Circumcision School

During the June-July School holiday many young men and women in the village attend circumcision schools. The young men and women range in age from 8-22. The schools are around 4 weeks long, and often held in the mountains. The purpose of the schools is to instill cultural values as children transition into adults.

In the olden days the boys would hunt everything they ate throughout the course of their four-week school. Today there is nothing wild left to hunt so families bring meat for the boys, but the still wear nothing but the traditional loin cloths and learn many secret songs and other secret things (that I don't know about). Many of the boys are circumcised at the school, but these days it is not uncommon for boys to be circumcised at the hospital before attending the school. Men who do not attend circumcision school are not allowed to participate in Community meetings.

Women go through a similar process of rugged living, learning secret songs and participating in endurance testing activities. As recently as 20 years ago all boys and girls would attend these schools, but they are slowly falling out of fashion. Previously some women had been circumcise, but people say the practice has fallen away almost completely. Especially for women, mountain schools are quickly becoming a thing of the past.

I attended the graduation ceremony for Modika, the first year of the boys' circumcision school. There were over two hundred boys at this particular school. Families pay between R400-R500 im tuition (approx $60). The families of the boys waited for them to be released. Mothers brought straw mats and danced and celebrated (as seen in the photo above). The boys arrived in silent procession, covered from head to toe with an oil mixed with die. The procession was serious and eerie (but the mothers were still dancing and hollaring in celebration of their boys becoming men). The mothers lay down their straw mats and all the boys sit down. Then they are ladden with candy necklaces and head bands as you can see in the third photo. The chief that had hosted the school called the name of each boy and he was lead away by his mother.

Once at home there is a party for the boys. You can see in the third photo, these are two brothers (my host nephews). We all came to the house to welcome them home. We gave them money (around R50, or $7); upon receiving the money they would recite a memorized statement of gratitue and determination to be a strong man. They get to keep the money, I think they used it to buy candy and games.

Boys are meant to return to the school the following year. At this time they qualify as Bagwera. They learn more secret traditions and songs in this session. The bagwera initiates are dressed in elaborate reed costumes and sent into the villages. They walk around with sticks and beat anyone that gets in their way, but only young people--never adults. The kids in the village love this game, they follow the bagwera around and creep as close as they can before taking off through the streets at the mouse end of hot-pursuit. It's a little like the running of the bulls.

You can see the bagwera pictured below in the last two phots (bagwera is plural, mogwera is singular). When they aren't chasing people they stand and undulate silent and ominous. It was by far my most exotic experience in the village. As I crept close to photograph them, everyone parted and drew away. I felt like a lamb creeping towards the slaughter. I could hearone of the older men who was chaperoning them ask who the heck this white person was. Lucky for me I'm well known amongst the kids, so to a chorus of "Ke Lebo" (it's Lebo), I took my photos. Then they turned and walked away.