Khoi hold ritual celebration at Gamtoos River
As the sun rose and glistened on the Gamtoos River at the weekend, Khoi headman Shaun Witbooi blew the horn outside the !Nau Kraal signalling the start of the threeday Links Royal House !Nau ritual.
The sacred rite of passage, practised long before the arrival of the Dutch at the Cape of Good Hope, was brought to life as Khoi-San leaders gathered along the river to welcome new recruits to their ranks.
The provincial chair of the
||Are mā ||eis (Links Royal House), Paramount Chief Crawford Fraser of the !Ora
||onna (Korana Nation), unveiled five new chiefs representing the five tribes in the province and 18 senior headwomen and headmen as well as other headmen and women.
Fraser said the weekend’s Leadership Transformation !Nau one of six rites of passage (!Nau rituals) celebrated in Khoi culture was also attended by special guest Kai
||Areb (King) Michael Links. “To become a headman or headwoman, you would have to be chosen by a chief. And to become a chief, there are two avenues one can follow.”
He said either one was born into chiefdom through one’s bloodline, or it required that the person be endorsed through three separate structures.
“First, your direct family, as in your elders, would have to agree and approve that you are fit to lead the family and community in the cultural aspects,” Fraser said.
“Then a community meeting is held, where I (paramount chief) must be witness, and the community endorses you to represent them in the cultural sense.
“Only then will you come before a cultural leadership council to be interviewed on aspects of the Khoi culture to find out your understanding and ensure you are in good standing with the community in the sense that you are a person of good character.”
He said the six !Nau rituals included the first celebration, which is birth.
The second is when a girl gets her first menstruation cycle (|Habab), and the third is once a boy becomes a young man (Dorob).
Fourth is marriage, fifth is leadership transformation and the sixth is death or burial.
Fraser said the ceremony was held over three days.
On the first day, the candidates go into seclusion, the second day is for rites of passage, and the third day is set aside to celebrate.