Chapter V: Barozi Customs (Mikwa)

The customs from infancy to old age and death, of the nation will be given first, and a few peculiar customs of certain tribes will be described afterwards.

_Birth._—A pregnant woman on feeling her confinement near, has a small grass hut built for her at the side of her husband’s house. There she is confined, no male being present, though other married women come to assist. Young women are not allowed to be present. The umbilical cord (kakombo) is cut close to the child’s navel (mukubu) and a piece of string is knotted tightly round the navel to prevent further bleeding. The child is washed with cold water. The mother’s thighs are washed with hot water, grass having been boiled in it previously. The afterbirth is buried by women near by. Certain roots are procured from the forest and soaked in water, the child being washed with this mixture every day for two or three months. The mother remains in the temporary hut for two months, women going every day to help her wash herself and child. After two days the husband may go to see his child but may not sleep there. Certain of the tribes absorbed by the Barozi have a custom that compels a woman, after delivery of a child, to sleep with two other men before returning to her husband. The Barozi themselves do not have this custom. About four months after the birth, if the child lives, conjugal relations are resumed, but if the child dies shortly after birth the mother mourns for a day or so, and directly she has recovered from the effects of giving the child birth, returns to her husband. Twins are not killed, nor are they considered unlucky. A child born deformed is killed, generally by the mother choking it by forcing the breast well into its mouth.

Triplets are very rare and are considered bad. One is killed and two left alive, the reason being that the mother has only two breasts. Children are suckled for nearly eighteen months. If it becomes known that a woman, married or single, has procured abortion, she is taken by the other women of the village and the hair of her head is pulled out by the roots. Nothing is said however, if a woman takes medicine to prevent pregnancy. If a woman gives birth to a still-born child a grass hut is built outside the village and the woman has to live there, day and night, for a month, only women attend her and bring her food, no man will go near the place. When the month is finished, the women bring medicine to wash her with and she is then at liberty to return to the village, but must sleep once with some man other than her husband, before returning to her husband.

Photo by Mrs. Cambell]

Photo by J. Walton, Esq.]

It is considered most unlucky for a woman to become pregnant while still suckling a child, and native tradition holds that the first child will always die, as after the mother becomes pregnant the milk then belongs to the unborn child and the bigger child will not thrive on it. Children are always carried on their mothers’ backs, supported by a skin, until about two years old, after which age, if the journey is any distance, the child is placed astride one shoulder of the father and so carried. A child is never beaten till about two years old and after that chastisement is very mild. At six or seven boys are chastised by father or mother, but girls of the same age are only chastised by their mothers.

_Arrival at the Age of Puberty._—Boys have no initiation ceremony, and circumcision, though practised among one or two of the tribes absorbed by the Barozi, such as the Balunda and Bankoya, is not practised by the Barozi. Girls have a ceremony known as the “Mwalianjo.” Directly a girl has her first periods of menstruation, she immediately goes and hides, if living out on the plains, in an adjacent clump of reeds or, if living near the forest, in the bush near the village. While thus hiding she is not supposed to see or speak to a man or boy, and if one actually approaches through inadvertence, she covers her head with a cloth or skin until he has passed by. Directly her absence from the village is noticed by her contemporaries, the married women go and look for her and stop with her in the bush, singing and dancing. At night after dark, she is brought back to her father’s yard to sleep, but at daybreak she is always hidden again in the bush. This goes on for a month. The women while dancing and singing round the girl beat her with sticks, not severely enough to do damage but hard enough to arouse the tears and lamentations of the novitiate. The married women also show the girl how to receive and how to comport herself during the conjugal embraces of her husband, one woman taking the man’s part for the performance. Much advice is given her how to preserve her husband’s affections. At the end of the month the women take the girl to the nearest water and wash her. One of the elder women then goes and turns the bridegroom out of his house and the girl is then brought and placed in the hut in the blankets, the husband recalled and the newly married pair left. The company then dance and sing all night, drinking and eating largely the while. In the early morning the women take the bride and cut all her hair off, and she is in all senses of the word, a married woman. This “mwalianjo” ceremony was in itself fairly harmless, although possibly a trifle coarse and vulgar from a European point of view, but of later years single girls who had not even arrived at the age of puberty used to attend these ceremonies and join in the obscene jesting that went on, and the married women besides giving good advice, also counsel the bride-to-be never to refuse the overtures of one or more paramours, as well as giving her hints of how best to hide these intrigues from her husband. Very few girls reach the age of puberty without being already bespoken in marriage. Should the bridegroom elect have died just previously or at the time of his wife’s “mwalianjo” ceremony, the girl remains with her father and indulges in fairly promiscuous intercourse with the men and youths of the village, until a suitor turns up and marries her. Virginity is unknown and certainly not demanded.

_Marriage._—As has been shown in the previous paragraph, girls are all bespoken in marriage many years before arriving at a marriageable age, and have, theoretically, very little say in the matter at all; the arrangements being made between suitor and father or mother. The mother’s rights over her daughter are not so powerful as the father’s. A young man arriving at an age when he considers it good to get married, goes to the parents of the girl of his choice (generally before she has arrived at the age of puberty), and asks their consent to his marriage with their daughter. If the parents agree, the suitor gives the girl a necklace of white beads and a blanket. The matter is then left until the girl goes into hiding for her “mwalianjo.” No permission or approval is required from the suitor’s parents, but sometimes a father while his son is still fairly young, will arrange a marriage for him. After the “mwalianjo” is finished, the bridegroom will give presents to his father-in-law and mother-in-law. The presents are generally an ox, a hoe and a wooden dish. The father-in-law on his side gives a shirt and a loin cloth to his son-in-law. The mother-in-law then cooks beer in large quantities and the bridegroom, his friends and relatives, the bride and hers, all drink the beer. The bridegroom also has certain obligations, such as cutting a garden for his wife’s parents and building or helping to build a new house for them. During the performance of these duties the newly married couple live in the wife’s village, eating the food of the wife’s parents, but after performing these duties, the couple return to the husband’s village, returning to visit the wife’s parents occasionally but having their permanent residence at the husband’s village. In case of divorce, the wife returns to her father’s village. No compensation is due from the girl’s parents if she is divorced.

Photo by J. Walton, Esq.]

Photo by Mrs. Cambell]

_Death._—The Barozi bury all their dead with the exception of lepers. Their reason for not burying lepers is the idea that if a leper is buried in the earth the ground will become impregnated with leprosy and everyone will die of that disease. Men and women are buried alike. The eyes of the corpse are closed and the knees bent right up to the chest. The arms are bent at the elbow and the hands placed palm to palm level with the mouth. A blanket is then folded round the body. A rough stretcher is made of poles and the corpse carried on it to the grave. Each district or collection of villages has a common burial place. If possible a corpse is brought to its own burial ground. But this is only done when the person dies within a short distance of his or her home. Corpses are buried the same day as death takes place. Men always act as carriers, irrespective of the sex of the corpse. The corpse is lifted off the bier at the graveside and placed in the grave, on its side, head to the west. The Barozi dig a straight square hole and a mat is placed tent-wise over the corpse. The clothes of the deceased are put in the grave under the mat, as well as a few wooden dishes and pots, the latter being first broken. The mat over the corpse is put there with the idea that no earth shall actually be thrown on the body, although as the sides get filled up, the mat eventually gives way under the weight and the grave thus gets filled up. Some of the burial party stand in the grave at the side, the rest push the earth to the edge of the grave. Those standing in the grave take the loose earth and place it gently all round the edge of the mat covering the corpse, raising themselves on the earth thus placed as the grave gets filled up. After the mat has given way beneath the weight of the earth, the grave is filled up. A mound of earth is placed over the grave and a few more pots and wooden dishes are broken and placed on top. The burial party and mourners then return to the village. On the path outside the village a small fire is made and the whole party, men and women have to leap over the fire as a form of purification. They then assemble at the deceased person’s house and mourn. The mourning lasts for three or four days, and consists of sitting round the deceased’s house and wailing. Cattle are killed, the number being in proportion to the wealth of the deceased, and the meat is eaten during the mourning. After the mourning is finished the whole party wash in special medicines. If the deceased is a man his house is broken down, but if a woman her husband still lives in the house, but the house is plastered afresh before he re-occupies it. No difference is made in the burial of a pregnant woman. The Barozi themselves make no distinction in burying hunters, though the Alunda and Bankoya do. The only people who have separate and special burial grounds amongst the Barozi are those of the blood royal. The less important members have a common burial place, but the paramount Chief and sub-chiefs at Nalolo, Libonda and Sesheke have each a village already built and selected, in the middle of which they will eventually be buried. In former times, many of the reigning chiefs favourite indunas would voluntarily submit to having their arms tied behind their backs and being placed thus bound into a boat which had previously been bored through in several places. The boat was then towed into midstream and sunk. It is also probable that in former days a number of slaves were killed with the deceased chief, but a natural shyness of admitting these things makes them very difficult to prove, while the sanctity as well as fear of approaching burial places of any kind, prevent any sort of exhumation as proof.

Certain of the tribes included in the Barozi, have different customs as regards death and burial, but they are very slightly different and the difference is hardly worthy of comment. The Alunda used to bury on platforms erected in the bush, but now nearly all burials are conducted similarly to those of the Barozi.

The Bankoya, Alunda, Bambalangwe and Balubale bury chiefs and indunas in their huts and, after so doing, generally move their villages a little distance from the old site. Hunters are usually buried outside the village, a short path being cut from the main path to the grave. Poles are stuck round the grave with the skulls of various wild animals on them. These tribes tie a long string to the corpse and keep the end of the string above the top of the grave. The Bambunda place a reed in or close to the ear of the corpse when in the grave, the end protruding above the top of the grave. Witch doctors and others are supposed to learn important secrets from the spirit of the deceased by means of a reed or string communication. Another custom among the Bandundulu is that of “bringing back” those men who stand in the grave placing the earth in it. After the grave has been nearly filled, the oldest woman in the village takes her hoe and places it on the shoulder of one of the men and pulls him out of the grave. Each of the men so employed is treated similarly. The grave is then raised to the necessary height. As far as can be gathered, though it is admitted that there is very little native confirmation, the idea is this: The oldest woman being very old and near to death can therefore get no harm from the dead. So she is chosen to affront the dead by bringing back from the grave, those people who were employed in filling up the grave, and who having entered the grave were as dead or as the property of the dead. The use of the hoe is symbolical of the digging out. The Alunda after a burial do not leap a fire as the Barozi do, but stand at the nearest bifurcation of the path leading to the village, and the oldest woman of the village brings burning sticks and passes them round the burial party. Here again, the employment of an elderly woman near to death and thus immune to the danger of the dead, is noticeable.

Having thus roughly depicted the four chief divisions of the life of the average male or female Murozi, a few points of their daily life as governed by custom will be now described.

Photo by J. Walton, Esq.]

_Work._—A very hard and fast rule is maintained in the division of the day’s work although, as is usual with many native races, the greater portion falls on the female. The axe and the hoe are very emblematic of the different kinds of work for each sex. The man does all wood cutting in preparing a new garden or in building a house, while the woman tills the garden with her hoe, cuts grass for thatching with her hoe and mixes mud for plastering the house with her hoe. So emblematic are these two implements that very light and ornate axes and hoes are made solely for carrying when visiting. The woman does all garnering of grain, though the man builds the frame of the grain bin. Brewing of beer and cooking of food is woman’s work, though young and single men cook their own porridge or employ little boys to do it for them. All mud plastering is done by women though the framework of the house, the building of the reed fence, and the thatching of the house is the man’s portion. Grass cutting is chiefly women’s work, but men often assist at it, reed cutting for fence and hut building is done by both sexes. A woman will fetch loose fire-wood from the bush but will not cut fire-wood down with an axe. All carrying is done by women on their heads but men always carry their loads divided into half, half fastened to each end of a pole which is carried on the shoulder. Women do all the carrying of water required by a household. All cattle herding and milking of cattle is done by men only, but the Barozi cannot give any reason for the custom except that it has always been men’s work. There is a belief that if women enter a cattle kraal, it will bring on an immediate and untimely menstrual discharge, the only women who go near a kraal are therefore very old women or very young children. The most notorious exceptions to the above customs are the Alunda. These people will often admit they are the slaves to their women folk. The average Lunda woman’s daily work is fishing, which they do by wading along the sides of streams, pushing a large wicker basket in front of them. The Alunda men use the hoe as well as the axe, and tend their gardens, grind meal for porridge, plaster their huts and do all the work that is generally supposed by other tribes to be women’s work only. In speaking of the Alunda, it must be remembered that the Alunda living in the Barozi country are only a small portion of the main tribe, the larger portion living in Southern and South-western Congoland. All other tribes under the sway of the Barozi follow the customs depicted above, in the division of labour between the sexes. It will be seen by reference to Chapter IV that women do not share in many of the industries of the country; with the exception of the mat and pot making all other industries are worked by men. This, however, is only fair and just, as it will be seen from the preceding paragraphs that the larger portion of the day’s work certainly falls on the women.

_Salutations._—A great deal of the ceremony of salutations is being killed by civilization. The ordinary forms of greeting differ according to the status of the parties meeting each other. In a country where time was and is very little object, two people of equal status on meeting put down their spears and anything they may be carrying and squat on their heels. Right hands are clasped but not shaken, and a second grip is given after the first one, by closing the hand on the thumb of the proffered hand. This grip is done by both parties simultaneously, and is by no means peculiar to the Barozi, as the Matebele, Basuto, Bechuana and Xosa people all do the same. The Barozi, after completing the grip, clap their hands (kandelela) three times and then converse on various topics. If the parties are related or well-known to one another the two grips are given and then both parties join hands, the right hand of one holding the left hand of the other, and _vice versa_, a kiss is given by each to the palm of his friend’s left hand. If very close relatives meet, besides this they spray each other with spittle. When a person of humble status meets an induna or person of importance, he or she steps off the path and claps (kandelela) until the big person has gone by. The Chief has a special salute for himself, which is also given to any envoy coming direct from him. It consists of every man greeting him by standing up and shouting “Yo sho” at the same time throwing both arms to full extent above the head, this is done three times, then all kneel, clapping their hands three times and shouting “Shangwe” (my father), “Mangwe” (my master), “Mawe” (my mother), this performance is repeated a second time exactly similarly and a third time, when the only difference is that the third time “Yo sho” is said on their knees. When women greet the Chief, they remain seated on the ground and shout “Ya shé” clapping their hands at the same time. These are the actual greetings although when the Chief moves about from one locality to another, large ceremonial dances for men and women take place. The clapping of hands (ku kandelela) is differently performed by the two sexes. Men bring both palms smartly together, the right hand uppermost and at right angles to the other hand. The women close the fingers and arch each hand, making a cup formation of both hands which makes a hollow sound as they clap the concavities together.

Photo by Mrs. Cambell]

A great deal of respect is still shown to elders of both sexes. For instance, several women may be hoeing a garden and during the heat of the day one of the younger ones will go and fetch water in a calabash, or dish, for drinking purposes. On her return should there be other women waiting to drink, the eldest has the first drink, and this is not affected by the ownership of the dish or any other reason, except in the case of an old slave woman and a younger free woman when the free woman drinks first unless the free woman is a girl who has not been through her initiation ceremony when the old slave woman drinks first. Age has seniority, then married before single, maturity before immaturity. On the other hand, at a meeting or assembly, the younger men speak first on the supposition that their council is rashest and of least value, the old grey heads and deep thinkers having the last say. A father commands more respect in many ways than a mother, but there are other reasons for that more than the imagined superiority of sex. Chief amongst them is, that in a country of easy and frequent divorce, the children when able to walk and look after themselves, immediately belong to the father and gradually forget their mothers. But the principle of “respect for age” still has a great effect on the young of either sex, throughout the country. A youthful induna of much importance will still be exceedingly polite to older indunas of much smaller position.

A gift is always received by both hands, and the modern European method of holding out one hand to receive anything whatsoever, is unknown. This custom certainly arises from the idea that as both hands are held up to receive a gift, there can be no possibility of a stab or blow being delivered, as would be quite possible if one hand only was used to receive whatever was passing between two parties.

_Feeding._—No unmarried women will eat eggs, as the belief is that if they eat them they will be barren. Nor will unmarried women eat the flesh of the pelican, because, according to native tradition, the pelican cannot, owing to strength and size of wings and extreme buoyancy, be pulled under and eaten by crocodiles, and if they were to eat its flesh they would not be caught as wives by men. No women may eat the monitor lizard (hopani) though men eat it and it is considered a great delicacy. The reason for this is that monitors look very like snakes, of which women are more frightened than men.

Men, women and children always rinse their hands before eating. This is the more necessary since most foodstuffs are carried from the pot to their mouths by hand. It makes no difference if a man is eating by himself or with company. After the meal the hands are rinsed again and the mouth as well. Men seldom eat with their wives, as a man who does so is jeered at and considered greedy, on the principle that being stronger than his wife he will grab the largest and best portions. Women and children, male or female, eat together, and little boys will eat with little girls, but grown up men practically always eat either by themselves or with men friends. Meals are eaten twice a day regularly, but sometimes more often when food is plentiful. The staple diet is a stiff porridge made of ground flour of manioc (a species of cassava), mealies (maize), red and yellow millet or Kafir corn. A sauce is made of fish, meat, wild spinach or monkey nuts, and the lumps of porridge are dipped in this as detached from the dish. Maize porridge is eaten generally with milk, sweet or sour. Meat and fish are preferred high, but fresh meat and fish are eaten when plentiful. Milk is a very popular form of food, especially in the thick sour form. Many kinds of wild fruit are eaten, as is game when procurable. The Nambove and certain lower classes of the Barozi will eat crocodile, but the better class Barozi turn up their noses at it, as they do at the wild cats which, however, are gladly eaten by the Mambunda. Food is eaten in early morning and towards sundown.

The appearance of the new moon means a general holiday. The day after its appearance no one goes to work at the gardens. In former times the “Ngomalume” and “Liwale” dances were danced in the villages of Nalolo and Lialui (the residences of the two biggest Barozi Chiefs) only, by men and women respectively, but this custom is dying out.

The ploughing and hoeing of a new ant heap is also the occasion (on the day after the ant heap is ploughed) for a holiday. The belief being that if a holiday is not taken the seeds planted in the new garden will die. This custom does not apply to ant heaps that have ever been ploughed before.

Certain tribes under Barozi rule have a custom which refers to the fidelity of their wives, but the Barozi do not make use of this custom. Should a man suspect his wife of infidelity he takes a little ash from the fire and when his wife brings the newly cooked morning food he throws the ash over it and goes out to eat with one of his friends. If the woman happens to be virtuous or, whether virtuous or not, wishes to give the lie to her husband’s suspicions, she shuts herself up in her hut and bewails her lot or sulks, whichever her temperament may lead her to do. If on the other hand, she is unrepentant and reckless, she throws the spoiled food away and goes off and eats with her women friends.

The Barozi themselves have no form of blood brotherhood. They have a custom called “making a friendship” (ku ikeza bulikani). One man calls another to his house and tells him he wishes to be friends with him. If the other party agrees, the first man gives the other a small present. On the return of the second man to his house a return present is sent. This makes the friendship binding. After that if the first man is in trouble or need, he runs to his friend and the friend supplies him if possible, with what he needs or assists him to the best of his ability. Anything a man lets his friend have is a gift, and there is no obligation of returning it or its value, the only obligation that remains is that of help in the event of his friend wanting it. The subordinate tribes have a proper form of blood brotherhood. It is practised amongst men only. The two who wish to make the brotherhood get two cups of beer. Small incisions are made on the chest and a drop or two of blood is squeezed from the incisions into the beer. Each man takes the other’s cup and drinks it, they then swear never to hate each other, never to kill one another should they meet in battle, and never to be angry with one another. It is believed that a man who kills his blood brother will die of leprosy.

Photo by J. Walton, Esq.]

Photo by Mrs. Cambell]

There is a marriage custom that exists among certain of the subordinate tribes in Baroziland. When a woman is pregnant a man, generally an acquaintance of hers or of her husband, will go up to her and place his hand on her stomach, at the same time addressing his remarks to the unborn child: “You within, if you are a woman, shall be my wife, but if you are a man, you shall be my friend.” When the woman is delivered this prophecy is carried out. There is, however, no record of what would happen if there were twins. This custom is probably learnt from the Batoka, but the Barozi do not practise it.

Another custom, also existing among certain of the subordinate tribes, is the obligation of a man to give a younger sister or cousin to his son-in-law, should the son-in-law’s wife die or be childless. But if it is only a case of sterility the elder woman returns home to her father, as the marriage of two sisters to one man at the same time is not tolerated.