BIRTH AMONG ABAKHOONE
Once a baby was born, the father in law was not supposed to share food with his daughter in law for at least four days if it was a baby boy or 3 days if it was a girl. During this period all the left over food eaten by the new mother was simply thrown away lest it get mixed with father in law's food. For example where ugali is recycled. This practice was driven by the belief that if the father in law shared food with his daughter in law, then it will bloc her from getting more children.
If the born baby is a girl, the baby was supposed to be kept in the house for 3 days ( 4 days if it is a boy) then it will be taken out and laid near the granary for public viewing (those days homesteads used to construct a special type of granary). On that the relatives of the girl visited with grains and chicken as well as gifts for the baby.
On this day, the paternal aunt also visited to shave the baby off the hair it was born with. This hair is called lifanda. The Shaved and bathed the baby. The aim was to identify birth marks and family features that identifies the baby as a bonfide member of the family.
Once this was done, the relatives of the new mother were rewarded with a goat and they left. The next day, the grandparents of the baby visited for the naming ceremony. Depending on the features the aunt will have identified, a child could be named after a deceased relative who had similar features. Alternatively a name could be sought through a ceremony whose details are a top secret among abakhoone and I have to seek for permission from elders to publish about them here. In a nutshell, the naming ceremony is aimed at protecting the life any mukhone to only die after at least leaving behind a descendant. Therefore I will not devulge details here since also non-bakhoone too rid this blog.
If the born baby is a girl, the baby was supposed to be kept in the house for 3 days ( 4 days if it is a boy) then it will be taken out and laid near the granary for public viewing (those days homesteads used to construct a special type of granary). On that the relatives of the girl visited with grains and chicken as well as gifts for the baby.
On this day, the paternal aunt also visited to shave the baby off the hair it was born with. This hair is called lifanda. The Shaved and bathed the baby. The aim was to identify birth marks and family features that identifies the baby as a bonfide member of the family.
Once this was done, the relatives of the new mother were rewarded with a goat and they left. The next day, the grandparents of the baby visited for the naming ceremony. Depending on the features the aunt will have identified, a child could be named after a deceased relative who had similar features. Alternatively a name could be sought through a ceremony whose details are a top secret among abakhoone and I have to seek for permission from elders to publish about them here. In a nutshell, the naming ceremony is aimed at protecting the life any mukhone to only die after at least leaving behind a descendant. Therefore I will not devulge details here since also non-bakhoone too rid this blog.
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