Procreation

Procreation, the ability to reproduce and have children, is a central feature of the African value system. A premium is placed on childbearing because children are seen as the medium by which the ancestral name and heritage of the family is perpetuated. In other words, children ensure the personal immortality of families and the continuity of human existence. Indeed, in most African societies, children are seen as reincarnations of ancestors. A person who bears no children, and therefore has no descendants, in effect terminates social reproduction and extinguishes the family line. For this reason, procreation is celebrated, and having many children is highly honored. Fertility is therefore a fundamental prerequisite in marriage. The ultimate purpose of marriage is procreation: Without procreation, marriage is not fully consummated. Not surprisingly, there is a general abhorrence of barrenness and sterility in African societies. Barrenness carries a heavy social stigma because it constitutes an incomprehensible upsetting of the social and religious order. Almost everywhere in Africa, the inability to have children after several years of marriage was legitimate grounds for divorce. The quest for children and the value of procreation may help explain the persistence of polygamy in traditional African communities. The importance of procreation is emphasized during rites of passage, when fertility and healthy deliveries are prayed for. During marriage rites among the Kgatla people of South Africa, for example, a young bride, when taken home on the first afternoon of the wedding [Page 540]ceremonies, is given a young baby to hold as she enters the household compound to signify the importance of procreation. Even long before marriage, girls, in some societies, prepared for procreation by carrying carved fertility dolls. Such dolls are said to be imbued with a special kind of magic and must be protected and cherished if they are to fulfill their purpose. Among the Ashantis of Ghana, a fertility doll with a flat moon-shaped disk is carried in anticipation of a male while a smaller headed doll with other particular features is kept and carried for a female. Death rites in Africa also reinforce the centrality of procreation. Abortions, miscarriages, and still births are all given special burials to prevent the mother from becoming sterile in the future. It is notable that a person, no matter what contributions he or she has made to society, is said to lose a place among honored ancestors if he or she dies childless. The salience of procreation in the African belief system is best captured in this summary of a Nupe (Nigeria) folktale. According to this story, God created the tortoise (turtle), men, and stones. Of each he created male and female. God gave life to the tortoises and men, but not to the stones. Neither turtle nor men could have children, and when they became old, they did not die, but became automatically rejuvenated—becoming young again! The tortoise, however, wished to have children and went to God. But God said: “I have given you life, but I have not given you permission to have children.” But the tortoise came to God again to renew his request to procreate, and finally God said: “You always come to ask for children. Do you realize that when the living have had several children they must die?” But the tortoise said: “Let me see my children and then die.” Then God granted the wish. When man saw that the tortoise had children, he too wanted children. God warned man, as he had the tortoise, that he must die. But man also said: “Let me see my children and then die.” That is how death and children came into the world. Thus, the desire for procreation and the ability to achieve posterity is so high for the living, in this case the African (as exemplified by man and tortoise), that they are willing to undergo death.

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