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Ba
Roka Material Culture
Ba Roka tribal
dress developed from Sotho Tswana origin.
The Ba Roka, Venda and Lobedu all
know
the supernatural
Muwhira. The costumes which follow represent him. He is both
deaf and dumb and is known as the recruiter
for the Sungwi initiation school for girls.
AKM Collection - ex/ J Witt Collection
Field Image - Circa 1970
His character is made of reeds and body parts of
hawks, owls and hammerhead birds. The example above left was collected in the Sekororo Area by J. Witt during the early 1960's. Later it became
the property of the Potchefstroom University Collection. Few examples
are known. This is because traditionally Muwhira was burned at the end of Sungwi.
The image on the right was taken in the 1980's amongst the Ba Roka.
The photographs to
below were taken by Krige
in 1938 with the nearby Lobedu. He recorded that the most spectacular
costumes were worn by the mohwera from Rabothada, whose
performance at the capital traditionally closed the initiation. A number
of these found their way to the South African Museum.
Annals of the
South African Museum - Vol 94 - Part 3 - Page 097
The Realm of a
Rain Queen - Plate IX - E. J. Krige - 1938
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.jpg)
The Realm of a
Rain Queen - Plate X - E. J. Krige - 1938
Ba Roka Girls
Initiation Costume
An example of a Ba
Roka girls initiation apron appears on the African cover page of "Beadwork - A
World Guide" by Caroline
Crabtree and Pam Stallebrass. (pg 29) Pam Stallebrass located the item in storage at the
South African Museum in Cape Town. In all likelihood, this was collected
by E. Jensen Krige and J. D. Krige during the first portion of the 20th
century.
Ba Roka initiation
aprons were known as thito in Sesotho.
Hundreds of beads
were individually stitched onto fabric, creating colourful geometric
patters and design. A cord was attached underneath the upper foldover
flap, used to attach the apron to the girls body.
Click thumbnails
for larger images
AFTER
page FULLY loads.
A number of types
of fabric were used to make thito aprons. Predominately red Salempore
originated in India, whereas predominately blue Three Cats
from England. The
cloth was brought into the Lowveld by traders on well established routes from Delagoa Bay. Salempore gained early
acceptance among Ba Roka, as it did among the Lobedu, Shangaan and Venda. The
Lobedu and neighbouring tribes (Ba Roka) called it nwalukambu.
Salempore was also used by the Ovambo in Angola and Namibia.
Each mother would
make a thito apron for the initiation of her eldest daughter.
Once the daughter, aged 14 to16, had completed initiation, the apron was
returned to the mother. The apron keep for the woman's next
daughters initiation and so on. Each time the red Salempore
apron was thoroughly washed, which explains why most known examples have
faded to pink .
Belts with
pompoms were worn around the waist near top of the apron.
Initiation
practices
dictated that a number of necklaces were worn. The centre necklace was
built coiled around a centre cord in spiral fashion, causing it to roll
around the lower section.
Beaded solid
colour
sections were used to highlight the effect.
Larger beads were inter-dispersed with smaller examples in rotating colors.
This beading technique is found in both North and South Sotho beadwork.
During ceremonial
occasions, adult women
adorned themselves with beaded belts which sometimes included a dense row of
pompom tassels.
An example without pompoms.
Woman's
necklaces differed in construction from that of younger girls.
Ba Roka Boys
Initiation Costume
Ba Roka boys also
went through initiation ceremonies.
Circa 1950
Similar necklaces
to the example below were worn by uninitiated girls of the nearby Lobedu (Northern
Sotho) peoples, as well as the Pedi. However, we were told that this
example was worn by Ba Roka boys at initiation. It lacks the large section
of mustard coloured beads which the Lobedu included on those worn by
women.
These old family
photographs show that beaded aprons also played a part in boys
initiations, as they did with the girls.
Circa 1960
These young
initiates are draped in sweets.
The Ba Roka used
telephone wire over grass fibre to create basket ware. Telephone wire
allowed for bright colours, much like those chosen for
their beaded aprons.
This beer pot was collected amongst the
Ba Roka during 2007.
Religion
Like other Bantu
peoples, the Ba Roka practiced a traditional Shamanist type
religion, based on devotion to ancestors. Ancestors were intermediaries
to the spirits. A person was said to exist for as long as his
shadow was still “felt” on earth by living relatives. Each community had
its traditional herbalist healers called Ngaka. They
functioned as shamans, spiritual counsellors and protectors against evil
spirits and magic.
These two aprons were owned by a Ba Roka diviner
or Ngaka.
This apron is proportionally related to North Sotho girls aprons, which
are to be viewed within our
North Sotho page. Unique are it's 60 +
inverted colourful triangles.
Contemporary Sotho-Tswana society adapted to rapid urbanization.
Sadly at the time of writing, beaded costume has all but
vanished. In South African urban, cosmopolitan, multi-racial and
multi-cultural areas, western cultural norms are predominant.
Circa 1960
We
hope you have enjoyed the page.
Please send
corrections and/or additions to
admin@ezakwantu.com
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