that mark the transition from child to adolescent
to adult status in the community are the second
major point in the life of the individual. These
rituals and ceremonies establish the place of the
individual among the adults in the community.
A girl or boy will never be considered a woman
or a man no matter what her or his physical age
unless she or he has undergone initiation. The
initiation period is an introduction to knowledge
that is only accessible to adult members of the
community. Through this education function,
essential knowledge deemed critical to the conti-
nuity of the people, their collective identity, and
their way of being in the world and universe is
passed on from one generation to the next.
In West Africa, especially, initiation to adulthood
is a prerequisite for other forms of initiation, such
as those required for membership in secret societies
or entering the priesthood. Although not all African
peoples focus on the initiation period in the same
way or to the same extent, most give it special
recognition. Variations exist in the frequency in
which initiation rites are performed, age at which
initiation occurs, time of year, length of seclusion,
and, if circumcision is performed, who is responsi-
ble and how it is done.
Initiation rites often include a period of seclu-
sion away from the home environment to ritually
introduce the initiates to the art of communal liv-
ing. Girls are taken away to be with female elders
and boys with male elders. During this period, the
elders will share their wisdom, teach the initiates
the roles of functions of vital ceremonies and ritu-
als, transmit the cultural history of their people,
and ensure that they know the personality traits
and behaviors valued in their culture. The period
of seclusion is symbolic of the life cycle. The initi-
ate’s childhood dies. Living in seclusion is likened
to living in the spirit world after death and being
reborn to rejoin the community as an adult.
Circumcision and Identity MarkingThe deep structural significance of circumcision
is rooted in African cosmogony and is directly
traceable to ancient Kemet (Egypt). In the exam-
ple of the Dogon (Mali) cosmogony, symboli-
cally removing something female from the male
and something male from the female is meant to
establish the dominance of a single sex in an
individual. Thus, circumcision is thought to clear
the way for the individual to behave in the world
as a responsible being.
Circumcision is a ritual of scarification that in
precolonial times was almost always part of the
initiation process. During initiation, the shedding
of blood, through circumcision, creates a bond
among the initiates (male and female), the land,
and the ancestors. The cutting of flesh symbolizes
the passage from childhood to adulthood. The
scars on the initiates’ genital organs are also
deemed to be marks of unity that identify and
integrate them with their people.
Female circumcision, increasingly regarded as
genital mutilation, is at the center of a controversy
that is viewed by some as “an old and hopeless
tradition” and by others as a valued tradition that
must be maintained. Many African countries are
signatories to the United Nations charter abolish-
ing the mutilation of children. However, the tradi-
tion continues to be practiced among many ethnic
groups, often in great secrecy.
Initiation to adult status in some ethnic groups
incorporates scarification, the filing of teeth, and
other markings to identify membership within the
ethnic community. These processes are also tests of
endurance that earn praise and respect for those ini-
tiates who can withstand the pain with no outcry.Two Illustrations
The brief descriptions that follow are of initiation
practices that continue to operate in contempo-
rary African societies. They reflect some accom-
modations to the demands of wage labor and the
influences of Western religions and schooling.Asante
The Asante puberty (or nobility) rites for
girls are not performed until after the onset of
menses. It is the responsibility of a girl’s mother
to inform the queen mother that the girl is
ready to be initiated. Traditionally, the queen
mother would examine the girl to ensure that
she is not pregnant or had not had sexual inter-
course. This process would then be repeated
over three consecutive menstrual cycles. In con-
temporary times, this practice has increasing
become more symbolic.Initiation 343