This picture from the 2010 Umhlanga--translated from SiSwati as "reed dance"--is of a young Swazi princess in her family's traditional women's dress. The reed dance is an annual gathering of thousands of "Swazi Maidens" who join together for a week of celebrating the queen mother. The maidens must be unmarried and have no children, and a significant amount of time is devoted to celebrating the chastity and values of the girls/young women. You can tell this girl is a princess because of the red feathers in her hair. As she gets older she'll graduate to a larger knife -- her oldest sisters were carrying machetes. If I were more aware of the culture, I could probably tell you what that means.
And no, Lani, you can't adopt her.
No comments:
Post a Comment