Pre- and Post-Colonial Encounters of Hygiene in Burial Rituals in Siraya Indigenous People’s House in Asia and the Evil Forest in West Africa

This study aims to explore how "unhealthy" burial practices in Siraya Indigenous People’s house in Asia and the 'evil forest' in West Africa generated concerns among missionaries, as well as the measures that were implemented to alter such practices in colonial Formosa and West Africa. We are particularly interested in the public health concerns arising from the improper handling of bodies during outbreaks of diseases and how colonial authorities implemented policies to address the situation.

In pre-colonial Formosa (now Taiwan), particularly within the Siraya Indigenous People in southwest Taiwan, burial rituals were categorised into “exterior burial” and “interior burial” within their houses. Due to public health concerns raised by Dutch missionaries, it was suggested that both burial sites be relocated collectively to the public cemetery.

In pre-colonial West Africa, especially in Ghana and Nigeria, the bodies of individuals who succumbed to diseases deemed evil, such as leprosy and smallpox, were buried without proper death rituals in what was classified as the “evil forest.” Bodies infected with highly contagious, disfiguring, and lethal viruses capable of decimating entire populations were discarded in this location.

The study argues that the interventions made by colonial authorities regarding these practices had far-reaching positive effects on contemporary burial customs in the societies we examine, particularly in Taiwan, Ghana, and Nigeria.