Christmas and Black Magic

Southland Times, Issue 21273, 19 December 1930, Page 17

Christmas and Black Magic

Weird Festivities of the African ‘Native

(By

Lt. Com. L. G. Griffiths),

Wherever the white man travels, even into the vast expanse of desert wastes, natives of all religions denominations—or of none — may be seen to celebrate Christmas day according to their own particular traditions and customs. Holly and mistletoe, of course, are not obtainable in tropical regions and, in any event, would convey nothing to them, but the “Yule Log,” although not known as such, plays an important part in some regions, taking the form of a large wood fire around which their rites are practised. One may well laugh at the heathen and native celebrations but, before doing so, offe must remember that our own civilized custom of over-eating originated in the very old days, (jenturies ago, when feasts were given to worship the heathen gods, whilst holly, mistletoe and -the Yule- Log are also of pagan origin having at one time, been looked upon as idols. Yule-Tide “Juju.” It is inconceivable that the raw native in the “bush” can distinguish Christmas Day from any other day, for all he understands is full or new moons, a full moon having considerable effect on his behaviour. We may, therefore, assume that Christmas celebrations are only practised where the white man has been or where semi-civilized' natives, trained by missionaries or employed by Europeans have rejoined their tribes, passing the customs on to their “brothers.” The Juju men or witch doctors have kept them up to it and have altered the rituals to their tastes. In the early hours just before dawn in the tropics of the West Coast of Africa, on Christmas Day, one may hear the howls of agony of slaughtered cattle mingled with the joyous shouts of most members of the native settlement who turn up to witness the ceremony. The various portions of meat they take back to their huts to provide for the orgy to follow. On their way they purchase or barter for fish, rice and yams (a large species of coarse potato). Like Children. Owing to the sweltering heat of the day, the meat and fish is partially cooked before the sun is up in order to preserve it—some, however, do not worry about the freshness. The yam is mashed up and made into balls called “fou fou,” then-the whole lot, fish and meat, is thrown into a pot of water and covered with an ample quantity of palm-oil. The Christmas dinner is then prepared and only requires boiling at the appointed time. Following the customs of the European, they visit each other with greetings, speaking in “pidgin” English (for there are over 160 tribes, each having its own language), and generally they behave like a lot of children until it is time to go to their huts for the orgy now prepared by their womenfolk. Grabbing the Food., Shouts of joy emanate from the settlements as they comriience, with their fingers, grabbing the “tasty” food from the pot around which they all sit. Gradually, however the noise dies down until all is quiet. By that time'they will have over-eaten and Nature will have asserted itself in making them drowsy. So after the feast follows a lengthy siesta. As the sun sinks there will be signs of activity once more. After drinks of palm oil in substantial quantities, preparations are made for the great ceremony of the day, tom-toms, biscuit tins, in fact- anything that will make a noise, are collected by the “musicians.” Broomsticks, branches of trees, discarded spades or shovels, brushes and I

straw mats are sought after by the “dancers.” Very sparsely • clad about th,e loins they set out to the residence of their white “massa” to give him their entertainment. When darkness has set in, the stealthy pad-pad of bare feet can be heard from theverandah where ' the master is enjoying himself. He then sees a number of pitchblack figures squirming along, led by the principal dancer, in a most grotesque fashion. Entertaining "Massa.” A sudden outburst on the tom-toms and improvised musical instruments accompanied by the whole group singing in falsetto a simple dirge reminiscent of a Gregorian chant heralds the commencement of the proceedings. The dancers in a wild frenzy, fall to the ground achieving wonderful feats.of distortion. They their broom-sticks and straw mats while wriggling on the ground in time to the beating of the tomtoms; then, jumping up again, as the time is increased, they career madly all over the place. Should the moon be full, the pitch of excitement to which they work themselves up is incredible. Casualties are plentiful but count for nothing during the frenzy, although, at the close, iodine has to be freely applied and there is a run on the supply of bandages to ’cover up wounds accidentally made with the dancing implements. This continues for about an hour. Then, having collected all the pennies that they think they are likely to obtain, they retire to the native settlement. Fireside Revels. It is then that they observe the ceremony corresponding to our “Yule Log.” A large wood fire is lighted, they discard practically all their clothes and continue native dances around the fire to the beating of tom-toms and shouts, singing (always in falsetto) until they are thoroughly exhausted —and so to bed. Comparing this procedure with our average Christmas, there is but little essential difference. It is just a little more primitive. When in a country with more civilized parts as, for example, the Union of South Africa, the native keep the custom of celebrating Christmas in much-the same way but, shall we say, with a little more refinement. Black Waits. In the larger towns, and even in some of the dorps, groups in fancy dress go round the hotels and larger residences, starting as early as 8.0 a.m. The leading performers, dressed in well-made costumes of many hues ornate and bejewelled, dance most gracefully on stilts which raise them about five feet from the ground while the remainder play banjos, violins, guitars, bones and drums. They sing a song or two and, of course, the hat is passed round. In this way quite a considerable sum is collected (and subsequently, mostly spent on alcohol). After a heavy mid-day meal, which is of a more civilized variety than the one previously described, the majority have an afternoon rest and celebrate the evening by dancing in their own native quarters which are suitably decorated with coloured paperchains,’ flowers and so forth. After all, there is little difference in the fundamental manner in which Christmas is spent all the world over. Civilization is the only governing factor of the degree of refinement practised in the celebrations. (Copyright in all countries; Published by Arrangement with Newspaper Features, Limited.)