IMBELEKO

WHAT IS IMBELEKO?

This is a very sensitive subject since people have different concepts of it. Today we are not crushing anyone's religion or belief with this topic but looking at the background and the origin of iMbeleko

AmaXhosa are probably very familiar with word and some of them have some have been involved in a ceremony of imbeleko. It is said that there's some how a misunderstanding of the concept of imbeleko. 

This is where the concept of imbeleko comes from- In the olden days when a woman was pregnant an was close to her due time, the family would slaughter a sheep then take the skin of the sheep and dry it. Then meat would be eaten by the family, now one would be invited to the help eat the meat.The skin would dry and when it is dry, the father of the unborn child would then wash the skin so that it becomes soft.

When the time has come for the child to be delivered, they would take the soft skin and wrap the new born child with. The skin would then be called iMbeleko. It was called that because the mother would use it to hold the child on her back with it, in Xhosa we call that "Ukubeleka", that is it is called iMbeleko.

This is how the mbeleko blanket was used for covering the child.

Woman using Imbeleko

But today there is some kind of a mix-up of the name of this tradition and a ceremony done to welcome a child in the family which is called Ukwamkela. Where there's a ceremony done and people from the village and other extended family is invited to celebrate the child.

In nowadays, technology has made our lives easier than it was before. We no longer use the blanket called imbeleko but we but already made blankets for our children and also but brand new clothes for them to wear. Which is why the concepts is sort being misunderstood.

This bog wasn't meant to argue anyone's belief but look at the origin of long lost or misunderstood tradition. And I also hope you enjoyed it and learnt something from it about your culture.

Love you all, see you on the next upload 

What is Culture?

There are different definations of the word Culture as it is interpretated in different ways. Some says culture is, "The culmulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meaning, heirarchies, religion,notion of time, roles, spatiel relation, concept of universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving." And others say, "Culture is the sum of total of the learned behaviour of a group of people the generally considered to be the tradition of that people and are transmitted from generation to generation."

I will be focusing more on the isiXhosa culture. The Xhosa is a Bantu Ethnic group of Southern African living in the south east of South Africa.

Xhosa people are divided into different types of tribes but are related in distinct heritages and those groups are;

• AmaMpondo- amaMpondomise, amaBomvana, amaXesibe
• AmaThembu
• AmaBhaca
• AmaMfengu      

The name Xhosa comes from a legendary leader who was called uXhosa, and it is believed that the word means "fierce" or "angry" in some San language. Xhosa's refers to themselves as;

• Person: umXhosa
• People: amaXhosa
• Language: isiXhosa 

IsiXhosa language falls under the Nguni languages with Zulu and Swati. these languages are called Nguni because they are related, when one speaks another language another person that speaks t\another languages under Nguni can understand and wont need any translation.

The Xhosa culture has it's own way of dressing, a different diet and customs and ritual. Even though they are divided into different ethnic groups their diet, attires n rituals are the same. The picture below shows how Xhosa women dress when there's a ritual, ceremony or a family event.  

    

AmaXhosa women in their traditional attire

Most Xhosas believe in ancestors but there are few Christians and those that follow other religions. They believe that there's a god called Qamata that is mainly a god of amaXhosa. They call him the Son of Sun, the earth goddess, uJobela. 

Xhosa is a diverse culture with a lot of history. There's more about isiXhosa and is a very interesting culture.