NEGATIVE CULTURAL PRACTICES AMONG THE PEOPLE OF NASILA IN BLOSSOMS OF THE SAVANNAH

The book Blossoms of the Savannah explores both the positive and negative cultural practices. H. R Kulet describes intimately those cultural practices he believes are best and on the other hand, lets us in on some of the cultural practices he believe were injurious. Interestingly, the negative cultural practices are aimed at women.

The most poignant cultural practice that negatively affects women is Female genital mutilation. Although according to Parmuat, the practice was started by women to resist the evil Ilarinkoi, it continued to cause wanton pain and torture on women. Taiyo and Resian are determined to fight it. Resian manages to evade the brutal practice however Taiyo barely makes it having been forcibly cut. FGM is a global menace affecting millions of women in Africa and Asia. Although its benefits are only anthropological, its effects are very damning and could lead to death. 

Second among the negative Nasilian culture is early marriage. Resian still has goals to fulfil However, her father organises for her to marry Oloisudori behind her back. In this community, the girl has no right to make a choice, the responsibility of marriage is the responsibility of the parents and the suitor. Having been brought up in the urban area, Resian cannot accept a marriage she has no knowledge of. She rubbishes her potential suitor Oloisudori and her father and escapes. She also fights her way against Olarinkoi’s kidnap and subsequent plans for circumcision which could have led to her matrimony. Yeiyo Kiti did not succeed to evade early marriage. According to her, she came from the same village as Minik the emakererei, but instead of further education, she was reduced to Simiren’s youngest wife.

Another cultural aspect was male dominance. In Nasila, Men are treated like lords. Resian is pissed off when Yeiyo Botorr praises them as good wannabe housewives. She feels that Nasillian culture spends a lot of time teaching women submission so that men can lord over them. It may be this male superior culture that makes women lack any say in the matters affecting them. For instance, Mama Milanoi is not okay with her daughter being kidnapped by Oloisudori’s henchmen but she cannot muster the guts to speak her opposition loudly. Also, submission has made men believe they can get away with anything that is why instead of courting Resian, Oloisudori triumphantly declares that she is his wife and must obey him. Furthermore, Taiyo and Resian are assaulted by men in the community for they are considered insignificant by men.

Although some cultural activities may be considered with some positivity, they are commonly abused by individuals. Such practices include bride price payment. Parsimei Ole Kaelo abuses this tradition by leveraging his girls for monetary gain. Oloisudori hands him a half a million for Resian and he hopes that he could get the same if Oloisudori was true to his word. Oloisudori had said that he had a friend who would be interested in Taiyo. Secondly, there is the practice of communalism. Resian and Taiyo are disturbed by the number of guests at the breakfast table. The most horrifying thing is that such guests come very early and demand to be served by the girls. These two practices though good are manipulated for individual gain on most occasions.

Clanism too stands out to be a great unifying factor. When Taiyo and Resian are almost raped, their clan’s energetic men stand with Kaelo to ensure justice is served. Besides, during the homecoming ceremony, members of the Ilmolelian clan help Kaelo organise a resounding party. However, this tradition stands between Parmuat and Taiyo. The two young people love each other but because of their clan, they cannot express their desires to each other for they are technically related. When Parsimei learned about his daughter’s near-rape incident he was angry at the perpetrators. When he learned that the perpetrators were Lante and Ntara both of the Ilukumae clan, Parsimei together with young men from Ilmolelian clan were ready to declare war on the entire clan for the sins of only two miscreants. As his anger subsided, he realized that it was wrong to blame a whole clan for the sins of few.

Such negative culture continued to persist yet they were supposed to have been buried with the humiliating emuata. Emuata required young brides to adorn heavy copper metal on their bodies as an enhancement for beauty. However, instead of beauty, they caused more harm to the girl. It was forsaken by the Nasilian people and so do the above traditions. Once they are done away with they could usher in a more sedate gender-equal society.