We wouldn’t have known, had we not been told. A young man who once lived on the streets already knew. This is the way he told it:
Once a woman’s husband dies, her aunt will shave the heads of the widow and all her children - Michael Jordan style (bald, without one hair). The widow should not walk outside the compound into the village until the funeral is over because she might spread that disease which killed her husband. She must also wear her husband’s clothes to indicate that she has a funeral. She must wear it until the funeral is over. Then, she will give the clothes to the person who shaved her head. Many “city” Christians don’t practice this, but they do in the villages. If the villagers see that Christians don’t practice this, they think there is something wrong with them mentally.
If people have three or more married daughters, the first daughter should arrive at a funeral first, the others following her. If she is late, the others will not enter the gate until she comes. Because the men share the compound with their father, the order of arrival is concerning the married daughters.
In a funeral, people come to mourn with those who are mourning. Others are just coming to try to grab the property. Some are crying because the person had died with a debt owed to them. Some are coming to drink and dance, quarreling with each other, or just as a place to celebrate. The sons of the man who died must return to their homes in a certain order—the oldest goes to his house first, then the others go home in order of their birth. When the oldest son returns to his house, he must have sex with his wife—which sets his brothers and sisters free from curses that they might have gotten at the funeral. When the oldest son has had sex with his wife, the other brothers must go to their houses and have sex with their wives. Then the older sister must go back to her home, which then allows her sister to be able to leave—in order of their birth. If this is not done properly, it is believed that you might have a child with physical or mental problems, or you can get sick yourself. Most Christians, even those in the cities, still practice this.
After the older brother has had sex with his wife, the people at the funeral celebrate and dance their Luo tribe’s traditional dances, sipping alcohol, going around as if they are celebrating for the dead person.
After the death of the father, a few months later, the brothers will divide all his property. The mother will only remain with property if she is very hard—becomes stubborn, goes to the police, or the chief.
When all the brothers are fighting, taking away their father’s property, selling everything, leaving the compound with nothing inside, it means that the spirit of the man who died was demanding his property. The villagers will keep quiet while the fighting is going on, hoping they quarrel until everything is gone. If the man was richer then they are, they want his compound to be reduced to less than theirs so that their name will be greater than the man who died.
When digging the grave, if anyone or any animal falls into the grave, they will bring a witchdoctor to perform a ritual so that nothing of destruction can happen in the house—like madness, death, and injury.