| Summary: | After the death of a widely respected spirit medium and professional healer in eastern Uganda, a bereft community gathered to beat nswezi drums and sing lamentations around her grave. To them, the late Lukowe Bibireka Kotilida had been a mother, sister, wife, colleague, healer, midwife, and friend. To her ancestors and other patron spirits, Lukowe served as an important organizer of sacrifices and praises for blessings conferred on her community. Her death obligated her mourners to seek social and spiritual consensus on how to address these logistical and spiritual responsibilities anew. Based on field research in 2010 and 2015 in Lukowe's home village, Irondo, Uganda, this documentary examines songs of mourning that offer insight about local conceptions of illness, wellness, community, and spirituality. A protracted set of post-mortuary rites called okwabya olumbe or "bursting death" helps clarify what it means for a person--fed for her entire life by the land she cultivated--to be "eaten" by that very same land and to "feed" her survivors through the proximity of her burial site to their staple food crops. The potent symbolism of songs commemorating Lukowe's burial in her family banana grove highlight the complexities of her life and work, of how her people regard illness and wellness, and of her community's misfortunes and blessings. These performances reflect tragic loss, but they also generate enormous joy when the patron spirits respond favorably to the community's sacrifices.
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