User:Ongoro Catherine/Cutlural Practice on widow inheritance

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History
In many societies, widowhood is a process characterized by rituals, forced remarriages, harassment, rejection, loneliness, poverty, loss of status, fear of the future and depression .The custom of widow inheritance has been practiced for centuries and is still common in luo tribe especially at Kano Kanyilum in Nyando District, Kenya. The Luo of Kano Kanyilum in Nyando District, Kenya speak Dholuo and they live along the shores of Lake Victoria.

Political structure
The traditional political structure among the Luo in Nyando District revolves around ‘ot’ meaning household, ‘dala or pacho’ standing for homestead, ‘anyuola’ which is a clan or extended family lineage system, ‘oganda’ meaning the nation and ‘piny’ that stands for a conglomeration or nations. The household is headed by the woman and is made up of a mother and her children while the homestead is headed by a man and is made up of a man, his wives, children and other people living with him in the homestead.

Marriage
Through the act of marriage, an individual becomes a wife or husband to a household, a homestead, a clan or the nation. The woman is, therefore, not only a wife to the husband but also a wife of the household, homestead and clan. This is an indication that marriage is not a husband and wife affair but an entire extended family affair.

Death
Death of a spouse does not close marriage making the woman to remain as a wife of the grave (chi liel). Therefore, a woman should not remarry but have an inheritor .Marriage is a contract between the spouses and their extended families. In the event of death, the family of the deceased has a responsibility to provide a replacement. Widow inheritance is a widespread cultural practice at Kano Kanyilum in Nyando District that has been claimed as contributing to the risk of HIV transmission. The practice of widow inheritance has persisted among the Luo community at Kano Kanyilum in Kenya despite the emergence of HIV/AIDS in Kenya in 1984.

Perception on widow inheritance
To the Luo culture, marriage intends to be an everlasting contract whose purpose and function extend beyond the physical death of one or both spouses. Thus, a person physically dead is still considered alive, present and capable of influencing the living. The widow remains the wife of the deceased chi liel, not the wife of the guardian or inheritor. The practice entails cleansing as a prerequisite for restoring normalcy of the widow into the society, as a means of neutralizing the assumed cultural impurity and avoiding taboo violation (chira). . Sex is central to the cleansing ritual which is performed by a professional cleanser.

Mourning
During mourning, banana fibres are tied around the waist of the widow while in ritual cleansing known as ‘chodo okola’ is achieved through obligatory sexual intercourse performed by a professional cleanser. He can be from within the clan or from outside. If he is from outside that is ‘jakowiny’ then he is believed to be a sexual perverse, or psychopath capable of doing what normal human beings cannot do. He is persuaded to perform a sexual cord cutting ritual to separate the widow from her deceased husband so that the widow may be free to be inherited. Where the widow is still young in her child bearing age, the process begins by breaking the sexual urge by elaborate rites that can last up to a month or more. Where the woman has reached menopause, the enactment of widow inheritance takes a symbolic format

Jater
The brother or cousin termed as ‘jater’ either stays vigil until cockcrow or gives the widow a roll of tobacco to redeem her from psychic pressure. According to the Luo culture, the only person who is dead is one who dies childless The physically dead, that is the spirits still have responsibilities towards the physically living members of their families.

Chira
Women of Kano Kanyilum in Nyando District fear ‘chira’ which is an indigenous illness that functions to uphold Luo moral principles or maintain social and moral control on family and lineage life. Chira may affect the offending individual or anyone in his or her family, usually the children. Hence, not only are widows pressured to maintain the practices but also family members force widows to complete the traditions to ensure that they or members of the lineage will not be affected by chira. The enforcement of widowhood rituals has vested in elderly married women and widows. They have been frightened into believing that the rituals are for the widows’ benefits and those of their children. With fellow women in charge of the process of widow inheritance, young widows are silenced into submission as they are taken through the observation of the rites as willing participants. In recent times a few changes have taken place.

External Resources

 * Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Kenya: Traditional marriages among the Luo in Kenya including polygamy, consent of parties involved, and treatment of women in the community, 20 April 2001, KEN36634.E.

External Articles
2010s: 2000s:
 * Kawango E. Agot, Ann Vander Stoep, Melissa Tracy, Billy A. Obare, Elizabeth A. Bukusi, Jeckoniah O. Ndinya-Achola, Stephen Moses, and Noel S. Weiss, “Widow Inheritance and HIV Prevalence in Bondo District, Kenya: Baseline Results from a Prospective Cohort Study." PloS ONE 5(11):e14028. Doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0014028, November 17, 2010.
 * Karl Vick, "Disease Spread Faster Than the Word; Uninformed Rural Kenyans Try to Make Up for Lost Time," The Washington Post, July 7, 2000.
 * Agai Yier, "Kenya; MP Accuses Chiefs Of Aids Drive Sabotage," Africa News, August 8, 2000.
 * "Kenya; End Debate On Widows, Urges Ex-MP," Africa News, October 5, 2000.
 * Vincent R Okungu, "Kenya: Culture No Longer Helpful In Averting Disasters," AllAfrica.com, 29 January 2001.
 * Ambasa-Shisanya CR, "Widowhood in the era of HIV/AIDS: a case study of Slaya District, Kenya," Journal of Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS Research Alliance, 2007 Aug;4(2):606-15.
 * Samson O. Gunga, "The politics of Widowhood and Re-Marriage among the Luo of Kenya," Thought and Practice: A Journal of the Philosophical Association of Kenya (PAK), Premier Issue, New Series, Vol.1 No.1, June 2009, pp.161-174.1990s:
 * Horace Awori, "Kenya: Wife "Inheritance" and the Spread of AIDS," IPS-Inter Press Service, September 15, 1993.
 * Chege Mbitiru, "Wife Inheritance Blamed for Spreading AIDS," The Associated Press, December 13, 1993.
 * Okeyo TM, Allen AK., "Influence of widow inheritance on the epidemiology of AIDS in Africa," African Journal of Medical Practice, 1994 Mar-Apr;1(1):20-5.
 * "Kenya; Poverty, culture afflict fight against HIV/Aids," Africa News, December 22, 1998.
 * Ravi Nessman, "Generations of Tradition Under Attack in Kenya," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, April 14, 1999.
 * John Oywa, "Kenya; Raila criticised over wrangle," Africa News, May 25, 1999.

Category:AfricaCategory:Kenya HERE IS THE CITE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Ongoro_Catherine/Cutlural_Practice_on_widow_inheritance BY CATHERINE ONGORO