another relative carrying flour with which the grave will be marked out. Behind this
mourner, the body is borne by the awilo. The awilo are always the first to carry the body,
but are later relieved by other friends of the deceased; no one would ever ask to be relieved.
After the chief mourner, follow the other relatives and friends, the men first, the women
behind. Boys just back from their unyago attend to learn the customs. All the relatives
of the deceased go to the burial, contrary to Macdonald’s account.1
In this order, the procession reaches some tree thirty or forty yards from the place of
burial where the corpse is put down in the shade, mtula, “resting place”, and while the
women and part of the men watch beside it, the awilo proceed to the burial place. They
cut branches from a sacred tree, and strew them on the path. On approaching the appointed
spot, they clap their hands in salutation, asking that the burial ground be opened to
them.
The head rnbilo chooses the site where the grave shall be dug, after which the mourner
marks out the limits with the flour she has brought. In the days when the body was buried
in contracted posture, a circular grave was dug just big enough to allow two men to work
in it. Eight feet was the usual depth but this was decided by the deceased’s ngoswe, if he
were living, otherwise, by his near relatives. In the east side of this circular well, a cave
was excavated, just large enough to admit the contracted corpse. When all was prepared,
the body accompanied by all the mourners, was brought from mtula to the graveside.
The chief mbilo with a friend of the man’s family and one of his wife’s, standing in the
grave received the body and placed it in the cave, resting on a mat and covered with
bark cloth. The body lay on its side with its back toward the well, and its face looking
Op. cit., vol. 1, p. 105.
HARVARD AFRICAN STUDIES
to fire off his gun as long as his powder lasted. During the period of mourning, drumming
went on continuously, chindimba being played on the three small drums called ichoma.
With the exception of the flexed attitude of the body, the foregoing description is a
correct account of what happens today. The body is now fully extended.
The awilo are two or four in number, although other friends may assist in all their ser-
vices. On about the third day, the awilo sew up the body in bark cloth, completely envelop-
ing it; a bamboo needle is used and left sticking in the cloth at the last stitch. The body
is then enclosed in a mat slung on a pole, and carried from the hut to the grave. First, the
procession makes a round of the village, passing by all the houses which the dead man used
to visit, and over all the paths he used to cross. His children and those of his relatives under
seven or eight years old gather in the village, and throw pieces of charcoal toward the body
as it passes, “so that they shall forget the dead man,” or run after the corpse, while some
one sprinkles medicine over them.
As the procession leaves the village, it is headed by the drums playing chindimba, but
after a few hundred yards, only the ching’anga drum, now called chitanda, beats time for a
short distance; the procession then goes on quietly. Following the drums, walks the mother
or another relative carrying flour with which the grave will be marked out. Behind this
mourner, the body is borne by the awilo. The awilo are always the first to carry the body,
but are later relieved by other friends of the deceased; no one would ever ask to be relieved.
After the chief mourner, follow the other relatives and friends, the men first, the women
behind. Boys just back from their unyago attend to learn the customs. All the relatives
of the deceased go to the burial, contrary to Macdonald’s account.1
In this order, the procession reaches some tree thirty or forty yards from the place of
burial where the corpse is put down in the shade, mtula, “resting place”, and while the
women and part of the men watch beside it, the awilo proceed to the burial place. They
cut branches from a sacred tree, and strew them on the path. On approaching the appointed
spot, they clap their hands in salutation, asking that the burial ground be opened to
them.
The head rnbilo chooses the site where the grave shall be dug, after which the mourner
marks out the limits with the flour she has brought. In the days when the body was buried
in contracted posture, a circular grave was dug just big enough to allow two men to work
in it. Eight feet was the usual depth but this was decided by the deceased’s ngoswe, if he
were living, otherwise, by his near relatives. In the east side of this circular well, a cave
was excavated, just large enough to admit the contracted corpse. When all was prepared,
the body accompanied by all the mourners, was brought from mtula to the graveside.
The chief mbilo with a friend of the man’s family and one of his wife’s, standing in the
grave received the body and placed it in the cave, resting on a mat and covered with
bark cloth. The body lay on its side with its back toward the well, and its face looking
Op. cit., vol. 1, p. 105.