and Cameroon). The umbilical cord is represented
in the Fang’s birth ritual by a braided red and white
yarn that is worn around the waist and held in the
left hand while one’s genealogy is recited. The Fang
associate their genealogy with a long line of umbil-
ical cords that attach people to their direct ances-
tors and great gods in the land of their ancestors.
ShonaAncestors are not the only part of the family to
play a central role in African birth rituals inclusive
of the umbilical cord. The Shona people of South
Africa acknowledge the significance of the umbil-
ical cord in their naming ceremonies. The elders
or grandparents of the family play a central role
in carefully disposing of the umbilical cord. The
baby’s umbilical cord must be given to the child’s
grandparents. The grandparents bury the umbili-
cal cord in a small clay pot during the child’s
naming ceremony. The grandparents do this for
the firstborn and all of the offspring in the family.
XhosaWhen the Xhosa perform a birth amasiko (ritual),
the entire family is involved, the living and the
departed, the seen and unseen. The baby is wel-
comed by the elderly females until the awise inkaba
(when a piece of the umbilical cord falls off). The
time prior to the awise inkaba, ifuku, is noted by
the mother’s confinement to the location where she
gave birth, usually her family home. Ifuku, the
mother and infant’s hidden period, is a time when
the community is made aware that the new addi-
tion to the family belongs not only to the immedi-
ate family group, but also to the whole community.
Ifuku is essential because it cements familial
relationships among the Xhosa mother and child
and the entire community. Both the females of the
immediate family and the females of the neighbor-
hood are afforded the opportunity to uku-
fukamisa (participate in nurturing the mother and
infant prior to the umbilical cord falling off).
Umdlezana (lactating mother) and infant are seen
only after the inkaba (umbilical cord) has fallen
off and been buried in a religious manner by the
elder females of the community.
The burial of the inkaba cements the attach-
ment of the newborn to its ancestral land. The
site where the inkaba is buried is used to refer to
one’s place of birth, one’s ancestral home. The
site where the umbilical cord is buried symbol-
izes the connection among the individual, his or
her family group, the land, and the spiritual
world. The burial place of an inkaba (umbilical
cord) is sacred because this is the location where
one must thonga (go to connect with the ances-
tors). When the individual experiences life chal-
lenges, she or he must thonga at the burial site
of the inkaba.
When awise inkaba occurs, a ritual is per-
formed, imbeleko ukuqatywa. Imbeleko ukuqatywa
is a public call to everyone that a specific group
has a new family member who needs a welcome to
the community. The Xhosa believe that if the
processes of ifuku, ukufukamisa, and imbeleko
ukuqatywa following awise inkaba do not occur,
then the individual will suffer spiritual imbalance
throughout his or her life until these rituals are
performed for spiritual appeasement.Mossi
The Mossi females of Burkina Faso use biigas
(wooden dolls) to display the significance of the
umbilical cord in their culture. Many of the biigas
are used as toys that assist in the education of
children; however, some are used as symbolic fertil-
ity dolls for adult females. Mossi biigas are carried
with the adult female even when she leaves her
father’s home to live with her husband. The biigas
are believed to allow the woman to become pregnant
within 1 month of her marriage consummation.
The Mossi adult female will nurture (feed, wash,
clothe, carry in public tied to her back in a baby
wrapper) her biiga on a continuous basis if she has
not conceived within a month. When she has
conceived, the Mossi adult female will continue to
nurture her biiga. When her child is born and the
umbilical cord is cut, the biiga is washed, rubbed
with shea butter, and placed on a mat beside the
mother; then the infant is placed on a mat beside the
mother. The biiga takes its last ride on the Mossi
adult female’s back prior to the infant taking its
place on its mother’s back for the first time.Asia Austin ColterSeealsoBirth; Rituals682 Umbilical Cord