Senufo Funerals in the Folona, Mali

Among the Senufo of the Folona region of southeastern Mali, elders are given grand funerals to facilitate their dignified passage into the afterlife, to the world of the ancestors, what the Senufo call kubelekanha or “the village of the dead.”1 In the past, a single ceremony composed of a series of stages was organized to seamlessly transport the deceased from death to internment to afterlife and ancestorhood.2 Today, there are two distinct ceremonies, each with its own set of rituals: the internment completed shortly after death known as kutonri or kupirigi (“fresh” funerals), and the funeral celebrations kuugi or kuwaagi (“dry” funerals) designed to integrate the deceased within the world of the ancestors. During a Senufo funeral, one sees all of the different age-grade associations, especially musical and performance ones, in action. During the afternoon and evening, different delegations begin to arrive from neighboring villages each with their own distinctive performance traditions. Each was invited by one or more of the relatives of the deceased, usually a son or daughter, niece or nephew (Figs. 1–11). The songs, dances, and other ritual events are designed to perpetuate traditions and ancestral customs. Sometimes these may be interpreted as a sort of competition between the sexes, but in reality they are more of an expression of gender differences as complementary and fundamental to life. For the Senufo, death (kuwi or kaguwi) marks the end of a person’s life on earth and passage to another world, and it is seen more as a change of environment than an end. It is never considered to be “natural,” only occasionally the result of malevolent forces, more often due to a series of mistakes (wururi or wiriri) made by someone consciously or subconsciously. The funerary rites bi kelelahala, bi loho wo, koliwaari (lit. “to settle affairs, to pour water, to toss/throw/turn over a stool”) remain the only means to correct these errors, purify the descendants of the deceased, and ensure the deceased a place among the ancestors.