Ankole marriage: 8 items exchanged during ceremony and their meanings

Despite this, the value of extended families, and child bearing as a standard of marriage success, have persisted. These values have been kept alive through the rites of marriage decorated by events and exchange.

Ankole traditional marriage Pulse

The preparations

When the date is set, girls are restricted to the indoors where they were fed beef, millet porridge and force fed sizeable amounts of milk. For the female among the Bahima, being fat is the criteria for attractiveness.

On the day of the introduction, a father, occasionally with the help of his relatives, is obliged to find his son a wife by paying the bride wealth. The bride-wealth consists five cows, three goats, and pots of beer among the Bairu. Among the Bahima, the bride wealth ranges anywhere from five to twenty cows, depending on the father's wealth.

Once this is completed, the procedures of the traditional marriage begin.

One of the most significant traditions involved in the marriage rite is called Omugamba, during which eight items are given to the man's family by the girl's family.

Omugamba assortments Pulse

Omugamba

This is a stick that contains the assortment of gifts for the man's family. Included in the stick are the following gifts.

1. Ebyanzi, is a collection of wooden vessels made from smoked black wood. The exterior is then layered with aesthetic handmade covers called 'emihaiha'. These are woven with sisal into geometric patterns. Ebyanzi are used during milking, serving and storing milk.

2. Ekirere, this small calabash is used for taking skimmed milk and preparation of yoghurt (amakamo). The local yoghurt is made from raw milk in the morning by sieving.

3. Eicuba, is a wooden bucket used in collecting water for the cows. It is used to draw water that is then emptied into a drinking trough. The process of giving the cows water is called 'okweshera'.

4. Rukomyo, is a personal hygiene accessory. It is a perfume pot containing scented smoke. It is designed with three holes through which scented smoke escapes.

5. Ekicunga, a pot made out of clay. It is used to fumigate gourds and milk pots.

6. Akacwende, this calabash is used to make perfumed ghee which is used as vaseline for women. Ghee is mixed with a few scented herbs for a resultant sweet scent.

7. Emboha, a rope made out of sisal, used to bind the hind legs of a cow during milking.

8. Enkuyo, to keep flies away from a cow during milking, the milkmen use this sisal broom-like tool.