A ZULU MARRIAGE

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 4324, 27 July 1937, Page 7

A ZULU MARRIAGE

STRICT BUSINESS BASIS NATIVE LOVE OF CEREMONY The love of ceremony at a wedding is universal (says a writer in the Melbourne ‘ Age’). For many months before the wedding the European bride anxiously prepares her trousseau and arranges her retinue. But the Zulu bride prepares not for months, but for years. As soon as she has reached a marriageable age she smears her body with ochre and works hard in the fields to prove to the admiring eyes of the menfolk of the village that she is not only comely, but industrious. And as she works she dreams of the future wedding festivities, which to a Zulu means not one ceremony, but at least three.

First comes the betrothal. But before this can take place the bridegroom must have won the heart of his bride. Only the most hardened Don Juan, such as a man who has many other wives, will do his own courting. Most of them prefer to send ambassadors. And the best ambassador, the Zulu warrior holds, is a sister, because “ a girl can go with her all day long, walk with her and lie on the mat by her, eat out of the same bowl, and whisper between mouthfuls the name of the man, speaking ever of him, how good he is, how gentle, and how true, how worthy of her love —yes, best of all is the woman ambassador.” But the Zulu girl is not to be won by honeyed words alone. Her choice is always determined by deliberate utilitarian motives. The attributes she looks for are strength, courage, and endurance —attributes of definite economic value. Her brothers, uncles, father, and mother will all solemmy confer upon the qualities of the suitor, and will devise the severest tests to prove them. But an aspirant seldom fails in this respect. The Zulus have alwavs been a warlike race, and they have'’ the finest physique of any native race in South Africa. No Zulu attempts to marry until he has the necessary “ lobola ” to pay for his bride. As Zulu women do most of the work in the fields, in addition to their work in the home, the marriage of a daughter means the loss of a skilled labourer to her parents. Therefore they demand compensation in the form of cattle—the Zulu’s insignia of wealth —the number depending upon their daughter’s rank and working capacity. Romantic love as in our civilisation, bound up with the ideals of monogamy and “ home ’’ and “ companionship,” play no part in a Zulu marriage. To the Zulus a wedding is a business transaction, an exchange of property. When the girl has shown that her suitor pleases her, and her parents have discussed with his parents the amount of “ lobola,” the betrothal ceremonies can only then commence. First the bridegroom and his friends must visit the bride’s parents. They will signify their arrival by loud coughing and then refuse to enter the hut until repeatedly beseeched to do so. They will not sit down or eat anything until their hosts have almost worn themselves out with their insistent efforts to prove the warmth of their welcome and hospitality. The young men spend the night in the hut, and the following day they are royally entertained by the young girls of the village, in the evening they begin their leave-taking, but, after further prolonged beseeching, consent to stay another night. On the third day they go away, accompanied part of the way by the bride and her friends. After a fortnight it is the girl’s turn to visit the bridegroom’s parents, and the whole ceremony is repeated in detail. The second part of the marriage festivities consists of the “ lobola ” feast. The bridegroom and his friends once more go to the home of his future parents-in-law, but though his bride is not there to receive him, all her family is assembled to make sure that he has brought the number of cattle agreed upon. The following day celebrations commence, and native beer (prepared from fermented maize) is consumed in great quantities. The lobola feast over, preparations for the wedding proper are made. The bride and bridegroom each compose a song, both words and music, which their friends must all practice together to the accompaniment of much dancing and wild leaping. On the morning of the day fixed for the wedding the bride’s father sends a message to the bridegroom that a hut must be prepared for the arrival of his daughter with her bridesmaids, family, and friends. The coining of the party < is announced by loud singing and clapping. The whole night they sing and talk in the hut prepared for them. At dawn they move to the shade of a neighbouring tree and spend the morning in joyous feasting, meat and beer being sent to them from the bride’s future home. All this time the bridegroom keeps out of sight, but he repeated y sends messages to the bride bidding her to come to him. Only after 20 or 30 messengers have come does she prepare to obey her future lord. Her bridgesmaids help her dress in her bridal array—a new skirt of ox hide well greased, white oxtails on her arms and wrists, gay beads round her neeik, a. fringed leopard skin over her shoulders, and wild turkey feathers standing upright on both sides of her head. They also don their own new finery of beaded girdles, anklets, and necklaces. Then everyone sets off for the bridegroom’s hut in solid formation, the bride well concealed in their midst. At the gate the crowd suddenly falls back to reveal the bride in all her glory. At the meeting of the couple much bantering takes place between the bridal party and the bridegroom and bis friends. The bridegroom, too, is finely clad. He wears a handsome kilt made of cowhide. Round his waist is a rdrclle of leopard skin. His arms and legs are adorned with oxtails and monkey skin. On his forehead is a tuft of pretty feathers, a longer one on the top of his head. In one hand he carries a knobkerrie (long-handled club) and in the other a specially decorated cowhide shield. His appearance excites great admiration, particularly when he and all his escort sing their special song. The bridal party reply with their song. After the singing comes dancing, the old women of both parties flourish-

ing maize cobs for luck as they dance. Alternately dancing and singing—but generally doing both simultaneously—the festivities last for two days. On the third comes the final part of the ceremony. The bride has to simulate a desire to go home. If she succeeds in getting away her husband must pay another ox or cow to get her back, thus adding to the lobola, and the wedding ceremony must he repeated! The Zulu bride makes no vows to cherish and obey. She knows what is expected of her. Only if she is a first wife will her husband show her his devotion. As with almost all primitive races, the attitude of the husband is very matter of fact after marriage, if the bride was formerly a widow she will be happy enough to have found a husband at all, for the Zulus consider that after remarriage the widow is for ever haunted by the shadow of her first husband. The attitude of the wife is invariably one of intense loyalty. A certain Zulu potentate has numerous wives, whom he uses as pillows and foot stools. Yet they all .vie for the honour of being so employed, and, rejoicing when, he rejoices, join wholeheartedly in the numerous ceremonies of his new marriages. How aghast the Zulus would be at the thought of a registry-office marriage!