Denis Gathanju befriends East Africa's most feared community
They are amongst the most feared communities in Tanzania. They proudly cling to the title of the only community feared by the combative Maasai community. Though they are some of the minority communities in Tanzania, numbering about 80,000, they are well known amongst many Tanzanians, popular, perhaps due to their war skills. Tales are regaled across Tanzania about this community's hostility to outsiders and thus, they have remained locked out to the rest of the world.
They resemble the Maasai people and, like the Maasai, hold dear to their rich cultural heritage that includes pastrolism, female genital mutilation amongst many. But the similarity between the two tribes goes only that far. They speak one of the most difficult dialects in East and Central Africa, a dialect that is somewhat close to Somali language, yet it also sounds like Amharic spoken in Ethiopia. But while all this is interesting, they hold yet another cultural secret that has remained unknown to the outside world for many years. This cultural tradition puts them at par with the traditions of the ancient Egyptians who mummifies their Pharaohs. While this East African community comes nowhere close to the ancient Egyptian civilization and the Egyptian Pharaohs, its draws a parallel to ancient Egypt in that they have mummified their tribal chiefs for centuries, and they still do.
So, who are these people? You might ask.
Barbaigs. That's who they are.
The Bung'enda: Mummifying a Barbaig tribal chief
I had been commissioned by East Africa's premier travel magazine Twende to write a feature on the mummification ceremony that is practiced by these tribal outfit that has for many years remained locked to the outside world. I became one of the first foreign journalists to be welcomed into the Bung'enda ceremony that involves the mummification of a dead tribal chief. The Barbaigs do not allow foreigners or even women from their own community to witness this sacred and often secretive ceremony that lasts for up to six months.
Apart from cultural chiefs who are honored with a Bung'enda, the tribal elders can decide to honor their heroes with a Bung'enda ceremony once they die. Women are never accorded this rare feat.
It is however, almost impossible to witness the initial stages of the mummification process. The Barbaigs do not take their dead to the morgues, in fact there are few, if any, within this remote part of north-western Tanzania. The mummification ceremony, therefore, has to be conducted within the first eight hours, at most, of the death of a tribal chief. The process includes undressing the dead body and cleansing it with animal fat. A bull is then suffocated to death - no blood spillage, whatsoever, is allowed during such solemn times. The dead bull is then skinned and the body of the fallen tribal chief is carefully wrapped and stitched to the bull's skin.
Once this is done, the tribal chief is lowered into a sitting position at the base of a circular grave. The tribal chief has to remain seated facing east, the direction of the rising sun, apparantly to pray for blessings from the gods of the tribe to bless his family and community with pasture and an increase in their cattle population.
The entire feature was set to be published in the May edition of Twende Magazine, but after the collapse of East African Magazines, the publishers of Twende Magazine, it meant that the feature would not be available as was previously thought. However, you can read the entire feature on my website and get an in-depth insight into the this ancient, but unique cultural tradition of the Barbaigs.