Chapter 10 Elima The Dance of Life
Observations:
- The Elima is celebrated by the Pgymy unlike the other tribes in the area. When a girl bleeds for the first time it is seen as a gift that should be received with rejoicing and thankfulness. Everybody in the tribe is told the wonderful news. The girl goes in the house of the elima and the girls celebrate together. They learn new songs together and they learn how to do women like activities. The girls would center in on a particular boy when they danced and sometimes the boys ran away, if they ran they were whipped by the girls. The girls chased the boys with whips and stones in the village.
- When women get married they marry the guy and move to another camp.
- If a boy is to win over a girl he must get into the Elima (it is guarded by moms with admonition), he risks getting beaten by the girls inside especially if he has not already been invited by being previously beaten, then he has to kill a large animal and then he may spend time with the girl if she so chooses. They may just flirt or they may have sex before they are betrothed.
- The girls chose pretty leaves instead of the traditional leaves.
Religion:
- The book mentions that ancestors would come to the feast and when the evil spirits hovered around the unclean girls the ancestors would drive them away.
This chapter did not have overwhelming amounts of religion in it. I was slightly confused by the part that mentioned the ancestors coming to the feast and warding away the hovering evil spirits over the unclean girls. I wonder if I will learn more about this as I continue to read. Coming for a Functional Anthropologist perspective I think that each girl participates in this Elima activity in order to receive a future husband and be able to survive in the future. Is it survival or simply just cultural expectations that drive these girls? I do not yet know.
No comments:
Post a Comment