IN THE LANDS OF BLACK LIONS AND WHITE BEARS

The village’s political cadre invited us to see a wedding. We couldn’t drive there, so we walked two hours to reach the place. All the villagers had gathered and the young women were drinking local liquor distilled from sorghum and millet. They gave us some to taste and it was very strong. The young men of the village had been in the nearby forest for three days, preparing strong sticks, which they would use to beat the young women. After the women got drunk, they went close to the forest and called to the young men and teased them to come and beat them. The young men rushed out and beat the young women until their backs were bloody, but the young women teased the young men and said they had not done it well. The men kept beating them. We could see the bloody welts from the distance. As people watched, they shouted for more and tougher beatings. It was very disturbing to me and if I had had the power I would have stopped it right there.

Eventually, the young men went back to the forest and the women back to their drinks. After about an hour, the men came out of the forest again and went to a house for food and drink. Women came out of the house and shouted for more beatings and were beaten again. The belief was that women who weren’t beaten that day would not be beloved by the bridegrooms. The issue would come up whenever there was any misunderstanding.

Next, the men headed for an open field. There were 11 oxen, standing in rows. Their backs were covered with fresh animal excrement, making them slippery. The bridegroom stood naked on one side of the oxen. He jumped on top of the first ox in the row, then ran across the backs of the rest, then jumped to the ground on the other side. Then he jumped back on the last ox, ran to the other end, and jumped down. Villagers congratulated him for crossing without failing off. Now he would go and live in the forest until he met the woman he wanted for his bride. He would always have food with him, and when he found the woman he wanted, he would take hold of her and put the food in her mouth. She would know what he meant and would sit down with him and tell him her name, something about her family, where she lived, and other personal information. Then he would go home and tell his parents that he had found the right woman. The two families would arrange the marriage without any more ceremony.

We stayed late into the night. The men were naked from the waist up and had painted their bodies with white stripes, making them look like zebras. They danced, jumping very high. Their bodies looked they had been crafted by artisans.

The new husband would now begin to face a series of challenges. His wife would ask him for goat meat from another tribe and he will have to go and raid that tribe. She will ask him for milk from Kenya and he will have to make a cattle raid into Kenya. He could die doing that, but it was part of his responsibility as a husband. Some other tribes in Ethiopia and Kenya have the same custom. Being a husband in those tribes was very risky and I didn’t envy the men.