QUEEN NAMUNYALA, [FUNERAL SONG]

Uganda, Lusamia
Queen Namunyala lives in a small village in Eastern Uganda, near the border with Kenya. At the
time of recording this piece in 1988 she gave her age as fifty-two. A widow with no formal education,
Namunyala is a funeral singer who leads and manages her own singing group. She performs with the
group and composes all of its songs, many of which are recorded live at funerals. …

Singing at funerals is a widespread practice among the Baluhya community, of which the Basamia,
Namunyala’s people, are a subgroup, living on both sides of the Kenya-Uganda border. The singers
perform not only dirges, but also topical songs about life and its many trials. The songs are original
compositions, written in response to a specific death and referring to a particular individual, family, and
community. The main intention of the performances is both to console the bereaved and other mourners
and to help pass the long hours of the communal wake, which is a necessary part of the funeral rites.
…
Austin Bukenya and Jackee Budesta
Batanda

The Language of Healers

The disease that attacked my mother came like
this; The disease that attacked my mother
came like this: Fellow Basamia, the disease
that came without warning Attacked my
mother in the head and the chest.

I took her to the health center at

Buyinja, And saw a doctor called
Badru.
Badru examined her
And told me to take her to the health
center At Lutolo.

On arrival at the health center at

Lutolo, We saw a doctor called
Ojiambo.
Ojiambo examined her
And he told us to take her to the health
center At Nambwere.

When we got to the health center at

Nambwere, A doctor called Syambi
examined her
And told us that she had a bad infection in the chest.
Then he said we should take her to the
health center At Lumino.

When we got to the health center at

Lumino, A doctor called Nambogo
examined her
And also told us that my mother’s chest was badly
infected. And he also told us to take her to the
health center
At Masafu.

When we arrived at the health center at

Masafu, We found there a doctor called
Mulijo.
Mulijo examined her.
He told us that my mother’s chest was in a
sorry state. He too advised us to take her to
Dabani Hospital.

When we got to Dabani

Hospital, The doctors
examined her,
And they told us that my mother’s
ailment Required traditional
medicine.

On that advice I took my mother

home, And from home I picked
up
Two thousand Uganda shillings
And gave them to the traditional
healer. The traditional healer told
me
That it was evil spirits afflicting my mother.

So we had to slaughter a fowl for

Were [God] And another fowl for his
friend.
But the sickness was getting worse.

While we were there,

More traditional healers came with bombo
herbs. Others came with other herbs, and
banana leaves, On which they made my
mother sit.

Eeeeeee, eeeeeee, eeeeeee, sara sara.

Knock, knock, water.
We have chased them
away. Power, power.

Let me tell you about the tongues of

diviners; Let me tell you about the
language of diviners: We call them
drug-addicted crooks.
They twist words around.

They distort words in order to

confuse us, And take our money
While the disease
spreads. They do not
cure any disease.
Translated by Jackee Budesta Batanda