Ng'anyet: Death Rituals among the Nandi 1. Introduction In traditional Nandi, preservation, prolongation and transmission of human life was the major concern of all religious rituals. Human life was protected and prolonged in the world to an old age. Tradition required everyone in the community to preserve and transmit life to the next generations through marriage between opposite sex with an objective of getting children. Earthly life however prolonged did not make life complete among the traditional Nandi. There was belief in life after death. The dead who entered and lived in the emetab oii, the world of the living dead became oiikab kapchii, family ancestors. The oiikap kapchii did not only live in the world of the living dead. More importantly, every family named their new born babies after their oiik, the living dead in a naming ceremony called guurset. The gurenet, ancestral name became the spiritual guardian of the child for the rest of his/her life. Hence, everyone in traditional Nandi was connected with the world of the living dead and the ancestral world through the gurenet name. However, no dead person was elevated to ancestral level and new born children named after them until his/her ng'anyet ritual was performed which made ng'anyet a critical ritual in the life of an individual in the community. Without the ritual, dead persons neither entered the land of the living dead nor were the new born children named after them. Instead, the dead would remain roaming around the family homestead and in their anger caused sickness, dead or barrenness to the family members for being abandoned. Hence, the living family members were careful not to ignore ng'anyet ritual for a deceased member. They had a religious duty to facilitate the journey of their dead kinsmen and women to the land of the living dead by performing nganyet ritual. Everyone knew that after his/her death, he/she would be made an ancestor and children born thereafter were named after them. Evidently, the ritual was a form of traditional canonization of the dead as those who entered the ancestral land became family and community saints. Everyone in the community looked forward to a time in the distant future beyond death when he/she would be canonized through ng'anyet ritual. Therefore, the future nostalgic bliss made the ritual a source of inspiration, confidence and hope in the face of death. The desire to be made an ancestor protected the traditional Nandi from indulging in any immoral behaviour or committing suicide common among the contemporary Nandi. The ritual was a pivot, the meeting point and hinge for the traditional three stages of cyclic life namely: earthly life, life after death, and spiritual rebirth of the dead in the world. The ritual played a critical role in the religious structure of the traditional Nandi. The traditional Nandi were a monotheistic community with believe in God, Asis the creator of both
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