Wife Inheritance in Abamarachi Culture: Challenges of Integration in the Catholic Church

Wife inheritance remains a customary practice in many patriarchal societies of the world and dates back to time immemorial. This custom is linked to socio-cultural norms and assumes various shapes and forms. Among the Abamarachi people of western Kenya, for instance, wife inheritance as part of the indigenous culture, forms part of the belief system that functions in important ways in society. The Catholic Church on the other hand, prohibits this practice on the basis of synonymy with polygamy, and therefore against its teachings. Wife Inheritance in Abamarachi Culture is, therefore, a cultural critique of this highly controversial ideological difference between the Catholic Church doctrine and the Abamarachi community’s indigenous culture. Drawing on practical experiences of the Abamarachi Catholic Church faithful that are also widowed, the book reveals their own conceptions of how to be an Abamarachi widow and a Catholic Church faithful. Wife Inheritance in Abamarachi Culture posits a new place for speaking ‘wife inheritance.’ This book is a vital research output for scholars in indigenous knowledge, cultural, and social, as well as in development and gender studies.