One of the cultures of the
Southern part of Africa is the First-Fruit Ceremony. It is still held until
today by the people of Zulu with the tradional name Umkhosi Wokweshwama and the
people of Swazi with the traditional name Incwala.
What happens in the ceremony is
actually quite clearly explained by the name. It is a ceremony to celebrate the
harvest time which is held annually. The king or paramount chief will become
the first person in the nation to eat or taste the harvest of the new season.
The process is conducted in formal and ritualized manner. Even there is a
herbalist to provide the king with special medicines.
The harvest is considered the
blessing from the ancestor. After the king, the eater will continue to the
lower levels of authority: to tribal
chiefs, sub-chiefs and head-men. And the common farmers and their family
will eat the last. Even the other tribes will not eat unless the king has eaten
it. It will be considered humiliating and violating the monarch and tribal
ancestors to eat the fruit before the king.
In Zulu, the ceremony is held in
December or early January. That is the time when the new season’s corps has
ripened. There will be some series of rituals conducted by young men, which are
intended to provide Zulu with good fortune until the following year.
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