kosovohp Tue Oct 26, 2010 1:01 amEvery Swazi may take part in the public parts of the Incwala. The climax of the event is the fourth day of the Big Incwala. The key figures are the King, Queen Mother, royal wives and children, the royal governors (indunas), the chiefs, the regiments, and the "bemanti" or "water people".
Swaziland's most well-known cultural event is the annual Reed Dance. In the eight day ceremony, girls cut reeds and present them to the queen mother and then dance. (There is no formal competition.) It is done in late August or early September. Only childless, unmarried girls can take part. The aims of the ceremony are to preserve girls' chastity, provide tribute labour for the Queen mother, and to encourage solidarity by working together. The royal family appoints a commoner maiden to be "induna" (captain) of the girls and she announces over the radio the dates of the ceremony. She will be an expert dancer and knowledgeable on royal protocol. One of the King's daughters will be her counterpart.
Today's Reed Dance is not an ancient ceremony, but developed out of the old "umchwasho" custom. In "umchwasho", all young girls were placed in a female age-regiment. If any girl fell pregnant outside of marriage, her family paid a fine of one cow to the local chief. After a number of years, when the girls had reached a marriageable age, they would perform labour service for the Queen Mother, ending with dancing and feasting. The country was under the chastity rite of "umchwasho" until 19 August 2005. This interpretation of "umchwasho" conflicts deeply with the common requirement of girls to be demonstrably fertile prior to marriage. Very young girls will usually have a child out of wedlock as proof of fertility. The child often is the offspring of the girl's intended, but when there seems to be no success there and the man's fertility is secretly questioned, the girl may go to a relative of the man's or even her own to demonstrate her fertility. This is a very closely guarded secret held by only those directly involved and the groom will never discover the secret. The child becomes the property of the girls father. And after the marriage prior to which the groom pays a specified dowry, the groom may then redeem his child from the father through an agreed compensation.
Steroids
god coincidence
Swaziland's most well-known cultural event is the annual Reed Dance. In the eight day ceremony, girls cut reeds and present them to the queen mother and then dance. (There is no formal competition.) It is done in late August or early September. Only childless, unmarried girls can take part. The aims of the ceremony are to preserve girls' chastity, provide tribute labour for the Queen mother, and to encourage solidarity by working together. The royal family appoints a commoner maiden to be "induna" (captain) of the girls and she announces over the radio the dates of the ceremony. She will be an expert dancer and knowledgeable on royal protocol. One of the King's daughters will be her counterpart.
Today's Reed Dance is not an ancient ceremony, but developed out of the old "umchwasho" custom. In "umchwasho", all young girls were placed in a female age-regiment. If any girl fell pregnant outside of marriage, her family paid a fine of one cow to the local chief. After a number of years, when the girls had reached a marriageable age, they would perform labour service for the Queen Mother, ending with dancing and feasting. The country was under the chastity rite of "umchwasho" until 19 August 2005. This interpretation of "umchwasho" conflicts deeply with the common requirement of girls to be demonstrably fertile prior to marriage. Very young girls will usually have a child out of wedlock as proof of fertility. The child often is the offspring of the girl's intended, but when there seems to be no success there and the man's fertility is secretly questioned, the girl may go to a relative of the man's or even her own to demonstrate her fertility. This is a very closely guarded secret held by only those directly involved and the groom will never discover the secret. The child becomes the property of the girls father. And after the marriage prior to which the groom pays a specified dowry, the groom may then redeem his child from the father through an agreed compensation.
Steroids
god coincidence
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