B 0 G A D I

GlOBsary of Sechuana Terms used and Derivation

BARATHA-MASHORT: Collective term for principals ofBogadi. From go ratha, to chop; mashori, heads.

BOGADI:

BOGWERA:

BOYALI:

MALOMA:

MEPHATO;

NOGWAGADI;

Bride price. From Bo, the state of;gadi, feminine suffix.

Initiation ceremony for boys. From go gwara, pf. tense gwere, to be too difficult.

Initiation ceremony for girls. From go yala,to sow (probably).

Maternal uncle. From go loma, to eat thefirst fruits.

Regiments. The criterion of age in native life. The initiates on release from camp are given a regimental name.

Mother-in-law. From go gwaea, to beckon;gadi, femininity.

MOGADINWANA: Secondary wife. From Mogadi, bogadi woman;nwana, a child.

MOIINA; Man, or husband. From go nna, to dwell.

MOKWELE: Slaughter animal at betrothal. From go kwela.to drive away.

MMA: Mother.

MONYADI: Bride. From go nyala, to marry.

MOSADI: Woman-wife. From go sala, to remain behind.

MOSADIGADI: Fruitful woman. From mosadi with femininesuffix.

MOSENWA; The spoiled one. From passive of go senya, tospoil.

LOMAO: Heedle. From go loma, to bite. This implementwas very highly valued in ancient days before the general possession of cattle by the Bechuana, and iton imple­ments were very rare. The original Bog­adi was in the form of a needle, which was encased in a highly ornamented cover­ing called a "sebiba", and this was a suitable present for the parents of the bride.

LEHUHA:

NYALd:

NYATSI:

PEELEL6:

PERIPETSA;

RRAKGADI ormskmRRAMOGOLO:

SEANTLO:

SEHOLOHOLO:

SELELEKELA;

TELEKELQ:

TEPAMPA:

THARIMPEN:

TLHAPISHO:

HA8H0GA;

RRA:

Polygamy. From go huhana, to be jealous.

Marriage. From go yala, to sow- with 1st person accus. prefix, to sow me (probably).

Paramour. From go nyatsa, to despise.

Betrothal animal. From go b&elela, to placefor.

Same as Mokwele. From verb, to drive away.

Paternal Aunt. From rra, father;kgala, to scold.

Grandfather, or father's elder brother.

A widow living with husband’ s brother. From go ea, to go, and Ntlo, a house.

Bigness, as of pregnancy.

The thing that drives away. From Leleka,to drive away.

Driving away, as above.

Betrothal animal. From go lepa, to tie a knot,mpa, belly.

Betrothal animal at or before birth. From thari, the skin native cradle; and locative of mpa, belly.

Washing or cleaning. From go tlhapisa, topurify. Used of doctoring.

To become rejuvenated. From the reversive, stative form of go hasa, to blink.

Father.

MARRIAGE CUSTOMS AND BOQADI

In considering the question of Marriage as it affects primarily the native races of South Africa, it is fitting that we should recognise that we are touch­ing a subject of the greatest importance to the whole world. There cannot be a more serious subject for any nation whether it be civilized or not, because upon its home life and its domestic foundations rests the entire welfare of the members of the nation.

We should therefore approach this matter with a sympathetic mind, and by, as far as we are able, the truly scientific method.

The Christian Church cannot neglect the fundamental basis of society which is the family, without being un­true to its great mission in the world, for every kingdom is founded on the family life of its people, and the King­dom of God more so than any other organisation.

Every well-wisher of his people, and each leader of the Christian Church, should use every power he possesses to assist in the purification of the family life, and see that womanhood has given to it the opportunity of fulfill­ing its divine function in the procreation of the race, under the most favourable circumstances.

But the Kingdom of Christ has to be preached to fall­en humanity, and sin, the greatest factor in human affairs, has a strangle-hold on the domestic side of the world nations, which threatens to nullify the works of the Christian Church in all lands.

There can be nothing more beautiful than the Christian ideal of the home, which raises the woman partner of man to the high platform of a mate, actuated by love, voluntari­ly fulfilling her destiny on terms of equality, rearing and training her children in righteousness and the fear of God, making noble men and women for the furtherance of the Divine purpose in the redemption of mankind.

Therefore the rights of womanhood, the conditions of marriage contract, her status in the home and the nation, are the concern of all noble men throughout the world; and the nobler the circumstances of their own childhood, and their experience of the gracious influences of their own mothers, the more are they called upon to assist in the uplifting of motherhood throughout the world.

There is nothing more distressing in the history of the world, than the mis-handling of women at the hands of their own men folk. No argument for the belief in the fall of man is more convincing than that derived from the evidence of his treatment of woman.

Father Joano Dos Santos, who was a Catholic priest living at Sofala in the Mozambique Channel in 1507» des­cribed the people called by the Mohammedans "Kaffirs" in his history which was published in Paris in Ib&k. He

He spent a lifetime amongst tham, spoke their language, and studied their customs at the period of their first contact with civilization.

In his description of their marriage customs, he mentions that their chief, who was called "Juiteva” , a term equivalent to the title "Kgosi" in these days, lived in a polygamous manner, and that his wives were selected from his own sisters and daughters. He alone was allowed this privilege, the members of the tribe be­ing forbidden to copy his example on penalty of death.These royal queens constituted the court which appointed the succeeding "Juiteva" at his death. His favourite queens were required to take poison when he died, in order to follow him to the other world; and the remaining sister and daughter queens selected his successor from their own progeny.

This marriage custom seems as low a practice as is possible to conceive, yet it has this common basis with other ancient and modern forms of marriage, that it founds the family on the female side of the parents, a procedure which is known as the "Beenah" form of marriage; from which there evolved the systems of "Purchase” such as Bo- gadi, which transfers to the male side of the family the female "Beenah" right.

The Relation of Bogadi to some ancient Marriage Customs.

It is well that we should recognise that marriage as we know it in these modern days of Christian civilisation, bears very little resemblance to those belonging to the ohildhood of the races of mankind. In the days when all mankind was primitive his habits and customs were also primitive, and being animal, one of his strongest instincts was that of the propagation of the species; it follows therefore that some kind of marriage must have come into force at the earliest period after his creation, and it is obvious that it would have then been of a very primitive type, approximating to mere mating, and, as in all other cases of animals, the female would be left with the care and upbringing of the child till maturity. At this stage the mother possessed the children and the fstiier was a mere incident. It followed therefore that the primitive family centred in the female side of parentage, and for many centuries the woman and her female relatives inherited the children without any claim from the father or his family.In fact maternal possession of children became a vested right. But in the upward march of the race, the paternal instinct awoke and made its claim for the possession of the children, which introduced a new factor in family relation­ships, and led to the system of purchase of the vested rights of the maternal relatives and the transference of the progeny to the male side of the family. And although the Europeans have long left behind this stage of family custom and marriage law, there are to-day many uncivilized peoples and tribes who still live by similar marriage cus­toms known by the names of Hair Polyandry, Beenah marriage, and Tibetan Polyandry. The first named isthe condition where there is no father in thehorae, and the family is possessed by the woman and her relatives, the childrens1 maternal uncles taking the place of their unknown and non­resident fathers; the second is the condition where the

father becomes allied to the woman's family and the

children belong to her family, and the third is where brother-husbands posses a woman in common, either by war, purchase or exchange, the children of the brother- husband's being reckoned as the elder brother's, whether bom during his life time or after, and is sometimes des­cribed as the Levirate law. The Hairs are a tribe living on the Malabar coast; Beenah is a term used in Ceylon; and Tibetan polyandry is common in the land of Tibet.

The custom ofBogadi is connected with the Beenah system in as much as it recognises the inherent right of the woman18 family to inherit offspring, and by transfer­ence of cattle it purchases this right on behalf of the male side of the family, thus bringing into operation a modified form of the Tibetan polyandry, including possession of the woman and her offspring by the Bogadi contributors.It follows that where Bogadi is not paid, the Beenah right is maintained by the woman’ s relatives.

It is interesting to note that the marriage incidents related in the book of Genesis concerning Jacob, Leah,Rachel and Laban occurred during the period of Beenah marriage law amongst the Semites; and that the earliest reference in the Bible to marriage “For this cause shall a man leave his mother and father and cleave to his wife" is only intelligible as referring to Beenah marriage.

Notes on Bogadi.

Bogadi is the handing over of live stock and house­hold goods by the family of the bridegroom to the family of the bride, and is value given for value received or to be received. It is not a completed transaction, but is a contingent contract. It begins with the persons of the bride and bridegroom as far as sexual intercourse is concern­ed, but it does not end with them. It is a mutual con­tract between two families, the cattle are provided, not by the father of the man, but by his family, and both the maternal and paternal relatives of both parties to the con­tract are principals in the deal. On the side of the bridegroom'8 family, every male who contributes to the Bogadi is, ipso facto, entitled to a share of the woman by sexual intercourse. This is so during the lifeof the bridegroom, and after his death she is taken by the remain­ing males, to raise up seed to the dead. Children of this general family intercourse are counted to the family of the deceased. If the woman dies before the husband, the bride's family is under contract to provide him with an­other female of its family; if she is childless, which may be the fault of the husband, the bride's family must make up the deficiency in the same manner. Some people say this is not a purchase of a woman; and they are to some extent correct. It is much more than a purchase of a woman; it is the purchase by one family of the repro­ductive fertility of as many women as may be necessary, from the other family; the particular woman is an incident only to this contract; it is the payment in value for the purchase of child life, the natural progeny of the other family; it is the price paid by a father and his male re­latives, for the purchase of his own children; and the individual woman by whom these children are obtained is less than a human being, she is merely a channel through which the children are delivered to the purchaser. It is truly not a woman purchase, it is a wholesale transaction

in child life!

In some quarters the word "purchase" seems unpala­table, and is rejected as being an incorrect description of this transaction; and I have observed that the ex­ception is generally upheld by those who are in favour of the practice. The dictionary, however, defines a pur­chase as "to acquire by seeking," "to obtain by paying," and "to get in any way other than by inheritance." Those who object to the word will need to alter the actions described above if they expect to avoid ridicule. In fact the individual woman appears as little regarded in the Bogadi arrangements as is the paper in which a pur­chase is generally wrapped.

In describing the symptoms of a disease the whole characteristics which may be expected are given, though all the characteristics are seldom found in one patient; and in enumerating the size, colour, marks and peculiar­ities of the horns of a wild buck the naturalist may in­clude the features of many specimens brought under his no­tice, though it is more than probable that if the hunter looked for all of them in the animal he has secured he might fail to identify the species. This is also true in the particulars given of the Bogadi practice and theory; thousands of Natives pay Bogadi without in full under­standing the implications of their acts, which have their genesis in remote days, and are generally initiated by their elders on their behalf. But the well authenticated instances of the practice of Bogadi taken together show the whole scheme even though in individual cases all the implications are not brought into practice.

All contracts may be said to be subject to "Acts of God" and Bogadi is not free from them any more than other contracts. The human element is the weakness in all engagements, and when the people who make Bogadi contracts are unable to fulfil them, there are alternatives in some circumstances and just disability in others.

For instance, if there be no male in the man's family circle to inherit his widow, the woman may be returned to her parents, but the children must remain the property of the husband’ s family, necessitating the mother’ s loss of her own children, and then her parents may again dispose of her for another Bogadi marriage, as though she had not been previously married.

If she is badly treated by her husband and his family, and the case goes to the chief for judgment and he adjudi­cates in her favour, she may then return to her family and the Bogadi is forfeit, but the children of the marriage are even then the husband’ s.

Moreover, if the parents of a wife for some reason re­turn the Bogadi to the husband’ s family, they have the right to take back their woman and her children, whereupon the father is deprived of his own flesh and blood, for the children are only his by virtue of the Bogadi, and when this is cancelled it is a case of "as you were" before the marriage.

It should be noted that during the lifetime of the bridegroom all the males who contributed to the Bogadi have

a proprietary right to the use of the woman, and that after the death of the husband all the male members have the privilege of raising up seed to the dead member of their family. This does not mean that they always take their privileges nor that they all actually do so; but they have the undisputed right to act in this way. And indeed not to use it would be an affront to the woman’ s relatives and would be considered a slight. She is call­ed by her husband’ s family "mosadi oa dikgomo", or "the cattle woman", meaning their cattle. And however badly she is treated in her home, by the importation of other women, even though she be the "great woman" and the mother of the heir, she must stay in her home despised and often ill-treated. There is a proverb which* says "the mother of the bull cannot be driven away", and she is openly called the "mosenwa", or "the one to be spoil­ed", and her supplanter in the affections of her husband is called "Moratwi", or the "beloved". A most vexatious position for any woman to occupy.

In order to avoid making the mistake of interpreting native customs from the point of view of the European only,I have taken the precaution to procure the considered opinion of a very respected Native Christian Minister on the implications and practice of Bogadi. He is a man of over seventy years of age and his experience goes back to the days of his boyhood when he was brought up in the home of a heathen witch doctor, his father, and since his con­version to the Christian life he has been an active and valued helper in the London Mission. His views are there­fore those of a man of wide knowledge and experience of both systems, the heathen and the Christian. Personally I have had but thirty years of missionary experience, which is a comparatively short time in which to learn the native mind, though I have had the advantage of living in Khama's town for eleven years, and have seen Christianity under the most favourable circumstances, i .e . under the enlightened and Christian rule of this extraordinary chief in the grips of the forces of heathenism in the largest native stadt in South Africa. And in the Bechuana tribes, as well as in the other subject races under Khama's rule,I have witnessed many pathetic struggles between the con­verted children of heathen parents and the system of Bogadi, and have bitter experience of the ruin, pain and misery caused to these young men and women by the claims of youth­ful Bogadi betrothal entered into by their parents in their tender years, which their Christian consciences would not allow them to ratify. Hundreds of young girls have been driven by bitter persecution and the severest cruelty and beatings to consummate the marriages arranged for them, and frequently when they were pledged to love matches of their own choice to the young Christian members of the Church.

In submitting the statements of my friend the Rev. Maphakela Lekalake, I can bear witness to the truth of his views from my own study of the subject. He submits not only his opinions but the historic examples which illus­trate them.

Maphakela's Statement on Bogadi.

I ought to write again about Bogadi, notwithstand­ing the fact that it is now 4-5 years since the matter was adjudicated upon. But it still lifts its head up, like the bad spirit of which Jesus spoke. It has already stolen the heart of some churches, as apparently Bogadi cattle are to be found at some of the Christians' cattle- posts, and it is already betraying some others.

Moreover, as there are other forms of Christianity which are taking up the spoor of the conversion of South Africa, and we know that inexperience and the force of youth habitually detract from the experience of their seniors, we are under obligation to warn those who may incidentally fall into the trap of Bogadi and be tempted by it, if they are to become crusaders of the Cross of Christ.

For 4-4- years Bogadi behaved itself nicely without dissimulation, the Missionaries and the Church members observing it, and it observing them. Thus it was in the second stage of the needle. But in 1333-183^ there arose a very great dispute about it, going so far as to be the subject of discussion by the chiefs, as in the case of Montshiwa, the chief of the Mafeking Barolongs. Both the Christians and the people of the tribe went into the sub­ject of Bogadi, from the point of view of those who still held to the views of Dr. Moffat; and it became manifestly clear, after careful enquiry and sifting,what was the nature of Bogadi. It became law in 1354-. Bogadi was shown to be in deed and truth a purchase.

And if Bogadi be again reverted to, let it not be dis­puted that it is a purchase. If not, what is it? We are your people and the masters of Bogadi. If a Mochuana be reminded that Bogadi is a purchase he will object, saying it is not a purchase, because the spirit of Christianity denies his peculiar form of righteousness, for the righteous­ness of Christianity wars against the righteousness of heathenism.

There have already been many big disputes in the past between our fathers concerning our mothers, when the own­ers of the women's children spoke with the givers of Bo­gadi, of which I will give instances:-

A. About the year 1370 a man named Seete, the father of Mokganedi, living at Maropin to-day, took the daughter of Monare as his wife, but did not marry her legally nor pay Bogadi, though he took her with the permission of her father and would have paid Bogadi in the natural course of events which is frequently paid after the birth of the first child.In due course a child was bom, a daughter, but as the mother had not been satisfactory in the view of Seete, he sent her home with the baby to Monare.But Monare died soon after this, leaving Seete1 s divorced wife and daughter in the care of his son named Botwe. By this time 8eete had taken another wife, and having joined the Church previously he married her legally. But he was anxious to obtain

possession of his daughter by the first wife, and accordingly asked Botwe for her. This was refused on the ground that he had not paid Bo­gadi for her mother. After discussing the position with the Missionaries, Seete offered a cow as compensation to Botwe, and again asked for the custody of the daughter. This was not accept­ed by Botwe, who declared that the child was not an orphan, meaning that she belonged to his family by natural right of birth, and though the cow was re­turned again and again, Botwe refused to part with the child.. When this child grew to a woman she was married by Bogadi, but the Bogadi was paid to Botwe and not to her father Seete, in spite of the fact that she recognised Seete as her father and treat­ed him as such. There was only one way by which Seete could have procured possession of his own child in Sechuana custom, and that was by giving Bo­gadi for his first wife, the mother of the child, but being Christian he could not take two wives and in any case did not want the mother back on account of her misconduct. He therefore offered a present of a cow in compensation to the family for the loss of their natural progeny which was opposed to Sechuana belief and practice, viz; that all child­ren born to a family through its female members be­long to that family and must be paid for in cattle by the father’ s family if the children are to be transferred to them.

B. Morolon Monnakanye was a deacon of the Church at Kuruman. a man of sterling character and the author of the Sechuana version of "Abide with me".His younger brother was married to the daughter of Mokgadi, and Morolofi, being "in loco parentis", pre­sented 36 animals consisting of cattle and smail stock, to Mokgadi’ s daughter as a dowry, making it quite clear that he was not paying Bogadi but was assisting the young couple to start in life well.Mokgadi objected to this method and said that he would not allow his daughter to accept them, nor would he kill any of the animals, as they were Bogadi cattle. To this Morolon objected, and insisted that they were only a dowry for the young couple; whereupon Mok­gadi sent the whole lot back to Morolofi. The re­sult was, and still is, that the children of that marriage belong to Mokgadi's family and not to Morolon's. Thisjshows that Bogadi is a purchase which obtains possession of children.

The Church strongly disapproves of Bogadi, main­taining truly that it is a purchase and not a gift or thanksgiving, for it has no regard in any way for the bride.

C. The Case of Dikgome in 192g.

Dikgome took the daughter of a man called Seleho of Motito, both families being heathen, but at the time when legal marriage had become the cus­tom in the Kuruman district. There were a large number of children of the marriage, about ten, many of whom are now married themselves. The wife

died in 1927, leaving several minor children in the home. According to native custom the wife's father on her death came to mourn with the husband (tshedisa) and at the end of his visit informed the father that he was returning to Motito and that he was taking the children with him. The husband was very upset and asked what he meant by taking the children with him. The father-in-law said: "you did not pay Bogadi when you married my daughter and so the children are mine". He then Went off with the children; the husband is now compelled by native law to find Bogadi before he can get his children back. He is trying to do this in order to recover possession of his own flesh and blood, notwithstanding that he was legally married, and actually has the right to sue in court for them.But this would make trouble in the family and would cost money.

The Case of Seecho at Molepolole, 1923.

D. Seecho is an evangelist of the L.M.S. Church at Molepolole. His wife was guilty of immorality with Gabaitinwe and the case went to the Magistrate at Molepolole as they were married legally. The husband refused to be reconciled with his wife as sechele wished, and in using his influence on be­half of Gabaitinwe he said: "if you send this woman back to her father your children will go with her too as you have not paid Bogadi for her". This was said in the court and the Magistrate did not inter­fere on behalf of the man, though he had married her in Church legally.

The Case of Mr. F .

E. This man is a European, and many years ago he took the daughter of Maoto of Gasegonyana and paid Bogadi for her. They had several children, about five, and then the woman died. The man went to her parents and said: ‘/your daughter is dead and you know that I paid Bogadi for her." The parents re­plied: "Yes! we know, but her younger sister is married who should become the ' Seantlo1 of your wife." Notwithstanding the fact that this younger sister had been married in the church with her native hus- bandm they took the girl forcibly from her husband and handed her over to Mr. F . , with whom she lived the remainder of her life and only died recently, after having a number of children by him. It is maintained by the Bechuana that this procedure was according to customary law; even if there were children of the first wife, the parents were called upon to provide another woman to fulfil the Bogadi contract. If they were unable to do this they would have to return half of the Bogadi or pay a cow in compensation. But if the younger daughter had not been married by law, i.e . without Bogadi, and her husband had given the Bogadi for her, then the parents would not have been called upon to give her to the widower.

F. Maoto1s Cage.

Maoto had two daughters. For the elder Bogadi was paid, but the younger daughter, who was married before her elder sister, did not have Bogadi paid for her. The elder sister died and left no child­ren, and the parents offered the widower the young­er; but both she and her husband, who was a poor man, refused to agree to this, and therefore Maoto returned the Bogadi to the widower, though he did not repay them all.

Chief Khama and Bogadi.

G. The father of Chief Khama was named Sekgome the son of Kgari, who was killed in warfare when a young man. Sekgome was his eldest son, but his mother was not the principal wife, as Kgari had been betrothed to a young girl and Bogadi had been paid for her as the head wife. When Kgari died his son Sekgome ruled the tribe for some years before this girl grew up and according to the Bogadi law had a son by the relatives of Kgari. But this child,who was called Machen, was not born till twelve years after the death of his reputed father. But he was in no way prejudiced in his claim to the chieftain­ship of the Bamanwato tribe by this fact. When Sek­gome was annoyed by him or his claim to the chieftain­ship he used to say that his only claim was that he was a "Child of cattle," but this was enough to give him the undivided support of the tribe; and actual­ly he ruled by this virtue alone when Sekgome tried to prevent his own son Khama from enjoying the chieftainship at the time of the strife between the father and son. It is not etiquette amongst the natives to refer to the actual father who has thus raised up seed to his brother, they are not his children but his for whom the Bogadi was paid.

When the dispute was at its height between Sek­gome and Khama, and the old man was doing his best to put down his Christian sons, he remembered that he had once paid Bogadi for the daughter of Pelonona, one of his head councillors and a strong supporter of the heathen party. He therefore ordered Khama to take her home and make her his chief wife, not­withstanding that he had previously agreed to his legal marriage with Mma-Bessie and had concurred in the breaking of the original Bogadi transaction in connection with Pelotona's daughter. Khama would not do this, taking the stand that he was a Christian and therefore unable to countenance polygamy, and he could not consent to his married wife taking second place to another and his children born of Mma-Bessie losing their birthright of the chieftainship by children born of a subsequent marriage. Though his action involved him in years of strife with his own father, he manfully carried out his purpose and was faithful to his marriage vows to Mma-Bessie. He was a past master of the customs of his people and knew as few others the true inwardness of the Bogadi obligations; yet when he came into the chieftainship

lie did away with all heathen ceremonies, includ­ing Bogadi, Bogwera and Boyali, and maintained throughout his long life that they were opposed in principle to the teaching and practice of Christianity. And for more than fifty years, during which time he ruled the Bamanwato tribe, he insisted upon Christian marriage and refused to sanction the Bogadi procedure. And who shall say that he was less able to judge the needs of the natives in this matter than natives or Europeans of this later time?

1. Bogadi is the reciprocal giving of the parents of the bride and bridegroom by contract. It confers the proper status on a man and woman and gives legal stability to their co-possession of each other. It gives a child the assurance that it does not belong to its granparents.

2. That is to say that, although it may not be a pur­chase of the woman nor of her children, the cradle is dependent on Bogadi. But whether Bogadi is given or not does not affect the man and wife; but if there is a child of the union then Bogadi gives the family its proper status.

3. Bogadi is conditioned by the position of the con­tracting parties; sometimes it consists of a single animal or it may reach up to a hundred, and is payable throughout a number of years. It may consist of cattle, sheep, goats and iron implements.

4-. But if Bogadi has been paid and no child blessesthe union, and the wife dies, or is barren, the whole of the Bogadi must be returned.

5. The Bogadi belongs especially to the family from whom she came, that is to her maternal uncle, which means that it is conditioned by the original Bogadi which was given for her mother, called "first cattle” or "the first cradle", and the inheritor of the Bogadi is the maternal uncle of the family of the bride.

6. The women strive after a large number of Bogadi animals and the expression "our woman" centres round the cattle given for her; and she herself is glad be­cause of them, especially when she has borne a child.The barren woman is called a "virgin" and it is apparent that Bogadi is given for fertility, that is the repro­ductive ability of a woman, for the name of a fruitful wife is "mosadigadi", which is the feminine woman", and the word is made up of the word for woman with the feminine suffix added! It is worthy of note that the word for woman is "mosadi", which is derived from the verb "go sala" which means "to remain behind when the others have gone. This will explain the underlying ideas of paying Bogadi to the woman's mother*s family as the daughter is looked upon as the agent for the con­tinuation of her departed relatives, or progenitors, and consequently transference of her progeny to another family is a loss for which compensation must be paid.

One of the songs of the Initiation Ceremonies is:-

"Timan kgarebane mashi "Deprive the Virgin of milk Dikgomo o ntse ka cdna She owes her existence to

cattle (Bogadi)0 di gatile ka serethe She treads them down with

her heels."

And the inner meaning of this song has reference to the womanhood of the unmarried maiden. The cattle refer to the Bogadi. "Treading on the cattle" refers to the old fashioned skirts of a Mochuana woman, which was made of ox skin, and in squatting on the ground this skirt was kept in place by her feet pinning it down, (ikgahetsa).

By this song we see that this feast - Bogadi - has reference to the generative ability of womanhood. And everything connected with it showed the same idea, for the cattle were mostly cows, the iron implements were native ploughs, and other goods were beads; that is to say all of them were feminine things.

7. Further, the betrothal of a woman was founded orestablished by an ox, so that nobody else might take her. And this head of cattle was named "Pfc&lelo", that is "pledge". Sometimes this pledge pledged the in­tentions of friends or the love affairs of mates, as is the case to-day. Nevertheless those who are thus be­trothed are respectable individuals, i .e . are entitled to live their own lives.

In the olden days the betrothal ox was called "Tepampa", or "Tharimpen". Tempampa means "to tie a difficult knot in the belly." Tharimpen means "the cradle in the belly."

The following points become evident

1. Bogadi is shown to be a purchase of woman. Be­cause she is called "a woman of cattle". That is to

say, when her husband is dead she is inherited for child­bearing. It is a terrible thing even to mention.

2. If she bears no children it is a fault; her younger sister must come to her assistance for this

purpose; and if she also fails to produce children then the whole of the bogadi cattle must be returned and any that have died must be paid for. Children are the proper­ty of the man who paid the Bogadi, the cattle being the evidence, even to-day.

3. Bogadi is only once paid for a woman, even though she be taken by numerous husbands. Those who are in

favor of Bogadi are in the habit of saying it is merely a "thanksgiving". If this be so, how is it that she may be taken by many men, and only one of them gives thankB? And why is it maintained that a proper "Seantlo", (i .e . a man's elder brother's widow, to whom he must raise up seed by Sechuana custom) is of the "cattle woman"?

The children are cared for because they are "cattle

children” , but their mother is of no account and is despised. She is called "mosenwa", that is a person to be ruthlessly treated; spoiled, insulted or loved by other men, especially those of the family who con­tributed to the Bogadi cattle paid for her.

5 . In the older days Bogadi was very useful to our fathers because they had great regard for their

cattle; the mother was passed by, but the children were obtained by means of cattle. The mother was at the service of all the men of the family, and endured their despicable conduct on account of the Bogadi. But this promiscuous intercourse with the male members of the husband’ s family created great jealousy amongst them re­garding the paternity of the women's children.

6. A man is free and unrestrained. It is said Ha hashoga le mephato eotlhe."

Even though a husband dies and the wife is taken by another man, her womb has been redeemed by the Bogadi, therefore all her children belong to the family who paid the Bogadi.

We speak thus being the children of Bogadi, and we cannot spoil ourselves or our own reputation, that would be disgraceful. Nor do we besmudge the condition in which we were born. We know that we are children of cattle ourselves, which was an honourable condition in those times, and which preserved us until the coming of the Light. But for all that we know what our fathers thought about it. Moreover we also are fathers of grown up daughters and we should welcome thanksgiving.In 1910 the Advisory Council of the L.M.S. Churches met at the town of Molepolole, together with Sebele the chief of the Bakwena, and Bathoen the chief of the Ban- waketse. The question of Bogadi was fully discussed with the chiefs and the representatives of the churches, and it was resolved that "Bogadi of the church members is the Christian marriage service, and the desire of the parents to slaughter the whole of the cattle provided for the marriage feast is wanton extravagance. Let some of the cattle be slaughtered for the feast and some be reserved and presented to the young married couple to assist them in setting up house for themselves."

If Bogadi is a "thanksgiving" it is a very crooked one. It is not either the morher's or the father's.If a Christian desires Bogadi and eats it, he steals its only virtue. For the essence of Bogadi is this. It has six customary proprietors only. They are the grand­fathers of the bride and groom, their maternal uncles and their fathers' sisters; the maternal uncle of the bride is not thanked, he has bought with a cow and if he fails to provide it he is not allowed to assist in the killing of the ox by chopping off a horn, which is his prerogative. And the "barathamashori", 5i.e. the Mashori choppers), are those who have the "ox of slaughter" called "tlaphisho", who are not the real parents of the bride. It is the first womb.

We are not examining Bogadi as though it were on trial, for it is outside the church - rejected. But we

Collection Number: AD1715

SOUTH AFRICAN INSTITUTE OF RACE RELATIONS (SAIRR), 1892-1974

PUBLISHER: Collection Funder:- Atlantic Philanthropies Foundation

Publisher:- Historical Papers Research Archive

Location:- Johannesburg

©2013

LEGAL NOTICES:

Copyright Notice: All materials on the Historical Papers website are protected by South African copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, or otherwise published in any format, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

Disclaimer and Terms of Use: Provided that you maintain all copyright and other notices contained therein, you may download material (one machine readable copy and one print copy per page) for your personal and/or educational non-commercial use only.

People using these records relating to the archives of Historical Papers, The Library, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, are reminded that such records sometimes contain material which is uncorroborated, inaccurate, distorted or untrue. While these digital records are true facsimiles of paper documents and the information contained herein is obtained from sources believed to be accurate and reliable, Historical Papers, University of the Witwatersrand has not independently verified their content. Consequently, the University is not responsible for any errors or

omissions and excludes any and all liability for any errors in or omissions from the information on the website or any related information on third party websites accessible from this website.

This document forms part of the archive of the South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR), held at the Historical

Papers Research Archive at The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.