nated by the name of “father” or of “grandfather”, but often,
also, simply by that of “old”: that is, “the elder”. He exercises
over all the members of the family the same authority that is
exercised among us by the father over his children, but his
power does not extend outside these members themselves; the
result is that, in a family based on masculine descent, the wives
of the members of the family escape the authority of the patriarch
and, inversely, in a family based on female descent, the
husbands of the women members of the family do not belong to
these families, but to the families of their mothers. From this
principle there develop complicated situations of fact: the wife
owes obedience to her husband, but not to the patriarch to
whom her husband is related.
MMaarrrriiaaggee
In reality, nowhere among the Negroes is the wife considered
to be incorporated into the family of her husband; after
marriage she continues to be a part of her own family, but she
is withdrawn from it for the time being for the profit of her
husband and, in consequence, for the profit of his family. This
is why the custom universally admitted in Negro Africa
demands, in order that the union should be valid and regular,
that the family of the future husband pay to the family of the
future wife an indemnity, in compensation for the wrong
caused to the latter family by the abduction of one of its
members. It is not, as has been wrongly claimed, the buying
of the wife by the husband, for the wife does not legally cease
to belong to her own family and nowise becomes the property
of the husband whom she marries; there is only the payment of
an indemnity or, more exactly, of a surety, which varies
enormously according to the district and according to the
position of the future couple, ranging from several thousand
francs to an object that is worth only a few centimes; in the
latter case, there is only the accomplishment of a simple
formality, demanded by respect for old traditions.
In certain regions exists a custom which was general in former
times and which consisted in paying to the family of the future wife
a veritable compensation in kind in the form of another woman:
the sister of the future husband was given in marriage to the
brother of the future wife.
DDiivvoorrccee
When there is a rupture of the marriage as a consequence of
divorce, the repudiated wife returns to her family, who gives
back to the family of the ex-husband the security that had
been received from it. At least, such is the principle; it can
undergo attenuations from the facts of particular circum-
stances. As for the children born of the broken union, they
belong to the family of the mother among the populations
which admit only feminine relationship; among the others they
are generally allotted to the father, but on condition that his
family renounce the reimbursement of the security paid.
Sometimes, when there are several children there is a friendly
division among the two families.OOrrpphhaannss
In case of the death of a parent, the non-emancipated children
[those still under the paternal power], that is to say, the
celibates – because emancipation can result only from
marriage – form part of the heritage of that one of their parents
to whom they are related by the only ties of relationship that
local custom recognises. There where the relationship in the
feminine branch is the only one admitted, the children do not
change their status at the death of the father, who is
considered as being nothing to them [legally]; at the death of
their mother they are allotted to her heir, that is to say, in
general, to the eldest of her brothers on her mother’s side who,
during the lifetime of his sister, has already exercised paternal
rights over them. On the contrary, where relationship on the
father’s side is the only one recognised, the children,
belonging legally to their father do not change their status at
the death of their mother; at the decease of their father they are
allotted to his heir, who may be his eldest brother or his eldest
son: in the latter case, it is the eldest son who becomes the
legal father of his brothers, under the tutelage of some older
relative, if the son is still a child.Ndimu body mask (Makonde), late 19thcentury.
Southern Tanzania/Mozambique.
Wood, 61.2 x 30.7 x 15 cm.
Private collection, London.The female body mask was part of the costume of a special ndimumasker called
amwalindembothat was intended to represent a young pregnant woman. It
was usually carved with a swollen abdomen decorated with the typical
Makonde raised tattoos applied with beeswax (though, here they are carved in
relief), and was always worn by a male masquerader together with a matching
female face mask.