IFRA Seminar – Burying the dead: A Missionary and Colonial Obsession against Meru Practices of Corpse Exposure, 1910-1940s

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By IFRA Nairobi · Published 13/02/2026 · Updated 20/02/2026

Date de publication:

02 Mars 2026

Publié ici :

02 Mars 2026

Mis à jour le :

02 Mars 2026

Domaines:

Recherche et chercheurs

Langue de publication:

Anglais

Zone géographique:

Afrique

On 18 February, Julie Maestri, a PhD student in History at Aix-Marseille University, gave an illuminating talk entitled ‘Burying the Dead’: A Missionary and Colonial Obsession against Meru Practices of Corpse Exposure, 1910-1940s’.

Her presentation shed light on burial rituals among the Meru, and how corpses were handled before and after the arrival of the missionaries. It was a common practice in much of East Africa in pre-colonial times to abandon most deceased bodies in the bush for scavengers. Only ‘accomplished’ men and women were given a burial. ‘Accomplishment’ was achieved when a man initiates all his children, handing over political power to the next age set, earning the title ‘mwariki’. However, when the missionaries arrived in the Meru region, they intended to write off this ritual, and encourage burying the dead in its place. This resulted in growing tensions between the Meru and missionaries, especially when the Local Native Council (LNC) of the Meru passed the resolution to ban corpse exposure in 1934.

This guides the following questions: to what extent did missionaries influence mortuary practices and to what extent it depended on colonial policy?

Thank you to Dr. Paul Muiru, for being a discussant during this event, and to all attendees.

IFRA Nairobi (February 13, 2026). IFRA Seminar – Burying the dead: A Missionary and Colonial Obsession against Meru Practices of Corpse Exposure, 1910-1940s. IFRA Nairobi. Retrieved March 1, 2026 from https://doi.org/10.58079/15oqq

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