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ZIGGURAT
implications for male sexuality of Nongqawuse’s prophecies and the role
of women as agricultural laborers.
Women in Xhosa society were regarded as essential to the continuity
of the community, but were nonetheless excluded from male-dominated
positions of authority and were considered inferior to men. 17 Women
moved from their natal homes to live with their husband’s family upon
marriage, and a bride price was paid to their own family in exchange for
their labor and fertility. In 1848, “bridewealth had recently risen to ten
oxen: completely out of reach for most homesteads.” 18 This exorbitant
price was even more dramatic in the face of the lungsickness epidemic,
which caused losses of about 5,000 cattle per month. In some areas, two
out of every three cattle died. While occasional homesteads escaped
unscathed, others’ herds were devastated. 19 This context brings some
perspective to the question, “Why was slaughter of stock being urged
by ‘a mere girl who has nothing to do with cattle’” 20 Cattle were an
important sign of wealth for the Xhosa, but more significantly, they were
fundamentally linked to the status of women.
Recognizing that the traditional androcentric approach to the concept
of cattle-killing is flawed is central to understanding the catastrophe
of the Cattle-Killing movement in a fuller light. Dismantling the
conceptualization of cattle as “objects entirely within the male domain” is
essential to understanding Nongqawuse’s prophecy:
An adolescent, of marriageable age, had everything to do with cattle.
The taboos surrounding her association with stock were intimately
connected with the ‘symbolic association of women’s reproductive
functions with the cattle of the lineage.’ … [H]ints in sources suggest
that incorporating reproduction, sexuality and marriage into analyses
is crucial. 21
For a young, unmarried woman, the decimation of the Xhosa cattle herds was
particularly noteworthy—it correlated with the potential deconstruction
of traditional male-female relationships and representations of power.
Bradford describes comparable literature about a rinderpest scourge that
destroyed cattle herds in southern and eastern Africa, where “one of the
cries was: ‘No more cattle, no more marriages, how shall we marry’” 22
Evidence shows that while the number of marriages decreased, pre-
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