Funeral at Iboni

Lohutok, Sudan

When I got to Iboni, a funeral was going on under a tree on a dance floor.  There was a vertical pile of wood in the center of the dance area.  A group of women, the deceased man's mother and other relatives were seated near this.  Men, children and a few women were around the outer edge of the circle.  When I arrived, some women were dancing clockwise around the center.  They were making short hops, all together in time to the music.  They were chanting or singing while dancing.  The music was provided by six drums ranging in size from about four feet high and eighteen inches in diameter on down to one about two feet or less in height.  Someone was also playing a wooden, tube-like instrument about eighteen inches long.  Its sound was between that of a flute and a trumpet.  It was a smooth, deep, resonant sound.  I liked the music and rhythm very much.  The tube-like instrument was played only part of the time.  Most of the time, only the drums played along with some chanting.  At one point, a man with a shield and two spears ran in from behind me.  He ran across the circle and threw one spear into the grass at the edge of the circle.  Then he went around the circle for a while shaking his remaining spear.  At one point, one or two women came up behind him when he was standing still and put handfuls of dust on his head.  Shortly after that, he went away from the circle.  Later, a woman picked up the spear he had thrown and carried it back to him.  I do not know the meanings behind any of these things.  Perhaps the man with spears was chasing evil spirits away.

Later, I asked Michael about funerals.  He said that the songs at funerals may be about evil spirits.  If the deceased died fighting Taposa tribesmen, there may be songs about this.  If he was young, the mother may sing about her boy being taken away.  There may be songs about an ancestor (perhaps a father) coming to take the deceased to be with him.  This indicates the Lotuko have a concept of an afterlife.