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The Life of a South African Tribe
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Historical SummaryAmong certain of the Thonga clans of southeastern Africa, where twins are also viewed as an unfavorable manifestation from "heaven," the attention is directed toward the purification of the mother instead of the whole tribe. The birth of twins is looked on as a "death,"and the mother, after a ceremonial purification by a medicine man, is secluded for a period lest her defilement should contaminate other women, who would also bear twins:
For the time being, the mother of twins like the widow . . . is considered outside the pale of society. But her defilement is worse than that of the widow; so, in order to be purified from it, the rite of lahla khombo (cast away the malediction) through which she must pass is much more trying. According to Mboza she must "deceive" four men one after the other, in the bush, all of whom will die. She hears that so and so says djoo-djoo, viz., becomes livid, that his body swells, that he is dead! She knows the reason. They have taken her defilement. Perhaps the fourth does not die, but only becomes consumptive. These men have been designated to her by the divinatory bones. Each time she succeeds in performing the purification ceremony she informs her medicine man, who "prepares for her a Vapor bath." Afterwards, she goes to reside at her parents’ house, has relations with a lover, and gives birth to another child. Then her purification is complete, and her husband goes with ten—to take her, and bring her home. The lover completed the removal of the "buhahla," i.e., the condition in which a mother of twins is. He has washed her (hlantsa). A new hut will be built for her, furnished with new utensils, and the ordinary family life will begin over again.1
1Junod, H.A.n/an/an/an/a, , 2: 396–397 (The Macmillan Company. By permission).
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Chicago: "The Life of a South African Tribe," The Life of a South African Tribe in Primitive Behavior: An Introduction to the Social Sciences, ed. Thomas, William I. (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1937), Original Sources, accessed April 19, 2024, http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=1AKVN4681CPSGXB.
MLA: . "The Life of a South African Tribe." The Life of a South African Tribe, Vol. 2, in Primitive Behavior: An Introduction to the Social Sciences, edited by Thomas, William I., New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1937, Original Sources. 19 Apr. 2024. http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=1AKVN4681CPSGXB.
Harvard: , 'The Life of a South African Tribe' in The Life of a South African Tribe. cited in 1937, Primitive Behavior: An Introduction to the Social Sciences, ed. , McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York. Original Sources, retrieved 19 April 2024, from http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=1AKVN4681CPSGXB.
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