• Not only can Ego construct
bɛ̄ hídíbɛ ‘ancestor shrines’ for his father, but also for his mother. •
Although reincarnation is usually patrilineal, it can also occur matrilaterally. In this instance the reincarnating ancestor is from Ego’s father’s or grandfather’s maternal family. When this happens
a ceremony called tī báákíte needs to be performed, as the child needs to be reintegrated into
their reincarnating ancestor’s original lineage, the child thus becomes a fictive kin member of the maternal family and the maternal uncle who performs the
tī báákíte ceremony becomes a second father to the child and is known as the child’s
báákɛ̄ tī báákíte kin. Despite this, the child maintains his or her membership of the paternal lineage he or she is born into cf. Huber
1969:261; 1973:434; S. Merz 2013. This reciprocity seems to fit Schwimmer’s observation that the two groups have “complementary
functions” 1995. This is also evident during Ego’s rites of passage, including a girl’s first pregnancy, the birth of a girl’s first child and death.
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Below, I note some examples of the complementary functions performed by the maternal and paternal family during these rites of passage.
7.1 First pregnancy and birth
7.1.1 First pregnancy
When a husband suspects, or realises, that his wife is pregnant for the first time, he visits a diviner ū
pāāsɔ to verify if she is really pregnant. Sometimes it is his mother who first notices that her daughter- in-law is pregnant; she then quietly alerts her son. The husband does not mention his suspicions to his
wife, neither does she indicate to him that she is pregnant as, following Huber, “According to traditional customs neither the husband nor the wife can talk openly about the suspected pregnancy until the wife
has been officially informed [of her state] before the ancestor altars bɛhirbɛ [bɛ̄ hídíbɛ] of her family”
1973:394, translation mine. The wife’s ancestors should be informed of her state during a ceremony called
m̄ nāāpōtīmɛ ‘stomach-reveal: to reveal the state of the wife’s stomach’.
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The m̄ nāāpōtīmɛ
ceremony is not only for the girl’s benefit but also informs her ancestors of “their daughter’s fertility and to invoke their protection for her” Huber 1973:394, translation mine. Until the ancestors have been
informed, no one should mention or discuss the girl’s pregnancy or else she could lose the baby. Both families are involved in the preparations needed for
m̄ nāāpōtīmɛ. The husband and his family have the following roles:
• Having confirmed with a diviner that his wife is pregnant, the husband takes the cowry shells,
which were used for divination, and gives them to his father-in-law and informs him that his daughter is pregnant.
• The husband is responsible for organising the millet flour, a cockerel and a guinea fowl needed
for the m̄ nāāpōtīmɛ ceremony cf. Huber 1973:394. He then sends his wife to her family.
• Either the husband’s actual mother or a classificatory mother one of his mother’s co-wives
accompanies her daughter-in-law as she returns to her paternal home. The mother may also take the millet flour, chicken and guinea fowl needed for the
m̄ nāāpōtīmɛ ceremony. Otherwise a co- wife of the girl will take these. They travel to the girl’s paternal home the evening before the day
of the m̄ nāāpōtīmɛ ceremony and spend the night there. The husband’s mother stays at the girl’s
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For further details about initiation and death, see appendix F. For additional details and analysis of the different Bebelibe ceremonies and their life cycle, see Huber 1973; 1979. See also Sewane who gives a detailed description
and some analysis of the dī kṵntide initiation 2002, and the ceremonies surrounding death as performed by the
TambermaBetammaribe 2003. See also Koussey 1977, Maurice 1986 and Sulj 1982 who have also written in detail about the Betammaribe and Tamberma.
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The root of this noun is formed from the noun tī nāāte ‘stomach and the verb n pōtā ‘to reveal.
father’s homestead, sleeping in the same room as her daughter-in-law for the night, and joining in the meal that follows the
m̄ nāāpōtīmɛ ceremony. The maternal side have the following roles:
• The father, having received news that his daughter is potentially pregnant with her first child,
takes the cowry shells that his son-in-law gave him and visits a diviner ū pāāsɔ to confirm his
daughter’s state. He may share the cowry shells out with his brothers the girl’s classificatory fathers, who will each visit a different diviner. They also consult the diviners
bɛ̄ pāsībɛ to establish which member of the family should present the daughter to the ancestors during the
m̄ nāāpōtīmɛ ceremony. The diviners may indicate that her actual father does this, or one of his
brothers, or one of his sisters who is, in turn, the girl’s paternal aunt. The person designated to do this is called
ū nāāpōtɔ̄ɔ ‘the person who reveals,
PL
. bɛ̄ nāāpōtībɛ.
• Whoever was chosen by the diviner—the actual father, a classificatory father or a paternal
aunt—then presents the daughter to her ancestors, by sacrificing the millet flour,
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cockerel and guinea fowl that have been sent by the girl’s husband, and they pray for her and her baby’s
protection. The girl’s actual father or one of his brothers the girl’s classificatory father then makes a bracelet using some of the sacrificed fowl’s feathers.
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The person who performed the sacrifice then attaches the bracelet to the pregnant girl’s left wrist.
• The daughter’s actual mother has no specific role to play during the
m̄ nāāpōtīmɛ ceremony. Her co-wives classificatory mothers to the daughter prepare a meal using the meat of the sacrificed
fowls, which is eaten by those present. After the ceremony is completed, the girl will return to her husband’s homestead. Before leaving,
either her mother or one of her classificatory mothers a co-wife of her mother ties a leaf or two around her waist in front and behind. Traditionally, this would have been a full skirt that covered her pubic area
and bottom. Today, the leaves are under the girl’s cloth skirt or wrap. The girl’s mother-in-law then accompanies her back home. The pregnant girl must not talk to
anyone she encounters as she returns to her husband, nor should she look behind her, for fear of losing the baby. She walks behind her mother-in-law, who can greet and talk to those they meet. Usually a
person who encounters such a couple knows what is happening and will avoid talking to the girl. Once the girl and her mother-in-law have arrived at the husband’s homestead, the two first enter the vestibule
hut where the mother-in-law removes the leaves in front of the
bɛ̄ hídíbɛ ‘ancestor shrines’. In this way, the paternal
bɛ̄ hídíbɛ are informed of the expected child who will be of their lineage. The girl’s mother- in-law then throws the leaves into the bush.
It may seem odd that one purpose behind the m̄ nāāpōtīmɛ ceremony is to make the girl aware of
her state, given that she probably knows that she is pregnant. It can happen, however, that she may not have realised, especially if her periods were not yet regular. Her “state” also links to reincarnation. The
different visits made by her husband and fathers to the diviners are not only to verify if she is pregnant and who should perform
m̄ nāāpōtīmɛ, but also who or what might have reincarnated the child and whether the child already needs a
dī kunpúóde.
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She will not be told who has reincarnated her child, but she does need to know that there could be complications and that a
dī kunpúóde is needed.
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The millet flour is mixed with water and is poured on to the bɛ̄ hídíbɛ shrine.
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Making such a bracelet is a man’s job; even if a paternal aunt was chosen to do the sacrifice, it is one of her brothers who makes the bracelet.
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The first dī kunpúóde
PL
. ā kunpē is usually constructed for individuals when they are only a few months old,
though one may be constructed for an unborn baby, especially if an animal or problematic ancestor has reincarnated the baby. Others can be constructed for individuals for important times of their lives. The
ā kunpē are conical in form and are located outside the compound next to the vestibule ‘ancestor’ hut. The
dī kunpúóde reinforces and restores balance to the person’s
kɛ̄ bōdīkɛ ‘animating force’ and m̄ takimɛ ‘identity’.
7.1.2 Birth of the first child
