UKUTYISWA AMASI No UTSIKI

 In Xhosa culture, Utsiki is the ritual where the bride to be (umakoti) has to eat a goat meat and drinks the sour milk of that particular family in which she is married to.

Utsiki is the ritual where umakoti has to eat goat meat and drink the sour milk from that particular family in which she is married to. Utsiki ceremony is performed on behalf of makoti. This is when a sheep or goat is slaughtered on behalf of the newlywed after which she is also allowed to taste sour milk known ukutyiswa amasi. The sheep or a goat is slaughtered in the evening and a part of it, - the waist- known as injeke, is given to the new bride to eat it alone and not share with anyone. This is a belief that the she will bear the heir for their son when she gets pregnant. She is then dressed in a makoti attire in the form of umbhaco or amajelumane (blue long attire worn by new brides), black head scarf (ighiya), a small blanket around the waist, and given a small grass mat (ukhuko) called umahambehlala, meaning (something that stays everywhere), and will sit behind the door. The new makoti will use this grass mat wherever she goes to sit on, for example when speaking to the elders of the family, instead of sitting on the chair, she sits on her grass mat. The purpose for this ritual ceremony is to introduce the new bride to the ancestors of this home so that the know that there is a new

What is it?

Where did the custom come from, why is it done/The purpose?

Is there anything wrong if you don’t do it in your family? Or you refuse to do it and you don’t believe in the custom?

And are there different ways of doing the custom?

What is the point of it and is it relevant in today’s society?

Guest: Fezeka Ntlemeza – Sangoma with knowledge of African/Xhosa culture?