MRS. W. H. ANDERSON by MRS. W. H. ANDERSON

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 18, 1915

MRS. W. H. ANDERSON

By MRS. W. H. ANDERSON

The Native of the Kraals as I Know Him — No. 2

MRS. W. H. ANDERSON

In a village all the boys of about fourteen or fifteen years of age have to get together and build a hut for themselves. They build one hut, and all live in it.

They must make it complete without the help of the old men. If they do not, they have to leave the village. After they reach this age, they are their own masters, go where they like, come when they like, and do as they like. There is no parental training. If they are asked to do something they do not fancy, they run off and are gone for a while, and on their return they are free.

They are given many names. One is given in infancy, and as the boy grows older other names are given him. A person is prohibited from speaking his own name. He is not allowed to speak his wife's maiden name, but when they are married he gives her a new one. If a man is speaking to a person by the same name as his own, he will not address him by name, but say Muxediangu, or my namesake. If he has a child named after himself, he will not call the child by name, but as before mentioned. The name given to the white man is not his real name, although it is a name in the native language. This concealment of names is for several reasons, one especially is that in case of witchcraft there may be no clue.

The native is very superstitious. If a log falls across the path, it is never removed, for the spirit of some departed friend or foe has put it there. Occasionally he shingles his hair, but very great care is taken that every bit is well hidden away lest some of it might get burned, and thus cause him to become bald-headed.

As I have said, all have names in infancy,

and more later on. If a person calls another by the name of his infancy, it is considered a great fault, and he is supposed to be punished by becoming thin and weak. They also may not say, “I have a pain in the loins,” for this is supposed to bring death to their elders.

They are great believers in charms, and have many that they wear. The charms are supposed to keep away accidents, witchcrafts, and sickness. One charm is a small horn filled with medicine, to keep away the influence of witches. It is worn about the neck. Another is a bag of snake skins. The heart of the snake is put in the bag, and is supposed to be an antidote against snake bite. Another is a small button worn in the hair. One rather curious charm is a bracelet made of snake skins. When this is worn, it is supposed to bring good fortune to the hunter. Still another wears a charm that the people may love him. Others buy medicine to make certain young ladies love them, and if they will not, they are told that the medicine will make them sick. Medicine made of the little flies that are found on the water of rivers is supposed to insure a spy against being seen in time of war.

Another curious practice is an ordeal by water. When a person is thought to have committed a fault and will not confess it, he is tried by making him put his hand and arm in a pot of boiling water. If they blister, he is condemned as being guilty; but if the skin remains as before, he is free. This is quite a common custom, and you often hear little children say, “I'll put my hand in the pot,” when they are accused of fault. They also have an ordeal by poison. If the one accused dies, he is guilty; and if he lives, he is free. Needless to say that many innocent persons have been killed in this way.

They believe that human spirits go into animals, and people that can afford it get medicine from the witch doctors, which, when they die, will insure their turning into whatever animal they may choose. A lion is often not killed, because they say he is a certain man. People can also turn into hyenas, tortoises, and many other animals, if they have had medicine for it. They have curious ideas about idiots, too. They believe that the poor creatures have insects inside their heads which prevent their thinking like other people. They also believe that the wax inside the ear is produced by worms.

They have great faith in medicine. One time Brother Robinson was starting work in a new chisi, or district. The native teacher had raised a very large crop of sweet potatoes. Brother Robinson thought to interest the natives in coming to school by telling them that the teacher had been with the missionary and had learned how to do things. When he had finished his strong plea, the old men said, “Do you think that we do not know that the white men have medicine to put on their gardens to make them produce like that?” All Brother Robinson could say could not convince them.

They begged him to let them have some of his medicine to put on their gardens, and were quite offended that he gave them none. It is a common thing to hear of a native selling medicine to other natives to put on their lands to make big yields.

When a person dies, he is buried at once, either in his own hut or across the door of it, and no one occupies that hut any more. After a while the village is burned, and another built elsewhere. When Mr. Anderson was building our house, it was a great wonder to the natives. They said, “What will you do with this big house when some one dies in it?” We have often talked of building a good hospital, but if any one should die in it, it could never be used any more. We lost one of our Christian girls, and of course buried her in our little cemetery. The case being measles, we quarantined the compound, and buried her before we sent for her people. When they came, there was a terrible uproar because we had thrown her away in the veldt and not buried her in her hut.

The death wail can sometimes be heard for two miles or more. Cattle are slain in great numbers if an important person dies, such as a chief or his favorite wife. If only a babe or child, the sacrifice consists of a sheep or two; if a young boy or girl, then an ox. In case of a young man, all the boys of the village get together and furnish the funeral ox. They give it readily, perhaps the only one they have.

A child comes to you to ask permission to go to “cry.” You ask him who has died, and he will invariably tell you that it is his mother, although it may be any relative. We had a boy in school that had cried for seven mothers. We kept account, and each one was the one he claimed had borne him. When a person dies certain customs are always observed. Immediately after the death occurs, messengers are sent to the friends and villages around to inform the people of what has happened. All work and play are left, and all hasten to the village of the deceased. The body is anointed with fat, ready for burial. While this is going on, the hut is full of women groaning and making a great noise. Their cry of distress is ma-wo. Everything is done in a very orderly manner; and when the grave is filled in, the men who dug it wash their hands over it, and the women cast themselves upon it, weeping and shouting, “Ma-wo.” Then they march round and round, crying and shrieking. The weeping is carried on for a good many days in the same manner, the length of the time corresponding to the importance of the person in life.

A man marries as many wives as he can pay for and can pay tax on. The wives of one man all seem to get on well together. It seems to us a dreadful thing, but they do not resent being one of many, but rather like it because they have less work to do. They hoe their husband's fields and cook his food, and the more there are of them the less work there is for each. “Many hands make light work,” no doubt is the way they reason it out. The ceremony is a simple one. The bride cooks some porridge for her intended husband, and they eat together out of the same pot. This is followed by dancing, feasting, and singing. The ceremony is then finished. Among other tribes there are different ceremonies, but all are of the same nature. There is always a big crowd on such occasions.