Sexual morality and silence pacts on an island in Cape Verde

the mystery of a grave outside the walls

Abstract

Anyone walking down the southern hillside of the small town of São Filipe, on the Island of Fogo, in Cape Verde, is easily captivated by the strong sense of loneliness conveyed by the grave of a woman buried outside the walls of its cemetery. This article attempts to discover why this woman was buried outside the cemetery, using archival documentation, a survey of the tombstones in the cemetery and interviews with the oldest inhabitants of the town. Analysis of the data gathered raises certain questions and reflections, which are also shared here. The descendants of the families that made up the old socio-political elite of the city, to which this woman belonged, justified the location of the grave of their ancestor as mainly due to overcrowding in the cemetery. Informants from outside these families reported that the location of the grave resulted from the adultery allegedly perpetrated by the woman. The reasons that would have led the burial of a woman from the island’s elite outside the space normally reserved for the dead raises considerations relating to female sexual morality and the socio-racial stratification of the Island of Fogo in the recent past.