The Tanzanian wives

August 7, 2016 5:31 AM

​In the Mara region of northern Tanzania, Abigail Haworth discovers an empowering tribal tradition undergoing a modern revival
posted by Joe in Australia (7 comments total)

The story of Mukosa, Isombe and Nyagochera, especially, makes me think of Crone Island.
posted by lollusc at 6:30 AM on August 7, 2016 [3 favorites]

This is a fascinating article! I loved the family portrait at the end. Thanks for posting!
posted by PlantGoddess at 6:41 AM on August 7, 2016

This is pretty amazing!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:47 AM on August 7, 2016

Interesting. Here's an older and briefer article on the same subject. I wish either article had gotten more into the mechanics of this process.

So Nyagochera delegated the bearing of the male heir to Isombe, who in turn delegated it to Mukosa, who did it. I wonder how many times you can extend that chain before people start questioning it. Arbitrarily, as long as a male heir gets produced before the original woman dies?

Given that the heterosexual marriages in this society can be polygamous, could Nyagochera also have taken a second wife directly, instead of through Isombe? Would that jeopardize Isombe's position, since her status as Nyagochera's wife is based on the delegation of childbirth?

Also, there seems to be a bootstrapping problem here, since you need a widow to start the process. And presumable it falls apart with the death of that original widow. Mukosa's son would inherit, making Mukosa and Isombe his dependents.

I'm trying to think of a way to hack female inheritance onto this system. I can't find from a brief Google query whether the Kurya have an incest taboo. If they don't, could you have a father "marry" his daughter, so that she could inherit as wife instead of daughter?
posted by d. z. wang at 1:00 PM on August 7, 2016

If they make money and keep it they can buy their own house or land though. Or buy one for their daughters or sons.
posted by fshgrl at 4:13 PM on August 7, 2016

I'm trying to think of a way to hack female inheritance onto this system. I can't find from a brief Google query whether the Kurya have an incest taboo. If they don't, could you have a father "marry" his daughter, so that she could inherit as wife instead of daughter?

Given the existing abuses described in the article, I think that would go really bad places. Incest tends to be taboo not only because of how horrible it is for the sexual victim but because inbreeding tends to go bad places. This is not a slippery slope I would want encouraged. In contrast, I have zero problem with the idea that two women marrying each other might someday make homosexual relationships more acceptable.
posted by Michele in California at 4:19 PM on August 7, 2016

could Nyagochera also have taken a second wife directly
I saw a documentary about this a couple years ago. The answer is "yes."

I wish I could find the video online but it was subtitled and I can't recall the title.

Anyway, the woman in the doc was divorced. She left an abusive husband and she and her only surviving child started a food service business. Her daughter said she was going to get married (to a man) so she could have some help. Her mother said, no, I will marry a girl and she will help you. The girl she married had been married and divorced and lost 3 children by age 18. This wife had a boyfriend who was married to two women.

Then the matriarch married another girl... I don't recall why. But she had two wives and a son with each.

Interesting tidbits: in the documentary, the older divorced woman continued to care for her ex-husband until he died. It seems that divorce is quite different than how we tend to think of it. And the ex-husband still abused her. 2. The women refer to each other as "mothers-in-law" and "daughters-in-law," not wives. It reminded me of the Biblical story of Ruth and Naomi, actually.
posted by tippy at 9:17 PM on August 7, 2016 [3 favorites]