Beliefs & customs

Graves

On no account should the grave dug out for the dead remain open during the night. The corpse must necessarily be buried on the same day the grave was dug, that is on the day of death. But in the case of great stress or perplexity impeding the burial, the grave should watched by men throughout the night to prevent the "baloi" (evil doers) from approaching.

Graves of elders and owners of cattle were dug out in their cattle kraals since necessity the rich should not be separated from their cattle. The stones of the kraal we removed for sufficient space for the grave, and the kraal was built up again after the burial. The grave itself was nothing more than a round hole, a few feet deep, since there were spades for digging, but only small iron rods called "kepa" used for digging medicines clumsy blindly pointed sticks made from hard wood of the wild olive tree. The body was laid stretched out in the graves, but was buried in a sitting position.

Visible graves, outside the village, were as far as possible avoided so as not to frighten people. In the case of those who had no reason to be buried in respectable graves in their cattle kraals and in the case of strangers, graves were dug outside the village. These unfortunate places were dreaded spots. People should not sit nor stand upon the heap of a grave. A person who happened unconsciously to do so, should have his or her feet passed slightly over a brisk fire of grass to scorch off the misfortune.