Kaffir (Xhosa) Folk-Lore, by George McCall Theal, [1886], at sacred-texts.com
THE STORY OF FIVE HEADS.
In this story some liberty is taken with the Kaffir marriage ceremonies, a description of which will serve as a key to much that is contained in several of these tales. The wholc of the ceremonies are included in the term umdudo, a word. (derived from the verb ukudada, which means to dance by spinning up and down, as ukuxentsa means to dance by moving the upper part of the body. The dance at a marriage is considered of more importance than any of the others, and is therefore frequently practised until skill in its performance is attained.
The marriage of a young Kaffir woman is arrange by her father or guardian, and she is not legally supposed to be consulted in the choice of a husband. In point of fact, however, matches arising from mutual love are not uncommon. In such cases, if any difficulties are raised by the guardians on either side, the young people do not scruple to run away together, after which their relatives usually come to an arrangment. Yet instances are not wanting of girls being compelled against their wishes to marry old men, who have already perhaps five or six wives. Kaffir ideas of some kinds of morality are very low. The custom is general for a marricd woman to have a lover who is not her husband, and little or no disgrace attaches to her on this account. The lover is legally subject to a fine of no great amount, and the husband may give the woman a beating, but that finishes the penalty.
That which makes a Kaffir marriage binding in their estimation, is not the performance of a ceremony, but the transfer of a certain number of cattle, as agreed upon, from the husband or his friends to the father or guardian of the woman. In practice the umdudo is often deferred to a convenient season, yet the woman is considered not less a wife, and her children not less legal, provided always that the transfer of cattle has taken place according to agreement. This system of transfer of cattle is of great advantage to a Kaffir female. It protects her from gross ill-treatment by her husband, as violence gives a woman's relatives a right to claim her divorce without restoring the cattle. It creates protectors for herself and her children in the persons of all the.individuals among whom the cattle are shared. And lastly, it gives her the status of a married woman in the estimation of her people, whereas, if no cattle are transferred, she is not regarded by them as having the rank of a wife.
Marriages are absolutely prohibited between people of the same family title. This peculiarity seems to indicate that the tribes and clans of the present day are combinations of others that were dispersed before their traditional history commenced. A man may marry a woman of the same clan that he belongs to, provided she is not a blood relative; but he may not marry a woman whose father's family title is the same as his own, even though no relationship can be traced between them, and the one may belong to the Xosa and the other to the Pondo tribe. As an instance, we will take a man who belongs to, say, the Dushane clan of the Xosa tribe, and whose family title is the Amanywabe. Among the Tembus, the Pondos, the Zulus, and many other tribes, are people with this same family title. They cannot trace any relationship with each other, but wherever they are found they have ceremonies peculiar to themselves. Thus the customs observed at the birth of a child are exactly the same in every part of the country among people of the same family title, though they may never have heard of each other, while neighbours of the same clan, but of different family titles, have these customs altogether dissimilar. All the children take the family title of the father, and can thus marry people of the same family title as the mother, provided they are not closely related in blood.
Marriage proposals may come from the father or guardian of the young woman, or they may first be made by the man himself or the relatives of the man who wishes to take a wife. The father of a young man frequently selects a bride for him, and intimates his wish by sending a messenger to make proposals to the girl's father or guardian. In this case the mes, senger takes some cattle with him, when, if the advances are favourably received, an assagai is sent back, after which the relatives of the young people discuss and finally arrange the terms of the marriage. If the proposal comes from the girl's father, he sends an assagai, which is accepted if the suit is agreeable, or returned if it is not.
When the preliminary arrangements are concluded, a bridal procession is formed at the young woman's kraal, to escort her to her future home. It consists of her relatives and all the young people of both sexes who can get away. It leaves at such a time as to arrive at its destination after dark, and endeavours to reach the place without attracting notice. The bridal party takes with it a cow, given by the bride's father or guardian to confer fortune upon her, and hence called the Inqakwe. This cow is afterwards well taken care of by the husband. The party has also an ox provided by the same person, as his contribution towards the marriage feast. On the following morning at daylight the ox is killed, when a portion of the meat is taken by the bride's party, and the reinaincler is left for the people of the kraal. The bridegroom's friends then send messengers to invite the people of the neighbourhood to the feast, and as soon as these arrive the dancing commences.
In the dance the men stand in lines three, four, or more rows in depth, according to their number, and at a little distance behind the women stand in the same order, that is, they are ranged as follows:
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LINES
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OF
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MEN
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OPEN SPACE
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LINES
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OF
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WOMEN
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The men stand with their heads erect and their arms locked together. They are nearly naked, but wear ornaments of brass around their waists. The trappings of the war dance are altogether wanting. The women are, however, in full dress, for their part consists only in singing. When all are ready, a man who has been selected for the purpose commences to sing, the others immediately join in, and at a certain note the whole of the men rise togethcr from the ground. The dance consists merely in springing straight up and coming down with a quivering of the body but when the men warm to it, it gives them great satisfaction. The song is very monotonous, the same note occurring at every rise from the ground. This dancing, with intervals of rest and feasting, continues as long as the bridegroom's relatives supply oxen for slaughter. A day suffices for a poor man, but a rich man's marriage festivities may last a week or upwards.
On the closing day the bridegroom and his friends march from one hut, while the bride and her party march frorn another, so as to meet in front of the entrance to the cattle kraal. The bride carries an assagai in her hand, which she throws so as to stick in the ground inside the kraal in an upright position. This is the last of the ceremonies, and the guests immediately begin to disperse, each inan taking home the milk-sack which he had brought with him. In olden times ox-races usually took place on the closing day; but this custom is now falling into neglect