Olufuko is an Aawambo traditional practice where girls often as young as 12 are prepared for womanhood, including marriage and pregnancy, and caring for families. This practice is performed by an elderly man, known as Namunganga, and is accompanied by drumming and dancing. It is a practice that turns girls and young women into brides without grooms. Over the years this initiation practice has been banned by the mainstream Christian churches, labelling the practice pagan , and against Christianity .
38-440: According to tradition, the girls cannot reject Olufuko, because it is believed that rejection would bring a curse upon them (e.g. they may never get married ). Those that reject Olufuko face misfortunes, including falling victim to unwanted pregnancies, not being able to bear children or facing the death of a parent, as a result of the curse. Thus, traditionally a girl who turns down Olufuko would be manhand-led, tied up and dragged to
76-434: A colonial context, the most powerful member of either a confederation or a federation of such tribal, clan or village chiefs would be referred to as a paramount chief . Classical sources of information about tribal societies are external descriptions such as from Greco-Roman ethnography , which identified societies, surrounding the societies of the ethnographers, as tribal. States and colonialism , particularly in
114-743: A king whose title is also recognized by the Bolivian government. The band is the fundamental unit of governance among the First Nations in Canada (formerly called "Indians"). Most bands have elected chiefs, either directly elected by all members of the band, or indirectly by the band council, these chiefs are recognized by the Canadian state under the terms of the Indian Act . As well, there may be traditional hereditary or charismatic chiefs, who are usually not part of
152-624: A US$ 14 billion industry nationwide. This has been imitated in many of the respective states that still have indigenous American tribes. The money that this generates has engendered some political scandal. For example, the Tigua tribe, which fled their ancestral lands in New Mexico during the Pueblo revolt of 1680, and who then settled on land in El Paso County, Texas , has paid for a low probable return to
190-590: A broader popular assembly in "parliamentary" cultures, the war chief (may be an alternative or additional post in war time), the hereditary chief, and the politically dominant medicineman . The term is usually distinct from chiefs at lower levels, such as village chief (geographically defined) or clan chief (an essentially genealogical notion). The descriptive "tribal" requires an ethno-cultural identity (racial, linguistic, religious etc.) as well as some political (representative, legislative, executive and/or judicial) expression. In certain situations, and especially in
228-544: A child , and up to six cows for theft, depending on severity. The traditional court of the Oorlam people at Vaalgras in Namibia's south, where there are few communal cattle farmers, fines three goats for theft. In the traditional Lozi system, the king and judges appointed by him heard cases of murder. A person found guilty of killing another without just cause was sentenced to death by the king and subsequently executed. However, if
266-461: A civil case has to be opened after the criminal verdict. Traditional fines are thus, in the words of justice minister Yvonne Dausab , meant "to wipe off tears", and not to replace criminal proceedings. Typical punishments are in money or in livestock. For instance, the traditional courts of the Ovambo people in Namibia's north fine ten cows or 15,000 N$ for murder, two cows or 3,000N$ for impregnating
304-510: A man or when they eventually fall pregnant. On the last day, the girls are then "cleansed" by rubbing their bodies with butter mixed with traditional red dye or ochre with Oshifima (porridge); the butter and dye mixture is also smeared on the girls at the commencement of the ceremony. On this day, which is known as Okandjibululwena, mothers and brides can leave the Olufuko homestead and go back to their homes. Bringing back Olufuko ceremony. The Olufuko
342-450: A number of them were restored as politically neutral constituencies of the state by the government of Yoweri Museveni . Such figures as the kabaka of Buganda and the omukama of Toro typify the Ugandan chieftaincy class. El caciquismo is a distorted form of government through which a political leader has total control of a rural society expressed as political clientelism . This concept
380-469: A “nation without a culture and tradition is not a nation, with all the contradictions, this event was a success and will strive to continue taking place under the slogan Our Heritage Our Pride. Traditional leadership of Namibia Traditional leadership of Namibia is a governing structure in Namibia based on the ethnicity of the indigenous people of the territory. Acceptance of a traditional authority
418-578: Is Native American, although the connection is usually only sentimental and not economic or cultural. Thus, there is some political power in one's ability to claim a Native American connection (as in the Black Seminole ). Because the Nations were sovereign, with treaty rights and obligations, the Wisconsin tribes innovated Indian gaming in 1988, that is, on-reservation gambling casinos, which have since become
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#1732884614676456-457: Is an infringement of human rights, since young girls are forced into this initiation process. In defending the event, Olufuko, which means wedding in Oshiwambo, is a process where girls, as young as 14 years old, are commissioned as 'brides'. After Olufuko, the prospective bride, no matter the age, is free to get a man and get married any time. Pregnancy before marriage after Olufuko is acceptable and
494-626: Is not a taboo. People under the age of 16 are considered minors under the Namibian Constitution. Olufuko is the theme of an annual festival, hosted in Outapi , Omusati Region , Namibia. The Olufuko Festival was launched in 2012. The Founding President of the Republic of Namibia and Father of the Namibian Nation H.E. Dr. Sam Nujoma is the patron of Olufuko Festival. Sam Nujoma emphasized that
532-501: Is vested in the Government of Namibia , executed by the minister of Urban and Rural Development . There are 51 recognised traditional authorities and a further 40 pending applications. Traditional authorities cover the entire Namibian territory. For a traditional authority to be recognised by government it must have a sole area of jurisdiction; although virtually all places in Namibia are inhabited by members of different clans and tribes,
570-576: The Neolithic stage into the Iron Age , albeit in competition with urban civilisations and empires beginning in the Bronze Age . In the case of tribal societies of indigenous peoples existing within larger colonial and post-colonial states, tribal chiefs may represent their tribe or ethnicity in a form of self-government . The most common types are the chairman of a council (usually of " elders ") and/or
608-583: The Pueblo people were granted U.S. citizenship, and it was not until 1948 that the Puebloans were granted the right to vote in state elections in New Mexico. In Wisconsin, the Menominee has its own county Menominee County, Wisconsin with special car license plates; 87% of the county's population is Native American. Mainstream Americans often find pride and comfort in realizing that at least part of their ethnic ancestry
646-500: The band society of the Paleolithic stage and civilization with centralized, super-regional government based in cities . Anthropologist Elman Service distinguishes two stages of tribal societies: simple societies organized by limited instances of social rank and prestige, and more stratified societies led by chieftains or tribal kings ( chiefdoms ). Stratified tribal societies led by tribal kings are thought to have flourished from
684-737: The king of the Zulu Nation and the rain queen are politically recognized in South Africa because they derive their status, not only from tribal custom, but also from the Traditional Leadership Clause of the country's current constitution. Some of them are members of the National House of Traditional Leaders . The pre-colonial states that existed in what is today Uganda were summarily abolished following independence from Great Britain . However, following constitutional reforms in 1993,
722-558: The Indian Act-sanctioned formal government. There were 614 bands in Canada in 2012. There is also a national organization, the Assembly of First Nations , which elects a "national chief" to act as spokesperson of all First Nations bands in Canada. Generally, a tribe or nation is considered to be part of an ethnic group , usually sharing cultural values . For example, the forest-dwelling Chippewa historically built dwellings from
760-600: The North American continent, it was historically possible to evade the political power of another by migration. The Mingos , for example, were Iroquois who migrated further west to the sparsely populated Ohio Country during the 18th century. Two Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois, Hiawatha and the Great Peacemaker , formulated a constitution for the Iroquois Confederation. The tribes were pacified by units of
798-493: The Olufuko homestead. Meekulu Saara Walaula, who is the wife of the Aambadja Senior Chief Tatekulu Mathias Walaula, said the Olufuko initiation lasts for seven days and each day serves a purpose in the process. The person ordained to carry out Olufuko is called Namunganga. This practice is carried yearly and a number of girls partake in the practice. Olufuko commences with a day called ekoho when
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#1732884614676836-474: The United States Army in the nineteenth century, and were also subject to forced schooling in the decades afterward. Thus, it is uncommon for today's tribes to have a purely Native American cultural background, and today Native Americans are in many ways simply another ethnicity of the secular American people. Because formal education is now respected, some like Peter MacDonald , a Navajo, left their jobs in
874-416: The allocation of communal land and the formulation of the traditional group's customary laws. They also take over judicial work through traditional courts , offering a way to access compensation through civil law that does not require fees or lawyers. Crime in Namibia is treated by the classical courts solely as a criminal procedure , and ends in punishment of the offender; To seek material compensation
912-458: The area of the settlements are deemed to belong to only one traditional authority. For a traditional leader to be accepted by government, they must be appointed according to the customary law of their clan, without major disputes about their current reign. Leaders and their administrative staff are not paid by the state. Instead the traditional group's members are expected to sustain their leadership. Government did, however, give one car each to
950-570: The bark of trees. On the Great Plains , where trees were rare, some tribes typically dwelt in skin-covered tipis , usually acquiring the lodgepoles by trade, while other Plains tribes, such as the Pawnee , built their lodges of earth. The Pueblo people of the Southwest built their dwellings of stone and earth. A chief might be considered to hold all political power, say by oratory or by example. But on
988-457: The brides sleep in Ondjuwo, a special hut built for them. According to the prevailing belief, pregnant brides or girls that have had an abortion can never go through the rituals and will not be able to even if they wished to, due to the influence of supernatural forces or powers. After the rituals the girls are officially prospective brides and will be referred to as such until the time that they meet
1026-404: The brides' mothers prepare the fireplaces where the food of the brides-to-be is prepared. This is followed by omakunde and okambadjona when the parents of the brides-to-be slaughter cattle for their daughters. The fourth day is efundula (the wedding day). From that day on, the girls are officially confirmed as prospective brides. Single men and even polygamists may start to show their interest in
1064-482: The convict sought refuge in the house of Katamoyo (Mother of Life), a challenging feat, the sentence was not carried out. Tribal chief A tribal chief , chieftain , or headman is a leader of a tribal society or of a chiefdom . There is no definition for "tribe". The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of western Afroeurasia . Tribal societies are sometimes categorized as an intermediate stage between
1102-449: The council of women. Historically, the U.S. government treated tribes as seats of political power, and made treaties with the tribes as legal entities. Be that as it may, the territory of these tribes fell under the authority of the Bureau of Indian Affairs as reservations held in trust for the tribes. Citizenship was formerly considered a tribal matter. For example, it was not until 1924 that
1140-669: The cultures of the traditional areas. They also serve as members of the Ghanaian National House of Chiefs . Although both the Nigerian traditional rulers and the wider chieftaincy aren't mentioned in Nigeria's current constitution , they derive their powers from various so-called Chiefs laws and are therefore legally recognized. The traditional rulers and select chiefs usually serve as members of each federating state's State Council of Traditional Rulers and Chiefs . Such figures as
1178-511: The government as members of the Ntlo ya Dikgosi , the national House of Chiefs . In addition to this, they also serve as the ex officio chairs of the tribal kgotlas , meetings of all of the members of the tribes, where political and social matters are discussed. The offices and traditional realms of the nanas of Ghana are constitutionally protected by the republican constitution of the country. The chiefs serve as custodians of all traditional lands and
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1216-407: The last centuries, forced their central governments onto many remaining tribal societies. In some instances tribes have retained or regained partial self-government and their lifestyles, with Indigenous peoples rights having been fought for and some being secured on state or international levels. In Botswana, the reigning kgosis of the various tribes are legally empowered to serve as advisers to
1254-464: The mainstream U.S. economy to become chairpeople of their tribal councils or similar self-government institutions. Not all tribal leaders are or were men. Wilma Mankiller was a well-known chief of the Cherokee Nation. Also, the chief may not free to wield power without the consent of a council of elders of some kind. For example: Cherokee men were not permitted to go to war without the consent of
1292-407: The prospective brides, by placing jewellery or bracelets on the wrists of the women of their choice. The woman has the right to choose any of the men or to reject them all. The fifth day is called epito letanda , or the initiation day; the rituals on that day include a walk around the Olufuko homestead at night when everyone is asleep and getting back to the house through a special entrance. That night
1330-512: The recognised authorities, and awards allowances for fuel and administrative work. The parallel existence of traditional authorities and the Namibian government in Namibia is controversial. The traditional rulers and leaders are represented through the Council of Traditional Leaders , established by Act 13 of 1997 (GG 1706) and amended by Act 31 of 2000 (GG 2462). Traditional leaders are entrusted with
1368-851: The tribe because of the Jack Abramoff publicity. Many of the tribes use professional management for their money. Thus, the Mescalero Apache renovated their Inn of the Mountain Gods to include gambling as well as the previous tourism, lodging, and skiing in the older Inn. The Navajo nation defeated bids to open casinos in 1994, but by 2004 the Shiprock casino was a fait accompli . Arabs, in particular peninsular Arabs , nomadic Bedouins and many Iraqis and Syrians, are largely organized in tribes, many of whom have official representatives in governments. Tribal chiefs are known as sheikhs , though this term
1406-662: Was last held 80 years ago until it was recently held by the Omusati Regional Council in conjunction with the Outapi Town Council and traditional authorities at the Outapi town in the northern region of Namibia. Namrights said Olufuko is "discriminatory and degrading against girls". Opponents argue that Olufuko will contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS , dropping out of school, teenage pregnancy and promiscuity and have called it unconstitutional. They claim that Olufuko
1444-509: Was most widespread in Latin America in its different periods of history. In Spain and some Latin American countries, the word cacique is used pejoratively to refer to those who hold the power through obscure networks of influence even though this type of fraud is not related to pre-Columbian era civilizations The Afro-Bolivian people , a recognized ethnic constituency of Bolivia, are led by
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