2.8.1 Household and Gender Roles
The basic social unit of the Limba is the household (baõka) or family (Kub]ri).65 This unit as in other ethnic groups of Sierra Leone, comprised of a husband, a wife or wives, their children, “and frequently also blood and affinal relatives – for example, junior brothers and their wives, and unmarried sisters – as well as dependants…” (Alie 1990:20; cf. Finnegan 1965:56).
The household is usually under the charge of the husband or a responsible adult male. Two decades ago the husband, as head of the home, was considered to be the sole bread-winner and everyone in the home depended on him to provide for their needs. In the hinterland, it was in turn, the assumed responsibility of the
wife/wives to help on the farm, prepare meals, nurse infants, nurture and instruct the children in the norms of the society (cf. Ottenberg 1983:78). When there are not grownup children capable of doing chores, the cleaning, gathering firewood, and laundry fall on the wife or on the junior wives if there is more than one wife in the home. In the Western Area, the wife/wives assume similar responsibilities (with the exception of working on the farm) and women who work outside of the home take maternity leave in order to raise their children.
Today, as a result of social and economic changes, some gender roles have been altered. As well as general living expenses, families now have to pay head and income taxes, and children who show academic promise have to be sent to college or university after secondary school. As these expenses increased, in many cases, one income was not enough to make ends meet. In rural regions, produce from the farm often was not enough to meet the financial demands of the household. For many of those with jobs, in both rural and urban areas, a single salary was often not enough to pay the monthly bills and to provide other necessities. In the hinterland, most married women became involved in petty trading to supplement their husbands’ farming income. In the urban areas, non-educated women are also engaged in petty trading while educated women either took jobs in offices or began their own businesses. Thus, bread-winning has become a responsibility which was shared between husband and wife, often with the wife managing the finances of the home.
Although bread-winning is now a task shared between husband and wife, traditionally the husband is still seen as the provider. Even if the wife’s income is greater than that of the husband, it
is still seen as the responsibility of the husband to provide the family with necessities. For this reason, if the husband requires his wife’s assistance in providing for the family, he should be very kind and polite to her, because if the family is not provided for, society will hold only the husband accountable for the failure to provide, regardless of his wife’s financial status. This change in gender roles has positively affected the lives of many Limba women and has made a significant impact on the status of women within Limba society. Some women have taken over as much as 70% of the household responsibilities and this has earned them immense respect and appreciation from their families and society associates.
2.8.2 The Compound and Beyond
Family relations are traced through both clanship (humpo/mpo) and kinships nthela).
Kinship differs from clanship in that if people are kin the exact genealogical links between them are actually or potentially known, whereas the relationship between clan co-members is not known in this way even though they are loosely spoken of as all being “brothers”.66
Kinship is primarily traced through the mother and father and is identifiable by household, compound and village. Clanship on the other hand is a more ethereal relationship that indicates a common ancestry. Finnegan (1965:52) was able to identify “eight or nine clans” scattered throughout Limba country. The number of identifiable Limba clan is currently fifteen. Formerly, because Limba society was predominantly chauvinistic, clan membership was solely acquired through patrilineage. Today, the custom varies from dialect to dialect. Some societies, like the Bafodea Limba
Wara-Wara chiefdom, are not heavily patrilineal and clanship may be acquired from either parent.
Some are strictly exogamous,67 but in others68 clan descendants as close as first cousins may marry (Fanthorpe 1998b:29), and in Freetown where clanship is not well recognized clan-based exogamy is not noticeably practiced.
2.8.3 Respect
In most Sierra Leonean cultures, the elderly are accorded a great deal of respect (Alie 1990:23; Fyle 1981:64)). Limba culture teaches that, to gain long life; to be wise; to be blessed and protected; you must respect not only the elders of your own family but also those of the society. In general, older people are addressed by a title of respect and not by their ordinary names. For example, yapo (Fyle 1981:64), pa, k]tho, hemo (“old man”), iõa, moyo, ma (“old woman”). The words and counsel of the elderly are held in very high regard.69 In most Limba homes, as a sign of respect, a child should not sit in the company of visiting adults or older people. When an adult enters a home for a visit, all the children are asked to either go outside and play or go to their rooms until the stranger leaves. A young person kneels down slightly to greet the elderly. Children and young people are expected to greet their parents, and any other elder around, each morning on rising (heri bahure), and each evening when going to bed (masanka). When eating with an adult, it is
66Finnegan (1965:54).
67Finnegan (1965:52) stated that clans are strictly exogamous. This may have been the case for all clans at that time, as it is still true of the clans of the Wara-Wara Limba (Ottenberg 1988b:43; 1989:59).
68Such as the Conteh clan of the Biriwa to which I belong. 69Cf. Alie (1990:23).
considered disrespectful for a younger person to take a piece of meat or fish and eat it without first having the consent of the older person. This type of disrespectful behaviour is called wutebede. Once in awhile, in most homes the father will eat
together with his son(s) and the other men in the house. Likewise the mother will eat with her daughter(s) and the other women in the house. This is not a hard and fast rule, especially in Freetown, but, the Limba like to eat in this manner so that the adults will teach the young proper table manners. More often, the younger children will eat together, while their parents watch them reprimanding anyone caught doing any uncustomary thing. The traditional Limba prefers to eat with his/her hand. It is Limba custom not to talk while eating. Outside of the home in general, when there are two or three people of the same sex, the Limba prefer to share a meal of rice and soup from the same dish. Often, at gatherings, a group of women will be in one corner eating, a group of men will be in another doing the same, and a group of youths will be eating in their own area.
2.8.4 Social Courtesies
Greetings (mande/nseke/nse), with appropriate gestures, show respect and good relationship. Thanking (kalaõaõ), someone for a good deed shows appreciation for the efforts of others, and makes way for future considerations. A person who does not “thank you,” is considered an ingrate. Gift-giving is another way to express one’s appreciation and respect. Travelling guests carry gifts called mut]õ]ti (“what I brought for you”) for friends and host/hostess. Hosts/hostesses and friends also give gifts called mudeõ (“what I kept for you”) to visitors when they are returning. Reporting (t]õ dantheke), apologising (theteke) when one is in the
wrong or is presumed to be in the wrong, story and parable (mb]r]/ngbaõ), telling of riddles (nl]õ) and music (mathur]k]/muluõ/yakali)70 are also considered essential to Limba culture.71 Drumming, dancing, singing and story-telling are considered to be “cultural inheritances-sometimes referred to as ‘Limba things’ or ‘Limba times’ (malimba ma) (Finnegan 1967:25).
2.9 Conclusion
Although there is an ongoing religious conflict between them, Limba Christians and Christian Limbas share the same ancestry. They are all Limba people. Historically, the Limba are considered deep autochthones. Although this is impossible to prove or disprove, it is believed that they may have been the first people in the Sierra Leone hinterland and have definitely been in their current location since at least the late sixteenth century. The largest population of Limba outside of the Limba homeland is now in Freetown.
The Limba speak, a “prefix language” which is part of the West Atlantic family of languages, and has twelve dialects which have been categorised into five regional dialects. Politically, the Limba are governed by the Chiefdom Council system in their homeland, and the Tribal Administration in Freetown. Both systems were adopted from the British and given slight modifications. Judicially, the tribal courts governed by Court Chairmen deal with most basic cases, excepting capital offences and divorce cases. Economically, Limba communities make their
70Ottenberg (1989:57-78; 1988b:42-64; 1988a:437-65) portray the importance of Limba music in weddings, secret societies and other social activities.
71See Finnegan (1965:79-80; 1967:25-28) for a detailed understanding of some of these cultural traits.
living through rice farming, the harvesting of palm tree products, animal husbandry, fishing and hunting, petty trading, craftsmanship, and in Freetown, office employment.
Socially, the household or family is the basic unit. Families are connected to each other through kinship and clanship, the acquisition of which varies from dialect to dialect. In Freetown clanship is not encouraged because of fear that it will create division in a ‘foreign’ land.
Other notable cultural qualities of the Limba are respect for elders, table manners, an appropriate manner of greeting, thankfulness, and the giving of gifts.
With this background in place, we now move to chapter three, for an understanding of the nature and components of Limba religion.