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$Unique_ID{bob00483}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{Rwanda
Chapter 5A.   Social Structure, Family, Religion, and Social Values}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{The Director Foreign Area Studies}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{family
marriage
clan
children
child
group
woman
young
bridewealth
birth
see
pictures
see
figures
}
$Date{1990}
$Log{See Reception for the President*0048301.scf
}
Title:       Rwanda
Book:        Area Handbook for Rwanda
Author:      The Director Foreign Area Studies
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1990

Chapter 5A.   Social Structure, Family, Religion, and Social Values

[See Reception for the President: Courtesy Embassy of Rwanda, Washington DC.]

     Although the Hutu revolution of 1959 and 1960 against the Tutsi feudal
system resulted in the termination of Tutsi dominance and in a drastic
realignment of the social structure, the traditional concept of a
hierarchically structured social system centered on the family provides
meaning and guidance for most Rwandans. Although the Tutsi no longer enjoy
almost exclusive ownership of cattle and land, some form of patron-client
relationship continues to exist; however, the relationship is much less rigid
and less all-encompassing in nature. In early 1969 there was little
information available on the nature and extent of change in the traditional
values as a result of the revolution and of European and Christian
modernization. There were indications, however, that local kin groups were
replacing in importance the traditional clan and bloodline groupings.

     Family, clan, and local kin group affiliations continue to be the focal
points of societal unity. Close-knit family units are maintained under
unquestioned paternal authority. Most persons can associate themselves with
large clans of ancient origin, but these have been subdivided into smaller
lineages, or groups of persons claiming descent from common ancestors through
the male line. Bloodlines continue to be important, but it is the local,
loosely defined residential kin group, clustered together on the hilltops,
which provides the most support to the maturing individual. The individual
seeks happiness through adherence to rigid family and clan traditions. Few
nonfamilial social groupings or clubs exist.

     The traditional marriage system includes polygyny which, although now
illegal, continues in a limited way. Incest taboos preclude marriages between
close relatives, but cross-cousin (children of a brother and a sister)
marriages are socially approved. In customary law the transfer of the
bridewealth from the family of the bridegroom to that of the bride validates
the marriage. In 1969 most young men depended upon family cooperation as a
means of accumulating the gifts necessary for the bridewealth. It was only
in this way that the husband's clan could claim the issue of the marriage.

     Christianity, especially Roman Catholicism, has attracted many converts.
More than 40 percent of the population was at least nominally Christian in
1967. Many of the existing medical and educational programs were established
by missionaries, with financial subsidies from the colonial authority. The
Christian schools were instrumental in forming the thoughts of many of the
social and political leaders who rose to power in the 1950s and 1960s.
President Gregoire Kayibanda and several of his closest political associates
were educated in Catholic seminaries. The influence of mission schools
continues to be strong but, as a result of increased governmental interest in
the educational system, church officials are relinquishing some of their
administrative authority (see Education, ch. 7). Many converts vacillate
between the teachings of the Christian church and traditional beliefs, but
apparently see little contradiction in holding to both religious systems.

     According to the traditional value system, the individual must totally
resign himself to the will of Imana. This outlook accounts for pronounced
fatalistic tendencies and for the widely held belief that neither natural
phenomena nor personal fate can be humanly controlled. This conviction, along
with strong family ties and the desire for fertility, is the most pervasive
social value.

     Parents in the tradition-bound society play the major role in teaching
their children socially approved traits. Successful men are dignified,
eloquent, and constantly cognizant of their parental duties. Collectively,
women are respected as the embodiment of fertility, but individual women
rarely have any authority. They are trained to be silent and content with
their submissive status in the hierarchical society.

     Rwandans have a strong emotional attachment to cattle, which are used
primarily as media of exchange, indices of wealth and prestige, and symbols
of interpersonal contracts. Considerable emphasis is also placed upon beer,
made from bananas or sorghum. It is an indispensable factor in social life
and is consumed during ritual events and minor occasions of everyday
hospitality.

Family

     The traditional family is characterized by the orientation of all members
to the welfare of the entire group. Family cohesion and stability are founded
upon the father's authority. The homestead, or kraal, provides a residential
base for the nuclear family, which consists of the spouses (at times more than
one wife) and their children. On occasion the family may be extended to
include other relatives, such as an elderly parent, aunt, or uncle.

     Reinforcing the traditional family structure, the Constitution states
that the "Family, in its three constituent elements, man, woman, and children
is the primary basis of Rwandan society" and that "The father and mother have
the natural right to raise their children." Polygyny, originally prohibited
by the Roman Catholic church and now outlawed by the Constitution, still
occurs to a limited degree, but obtaining more than one wife is generally
difficult. In 1969 an estimated 75 percent of the marriages were monogamous;
24 percent, bigamous; and 1 percent, polygamous.

     In recent decades the traditional family structure and activities have
been influenced by missionary activity. In families that have received some
Christian teaching, the members recite psalms taught to them by catechists,
but they often pay homage to ancestral gods as well. The discrepancy between
the two belief systems does not appear to cause undue concern.

Interfamilial Relations

     The male head of the household, exercising the prerogative of authority
derived from the clan ancestors, governs all family affairs, and the
Constitution declares that "Men and women are legally equal but the man is the
natural head of the family." The husband's responsibilities go beyond the
immediate affairs of presiding over discussions, allocating family duties, and
leading the rites of worship, but also include the responsibility of
maintaining the dignity of the family and insuring the future of the clan.
Historically, the family head had the right to kill any member of the family
who was insubordinate or to punish any member whose actions violated his
dignity or detracted from his personal prestige. Respect is so important and
behavior so tightly controlled that a child is not allowed to say the father's
name.

     The father is rewarded for successfully caring for the family by its
lifelong loyalty. He can expect propitiation of his spirit after death and
vengeance by his heirs if his death results from violence through either
physical attack or witchcraft

     Although a close and familiar relationship exists between a man and his
sons, there is an element of servitude in the son's role since it is necessary
for them to pay a great deal of respect to the father. They may be treated
severely, forced to beg for assistance in raising the bridewealth, and then
expected to continue serving the father even after establishing their own
families. Sons are not emancipated as long as their father is alive.

     A strong taboo prohibits the father from entering the huts of his
daughters from the time they have reached puberty. After they marry and
have a child, he is allowed to resume paternal contact with them. The mother
visits the daughters frequently, showing her affection by bringing small
gifts. After marriage a daughter is expected to divide her sentiments and
loyalties between her own blood relatives and her husband's kin.

     Jealousy between brothers is proverbial, but the relationship between
brothers and sisters is usually amicable. A male and his sister's children
form a special relationship in that he is expected to help provide for and
nurture them and is respected as a second father. The father's sisters are
also given a great deal of respect by the children.

     A strict avoidance taboo separates a male from his mother-in-law and a
female from her father-in-law. A bridegroom, desiring respect and friendship,
will give the wife's family beer and other gifts periodically. He fears them
and is always on guard against any misunderstandings that might occur in the
relationship between the two families. The birth of children lessens the
requirement for avoidance, and an attitude of distant respect is adopted by
both parties.

     Family ties are generally so strong and inclusive that there are no
unattached persons; all relatives are taken care of by clan members regardless
of the actual degree of blood relationship. The elderly, especially
grandparents, are provided for within the homestead and are treated with
deference, for they will soon join the ancestral spirits. An orphaned child is
taken into another nuclear family of his father's clan without formal
arrangement. Little notice is taken of the actual parentage; the child is
treated as a natural member of the adoptive family.

     The death of the family head changes the living pattern within the
homestead. Although the various members continue to live in close residential
proximity, the original family land is divided among the heirs. The chosen
heir, generally the eldest son of the first wife, receives leadership
authority, religious amulets, and the personal property and tools of the
father. If there are no heirs, the brothers of the deceased divide the
property, and the childless widow returns to her family. The property of an
individual who dies and leaves no immediate family is traditionally taken
over by the clan.

Fictive or Blood Brotherhood

     Occasionally, when a member of one clan establishes a strong friendship
with a member of another, they enter into a unique type of social
relationship, the blood brotherhood. Having decided to share their clan
identity, the two parties perform a ceremony to formalize the relationship.
Blood from skin incisions on the chest of each man is mixed and drunk by both
parties. As part of the ritual, they pledge eternal loyalty and mutual
assistance.

     Aside from the family there are few units of organization in the society.
The inzu, or loosely organized patrilineal (male line) group of four or five
generations, lives in close proximity either on one or on adjoining kraals and
is the basis of whatever traditional social organization extends beyond the
nuclear family.

     The inzu provides a limited amount of communal sharing and the necessary
hierarchy for superior-inferior relationships. Its functioning is directed by
the umukungu, or head, who is chosen by all the male members. He presides at
all occasions of collective activity, judging disputes, representing the
family, if necessary, in governmental affairs, punishing wrongdoings, and
assigning tax amounts. When the inzu becomes too large, some of its members
move elsewhere.

     When the relationship of the household are extended to include a larger
group of blood kin, members of the inzu acknowledge their affinity with other
households who share a common ancestor in a lineage group known as the
umuryango. Although the organization and corporateness of the umuryango varies
from lineage to lineage, it generally extends to over six generations of
persons and enforces a rule of exogamous marriage. Members constitute a
residential, politically autonomous group. Traditionally, the umuryango was
more important to the Tutsi than to the Hutu. Through the lineages, the Tutsi
chiefs could recognize their relatives and give them land and cattle to tend.
It was also the lineage designation that was historically significant in
dividing the sides in a blood feud. In recent years the umuryango has lost
much of its importance, because the non-kin residential groups are emphasized
as the source of societal unity.

     The largest kin group, composed of several lineages, is the patriclan
(relationship through the male line), or ubwoko. As a nonresidential group,
the members do not have constant interaction with one another, nor can they
trace their vague kinship bonds back to common ancestor. It is not an
ethnically pure kin group because it includes Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa (see
Ethnic Groups, ch. 4). Each ubwoko has its own totem, a symbol which unites
it to nature, but these are not held to be very important. The most
prestigious clans boast of primordial ancestral founders; generally, their
membership was predominantly Tutsi. Among the clans in this group were the
Abayiginya (royal clan), Abega (clan of the queens), Abasinga, Abasigaba,
Abagesera, and Ababanda. Most Hutu belonged to the then less important clans
such as the Abatsoba, Abacyaba, Abatira, Abakono, Abaniakarama, Abaha, and
Abashambo.

Changing Family Patterns

     In 1969 the inzu, umuryango, and ubwoko were losing their previous
strength, and the umuhana, or local kin group, similar to a neighborhood, was
replacing the traditional social groupings. The umuhana, which may consist
of as few as several nuclear families or as many as several lineages, is a
group whose members have lost track of their actual lines of blood
relationship. It is a cooperative unit which assists the individual members
and unites them in the performance of religious rites. It presents its views
to the governmental authorities more as a residential entity than as a family
group, but it takes collective responsibility for the crimes involving its
members. Individuals within the group regularly exchange food, beer, and other
commodities. They assist one another in farming, herding, constructing huts,
and setting up transactions.

     As the effects of political and social change of recent decades have
reached more Rwandans, the traditional emphasis on family and clan affiliation
has been reduced. Land shortage has made it difficult for sons to settle on or
near their father's kraal, as had been traditional. New families are forced to
migrate to other areas. For some, migration is made more tolerable by the
promise of available land in the governmental paysannats (planned agricultural
settlements) (see Agriculture, ch. 9). Although the young married couples who
migrate lack communication facilities, and the interwoven patterns of social
relationships fortified by geographical proximity are breaking down, their
familial ties continue to be strong as evidenced by their attempts to visit
their home area frequently. The material dependency of young people on blood
ties has also been reduced. For example, since a marriage without the exchange
of bridewealth is recognized by the State and church authorities, a young man
need not look to the family to arrange a marriage, although most continue to
do so.

     Youth societies sponsored by Catholic missions provide new social
opportunities. Government-subsidized mutual aid societies, such as the
Christian Mutual Society of Butare (La Mutualite Chretienne d'Butare) and
the Christian Mutual Society of Nyundo (La Mutualite Chretienne de Nyundo),
encourage memberships by providing birth and death allowances. As the younger
generation is freed from total dependence upon the benefits derived from
family membership, they also become less concerned with traditional beliefs
and customs.

Life Cycle of the Individual

     The stages in the life of an individual are observed through elaborate
rituals and exchanges of gifts; the rituals of birth, naming, marriage, and
death are particularly important. Numerous taboos and rituals are designed to
insure the close ties of the family and to intensify cooperation within the
group.

Birth and Naming

     The birth of a child, preferably a male, is considered a joyful occasion
for both civil and religious reasons. Procreation assures the perpetuation of
the clan. Male children are highly prized because they contribute to the power
of their clan, whereas female children are welcomed because they will bring in
bridewealth, although they eventually pass out of their clan and into their
husband's clan. It is not uncommon for a Hutu woman to have as many as 8 to 12
children. The Tutsi birth rate is somewhat lower. Many infants die at birth
or in early childhood, but there is always an abundance of children.

     A woman desires children and, on occasion, takes herbal juices to
increase her fecundity. When pregnancy occurs she consults a diviner, who
gives her amulets, or ibiheko, to protect the embryo against evil spirits. She
receives instructions in food taboos. As an added precaution, her husband
sometimes blows tobacco smoke at her to insure the birth of a healthy baby. In
recent years there has been a great stress on prenatal care, and women are
encouraged to visit a missionary or Government clinic when they realize they
are pregnant.

     Available medical facilities are limited, and most children are born in
the home. When labor begins, the woman calls in her female neighbors,
including some who are experienced midwives, to assist her in giving birth. As
soon as the child is born, it is washed in cold water and rubbed with butter.
This practice is continued until the child reaches 6 months of age. As
protection against harmful spirits, the placenta is buried under the bed, and
the umbilical cord is kept as an amulet. The infant's limbs are massaged so
that they will take the proper shape. After 6 days of seclusion the mother and
child are presented to relatives. The mother is honored with a crown
symbolizing maternity, and she and the child are given gifts of beer and
possibly money.

     Twins, or impanga, are believed to have been conceived through
intercourse with the spirits. They are the favorites of the gods and will be
called to the spirit world unless the parents perform special sacrifices.
Their birth is also thought to be an omen of disaster and creates apprehension
for the entire community.

     Traditionally, children born of marriages in which bridewealth has not
been paid or whose birth has not been legally or religiously sanctioned
through marriage are in an unfortunate position. Their bloodline has not been
consecrated by a paternal clan, and the kin of the mother have no way of
accepting the child into their clan. Generally, the mother and child are
hidden or sent away so that they will not defile the ancestral lands. The
mother may eventually marry, whereupon her husband, although not necessarily
the biological father, will accept the child into his clan.

     On rare occasions an unmarried woman may resort to artificial abortion,
induced by intensive massage and the infusion of herbs. Although there appears
to be no formal law against it, abortion is usually treated as a criminal
offense. Infanticide is also very rare and occurs only if a women does not
want the work involved in child rearing. This is considered a crime in
customary law, and the woman generally is treated as a deviant.

     The naming ceremony takes place about 3 or 4 months after birth, when
the danger of infant mortality is decreasing. As the creator, the father
assumes the privilege of choosing the name, since it must correspond with
personality traits he wishes to see in the child. Names may relate to events
during birth, familiar incidents, or attributes of Imana. In instances where a
man and woman have lost several children in infancy, they may guard against
further mortality by naming the child "mouse excrement" or "prostitute" in the
hopes that the unsavory name will be unattractive to the spirits and they
will not snatch the child away.

     The paternal grandfather presides over the rite at which the child
receives a personal name and his clan name. One or more nicknames are also
given, since calling a person by his proper name may bring him harm. The
baby's feet and hands are anointed, and the families are told the reason for
its name. Among Rwandans who have accepted Christian teachings, the ceremony
may be supplemented by baptism and legal birth registration, followed by a
celebration at which the family and friends come to see the baby and brings
gifts.

Childhood and Puberty

     Education by the family begins almost immediately after birth with the
inculcation of oral tradition, myths, rituals, and the codes of proper
behavior, encouraging the virtues of respect, generosity, sacrifice, and
cooperation. The mother is responsible for feeding and caring for the child.
They are inseparable until the child is at least 2 years of age. Breast
feeding persists as long as the mother has milk, sometimes until the child is
3 or 4 years of age or when the woman discovers she is pregnant again. The
child is carried in a sling on the mother's back; older children ride astride
the mother's hip. Although sex distinctions are made immediately-boys are
unclad, whereas girls are given a string of beads to wear around their
hips-little attention is paid to the difference.

     Children are expected to obey and respect their superiors. Under the
tutelage of the mother, girls are introduced to woman's work early in their
development. The father instructs the young boys in their manly duties,
beginning to teach them to herd when they are 5 or 6 years of age. Both boys
and girls play a game with nuts, hiding them in the sand. Playthings for boys
include swords, spears, and bows and arrows. Since the 1960s football has
become a popular sport. Boys are taught the importance of politeness as well
as athletic prowess.

     There are few rituals or organized social activities for the transition
from childhood to puberty. Instruction of children in sexual matters is done
primarily through the segregated, informal peer groups that meet while young
men are tending the herds and young girls are weaving baskets.

Marriage and Divorce

     Generally, by his late teens or early twenties a young man will wish to
marry. Males do not voluntarily remain bachelors, and celibacy is practically
nonexistent. Since the bridewealth is still a necessity for most young men,
they seek family assistance in accumulating the gifts for the transaction. A
woman usually demands the legitimacy and insurance provided to her by the
transfer of the bridewealth.

     A father is instrumental in obtaining a first wife for his son. Before
the marriage a series of visits takes place between the parents of the young
couple. During this time they discuss the economic arrangements and the
desirability of a union between the two families. They invoke the tutelary
ancestral spirits, since their approval is necessary for an extension of the
family through marriage. As part of the marriage negotiations, a pot of beer
is blessed by his parents in the name of the young man's paternal ancestors,
and a sacrifice to Lyangombe, the spirit of fecundity, is performed by the
future bride's family. It is not until the last visit that the young man
accompanies his family. This visit completes the arrangements for the union,
but the marriage is not valid until after the exchange of gifts takes place
and the bride leaves her homestead to take up residence at the kraal of the
bridegroom's father.

     On the wedding day, or bukwe, a cortege leaves the bridegroom's home
bearing gifts and the bridewealth. The girl is taken from her home, crying
and resisting, but gifts appease her sorrow. At the kurongora ceremony, which
symbolizes future maternity, she is blessed and crowned with flowers and then
goes to her new home to be introduced to the family and ancestors. The
newlyweds will temporarily take up residence in or near the kraal of the
bridegroom's father. During the feast that follows, the girl and her relatives
sing, dance, and drink beer. Traditionally, her parents are excluded from the
festivities. The young couple receive gifts from members of both families. At
the first menstrual period after her marriage, the bride will go through a
final ceremony. She is given a cowhide, and her head is shaved, indicating
that she now has the status of a married woman.

     The bridewealth, a compensation to the girl's clan, is generally in
cattle, hoes, and goats, but sometimes a young bull, ewe, or a pledge of 1 or
2 years' service will suffice if the young man cannot afford other gifts. The
girl's reputation is important in determining the size of the bridewealth,
since a great value is placed on her virginity. Premarital relations between
the betrothed are strictly prohibited. Gifts in the form of utensils, wearing
apparel, and beer are given to the bridegroom's family by relatives of the
bride. The exchange symbolizes a new alliance between families and legitimizes
the children. The transfer of bridewealth also makes divorce more difficult,
since the bride's family would have to reimburse the man's family. Marriage
without bridewealth is still thought to be precarious and unwise.

     In the minority of cases in which the bridewealth custom is no longer
observed, marriage is an individual arrangement rather than the union of
families. In recent years a few Rwandan students have married non-Rwandan
mates, but most young men of marriageable age in 1969 still followed the
traditional marriage customs.

     Customary law prohibits certain marriages, specifically those between
members of the same immediate, nuclear family and between persons who belong
to the same clan. This taboo fosters exogamy, or marriage outside the group.
It applies to any two persons who can trace their parents back to a common
ancestors. The rule against marriage within the nuclear family is strongly
enforced, but an exception is a marriage between cross-cousins who, although
not preferred mates, would be entering into a marriage that is highly approved
of socially. Such arrangements between a male and his father's sister's
daughter or his mother's brother's daughter or between a female and her
father's sister's son or her mother's brother's son are not included in the
taboo because the two parties actually belong to different clans. Their common
affiliations and previous close, joking relationship keep the family and its
wealth closely united.

     Traditionally, it was uncommon for a Hutu man to marry a Tutsi woman
because of caste distinctions. This normally occurred only when, through
special favor, the Mwami raised a Hutu's status and verified it by the
bestowal of a Tutsi wife. Tutsi men sometimes took Hutu women, usually,
daughters of their clients, as wives or concubines. In 1969 interethnic group
marriages were more prevalent.

     The language, Kinyarwanda, includes numerous phrases to identify various
aspects of extramarital relations. Among the names applied to women involved
in illegitimate unions are abaja, or servant or concubine; inshoreka, or woman
taken on a long trip with a chief or lord; abapfakazi, or woman who will live
with a man even though he is poor; inzorezi, or woman who will have sexual
relations for presents; and nyamuraza, or roaming girls who live temporarily
with one man and then with another.

     Gutana, or the termination of a marriage without elaborate formal
procedures, is relatively common. The husband sends the wife away, and she
returns to her parents, who generally attempt to reconcile the marriage so
that the bridewealth will not have to be returned. If arbitration is not
successful, the marriage is dissolved. Although not a legal divorce, gutana
has the same effect in that it makes public the dissatisfaction of the
marriage partners. The Constitution legalizes divorce by stating that,
"Divorce may be authorized by competent jurisdiction and according to the
forms provided by law." Divorce is forbidden among Catholics, but even
converted women occasionally leave their husbands and return to their
fathers' compounds.

     The husband expects total fidelity from his wife, and if she is
unfaithful he has the right to dismiss her. He may do the same if she has
borne no children, because sterility is always considered the fault of the
woman. Idleness or neglect of wifely duties also leads to divorce and the
return of the bridewealth. Rules of fidelity do not apply as stringently to
the male, but ill treatment or reluctance to provide the necessities of life
constitutes grounds upon which the wife can divorce the husband. Verbal
humiliation, desertion, physical incompatibility, and refusal to have sexual
relations are also legal grounds for divorce. Young children accompany the
mother, but the father is obligated to help support them. The male children
are returned to him when they are old enough.

     Any time after a divorce, another marriage can be arranged. Generally, it
does not take long for the woman to remarry because her childbearing potential
is always in demand. Four or five marriages and separations for one woman are
not uncommon.

Death, Burial, and Mourning

     Rituals connected with death, urupfu, and mourning are significant in
that they attempt to solidify the family and society which have lost a member.
The family of the deceased suspends all daily activity. Their subsistence
needs are taken care of by friends or relatives, and their sorrow is shared by
the extended family and communal group.

     Because of the belief that the dead live on as ancestral spirits, they
are buried near the dwelling of the deceased's kin. A family head is placed
in a grave near the cattlekraal. The soul is said to leave the body to find a
new residence. This does not imply reincarnation or reward or punishment
after death, but indicates belief in a continuity of the spirit's
participation in family life. The corpse is rubbed with butter, placed in a
crouched position, then wrapped in a mat with the limbs tied to prevent the
spirit from returning. During the funeral female relatives shave their heads,
remove their bracelets, wail, and attempt to prevent the body from being
buried. At the end of the ceremony the family goes to the river and performs a
purification ritual. During the time of mourning, which may last for as long
as 2 months, family members are not allowed to eat salt, cut their hair, or
have sexual relations. To emphasize their sorrow, immediate relatives may rub
their bodies with kaolin, a chalky mineral.

     A widow becomes the ward of her dead husband's brother or, in some
cases, marries either the husband's brother (levirate) or a member of his
family. If none of these is possible, she returns to her family, since she and
her daughters are excluded from any inheritance.