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Chapter 1 Human Sacrifice and the Supernatural in African History: An Overview In African historical studies the practice of human sacrifice remains largely unexplored on its own merit even though the practice has a long history on the continent as it does in other parts of the world. In 2010, an online search by the author in the World Catalogue brought up three hundred and thirteen entries under the title “human sacrifice in Africa”. However, most of the entries had no direct relevance to the subject; these included entries such as “The beasts of Tarzan”, “Global terrorism”, “The Phoenicians”, “The adventures of Hercules”, andthe“AnthologyofmusicofblackAfrica.”IntheWorldCataloguetherearea few short papers on human sacrifice in scholarly journals.1 Besides these journal articles, only two books by Luc de Heusch2 and Richard Hoskins3 provide some in-depth treatment of human sacrifice in Africa. A few theses and dissertations have also been presented at theological seminaries; and universities in South Africa, Western Europe and North America.4 1 The following list is a representative sample: Law, Robin, “Human Sacrifice in Pre-colonial West Africa,” African Affairs, vol. 84 (1985): 53–87; Williams, Clifford, “Asante: Human Sacrifice or Capital Punishment? An Assessment of the Period 1807–1874,” International Journal of African Historical Studies, vol. 21, no. 3 (1988): 433–441; Wilks, Ivor, “Asante: Human Sacrifice or Capital Punishment? A Rejoinder,” International Journal of African Historical Studies, vol. 21, no. 3 (1988): 443–452; Baum, R. M. “Crimes of the dream world: French trials of Diola witches in colonial Senegal,” International Journal of African Historical Studies, vol. 37, no. 2 (2004): 201–228. 2 Heusch, Luc de, Sacrifice in Africa: a structuralist approach (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1985). 3 Hoskins, Richard, Sacrifice: journey to the heart of darkness (London: Little, Brown, 2005). 4 Thefollowinglistisarepresentativesample:Mngadi,ChristopherS.“ThesignificanceofbloodintheOld Testament sacrifices and its relevance for the church in Africa,” Thesis (M.A.), University of South Africa, 1981; Freeman, Harvey H. “Blood in West African rituals,” Thesis (M. A.), State University College, New Paltz, N.Y., 1973; Adebola, Simeon O. M. “The institution of human sacrifice in Africa and its analogies in the biblical literature,” Thesis (Doctoral), University of Aberdeen, 1984; Ngewa, Samuel M. “The biblical idea of substitution versus the idea of substitution in African traditional sacrifices: a case study of hermeneutics for African Christian theology,” (Thesis (PhD), Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, PA, 1987; Barrett, Anthony, “Sacrifice and prophecy in Turkana cosmology,” Thesis (PhD), University of Chicago, Department of Anthropology, March 1989; 2 Human Sacrifice and the Supernatural in African History The dearth of historical studies about human sacrifice in African history is one of those perplexing “silences” which even Jacques Depelchin ignored to mention in his book entitled Silences in African History.5 As someone born and raised in the Democratic Republic of Congo (hereafter DRC). Depelchin ought to be conversant with the subject because human sacrifice was until quite recently practiced in several DRC cultures. Be that as it may, academic “silence” on the subject suggests that Africanists are uncomfortable and have been reluctant to discuss the practice of human sacrifice in African history.6 The present author concurs with Barbara Ehrenreich regarding the reasons why Africanists have shied away from scholarly examination of human sacrifice in Africa. What Ehrenreich says about the matter is worth quoting at length: Until a few years ago, scholarly opinion tended to see human sacrifice as an anthropologicaloddity,ifnotafigmentofoverheatedimaginations.Modern people’s distaste for the practice has often impeded objective investigation. On the one hand, there was no doubt a tendency for Europeans to attribute human sacrifice to subjugated peoples in order to discredit their cultures… . On the other hand, scholars themselves have often been too prone to overcorrect for past imperialist distortions by denying or ignoring the evidence for human sacrifice, in both the ancient as well as the modern world. They have tended to file human sacrifice, along with cannibalism, under the category of sensationalism and intercultural slander.7 However, given the evidence at hand such denial or the endeavor to downplay the significance of human sacrifice in African history is untenable.8 Also lamentable is the fact that despite the ubiquity of daily African offerings and periodic sacrifices either for the preservation of health; for the propitiation of some vengeful nature-spirit; or for the appeasement of ancestral spirits the Church has never given much attention, if any, to these beliefs and practices. Kasirye-Musoke, Alex B. “Ritual sacrifice among the Baganda: its meaning and implication...

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