In the Borana culture a man is the dominator in almost every system. Until 70’s it was forbidden by custom (during raba grade) to raise daughters for period of five years. Because of this, all Borana nomads were forced to give away their born daughters as adoption for Waata tribes. Nowadays, that dangerous culture has changed, but there still remain other reasons as to why a man is still the dominator. As per the title above, I am interested in their marriage traditions so let me write little about it. Borana people. Photographer Silvia In Borana culture there is almost no marriage, which is based on love, because it is forbidden for a couple to get married without the approval of their families. Culture is the main criteria by which parents approve marriages. Other criteria’s includes, the man has to be a Borana with an economic capability, which can enable him to feed his family. Secondly, the boy and girl have to be of different moieties SABBO AND GOONAA except Qallu karayyu, who can marry with Mattari-metta of Sabbo moeity and the last marriage is forbidden between girls and men whose fathers are members of the same generation.
As soon as a boy reaches the age of marriage (which in most cases when they enter raba grade) it is in most cases his father who will search for the girl (would be wife) and duly informs the son who he would have “got” or “ found” for him.
Borana is a tribe in southern Ethiopia, which shares its living with the Gabra and the Watt tribes. These are few in their numbers. As I mentioned above, it is forbidden to get marry with these tribes largely because of the cultural differences created by the tribal differences. The underlying reasons for this are: firstly, a Borana family would not like their daughter to adopt a new type of culture which she has never been exposed to as this can arise into problems. Secondly, and above all the Borana are very conservative in preserving their culture (we call it aadda borana) and laws (seerra), which probibit them from marrying any person outside of Borana itself.
urroundings of Dilla – Life in a Borana village One may ask as to why their marriages are not based on love but instead on the choice made by their parents? Let me put it like this, as I mentioned earlier, aadda borana (the culture) comes first, which means that in Borana it is only the boys who can heritage the family wealth. Because of this a girl cannot choose the one she loves as in so doing he may choose a poor boy, to remember that any Borana without cattle is not considered as Borana anymore or she might make a terrible mistake of choosing a boy from the same moiety. Another argument can be that given the fact that the wealth is on the hands of the boys, if they were allowed to choose whom to marry on the basis of love then the less attractive girls would be pushed aside and this could create economic hardships for the concerned families (let me mention that this culture has made it possible for an equitable distribution of wealth among families). Actually, because of their strong culture and social bondage, they have been able to survive and keep their culture alive. In order to reduce this complex, for all borana it is allowed to have garayyu (mistresses) from any clan. Relationships between husband and wife is more distant and respectful, while between mistresses (garayyu) is more lovely. Let me now turn to the marriage procedures. The main steps to be followed before a marriage takes place are as follows: _The boy and the girl have to come from unrelated moiety,
Sabbo and Gona.
_The gifts has to be fulfilled. These are as follows: In the beginning they have to come with what we refer to as the “flower”(which is in the actual sense 2-3 kilos of coffee). Then after few months he has to comeback with the next gifts, these are:- Cloth gifts for the girl’s parents and the nearest relatives because in the Borana tradition one of the relatives for example an uncle or a cousin can refuse the proposal. Therefore in order to get married with a girl, one has to persuade the relatives too. At this stage, the clothes should be first given to the parents and if they are accepted, then they will be passed on to the relatives (i.e. the uncles and cousins) If all accept, then the next batch of gifts will follow. What is important to understand in her is that if the gifts are accepted at this stage, then there will be no obstacles in the steps to follow and these are: One cow for the girls mother.
Then 10-15 kilos of coffee. And then comes what we call a “tax” which is a combination of a cow, an ox and a blanket (badoo). The cow will be given to the mother while the ox and the blanket goes to the father.
The last gift is “Annuna” – is mother’s exclusive cow, which she gets from her son-in law. After the giving of the gifts is completed, the boy’s father may say “Fudha natolcha” – fix the month to take the girl. When the date of marriage approach they may ask again “Ayyana natolcha” – fix the date for me to take the girl.
Borana girl
According to tradition, each household in the village and the neighboring village has to come with milk in a form of contribution to the wedding. We call it gumachis and in reward, they are given tobacco (tambo).
When couples get married, there is no exchanging of rings just like in most societies. Instead a man uses a ring only when he has killed wild animals like lions, elephants etc. To be recognized as a distinguished hero. Traditionally, when a man gets his first child or kills a lion he will make one fleet of hair on the top of is head. The difference is that when he has killed a lion ,he will decorate it with a red thread.
How then can we identify a married woman?
According to Borana tradition, when a girl is born they will immediately shave the top of her hair on the head like a circle (we call it gubbe) until she gets married. Once she gets married, she will then fleet her hair (this is not allowed until a girl gets married). This will help in identifying her as a married woman and she will not have the gubbe any longer. Fhe wedding cloth in borana is called Gorffoo. It is made out of gazzel leather and decorated with shells. On the wedding evening the entire village population will gather to drink coffee, fried coffee as whole with milk and batter (bunn qalaa) while the girls parents and relatives will give advice to the future husband of their daughter on how to treat their daughter, on how to put their differences and above all giving them blessings.
On the next day the couple will leave for their new home early in the morning looking beautiful with her hair oiled with butter. On this day every married borana women who turns up for the wedding has to hold her siikke while the men has to hold his ororro which identifies them as married persons and that is one of the presents which the newly wedded couple has to get on this day.
On the day after the wedding, the newly wedded couple will leave for their new home accompanied by one of the family members. The bride will stay there for three days and on her coming back to her parents, a sheep or goat will be slaughtered as a blessing for the new couple’s first nights together. On the following day, she will receive gifts from her relatives, which she may use in her new home.
Borana woman in her village – Kenya
According to Borana tradition, it is strictly forbidden for a girl or a boy once married to just come and eat or drink at their mother’s home without any invitations. The vice-versa also applies. Another rule is that the mother-in law and the son-in law will never see each other face to face for the rest of their lives. In case they want to talk to each other, they can do so without exposing their faces. For example, during an invitation the son in law can sit in the living room whereas the mother-in law would be some where in the house might be in one of the sleeping rooms and from there she could communicate with the son-in law. If they were to meet suddenly on the road, then they would to have to cover their faces until they passed each other.
The negative side of this tradition is that the husband has full powers over his wife to the extent that he can beat her whenever he deems it necessary. Even if she escaped, her family would then negotiate with the elders and return her to the husband (that is only in cases, which are negotiable). It is important to mention that in the Borana marriage system if a woman loses her husband she cannot remarry, while it is in order for the man to remarry if he lost his wife, but this is a more deeper issue, which we do not look through it at this stage. Another thing is that the married couples are allowed to have heartily lovers (as long as their marriage is not based on love). This is accepted on both sides. Therefore, when a woman loses her husband then her heartily lover will act as an husband but they cannot marry each other.
Borana tradition actually accepts polygamy up to two wives. Beyond this is not accepted but the elders in consideration of the men’s economic capability can tolerate it.
The Naming Ceremony
After eight years the daballe child undergoes a naming ceremony. His relations ask God’s blessings and thank him for the child.
Borana kid
A boy exists publicly only after he has been named. Before that, even his death is mourned privately and he would only be said to have ‘gone back’. The naming ceremony of a first-born is attended by all his relatives, seven officials and an important person called qadadu. A large shelter is built by the women. A fresh fire is lit by a Waat clansman, a feast is held and the father names his son. After the naming ceremony the father is addressed as ‘father of So-and-so’. Other sons receive only a simple naming ceremony.
Borana women performing a dance and traditional songs. Photographer: Anthony Pappone Religion: Although Islam has influenced their society, they believe traditionally in one God called Wak. They believe Wak sends all good things, especially rain. In the legend, they have to give gifts to their god, the biggest sacrifice that can be made being the first baby. In this case, it is a shaman who lives in the forest who will kill the new born. They also have intermediary priests named Qalla. Their spiritual leaders are granted a powerful veneration. In their religion, spirits (Ayana) which possess people and things are of a great importance. Their believes are related to their herds which are indispensable for sacrifices and rituals to guarantee fertility, health, and assistance from spirits.
Islam has become influential in Borana society in the last 20 years. The Borana around Isiolo are radical Muslims. There has been some response to the gospel by Borana in Nairobi and Marsabit and in trading posts of southern Ethiopia.Christianity: This large and ancient people have had only minimal contact with Christianity, due in part to their nomadic life style. Yet an indigenous church exists and probably with adequate support and scripture in their own language, they will be able to evangelize their own people and neighboring groups. There are about 25 missionaries targeting the Borana, and some Borana Life Ministry workers. There is one Baptist church of Borana in Marsabit. The traditional 50% of the Borana less affected by Islam seem the most likely community to target.