African societies have a huge number of different traditions associated with death.
Often, the difference lies in how the deceased is prepared for and sent on what has been described as the journey into the world of the ancestors.
But the bottom line is all African families try to ensure that the death is given a befitting burial. In times past, Africans have experienced some rather weird burial traditions, with the most talked-about being from the Chewa, a Bantu people of central and southern Africa and the largest ethnic group in Malawi.
Apart from being noted for their masks and secret society group called the Nyau, the people of Chewa had a more intriguing ritual. Historians say that it was the custom of the people that when a tribe member dies, the body is taken to a sacred place and cut open at the throat.
Water is then poured through the hole and squeezed down the stomach until it comes out through the anus. This process is done repeatedly until the water comes out clean. What is even more disturbing is the fact that this water is used to prepare food for the entire tribe.
It was the belief that when someone dies, the whole village must show up. This is because among the Chewa, death is not natural; it is usually caused by witchcraft. The argument is that those who might have killed a person would be scared to go to the funeral.
Currently, Chewa with a population of about 1.5 million people has two clans; the Phiri and the Banda. The Phiri are associated with the kings and aristocracy, while the Banda people are usually healers and mystics.
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As at 1850, the town of Ara was one of the most powerful towns in Ekiti with a settlement spaning as big as that of Ijaye in Egbaland. In August 1855, the people of Ara (also called Ara-Ekiti) committed mass suicide to avoid being enslaved by the titanic Ibadan.
The mass suicide was led by the leader of Ara town, Chief Elejofi, who with the help of his first son, destroyed his properties, family and then killed himself. This act was replicated by many other households in the town and when the Ibadan army arrived with their wide array of weaponry, they immediately turned back at the gory sight of dead bodies littered everywhere.
Earlier, the people of Ara had rebelled against their ruler, the Alara, because of his bad governance and grievous offences he committed against his townspeople; he was exiled. It was during the Alara’s exile that Chief Elejofi took over the rulership of the town.
The exiled Alara was not willing to let go of his leadership and thus sought help from the almighty Ibadan army. His request was granted because Ibadan which as at then was gradually filling the vacuum created by the fallen Oyo was hungry for towns to shove under its administration. The Ibadan army had just returned from an expedition in Ijebu-Ere and together with them, the deposed Alara returned to Ara and was accepted out of fear.
Shortly after Ibadan restored the deposed Alara of Ara, its army attacked Ikoro, another town in Ekiti, because they didn’t allow Ibadan army to forage on their crops and also because they were suspected to have been planning an attack on the Ibadan army.
During the attack on Ikoro, some other towns in Ekiti defended Ikoro and joined the battle against Ibadan. The people of Ara also tried to defend Ikoro but were stopped by their restored leader and so another unrest ensued in the town. Ikoro was eventually defeated by Ibadan and the latter went ahead to punish the towns that helped Ikoro during the war, including Ara.
During this period, Chief Elejofi had again taken over the rulership of the town and upheld it for some months before it eventually crumbled due to starvation, and to avoid being enslaved, the people of Ara committed an unprecedented mass suicide. This was in some ways similar to the mass suicide of Igbo slaves off the U.S. coast in 1803.
The town of Ara was left deserted for many years before some of its exiled descendants returned home. Ara suicide remains one of the most disturbing chapters in the history of Ekiti and Yoruba land.
