African Traditions
Reverence for the dead in African culture involves
the deceased members of a community who are
still remembered by name. As generations come
and go, and memory fades, the long-dead members
of the community are replaced by the more recently
deceased. So the ongoing community of the
"living dead" consists of ancestors who are recalled
in the minds of the living.
African funeral rituals prepare the dead to enter
the abode of the ancestors. Mourners may
give messages to the deceased to take to the other
side. The traditional African concept of the
afterlife reflects a "this world orientation."
Kwasi Wiredu says. "The land of the dead is
geographically similar to our own, its population
is rather like us."
It can be said that for Africans, life is afterlife.
Dogon
Culture
African
ritual funeral music