The Sunday News
Cultural Heritage, Phathisa Nyathi
The physical outline of a village is a reflection of people’s ideas regarding the various work areas, performers of that work and indeed, the relationship between work being done and the workers in terms of their sex. In a nutshell, a homestead is a gendered site that is reflective of the cosmology of the people, in particular the ruling elite. Matters relating to food are equally exhibited in the said gendered context of the homestead.
Among the Ndebele, the separation of men and women, girls and boys, was strict and in both instances there was cosmological legitimation. A view of the homestead was a view of the gendered roles distributed throughout the homestead.
Since food storage, preparation and serving was the preserve of women, there was inevitable correlation between various gendered sites and food matters, mutatis mutandis.
The first thing to observe is that the front of a homestead, regardless of the direction it faced, was a men’s and boys’ area. In that area, in front of the gate (isango) was the cattle byre (isibaya). Here is where cattle, a man’s wealth, were penned. Cattle played numerous roles within a family and indeed the community at large. Men controlled this area together with its cattle.
Cattle were important for their spiritual role, but also as sources of food. While it was generally acknowledged that food preparation was the preserve of womenfolk, when it came to food from cattle, men took over from women.
Men went on raids and brought back booty in the form of cattle. Animal husbandry was their preserve, so was the slaughter of cattle and the distribution of the various cuts of the carcass. Meat was roasted outside the cattle byre and some of it taken to women within their area n the homestead. We should see the domestication of cattle as a sequel to hunting which was done exclusively by men while the women engaged in gathering. Cattle domestication allowed men to “hunt” within the cattle byre.
Their age-old role as hunters was made lighter and they still retained it as their task within the gendered division of labour.
Cattle domestication, derived from hunting, allowed men to attach and control spirituality to cattle. If they controlled hunting and cutting up of animal carcasses, they continued to do the same with domesticated bovine.
This was true also of goats, another domesticated animal that equally attracted spirituality that men allocated themselves.
Slaughter of goats was the preserve of boys, so was the cutting up of the carcasses of same. In due course the goat, in particular its skin and meat, entered the social and cultural domains. However, the tanning of the skin was done by men, who also fashioned out impoliyana (ingubhamazwi) a dress outfit donned by a man’s favourite wife (intandokazi.)Be that as it may, the bulk of food preparation was in the hands of women and girls within the area allocated to them within the homestead.
As pointed out above, the front part of the homestead was allocated to men, the defenders of the household. In days gone by, the armoury (impalane) was located in front of the various huts within the homestead. Military matters were in the hands of men. Men produced spears, cut up shields from hides and carved knobkerries (induku, amawisa lezagila). Men came out of a village to constitute the fighting unit, the regiment (ibutho). The head of household was buried very close to the cattle byre and sometimes within its confines. The front part of the homestead was, in life and death, the domain for men and out of bounds to womenfolk.
The rear of the homestead was solely devoted to the economic activities of women and girls. It was the area reserved for their ablution and upon death, their remains were interred there. Attached to the rear ring of huts, kitchen huts were spaces where harvested sorghum and other crops were stored by womenfolk. Wooden platforms (ingalane), were arrayed against the circular fence (isihonqo). Here various crops or harvested varieties of sorghum were piled into heaps (izitha). Degenerate sorghum (ingumane) was gathered separately. Further, sorghum was piled according to variety e.g. itsheta/itsweta, isifumbatha, isikhothama, impala etc. The ground within isihonqo was specially prepared. Loose soil was scraped off and hard and crunchy black soil (ingqulwane/umkhumence) spread out and water sprinkled on top of it. It was then compacted using a wooden compact known as isitshayo. Finally, cow dung was applied. In days gone by, this floor, called isiza, was provided with a depression at one corner. After threshing, grain was swept into this depression for ease of collection.
Sorghum to be threshed was retrieved from ingalane and a heap made on the specially prepared floor. Threshing wands (imbulo) (singular: ubhulo) were made. The thicker and heavier ends were the ones used to hit the pile. Work parties (amalima), were organised during which amahewu, beer (utshwala) or meat was availed to the threshers. The threshing wands were flung in unison to the accompaniment of animated music meant to lighten the work. Women came in to collect the beaten sorghum. They separated the relatively clean grain from the chaff — ukuhlungula amakhoba. Big baskets (izitsha) were used to separate grain from chaff through winnowing (ukwela) done outside isihonqo.
Other crops harvested by women were also collected into isihonqo. Pumpkins (amathanga), watermelons (amakhabe), various gourds (inkomane) were placed under the platforms within isihonqo. Within the fences of the homestead were structures where clean grain was stored. Men came in to erect thin vertical stone slabs close to each other. Women prepared grass grain bins called izilulu into which grain was stored. Izilulu were crafted from a special type of grass called intungwa which possessed the characteristic of pliability. It is flexible and bends without snapping.
Alternatively, these large storage grass bottles were nestled on wooden platforms without a roof (ithuli). The mouths of these grass bottles were small and covered with potsherds, (indengele/indengezi). When it rained, air entrapped within spaces in the grass prevented entry of water into the structure. These grain storage structures were located behind the wives’ kitchen huts, forming a continuous circle beyond the kitchen huts arranged according to wives’ seniority. The threshing fold, grass grain storage bins and the kitchen huts were all located within the rear section of the homestead-the domain for women who have the responsibility for preparing food for members of the household.
As a security measure, some of the grain was stored in underground grain pits within cattle byres. These bins, referred to as imilindi (singular: umlindi), were used as storage for reserve grain. The grain in such concealed underground storage facilities served as reserves in case enemies razed the grain stotage bins located within the homestead. Here was a case when reserve food grain was stored within a male domain, all because of the need to preserve emergency grain in times of calamities.
From the grass grain storage bins grain was brought into or just outside the kitchen huts where women and or young girls ground it using grinding stones (imbokodo and ilitshe lokucholela). Ground meal collected in a grass platter called isithebe, made from grass reeds. There were songs that were sung when grain was being ground. The songs were used to enhance work rate and rhythm. Once enough sorghum meal was collected, isitshwala could then be prepared by the ladies. Grinding was done on a daily basis prior to the preparation of each meal.
Women would have collected firewood from the veldt. In the process of collecting the firewood, they knew which wood was not suitable for making fire as there were accompanying taboos. Ladies balanced large chords of firewood on their heads and over a long period of time built a large pile (ibonda) so that during the rain and the agricultural season, they would not venture far into the veld when there were competing demands on their time.
