Intonjane
Xhosa coming-of-age ritual after first menstruation.
In the Eastern Cape of South Africa, the Xhosa people mark a girl’s first period with Intonjane, a rite of passage into womanhood. Lasting three to six weeks, the ritual teaches socially accepted behaviors and encourages premarital abstinence. The name comes from the grass-like cocoon of a stick insect, which resembles the special grass, inkxopho, the girl sits on during the ceremony.
Quick Facts
- Region
- Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Duration
- 3 to 6 weeks
- Trigger
- First menstruation
Facts from the source article.
Umngeno
When a girl has her first menstruation, she tells her mother, who informs her father, who then calls a traditional gathering called ibhunga. Grass jewellery is placed around her neck and waist as a symbol of her coming of age. At the ibhunga, traditional beer (umqombothi webhunga) is made, and the girl learns she will attend the intonjane ceremony. She then wears a necklace made from a live ox's tail hair (ubulunga), symbolizing fertility and readiness to accept marriage proposals. The girl enters seclusion with amakhankatha (assistants) and her aunt; this day of isolation is called umngeno. During the first week, she stays behind a curtain wearing only a black doek and an inkciyo (beaded apron covering the pubic area), with her body painted in white ochre to represent contact with ancestral spirits and seclusion from tribal life.
Umtshato
After umngenandlini, on the fourth day or any even-numbered day following the initiate's seclusion, a ceremony simulating a marriage (umtshato) is held; even numbers symbolize two families in a marriage union. An ox is slaughtered, and its right shoulder (umshwamo) is placed in a special hut overnight. The next day, one of the amakhankatha cooks the meat, which is eaten using the same stick used for the goat meat from unngenandlini. This three-day celebration allows the public to witness the girl's new role as a woman.
Ukutsiba Intaba
This event involves disposing of the initiate's sanitary towels or whatever she used during her period. After disposal, the girl and her amakhankatha must burn the stick they have been using to eat meat. One assistant ties the stick to a bunch of grass used as tinder and burns it. The ashes are then dispersed everywhere, symbolizing the end of childhood and the beginning of womanhood. After dispersing the ashes, the girls run home; the initiate must run ahead of her assistants, because if they catch her, she must stay in the hut for an extended period.
Umngqungqo
Before the end of seclusion, a party (umngqungqo) is held for all the women in the village, who wear bright-colored clothing and beads. The morning after the last day of the party, the initiate goes to the river to wash off the white ochre and replace it with yellow ochre (umdike). She and her assistants wear new clothes upon returning from the river, and celebrations continue to mark the end of the intonjane ritual.
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