‘A Dog with a collar…’ Field notes on an ‘indigenous wedding gown’

Abstract

The purpose of this ethnographic narrative is to detail the social and symbolic nature of the tshirivha leather skirt. Venda-speaking women in Limpopo Province once articulated their marital status by means of this garment. My initial, literature based understanding, in the mid-eighties, was biased in favour of a masculine perspective. More than a decade later, I undertook a more intensive, second reading in which I focused on shared opinions and views of female elders who had participated as novices in puberty rites during the 1940s, 50s and 60s. The discussion combines data from the realms of material culture, storytelling and initiation. It should be of interest to those who believe that rural women are neither passive spectators, nor willing consumers of a patriarchal worldview. The tshirivha emerges from the analysis as a symbolic tool for the expression of female identity; as a marker of a separate, semi-autonomous world, and as a subtle means for the promotion of women's interests and concerns.

Keywords:

• tshirivha
• gender conflict
• material culture
• rites of passage
• Venda indigenous technology
• female identity
• creative culture