Death and Rituals among the Luo in South Nyanza

Abstract

Luo, a Western Nilotic people, perform a series of rituals and many feasts for the dead because of their strong fear and respect for the dead. The paper describes several basic features of the rituals especially in connection with Luo gender relationship. There were differences found in the way how those rituals were performed, depending upon personal attributes of the dead, episodes of ancestors, and religious denominations. Socio-cultural changes were reflected in the rituals for the dead, brought about by modernizing and Chiristianizing processes, including intensified permeation of various Christian denominaitons in general, and African Independent Churches in particular.