How Christianity has reduced fear of death among the Meru

Back in the olden days, the Meru disposed of the bodies of their dead immediately. Once a person died, a relative used a rope to drag the cadaver into a bush where it would be devoured by hyenas. The family did not have time to mourn or view the remains of their loved ones. However, with the coming of Christianity, the Meru have done away with some of the burial traditions.    

Among the Meru community, death was feared and send off was an immediate but revered traditional rite that had to strictly follow the established practice.

Those who died before Christianity and Islam spread to Meruland were never buried under the earth but like in the cousin community - the Gikuyu - were thrown into a nearby bush to be devoured by packs of hyenas and other carnivores.

According to the Secretary-General of the revered Meru Council of Elders – the Njuri Ncheke – Josephat Murangiri, every family had forested grounds where its dead were disposed called Kimbirira.

It was here that bodies of the deceased were dragged to and left to be devoured by hungry hyenas. Those forested areas had no other use and were avoided.

Secretary-General Meru Council of Elders Josephat Murangiri (centre) at an event in March 2020. [File, Standard]

When death happened

According to Mzee Silas Gitije, the Njuri Ncheke Director of Culture, when a person died in the family, the responsibility of removing their body to the resting grounds lay on the surviving spouse or on the parent if the deceased was a child.

“Thus a widow or widower would pull their deceased partner by a rope (murigi) from the house they had died in to the forest and leave the rest to forces of nature,” Mzee Gitije told Standard Digital at his home in Meru town.

In case of the death of a parent whose spouse was deceased, the task of disposal would fall on the oldest child or close relatives when the first option was not possible. Relatives performing this rite would also stand to inherit the deceased’s land and property.

Njuri Ncheke Director of Culture Silas Gitije at a past event. [File, Standard]

According to Mzee Gitije, the Meru usually buried their dead just after dusk for those who died during the day, and just before dawn for those who died at night.

“It was a highly respected rite for which no errors were excused. For example, no burial could take place before all the cattle had returned home and safely locked in their pens. No burial could similarly take place once the sun was out and there were protocols that had to be strictly observed,” said Mzee Gitije.

According to him, it was taboo for cattle to be out in the paths when a dead body was being pulled out for disposal.

No time to pay last respects

The Meru feared death according to Mzee Gitije and news of passing away would be greeted by loud wailing that would quickly send a message to the neighbouring community about the calamity that had afflicted a particular family.

“The Merus had no mourning and thus no delegation coming into the compound to pay their last respects. Only dusk or the hour just before dawn would be waited for the body to be pulled into the graveyard by closest relatives or an undertaker,” said Mzee Gitije.

The community believed in life after death as it prayed that those who died head to a place with adequate rainfall. They also believed that packs of hyenas that roamed the graveyards could pick out the wailing and smell death.

“They were known as very fond of human flesh and could within minutes of disposal arrive to clean off a body,” said Mzee Gitije.

Cleansing ceremony

Mourning started after the family buried their loved one. They were prohibited from engaging in communal affairs until their clan or extended family elders conducted a cleansing ceremony called Kuthiria mugiro.

This ceremony involved shaving the family member who had pulled the deceased into the graveyard. In the case of a married couple, the shaving was preceded by the demolishing of the hut if the deceased died at home.

“Death of children in a house did not require its demolition though as minors were generally taken as having no blots that needed to be removed by parting with their connection,” said Mzee Gitije.

Bachelors and bachelorettes buried by an undertaker

Burying a bachelor or a spinster was different as they were highly ostracised members of the society who were known as mbura tuu (stubborn ones).

A popular refrain among the Meru to wayward individuals was that they would end up being buried by mweji – a hired undertaker who would also inherit the deceased property and land.

Mweji were outcasts who died single. Mzee Gitije says these individuals were in the same category with family lineage that pursued iron making – the blacksmiths.

A Mweji would be called to bury a person who had died before marrying. Such a burial would remain in the memory of people in the particular area where it happened.

Also taken differently was the burial of a person who had committed suicide which equated to inviting a curse. In those cases, the deceased’s clan would take charge of the disposal.

Fines and sanctions by Njuri Ncheke

Failure by a family to observe the strict burial rights would attract serious sanctions by the Njuri Ncheke which could include the levying of the punitive Mirongo ithatu fine. 

In extreme cases, failure to follow protocols would be punishable by death.

“The Njuri Ncheke was very particular about enforcing the observance of burial rights,” added Mzee Gitije who opines that the coming of Christianity and other religions brought order regarding death and burial rites.

“My thoughts about how burial changed in modern society is the same about our thoughts about modern clothing. We all like them,” said Mzee Gitije.

How modernity and Christianity has impacted burial rites

Murangiri, the Njuri Ncheke secretary-general says in recent times, Meru’s prefer to bury their dead in their homes instead of public cemeteries.

“Burying a relative in a public cemetery is seen as throwing them away and is generally shunned in our society,” he added.

This is supported by Father David Kaberia, the priest at the St Joseph Meru Cathedral Parish who says Meru’s do not have a tradition of burying their dead outside their homes. 

St Joseph Meru Cathedral Parish Priest Father David Kaberia. [File, Standard]

He adds that Christianity and Meru cultural dialogue has removed the fear of the dead and brought some decency into the whole burial process. This includes earlier practices such as those involving a Mweji which was meant to protect future generations from the taboo that outcasts had committed.

“The Meru took their aged who died as a promotion to join their ancestors and questioned the death of those who were young hence their symbolism of burying the young early in the day and the aged at sunset,” said Fr Kaberia.

Eating at funerals

It is only until the last few decades that the Meru stopped insisting that the family patriarch or matriarch could not be buried before 4.00 pm.  

However, death continues to be a sad event among the Meru. It is only after the 1980s that people starting eating at funerals according to Father Kaberia.

Rev Jac Kithinji, a senior pastor at the Potter House Church - a Deliverance Church Ministry in Meru town - also feels that Christianity has done a lot to remove the traditional fear that previously enveloped death.

“Whether you are Christian, Muslim or whatever faith, there is an enviable progress towards uniformity in how our community buries its dead,” said Rev Kithinji who is also the General Secretary of the Meru County Minister's Forum that has over 3,500 members.

 Rev Kithinji agrees it was almost taken as taboo to bury an elder before 4.00 pm in Meru but several dynamics have progressively worked towards reforming that.

 “Take for example the Covid-19 protocols or situation where funeral attendants are coming from far and have to travel back, many parameters have to be agreed on by consensus for the good of all parties,” said Rev Kithinji.

Rev Jac Kithinji, a senior pastor at the Potter House Church. [File]

 Days before burial

On average, according to Rev Kithinji, it now takes an average of seven days to bury a person among the Meru. Most people keep their dead in a morgue unless the family has financial challenges and opts to inter their loved one immediately. 

"The seven days mourning period is strategic in many ways including allowing far off relations to arrive for the ceremony but also to mobilise funds for the send-off," he adds.

Like in Central region where the viewing of the body of the deceased only happens at the morgue, Rev Kithinji said this has been adopted throughout Meru with minor adjustments.

"My observations are that viewing of the body of the deceased is usually requested by prominent families especially those that live outside their villages," said Rev Kithinji.

Do you have feedback about this article? Drop us an email on [email protected]