The Nuba of Sudan - Betrothal

 
 

A boy 11-14  years old is betrothed to a girl six to eight years younger. He will begin his bride service to the girl’s father. He is required to provide yearly contributions of grain, to build at least one living hut and one cattle hut, erect fences around the fields adjacent to the village, and contribute substantial weeding chores. He is also required to provide oil, about eight gallons a year, and ochre to his betrothed. The boy will begin a farm of his own when he is about 16 or 17. The marriage is finalized normally on first pregnancy, or, if pregnancy is not forthcoming, usually about two years after first menses. Occasionally a boy’s betrothed becomes pregnant before the boy reaches 16 or 17, at which time he is immediately advanced to the mature age grade and enters the next bracelet fight . Females do not have an elaborate age organization like males. Girls cover themselves completely with yellow ochre and oil from about five years of age until first pregnancy. Girls begin a series of body scarifications at the age of nine or ten, which are closely related to physiological changes. The first of these is a series of scars on either side of the abdomen below the navel – joining above the navel and continuing to a point between the breasts. These scars are made at the first sign of puberty as the breasts begin to fill out. A second set takes place after the start of menses. Scarring involves two instruments, a hooked thorn with which the skin is hooked and pulled up and a small blade with which is raised skin is sliced.  A scarrer works quickly, an experienced specialist effecting one scar per second. The scaring of young girls takes but a short time, but the final set of scars up to two days. While the scars are healing, the girl wears no ochre or oil and remains isolated on a mountainside.  Girls oil and apply ochre daily until the beginning of their first pregnancy. They would be considered improperly attired and ritually removed from normal interaction if they did not do so. There are no spiritual sanctions if a girl decides to not be scarred, but beauty demands it.  The only Nuba girls who do not undergo scarring are those with hemophilia like symptoms whose wounds heal only after a long time with much loss of blood. Sources Faris, James. 1972. Nuba Personal Art. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.  Faris, James. 1972. Southeastern Nuba Age organization. In: Cunnison, Ian & Wendy James, eds. Essays in Sudan Ethnography presented to Sir Edward Evans-Pritchard. London:C. Hurst & Company.

Graphic Copyright 1972 John C. Faris

Index

Primates	Victorian England	Azande-Congo	Hill Maria-India	Nuba-Sudan
Nuba-Otoro	Nuba-Koalib	Marquesas Islanders	Child Marriage: India	Irish Village