ABSTRACT

The puberty ritual for girls among the Nyakyusa is fused with the marriage ritual. Girls are usually betrothed well before puberty and they may live with their 'husbands' for some time before they grow up, for the view of most Nyakyusa is that a girl should become accustomed to her husband gradually and that it is good for her to visit him from time to time, sweeping his house, cleaning the byre, drawing water and cooking for him, and learning the art of love-making with him and no one else. With the onset of first menstruation the ritual (ubmyago bwa-busungu) starts immediately: it is begun even for a girl not yet betrothed, though for her it cannot be completed. The first treatment is with a medicine called undumila. During the period of seclusion the girls have two specific tasks: to weave the fine mats used as beds, and to fetch firewood.