All The Batoka Tribes Follow The Curious Custom Of Knocking Out
The Upper Front Teeth At The Age Of Puberty.
This is done by both sexes;
and though the under teeth, being relieved from the attrition of the upper,
Grow long and somewhat bent out, and thereby cause the under lip to protrude
in a most unsightly way, no young woman thinks herself accomplished
until she has got rid of the upper incisors. This custom gives all the Batoka
an uncouth, old-man-like appearance. Their laugh is hideous,
yet they are so attached to it that even Sebituane was unable
to eradicate the practice. He issued orders that none of the children
living under him should be subjected to the custom by their parents,
and disobedience to his mandates was usually punished with severity;
but, notwithstanding this, the children would appear in the streets
without their incisors, and no one would confess to the deed.
When questioned respecting the origin of this practice, the Batoka reply
that their object is to be like oxen, and those who retain their teeth
they consider to resemble zebras. Whether this is the true reason or not,
it is difficult to say; but it is noticeable that the veneration for oxen
which prevails in many tribes should here be associated with hatred
to the zebra, as among the Bakwains; that this operation
is performed at the same age that circumcision is in other tribes;
and that here that ceremony is unknown. The custom is so universal
that a person who has his teeth is considered ugly, and occasionally,
when the Batoka borrowed my looking-glass, the disparaging remark
would be made respecting boys or girls who still retained their teeth,
"Look at the great teeth!" Some of the Makololo give a more facetious
explanation of the custom: they say that the wife of a chief
having in a quarrel bitten her husband's hand, he, in revenge,
ordered her front teeth to be knocked out, and all the men in the tribe
followed his example; but this does not explain why they afterward
knocked out their own.
The Batoka of the Zambesi are generally very dark in color, and very degraded
and negro-like in appearance, while those who live on the high lands
we are now ascending are frequently of the color of coffee and milk.
We had a large number of the Batoka of Mokwine in our party,
sent by Sekeletu to carry his tusks. Their greater degradation was probably
caused by the treatment of their chiefs - the barbarians of the islands.
I found them more difficult to manage than any of the rest of my companions,
being much less reasonable and impressible than the others.
My party consisted of the head men aforementioned, Sekwebu, and Kanyata.
We were joined at the falls by another head man of the Makololo,
named Monahin, in command of the Batoka. We had also some of the Banajoa
under Mosisinyane, and, last of all, a small party of Bashubia and Barotse
under Tuba Mokoro, which had been furnished by Sekeletu
because of their ability to swim.
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