Living and the dead.

Is death a complete analysis of a person? true or false?

False

Is death a movement?

true

different ways death could be understood in the African

• transition or movement from the realm of the living to join the departed or enter the ancestral realm.

• A social phenomenon in community life.

• continuity of life in a different form.

• casually link to social or spiritual factors.

What does it mean that death is a social phenomenon?

not solely a biological event but is interwoven with the fabric of society, influencing and being influenced by social structures, relationships, beliefs, and practices

what it means when considering the hereafter

a realm deeply influenced by and reflective of social aspects of earthly existence. continuation of earthly life

Terminology for dying: Basoga of Uganda

• Breathed his last,

• Kept quiet,

• Gone,

• Gone down to the grave,

• Death told him to tie his load and go, he is dry as if from yesterday, life was snatched into two like a bristle stick

• If an old man from another family, it is fair, he has died, he has had enough, he has finished his job, another mouth has gone away

Terminology for dying: Abaluyia of Kenya

• Sleeping,

• Falling by oneself,

• Stepping into the sheet,

• Wearing a sweater,

• Going to the place of the dead,

• Going home,

• Looking for an exit, lifting leg

Terminology for dying: Akamba of Kenya

• To follow company of one’s grandfathers’

• To go home,

• To stop snoring

• To be fetched or summoned,

• To empty out the soul

Terminology for dying: Luo of Kenya

• Rolled a fly whisk [Ng’ielo orengo]

• Slept of his arm [Nindo e bade]

• He has rested [Oyueyo

• He has died [Otho]

• He has gone/returned to the ancestors [Odhi/odok ka kwere]

• He has kicked a bowl [Ogwe tawo]

Who might cause death ?

• the immediate:  technique used to kill the deceased: disease, snake bites or other natural causes,

  other forms of mystical aggression

• The Efficient: members of the community, the person who was behind the act of killing- witches, sorcerers, curses

• The final : Cause is an ancestor, the Earth shrine, or medicines shrine – the supernatural

Consider death as a collective affair. Who does it involve?

family, clan and kin

What is a Matriclan

efers to a kinship group in which membership is traced through the mother's line - how we follow mum side.

How are patients/people that are dying laid out? Are they sitting up?

true

What does it mean for a man to die lying down?

It’s sinful for a man to die lying down [doing so would mean he was a slave].

What does the deathbed signify in the African context?

• a space for disclosure"

• secrets about his wealth

• the spot is where the dying can also speak to the ancestors"

• directions regarding how his funeral should be conducted; wealth distributed and shared

Is mourning a matter of public matter? true or false

true

what are some of the different lamentations and mourning rituals that are performed?

• loud wailing and lamentations by women

• Xylophones: varying tunes for men and women

• Messengers

significance of dying surrounded by kin

explicitly linked to the concept of a 'good death' and plays a crucial role in social and emotional well-being during the dying process.

what does Good Death mean

• The dying is sitting up

• Being surrounded by kin or family at the deathbed

• Being taken care of by matriclan member

• The dying saying something before finally succumbing

• Leads to regeneration

whatt does bad death mean?

• Evil deaths [suicides, struck by lightening, drowning]

  • Dying lonely

  • The dying struggling

  • The dying suffering

  • Dying before reproducing

  • Post-pubescent daughter/son dying before marriage

Good Death versus Bad Death

A bad death does the opposite of a good death, leaving survivors despondent in the face of meaninglessness, evil, or nothingness

who does the caring in the Canadian Context

• Healthcare systems

  • Hospice

  • Hospitals

  • Palliative care centres

  • Healthcare workers

  • Physicians

  • Nurses

• Healthcare aides

  • Social workers

Death trajectories

the course that a person follows over time at they move through the dying process to death

what acts and rituals are practised in during burials in the African

• preceded by funeral speeches

• to appease the land of the dead

• Deceased’s hat stuck with an arrow’s barbed point

  o Pot of beer and cock put at the burial site

  o Right number of mourning days observed

Pre-Burial: Ghana

• Token hunt [enacting achievements of the deceased

  ▪ Token farming [weeding the ground the compound]

  ▪ Dry-season migration in the south [mimicking migration]

  ▪ Shooting cowries

Pre-Burial: Kenya

• Observing night vigil

  o Food is brought by neighbours and relatives

  o Musical dance [traditional instruments played]

  o Dirges sang and dances

  o Faithful widow dances with spears in her hands and singing dirges

  o That beyond childbearing age puts on dead husband’s garment

  o Young widows don’t dress in dead husband’s garments, as this would cause her infertility

  o Grave is dug

what is Cemetery burial

Burial in the family cemetery

- This can be considered the normal burial

what is Courtyard graves

For the elderly

what is Mound graves 

The grave is built above the ground

what is Trench graves

 burial of many due to epidemic calamities

what does genome mean?

defined as the complete set of DNAs [Genetic material] in an organism . It contains all the information required for one to grow .

What does gene mean?

A segment of DNA that contains instructions for making proteins

▪ It is the basic unit of hereditary

What does genomic anthropology mean?

The field of study which uses human genome to understand the history of human evolution, migration, and genetic variation

What does human evolution mean?

entails the study of evolutionary links between ancient and modern human populations

What does Migration mean?

studying the patterns of human migration and settlement

what does Genetic variation mean?

studying the genetic differences among human populations, including the genetic basis of normal phenotypic traits

what does Personal Genomics mean

biotechnology of sequencing, analysing and interpreting information for an individual’s genome

what does Biobanking  mean

The process of collecting, storing, and analyzing harvested human samples for research and clinicalcare

what does Bioinformatics  mean

It is an interdisciplinary field related to genetics and genomics. It involves the use of computer technology to collect, store, and analyze and disseminate biological data and information such as DNA and Amino acids sequences

What is biosocial?

The influence of the biological and social

hierarchies of biosocial

relates to the power dynamics and inequalities that can emerge at the intersection of the biological and social realms.

Biosocial relations of production

The potential hierarchies in the making assembly of personal genomic material and information through which consumers become active collaborators

Personal Genomic Projects

23andMe

▪ deCODEme

▪ Navigenics

▪ Pathway Genomics

what does Gene Democratization mean

the public has become more empowered and knowledgeable about their own genome

How does personal genomics connect us to the dead?

personal genomics connects us to the dead primarily through the tracing of ancestry and the understanding of inherited genetic traits and predispositions

list Players and Actors in the Human Bodily Organ Enterprise

• Donors

• Organ Recipients

• Biomedical Institutions:

• Organ Brokers

• Global Capitalist Market/Economy:

what does Brain-Death mean

new definition of death . It is a state where a person's brain is irreversibly damaged, but their body can be maintained by medical technology, often referred to as a 'living cadaver

What does supernatural mean?

Phenomena/events attributed to some force beyond scientific explanation or the laws of nature

What does Ghosts mean?

Spirits/undead

What does witches mean?

Humans with supernatural powers

What does vampires mean?

Creatures associated with sucking people’s souls and lifeblood dry

What does Zombies mean?

A corpse said to be revived by witchcraft, especially in certain African and Carribbean religions

What does Autoethnography mean?

A research method that uses a researcher’s personal experiences to understand a culture, group, or social phenomenon

Technology

The application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes; the role of technology in maintaining contact with the dead [photographs, web pages, social network sites]

Positivism

Scientific verification of phenomena through empirical evidence as opposed to metaphysics or theism

Rationalism

Theory emphasizing reason and knowledge as opposed to religious beliefs

Scientism

The rise of science and the belief in its techniques/methods

Modernism

 New ‘modern’ ways of life vs traditional beliefs

Lower World

also referred to as the Underworld or the land of spirits, is the realm associated with the dead

Upper World

is defined in the African context as the world of the living. It is considered to be here on Earth and is characterised by physical life

Divination

a diviner identifies the ghost and leads in cleansing

Sacrifices/offerings 

fowls, bulls, goats offered to the spirits for amends

Compensation 

retributions/debts paid on behalf of the deceased or for their death

Elimination

cause the expulsion of the ghost

Destruction

destroy them by causing their permanent ‘death’

Guardian spirit 

Supreme spirit [Juok among the Luo of Kenya]

Nature spirits 

Spirits of animals, beasts, snakes, moutains, floods, rivers, lakes, jungles, trees

Disease spirits

Spirits that cause diseases, illnesses and sickness

Regenerative spirits

Spirits of reincarnation

Good ghosts/spirits

associated with fortune and life

Bad ghosts

associated with suffering and death

Troublesome ghosts 

Unhappy and therefore ready to cause problems

Untroublesome ghosts 

Happy and contended, agents of peace

Divinities or God’s Associates

spiritual beings of a relatively high status within various African religious and philosophical systems

Spirits

refer to a category of spiritual beings that occupy a realm between divinities (or God's associates) and human beings

The Living Dead

specific category of the deceased in many African religious and philosophical systems. They are not considered completely gone but exist in a transitional state, maintaining a close connection with the living