Taboos as epistemologies to safeguard continuity of the human species

Cultural Heritage

Pathisa Nyathi

IN a discussion with a colleague last week we observed that today’s children are a “why?” generation. They question everything that they are presented with or told about, particularly when they are told not to do something. Times have changed and continue to do so. During our days, an adult’s word or instruction was final and never questioned. That was the hallmark of respect. Defiance or disobedience was followed by thorough beating.

Interaction with peoples with cultures different from our own has led to acquisition of new ideas and ways of life. We mention this in relation to taboos that we made mention of in a previous article. Taboos were never to be challenged. They were couched in powerful images that inflicted fear in the minds of the young. Inquisitiveness was not one of the community’s cherished values.

Let us give a few examples to drive home the point. Children were told not to move in reverse lest their mothers ended up in some gourd. It was assumed children loved their mothers dearly. The last thing they would have wanted to see befall their loved mothers was to have them confined within the restricted space of a gourd, isigxingi.

Each taboo had two meanings to it. There was the literal meaning which instilled fear in the perpetrator of a bad habit. In the above case, it was the ill-fated mother’s predicament which awaited the child’s mother if the child chose to move in reverse. Then there was the second figurative and real meaning which was the actual reason behind the taboo.

A human being has only two eyes in front of him. This means he cannot see what is behind him. By walking in reverse the child, by walking blindly, is exposing herself to extreme danger. There are a myriad of possible dangers. The child could walk into a deep pit and either sustains injuries or even death. In an urban set up the child risks collision with a motor vehicle, a confrontation out of which he will emerge the loser.

Our elders did not seek to oppress the young per se. Instead, it was out of love for their children that they instituted taboos to ensure their safety and protection. Explaining real dangers behind prohibitions was going to take too long, more so among a people who lived from hand to mouth. Taboos were brief and concise, and saved time. They were couched in very vivid and yet terrifying consequences and were strong enough to keep the young in the small and straight path.

Let us give another taboo which illustrates points brought out above. Sitting on a path, indlela led to the child developing boils, amathumba. A boil was known to give rise to excruciating and throbbing pain. No child wished to willfully invite some boil to afflict her. Once again, there was extreme fear that was said to visit the young heart when the taboo was inflicted. The dangers of sitting or playing on a path, indlela are pretty obvious and therein lay the real dangers beyond the literal explanation.

What becomes patently clear from both cases is that taboos sought to protect the young ones, who it is assumed, are not capable of comprehending dangers. Taboos are thus an epistemology that our forebears resorted to in order to ensure the wellbeing, safety and security of their children. Teaching methodologies were thus tailored to the cognitive levels of children. Our grandparents did have and applied principles of education when they sought to teach certain ideas to various age groups.

Parents did all they could to ensure their children, considered vulnerable, were protected. Children were like germinated seed which loses its power of regeneration once germinated. The saplings were well tendered till grown up to the all important state when they too participated in the process of extending the blood line. This was possible only when they were biologically mature. That was the stage when they too could produce seed within which was embedded the power to extend the species and operationalise endlessness, immortality and continuity.

Taboos should thus be viewed against this background; as an epistemology that was applied to effect the perpetuation or extension of the blood line. The focus in the current articles is on the unpacking of measures that were taken to preserve life at a time when an individual was vulnerable and prone to situations that were life threatening. We did say there were stages in the cycle of human development when affected individuals were exposed to real danger.

In the last article we made reference to menstruation and saw what mitigating measures were taken to ensure the safety of individuals concerned. Pregnancy and child birth were considered critical stages in the cycle of human development. The greater players in the process of ensuring continuity of the human species are women. The vast majority of humans, save for test tube babies, pass through wombs of women before landing in the dry external world. Isn’t this a replay of the development of life from the sea to land?

While we see a coterie of measures adopted to ensure the safety of both mother and child, there are admittedly other measures that are no more than cultural expressions that display gender-based power disparities. Patriarchy and masculinity come to bear in related food taboos that are visited on expectant mothers. Nutritionists have observed that sometimes these restrictions, taboos and abstentions deprive expectant mothers of balanced diets at the time when appropriate nutrition is of the essence.

Pregnancy was a physiological condition when would-be mothers were exposed to extreme danger. This was particularly so where health technology was poorly developed. Something had to take the place of absent technology. Taboos were some of the measures that filled the vacuum resulting from absent health technology. Sweet potatoes, imbambayila, for example, were forbidden.

We do know that sweet potatoes are a relatively new crop to be adopted. Within the Matobo area a root tuber known as nshezha preceded sweet potatoes. We point this out to bring out the idea that more taboos were added to the repertoire of existing ones. This is what we have termed the critical process of domestication where a new idea or thing mediated its space within pre-existing architecture of worldviews and cosmologies. After this process of domestication beyond the physical space, whatever is domesticated enters the realm of cultural expressions and is henceforth regarded as part of a community’s culture and an integral part of its historical and cultural traditions and identities.

Sweet potatoes have a choking effect when being swallowed. There is some drying effect which negates the required wet conditions during child delivery. Sweet potatoes, one could argue, tighten or symbolically constrict the birth canal, exactly the opposite of the much sought after condition. Child delivery should be facilitated by making it an easy and quick process without any encumbrances.

One other food that was prohibited during pregnancy was mopane worms, amacimbi. Those familiar with amacimbi harvesting will know the copious quantities of some slimy substance that a mopane worm produces, when caught. Some rudimentary understanding of symbolism and how it works will show that it is this sliminess which was being avoided. The newly born baby, so said midwives, would have her body liberally covered in slime to a point where it could choke the baby through asphyxiation.

Similarly, uxakuxaku was another food that was taboo. This particular taboo should be easy to explain. One needs to possess some knowledge about the food being tabooed in order to figure out why the taboo was instituted. Getting into the mind of the African presupposes some knowledge of the phenomena being considered. One does not need some encyclopedia of explanations. One only requires a thinking mind and knowledge of attributes of nature to offer explanations and interpretations.