Meet the messengers of death in Luoland

BY MAUREEN ODIWUOR

Nyanza,Kenya:TRADITIONAL BELIEFS: In the Luo community, not all birds were considered beautiful beings to behold or could be eaten due to the belief that there were some evil powers behind their existence

Though it happened over 50 years ago, the memories are still as fresh as if it happened just the other day in Grace Nyambadi’s mind.

She was awakened by noise from outside her mudwalled house in Nyalenda, Kasagam and did not understand what the fuss was about.

Struggling to get out of bed, she realised her husband was also not beside her.

She walked out rubbing her eyes just to have a clear glimpse of what was making people shout as if an enemy had invaded their territory.

While outside, the shouts had subsided but she did not miss out.

She found other members of the family throwing stones and twigs to a nearby tree and imagined they were losing it.

Serious matter

Asking around, she was told that an owl (tula nyongoro), had entered the homestead and this was a serious matter.

“I was made to understand that Tula is a very wicked bird that only brings bad news to the family and it always had to be death hence had to be chased away at a mere glance,” she says.

Ms Nyambadi acknowledges that it did not take long before people started dying from the homestead after the owl’s unwarranted visit.

“Despite being born from a different cultural background, I came to understand that an owl was not even aloud to produce sound because it is a messenger of death and should be chased away at the slightest opportunity,” she says.

Ms Nyambadi is not alone in this school of thought because in Luo tradition, not all birds were considered beautiful beings to behold.

The owl is however not the only bird that was believed to be evil.

Former Jaramogi Oginga’s aide Odungi Randa says the Luos did not have trust in several birds and not all could be eaten due to the belief that they had some evil powers behind their existence.

He says that the owl tops the list of evil birds usually loved by witchdoctors since it is believed that witchdoctors use it to make deadly concoctions that kill.

Nasty bird

“If you see someone interested in the owl, its young ones or its eggs, then the person is most probably a witch,” Mr Randa reveals.

An owl is followed by Arum Tidi (horn bill) which he says should not at any point enter a homestead or lands the fence.

“Arum tidi winyo makech malich manigi tik makwar (the hornbill is a very nasty bird with a reddish beard sort of),” he says.

Mr Randa says tel tel (the wood pecker) was another bird that sent shivers in the Luo community.

“When going for a journey, one was observant that the wood pecker does not whistle at them since that was a bad sign,” he says.

He reveals that a whistle from the wood pecker to someone who intended to travel was believed to be a warning sign that something bad would happen along the way.

The traveller would be forced to abort his or her journey and plan for another day, despite its urgency to be on the safe side.

Oliktiga (the bat) is another bird whose name cannot be pronounced loudly because people fear that it is a messenger used by witches to deliver charms to unsuspecting victim’s houses.

“I hear that the bat is a messenger of doom and to date, most people in Luo community fear when it pays a visit to their house,” Mr Randa says.

While growing up as a child in the Luo community, one was warned not to hunt down Ochinjo (wag tail) bird.

The wagtails usually appear to be divided into a yellow-bellied group and a white-bellied one, or one where the upper head is black and another where it is usually gray, but may be olive, yellow, or other colours.

Parents made it clear that anyone who hunted down an Ochinjo, a bird that is very prominent in homesteads, the house would burn down while it’s being roasted.

Upper head

For some birds, it is not clear as to why they are feared and not eaten in the community. Some of these are koga the Egyptian vulture, Nyatao the night jar usually seen only in the evenings.

The Night jar has finely patterned tree-bark like cryptic plumage that provides excellent camouflage in the daytime.