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

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 11, 1915

MRS. W. H. ANDERSON

By MRS. W. H. ANDERSON

The Native of the Kraals As I Know Him—No. 1

MRS. W. H. ANDERSON

Shall we take a stroll to one of the native villages this afternoon to see the native in his home? You will then have a better idea of him as we discuss him.

En route we shall cross a pretty brook, an open field, and quite a thick forest. On nearing the village we hear the barking of many dogs and the voices of merry children. The village is round, as well as most things in it. Surrounding the village we see a fence of poles and bush to keep out the wild animals. The cattle kraal is in the center of the village. This is made of poles set close to one another. The houses, or huts, are built around the cattle kraal. On our arrival we see round houses made of poles, with grass roofs and no windows. There is a hole for entrance, but no door.

We see plenty of dirt. The people sweep out the houses, perhaps once or twice a year. It is afternoon, and we find the women busy grinding corn for the evening meal. Some are using stones, others have the grain in a hollow log and are stamping it with a pole. The process is interesting. They first wet the corn, then stamp it a little, when all the hulls come off in the form of chaff. They then take out the corn and winnow it, and proceed to make meal out of it. This meal is made into a very thick porridge called inshima, or bread. It is eaten with a relish called yogurt in English, but mabisi in the native tongue. The porridge is cooked for about five minutes, or until the stick will stand straight in the pot. It is then ready to serve.

Their furniture is very primitive, consisting of a cooking pot, calabash (churn), water bucket, clay waterpot, spear, pipe, ax, stamping block, knobkerrie, low stool, and some grass baskets for carrying grain. A man who has all these things is “well fixed.”

The induna’s hut is larger than all the rest, and faces the entrance of the village, toward the setting sun. Outside the village we see queer little things built up on poles and plastered with mud. These grain bins are many in number, being the property of many individuals. They are rat proof, all plastered up except a tiny hole in the top. It is now time to return home. All we have learned is from what we could see in this short time.

Let us now follow in our thoughts a little child through life, that we may learn how he is brought up. His mother straps him on her back when he is but a day or two old. This is his cradle as long as he needs one. When he cries, his mother rocks him by swaying backward and forward. His first dress is a string of beads tied about the neck, and another about the loins, with bracelets of the same on the wrist and ankle. He is two or three years old before he has his first bit of limbo for his loin cloth. When he is big enough to play, he begins much like our white children, by copying the parents. You will see the little girls gather sticks for a fire, and go to an imaginary stream for water, with little pumpkins on their heads, as they have seen bama do when she goes for water. They place the stones in the fire ready for the pots. Of course they have no fire, they are only playing “mamma.” The little girls tie pieces of limbo on their backs, with a stick rolled in another bit of limbo for a doll. Then you will see the little boys making animals and huts out of mud. The little boy will take a reed for an assagai, and a stick for a knobkerrie. When he gets a little bigger, he has to herd the sheep and goats, and later the cattle. While he is out herding, you will see him riding the calf to water, and by the time the calf is a year or two old, he is a good riding ox.

At about the age of three years the children are sent away to be cared for by others until they are six or seven years old. The parents usually see them during this time, but sometimes the boys never come back. The girls always come back, because after they have grown to a marriageable age they are sold, and the fathers want the marriage dowry.

When they are large enough to have a room to themselves, houses are built for the boys, and also for the girls. Many from different families occupy the same house. You might call it a boys’ or girls’ dormitory. The fowls, sheep, goats, and calves also occupy these compartments. The children have but few blankets to keep them warm, therefore they are glad of the warmth of the animals. Many have no clothing whatever, nor blankets. Some have only a small loin cloth, which consists of a piece of cloth eight by twelve inches, strung on a string, and it may be found anywhere around the body.

Among some tribes there are certain ceremonies for the young men and women when they have reached manhood and womanhood. This age is about thirteen years. The young man is sent out of the village for one week to rough it in the veldt. He cannot come home for food, water, or shelter. If he is spied about the village, any one who happens to see him is at liberty to thrash him. He is to go anywhere in the veldt where there is no occasion for a person to come, no matter where, just so he is out of sight. If any one chances to pass that way, he is to run and hide himself.

The girls are put in charge of an old woman, who takes them to the veldt (open country), where they build up a grass scirm away from any footpath, and live there for a week. What takes place I do not know. If by any mistake a boy should pass that way, they whip him with their bushes, which they have previously collected for that purpose, and sometimes nearly kill him. Other tribes have different ceremonies. One of these is that the girls are shut up in a hut, fattened like cattle, and sold for wives.

While the native has very little conception of what is meant by marriage, still he has laws that are binding. When he is looking for a wife, he wants a fine, sleek one. There is no love or choice in the matter, especially on the part of the girl. Love and sympathy are no part of her make-up. Many of the baby girls are sold while infants, but they are not married until they are women. In this case the girl goes to live with the man’s mother, and is her slave. The man may be years older than she, perhaps full-grown when the contract is made.

Many are the suicides among the girls because they are sold, perhaps to an old, white-haired, decrepit man, just because he has the cattle with which to buy her. The father cares only for the few assagais, hoes, and perhaps a cow and a calf, which he gets for his daughter. Sometimes the wife runs away, but only to be brought back. If the girl will not live with her husband, then her father has to pay back the chiko, and as he does not want to do this, she is kicked out of her home, and perhaps beaten, and made to live with her husband. She knows nothing of love and care and kindly attentions from her husband. Practically speaking, she is his slave. Sometimes the wife is very stubborn. In all my experience I have seen nothing to equal the stubbornness of an old native woman when she wants to be mean. Many times husbands whip their wives. When we ask them why they do it, they say, “She will not cook my food nor do anything I ask her to do.” The women generally run away after they are whipped.