adminCultural Heritage, Phathisa Nyathi
LAST week’s article delved into the idea of inhloko as being a beef cut reserved for men who socially and culturally were heads of families. This was a clear case where food consumption is seen as expressing something about the culture of community in which it is practiced. A head is anatomically either ahead or above the rest of body parts. In human beings the head, ikhanda, is above the torso and limbs. In four-legged animals it is ahead or in front of other body parts.
As we saw in the last instalment, consumption of inhloko symbolised masculinity. The patrilineal was used to reckon an individual’s descent. Children were considered as belonging to their father and were entitled to his inheritance. Where the father was a chief or king there were succession rules which determined who, among the late father’s male children, inherited the reins of power. It was a man’s world.
Natural phenomena such as anatomy were applied to the social realm and given parallel meaning. In this case women were relegated to another body part which was symbolised by their social and cultural status. We do see them being symbolised through the chest of a beast. In terms of beef cuts that was ingiklane or ukanethwa. That beef cut was the sole preserve for women.
The human anatomy shows the chest as located below the head. In geographical settlement terms the capital town was regarded as the head, being above all other settlements. In topographical terms the section of the Royal Enclosure, isigodlo, where the king lived was the highest. Further, it was on the right hand side, when one stands looking inside the settlement.
This was certainly the case at KoBulawayo (Enyokeni/Entenjaneni) where King Lobengula Khumalo lived between 1870 and 1881. The same applied to his second KoBulawayo (Esagogwaneni/Emahlabathini), 1881-1893.
The king, as head of society, lived at the head town. The chest, being below the head, was lower. That was the beef cut reserved for women. What is important is the explanation why women were allocated the chest as their cut. Some cultural reality was being expressed. What reality was that? The beef cut being referred to here was the underside of a beast, like the belly. When it rained, that part of a beast was shielded from rain. Yinyama enganethwa lizulu, hence its name, ukanethwa.
When a bride left her father’s home, she passed through the cattle pen. She entered the pen through the entrance, isango or impundu. When she left the byre, her hand being held by either her father of brother, a small hole was made through the cattle pen’s stockade. Her father or brother presented her with a knife which she was going to use to cut up the chest, ingqamu yokuqhaza izifuba. This was done by the most senior wife when she shared the chest meat among her fellow wives, abanawakhe. It was usually not known if she was going to end up a senior wife. So, she was given one just in case!
Ndebele society practiced polygamy. Well-to-do men had means to marry several wives. Their capacity to pay amalobolo was indicated by the size of their herds. The several wives were all coming for the single husband. No woman, in normal circumstances, got into a marriage on account of their relationship with another woman already married to their prospective husband.
This idea was expressed through the IsiNdebele expression, imithanyelo kayithanyelelani; one wife’s broom does not sweep the precincts of other women. A broom was a territorial marker in terms of areas or spaces set aside for each wife. Each demarcated area was referred to as iguma and was marked off by reeds or similar materials.
Where a woman failed to produce, her people sent a brother’s daughter to raise seed for her. The niece who is a surrogate wife is known as inhlanzi. Sometimes a similar arrangement was made when a wife was old and had been productive — wazala waqeda ithumbu. She is no longer particularly keen on engaging in sexual intercourse — kasafuni ukunyikinywa. The niece or surrogate wife in this case is referred to as imbokodo.
The one thing that a husband did not like at his home was conflict or quarrel among his several wives. Petty jealousies sometimes degenerated into wrangles, bickering and clashes. Quite often that happened when some wives failed to keep secrets or relayed secrets to outsiders who fanned misunderstandings and conflict. Sometimes the husband fuelled these fights and disagreements by showing favouritism. A good example was when a man sought services of a poncho designer to make the coveted apparel for one of his wives. The garment was referred to as ingubhamazwi or impoliyana. The name ingubhamazwi is apt; it generated jealousy from other wives. Amazwi is a word that refers to petty jealousies or quarrels. The apparel was beautifully designed, crafted and embellished.
There is an Ndebele proverb which says, “Isifuba sakhe sakhatshwa lidube.” This translates to one whose chest was kicked by a zebra. That is the literal meaning. Figuratively, it refers to one who can’t keep secrets. The thinking is that the chest is the ‘‘box’’ where secrets are deposited and safely kept. A woman, if she is to avoid causing strife and quarrels within a man’s home, was expected to keep a lot of secrets and ill-feelings within her chest/box.
Appropriate counselling, ukulaywa was done before she left her father’s home. She was advised not to be uthathawese, a classic gossiper. She was counselled not to have a chest that was kicked by a zebra. So as if to assist her to house all potentially divisive issues, she was allocated the beef cut from the chest. Ukanethwa is meat from the chest, the box which is a safe storage for matters that may lead to strife among the wives. Besides, the chest is not exposed to bad external influences. On account of its location, it is shielded from the elements.
Women were allotted the brisket, ukanethwa not on account of its nice taste. The choice was based on perceptions of the chest and attendant results on one who has consumed it. The resident symbolism and resulting cordial relations among wives in a polygamous marriage determined the choice. Once again, we see how food expresses some attributes of a particular community. As we often say, a fuller appreciation and understanding of a people’s culture is achieved when their cosmological underpinnings are taken into consideration. This is to say fundamental, basic and deep-seated culture is that which is expressed through cultural practices including food practices. A community’s worldview or philosophy or cosmology is fundamentally important. The rest are expressions or shadows of a community’s culture.
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