Marriage in Hausa societies was a purely traditional affair with a lot of distinct and significant cultural practices that made them events everyone looked forward to.
Time, Westernisation, acculturation as well as religious revivalism in recent decades have brought about a lot of changes and innovation but in some parts of the North, marriages still remain what they were among many families who still hold strongly to their cultural values.
One of such places is Katsina State, where marriages still follow traditional guidelines.
In Katsina, marriages are week long events with different activities lined up for the respective days of the week.
Interestingly, no marriage process in Katsina is complete until the bride-to be has eaten a female chicken, a male and female pigeon and a specially made herbal drink to wash it down.
Hajiya Maryam Umaru Adamu, a 60-year-old woman who lives in Kofar Marusa Layout, Katsina, said the marriage process begins with the prospective groom and his friends approaching the would-be father-in-law to formally seek permission to ‘talk’ to his daughter.
She said the father of the girl will then ask about the background of the man seeking his daughter’s hand in marriage and this will form the basis upon which he will carry out further background checks on him and his family, at the end of which if he is satisfied, he will give the prospective groom the permission to talk to his daughter.
“If everything goes well between the prospective groom and young lady, his parents will come with gifts to see her parents.
“These gifts are known in Hausa as “nagani ina so” meaning “I have seen what I like.” This is to signify their son’s interest in the lady,” Hajiya Maryam explained.
She said after a couple of weeks, depending on how fast the bonding process between the man and woman goes, the parents gather to set a date for the wedding.
At this gathering, which is a small event on its own, the groom’s parents come with “kayan sa biki” which are mostly sweets, biscuits and bubble gum while the bride’s family provides meals and drinks.
One unique feature of this event is that it is the bride’s family that chooses the wedding date but could defer to the groom’s family if they ask for more time.
Before the wedding proper, the groom is expected to present ‘Lefe’ to the bride-to-be. Lefe is usually a set of boxes which are filled with awas known as ‘Kwalla’ (a large metal basin with cover) filled with cosmetics, shoes and bags.
The Lefe presentation ceremony is usually attended by elderly women from both families. A date is usually fixed for this, to enable the bride’s family prepare by cooking and baking all sorts of delicious meals to receive those bringing the Lefe.
Kamu
Day one of the seven days wedding programme is usually on Sunday and the event of that day is called “Kamu”.
“During our time, on the day of Kamu, the bride will hide in the house of her mum’s best friend, who is known as the ‘Uwar Kamu’ and her friends will have to figure out in whose house she is hiding. The hunt is usually interesting because everybody will be confused, thinking the bride may have changed her mind,” Hajiya Maryam recalled.
She said things have however changed and Kamu is now organised like a party where both men and women gather to celebrate with food, music and dance.
Continuing, she said after the bride may have been found, her friends will take her to the house of another lady known as ‘Uwar Kunshi’ where she will spend three days, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Gyaran jiki
During the three days, the bride undergoes a special skin treatment where a locally made scrub is applied on her body every morning, after which she is bathed with specially prepared water.
This bath is known as ‘Turgeza.’ Turgeza is ‘Lalle’ mixed with perfume and water, which serves as a kind of scrub and applied on the bride’s body to exfoliate dead skin. The bath is usually carried out by elderly women who sing while they perform the rite.
This has however slightly changed, as ‘Turgeza’ is now known as ‘Gyaran Jiki’ and is done every day for two to four weeks preceding the marriage, and is either paid for by the bride’s family or the groom.
Kayan mata
Kayan Mata, translated loosely as women’s property is another unique feature of marriages in Katsina.
Before a girl gets married, she is prepared traditionally using Kayan Mata, which are usually herbal concoctions believed to have potency to prepare the bodies of the young girls, who are presumably virgins, to be sexually receptive to their spouses.
Though there are different kinds of Kayan Mata, there are three that stand out and their uniqueness is in the items used for it. One is a point of lay chicken, a pair of female and male pigeons and specially prepared herbal mixture which serves as water for the bride for at least one month.
The chicken and pigeons are usually cooked whole by elderly women but without the intestines, using a lot of herbs and the bride takes her time to eat both, starting with the chicken. She is expected to eat this alone.
It is believed that the herbs will help her conceive easily, once she starts having intercourse with her husband.
The Monday preceding the wedding is known as ‘Ranar Kunshin Amarya’ and on this day, the bride, clad in beautiful attires, is hosted to an event outside her house where musicians entertain and people dance and present gifts to her, which are usually announced to the hearing of all present.
After then, the bride is taken inside to complete the remaining two days of special bath.
The Tuesday before the wedding ‘Ranar Kunshi Ango’ is the day of the groom and on this day, the groom dresses in his best attire to sit outside the bride’s house and the process of the previous day is repeated.
On Wednesday, the bride is taken to the house of the person that is going to give her hand out in marriage. Usually this person can be anybody, a brother to the father or the father’s best friend or the senior brother. This person is called ‘Uban Wanka.’
On Thursday, the wedding Fatiha, which is the major event, where prayers are offered for the union, takes place. Key actors at this event are the Imam and representatives of the couple. A dowry, fixed by the bride’s father is paid by the representative of the groom.
Hajiya Maryam said during her time, after the Fatiha, the bride will be carried by her best friend on her back or if the groom lives far away, a horse would be used to convey her to her husband’s house but these days, it is common, especially among the affluent, for convoys of cars to be used to take the bride to her husband’s house.
Friday is the day for ‘Walima’ and on this day, the bride’s family will present the groom’s family with gifts including food flasks, kettles for ablution, prayer mats and sometimes foodstuff.
On the same day, the bride’s family arranges the house for her and puts everything in order. Nowadays they normally do that a week before the wedding so that on that day, they won’t have to lift anything.
When all this is done, on Saturday, the bride and her friends showcase their culinary skills in an event known as ‘Girkin Banna’ after which the groom is taken to his house to meet his bride by his friends.
