Journalist Tabe shares story of life in Camaroon
By COLLEEN McCARTHY
Associate News Editor
Africans have held tightly to marriage, birth and funeral rituals unique to their culture, said Angel Tabe, Cameroonian journalist and Humphrey fellow at the University of Maryland in a lecture Wednesday at Saint Mary's.
Although in many parts of Africa, the typical European wedding involving the woman wearing the white gown and veil while parading around the city is stylish, a marriage is not official just because a European-style wedding has taken place, said Tabe.
"A wedding is just an English word for ceremony, but in our tradition, Africans have their own kind of weddings," said Tabe.
Even though a man and woman may have been dating, if they decide to marry without their family's consent, the families do not recognize the marriage.
"The groom's family has to go out and look for the bride's family and introduce the idea of marriage," said Tabe.
A dowry is also negotiated between the bride and groom's families.
"Although it is understood that no price can be placed on the value of a human, some price must be negotiated to show the value to the other family of having such a valuable person become part of their family," she said.
"This is how the dowry or bride price comes along. The groom's family believes the woman he is marrying is the most beautiful, the best and nothing can compare to her," she continued. "The dowry shows her value."
The families gather and the bride is invited to sit with the groom's family. Then, the groom's family presents the bride's family with a bottle of whiskey. After bride's mother and father drink a glass, the family has accepted the marriage.
"There is no minister there," said Tabe. "After the ceremony, both families recognize their children as husband and wife. Christian parents will encourage their children to go to church to have the marriage recognized but even there, the minister will ask if the families have approved of the marriage."
After marriage, there is much pressure to have children as offspring are seen as a sign of wealth.
"One of the greatest causes of divorce is childlessness," said Tabe. "There is great value placed on children and the blame is placed on the woman if a man and woman can't have children."
Childbearing is highly celebrated in the African culture, said Tabe.
"When a woman is giving birth to her first child, the delivery takes place with either her mother or mother-in-law at her side," said Tabe. "When the child is born it is a whole celebration. Women from the village gather at the hospital singing and dancing and that is how the woman is taken back to her home for a feast."
There are two types of traditional funerals in African culture, said Tabe.
People who belong to an "association" in African society, an exclusive group, have a different kind of burial than Africans who don't belong to an association.
"My father belonged to an association and when he died, we had to pay to go to the funeral," said Tabe. "Only the association knows where he is buried so I had to have one of my brothers initiated into the association immediately so we would know where my father was going to be buried. To be candid, this was a very dignified ceremony, but expensive. It is unrealistic that everyone could do this."
An ordinary burial differs from a burial of one who belongs to an association.
"We can't keep a corpse for more than two days so a burial takes place but the celebration can go on for two weeks," said Tabe. "On the seventh day of burial, it is believed that the person who died is escorted to a final resting place. So this means another feast takes place."
Tabe's lecture was part of the International Month celebration . Tabe wll lead a storytelling session Thursday at 12:15 p.m. in 105 Madaleva.
Hall.
All News Stories for Thursday, April 13, 2000
