Traditional Luhya mourning rituals: A cultural evolutionary approach to understandingcommunity wellbeing, cooperation, cultural transmission, and cultural resilience in aKenyan Indigenous community

Project Overview

Grief after the loss of a loved one is a universal human emotion. Around the world, communities have developed mourning rituals which aim to bring closure to the bereaved while reintegrating them into the fold of the greater community. Indigenous mourning rituals face ongoing threats from globalizing forces, and despite ongoing cultural evolutionary research on the prosocial effects of religion, limited attention has been paid to how mourning rituals foster individual and community wellbeing and resilience. In light of these issues, our project will investigate how globalization has affected the practice and transmission of Indigenous mourning rituals from the Luhya community of western Kenya, and how these mourning rituals can help enhance individual and community wellbeing.

We specifically aim to answer three interrelated questions: a. What is the therapeutic value of Indigenous mourning rituals? b. Do mourning rituals promote cooperation? c. How does participation in mourning rituals contribute to cultural transmission?

These questions will be answered using qualitative and quantitative methods including focus groups, quantitative interviews, behavioral observations, and psychometric tests with traditional healers, Christian leaders, and bereaved adolescents and adults. We will disseminate our findings in peer-reviewed articles and popular op-eds. By involving Christian religious leaders and traditional healers who hold divergent views on the use of mourning rituals during dissemination workshops, we will also create a platform for dialogue, understanding, and resolution. Our research findings will be incorporated into training curricula and policy briefs to promote the valuation of Indigenous practices among Kenyan mental health practitioners. By shedding light on the psychological, spiritual, developmental, and religious value of mourning rituals among Kenyan Luhya, our project will apply cultural evolutionary theory to help redress global north-global south imbalances regarding knowledge production, especially in relation to the identification of mental health issues, symptomatology, and effective therapy.