the community as a way of reaffirming the myths
of the society. Family members come together
with the members of the society to welcome the
child into the world. There are rituals of passage
as persons move from one age stage to the next or
move from one social society to another and
so forth. At marriage, the young people are
welcomed into the state of matrimony. When a
person dies, the community also performs a cere-
mony whose elaborateness is often dependent on
the person’s place in the society. But these transi-
tions might be called natural markers during a
human being’s life.
Other markers are related to official duties, and
there are ceremonies to mark the rise to office of
a king or queen, the appointment of officers in the
court, the elevation of a priest or priestess, and the
recognizing of someone as a great hunter, musi-
cian, dancer, or farmer. These ceremonies mark
appointments and elevations to office, and that is
why they are referred to asofficial ceremonies.
Then there are the ceremonies that are held in cel-
ebration of cultural moments in a people’s history.
For example, there are certain market days that
call the people to perform a ritual on the occasion
of those days as special because of history, the sea-
son, or tradition. All days are not the same, and
the marker for distinction is the ceremony that
goes with the day or days.
When it comes to cultural ceremonies, they are
also grounded in the events and personalities that
have become important in a people’s history. The
Shona people of Zimbabwe have special recogni-
tion of Chaminuka or Nehanda as a sort of
memorial to their existence. The Yoruba always
recognize Eshu, sometimes called Legba, when
they are preparing a meeting. A ceremony in
honor of the keeper of the ways is one way to sig-
nal the importance of an event—that is, the seri-
ousness of the occasion.
One sees this pattern throughout African history
and culture to the degree that is possible to say that
“Africans are a ceremonial people” and mean that
whether it is birth, puberty, official recognition, or
holy days, the people have always just had a cere-
mony or are preparing for one very soon.
Molefi Kete AsanteSeealsoRites of Passage; Rites of Reclamation
Further Readings
Asante, M. K., & Nwadiora, E. (2007).Spear Masters:
An Introduction to African Religion. Lanham, MD:
Rowman & Littlefield.
Mbiti, J. S. (1989).African Religions and Philosophy.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.CHAGGA
The Chagga are a Tanzanian people who speak
both Chagga and KiSwahili, the national language
of the country. According to the elders of the
Chagga people, the name of their Supreme Deity is
Ruwa. In many ways, this name has correspon-
dence with the ancient Egyptian name, Ra, for the
Supreme Deity. Ruwa is also the word for the sun
and, as such, might be seen as a form of the ancient
Sun God. This is not to be understood in the sense
that the sun was god, but that the sun was a repre-
sentative of the energy and power of god.
Ruwa is the central figure in Chagga existence
and is seen as the almighty liberator, protector,
and sustainer of the Chagga community. There are
many narratives of Ruwa’s sensitivity, mercy,
tolerance, kindness, and charity when the people
need him. In this sense, he is not simply the cre-
ator god who creates and moves away, but an
active participant in the affairs of the Chagga.
The names of the ancestors are important to
the Chagga, and they have enshrined past kings
such as Orombo, Marealle, and Sina in their ritu-
als as outstanding personalities who made contri-
butions to the Chagga. But it is not only the
ancestors who are important to the Chagga, but
children as well. Among the elders, there is a say-
ing that a person who lives for eternity must leave
a child behind. It is considered a positive value
that people can live eternally through their
children because posterity is responsible for
remembering the deceased.
Each community takes the teaching of
children as a measure for survival, and therefore
introducing children to responsibilities early is a
way to prepare them for handling the more sig-
nificant rituals of memory for the ancestors.
Thus, young children are given chores and are
required to carry out their duties with diligence.
Some children are herders; they wake early and156 Chagga