© 2018 Dr Margaret Sheppard
Purification
After the burial is over various people connected with the deceased must be purified. A surviving spouse is not believed to be "clean" until about a year after the death or until the new rains have fallen, and because of the danger of contaminating other people, such spouses are subject to certain taboos.
Other close relatives must also be cleansed. It is believed that young children could be "called" by their dead parent to the Spirit World. Pauw states that it is believed that if this cleansing is not carried out the sehihi (shadow) cast by the dead person will trouble the children, i.e. haunt them.*1 He also describes a further rite that was performed for the children of a dead mother about two weeks after burial. Their father had to take them to their mother's home. They entered the home through a special entrance made in the fence at the back of the yard. A sheep was provided by their father and it was slaughtered for them. Then the moswang (contents of the stomach) of this animal was placed at intervals from this special entrance to the front entrance and as they entered they walked on it. The meat was then eaten by all present and the children's hair was shaved. It was not until after they had had this rite performed that they were again able to visit their maternal relatives. If it was not performed they were believed to become senseless.*2
At one funeral, for a man, that I attended, immediately after the burial and the return from the graveyard, all close relatives -
Setiloane refers to a traditional practice called go rola thapo (to wear thapo). Thapo is a strip of plaited grass that is worn around the necks of those closely connected to death, i.e. spouses, parents, siblings and children, and whilst it is still worn all the wearers were subject to certain taboos. The plaited grass is dipped in he gall of the animal that is slaughtered for the burial. I never saw anyone wearing thapo and it would appear to be more customary in Kanye at the present time to wear black. Widows dress completely in black made for them by a dressmaker. This includes a black dress, head scarf, shoes, shawl and necklace etc. and these are provided by the family of the dead husband. Widowers wear a black patch pinned to the left sleeve, as do children and other close relatives. Women relatives may also wear a black head scarf or pinafore (especially the mother of a dead child or one daughter for a deceased surviving parent).
These signs of association with death, especially those of the surviving spouse are worn for the year of mourning or until the new rains have fallen. At the end of the period the wearers are again "cleansed". It should be noted that among Batswana black has most definitely NOT been a fashion colour.
Usually the day after the burial (still with the Malome of the deceased officiating) the floor of the house used for the coffin and its surrounding lolwapa are freshly smeared with cattle dung -
At this time a traditional doctor may be called to purify the home. This includes "washing" the upper parts of the bodies of the close relatives with medicated water and sprinkling the possessions of the deceased; the door posts, entrances to the houses and the yard may also be sprinkled with the same mixture. A goat may be slaughtered as part of this "cleansing" and the contents of the stomach may be used as an ingredient of the medicines.
The hair of the close relatives may be shaven. (This is another practice associated only with death, Normally it is a taboo to cut more than one member of the family's hair on the same day). Pauw emphasizes that this must all be done during the part of the day when there are shadows (i.e. not midday), because the aim is to purify the shadow (sehihi) cast by the deceased when he dies. If it is not done at this time of the day then the survivors may be troubled by the shadow. All hair which is cut at this time has to be buried in a special hole or one made by ants. This is because it is believed that such hair is a useful ingredient of sorcery and can be used to bewitch the owner of the hair.
Widower (with blue and yellow blanket) on the return from being taken in procession to his wife’s kgotla by his relatives to inform them of her passing. N.B. he only wears one shoe for this. He has thrown away the other on the way back. Several of the other bereaved relatives are wearing some black to denote the connection with death.
Purification of the Mother of a Dead Child
Before continuing with a few other customs associated with death, the treatment of and purification of a mother who has lost a small child should be described in greater detail. I myself witnessed a case of this in 1980, when the daughter of one of my neighbours sadly lost her 3-
Some mention has already been made of the burial of babies without teeth earlier in this section. More is included about this particular case in Chapter 6. The birth of this baby had been difficult and the hospital believed it had suffered brain damage during delivery. After 3 days the baby finally died. On the day of the death, the death was immediately announced to relatives, and the old women, including the mother's aunt (her own mother was dead), went to the hospital to collect the little body. The mother herself was sick so could not be discharged from the hospital. The girl's grandmother, with whom she lived, stayed behind at their house as a house where there is death is not supposed to be left empty.
While the women were at the hospital the house was tidied. When they returned from the hospital the little baby was wrapped up as described above, but they could not bury it until the late afternoon when there were shadows. This is presumably for the reason Pauw mentions (see p. 195). As the house had a cement floor, the little baby was buried in the stoep of the house in the lolwapa. surrounding the house.
As the baby had died during a difficult birth, the woman in charge at such a burial is supposed to be a relative who always has easy births. In this case it was a maternal aunt of the mother. She had to make a cross with cold ash on the baby's chest and then she was the one who had to wrap it and put it into the little grave, resting its head and buttocks on little grass kgaris (grass rings usually used to carry head loads and rest clay pots). Not many people are supposed to attend this burial as that would attract the tragedy to happen again.
When the mother was brought from the hospital she had to make a cross with wet cattle dung over the place where the baby had been buried. (The stoep had been remade and the place was indistinguishable so that potential sorcerers could not steal the corpse for sorcery.) She was then given the laws of her condition by her aunt, who was to be the one to be in charge of her. She was then taken to her aunt's house.
Here the same woman (who had easy births) made a cross with cold ash over her umbilical cord. The idea of this woman helping on this occasion is to try to attract easy births to this girl in the future so that she would not lose urther children.
The mother was then confined inside the house like an ordinary Motsetsi (woman in confinement). She was instructed by the woman in charge of her, of the taboos to which she was subject. For example she was not allowed to touch children, especially on the head, or she could cause their deaths. All the children of the household were "washed" by the family traditional doctor to protect them from her. Also she was not allowed to touch beds or chairs as she was a danger to men, and of course not sleep with men as men are believed to develop symptoms like venereal disease through contact with a woman in her condition.
In this particular case this girl was not confined at her own home, but at that of her aunt, as her grandmother was crippled and so unable to take care of her. Therefore for the next few weeks her grandmother and aunt slept at the girl's home to keep the spirit of the dead child company.
After about 2 months, after she had started to menstruate again, she was cleansed by the family traditional doctor and allowed to move around freely. However, as the mother of a dead child, she had to ask permission to enter people's houses and when entering for the first time she had to use wet cattle dung (see above).
While she was confined another daughter from her aunt's home (her cousin) gave birth. This child was normal, but her Botsetsi (confinement) had to be in another house in the yard as the cousin had lost her baby. The mother of the dead baby was not allowed to enter
the house of the other Motsetsi, only talk to her from outside, nor could she share food cooked specially for the other Motsetsi in the same pot.
Protection of Bereaved Children
t is believed that young children could be "called" by their dead parent to the Spirit World. Pauw states that it is believed that if this cleansing is not carried out the sehihi (shadow) cast by the dead person will trouble the children, i.e. haunt them. He also describes a further rite that was performed for the children of a dead mother about two weeks after burial. Their father had to take them to their mother's home. They entered the home through a special entrance made in the fence at the back of the yard. A sheep was provided by their father and it was slaughtered for them. Then the moswang (contents of the stomach) of this animal was placed at intervals from this special entrance to the front entrance and as they entered they walked on it. The meat was then eaten by all present and the children's hair was shaved. It was not until after they had had this rite performed that they were again able to visit their maternal relatives. If it was not performed they were believed to become senseless.
Purification of Mourners and Bereaved
At one funeral, for a man, that I attended, immediately after the burial and the return from the graveyard, all close relatives -
Setiloane refers to a traditional practice called go rola thapo (to wear thapo). Thapo is a strip of plaited grass that is worn around the necks of those closely connected to death, i.e. spouses, parents, siblings and children, and whilst it is still worn all the wearers were subject to certain taboos. The plaited grass is dipped in the gall of the animal that is slaughtered for the burial. I never saw anyone wearing thapo and it would appear to be more customary in Kanye at the present time to wear black. Widows dress completely in black made for them by a dressmaker. This includes a black dress, head scarf, shoes, shawl and necklace etc. and these are provided by the family of the dead husband. Widowers wear a black patch pinned to the left sleeve, as do children and other close relatives. Women relatives may also wear a black head scarf 'or pinafore (especially the mother of a dead child or one daughter may for a deceased surviving parent).
These signs of association with death, especially those of the surviving spouse are worn for the year of mourning or until the new rains have fallen. At the end of the period the wearers are again "cleansed". It should be noted that among Batswana black has most definitely NOT been a fashion colour.
Usually the day after the burial (still with the Malome of the deceased officiating) the floor of the house used for the coffin and its surrounding lolwapa are freshly smeared with cattle dung -