Roora

The custom is highly complex and there are considerable variations in the practice of roora. At best all I can hope to do is to provide a brief introduction to the subject.

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF ROORA?
Translation is always a difficult and imprecise process. The Shona word, “roora“, is generally rendered into English as meaning either “bride-price” or “dowry“. However, these terms do not adequately reflect either the process or function of roora in Shona society. A more subtle and accurate rendering of the meaning of roora is found in the Standard Shona Dictionary. Here we find that, in the Shona language, ku-roora means to be a partner in a marriage transaction; to acquire a wife by Shona custom

Roora should not be seen as a payment for the bride. Valuables are given to the girl's family to legitimise the marriage. It is also important to recognise that this is not something which can be understood in isolation. Roora is just one component in the rich fabric of Shona custom, which defines and regulates the complex relationships between tribe, family and individual.

HOW ROORA IS DETERMINED
The first step in the process involves the selection of a munyai, or messenger, whose function is to convey news of the intended marriage to the family of the bride-to-be. The munyai will either be a relative or a close friend of the suitor. The manner in which the news is conveyed to the woman's family may appear somewhat curious, though anthropologists have speculated that it emerged from a historical necessity. The munyai approaches the village, finds himself a vantage point at a safe distance and calls out "Matsvakirai kuno!"

It is customary that any villagers, who may be within earshot, will then chase away the munyai while attempting to beat him with whips. Some time later the munyai will be allowed to return to the village without fear of chastisement. The family elders (this is normally the woman's uncles, rather than her father) then meet to determine at what level the roora should be set.

Beer is brewed and shared to formalise the settlement. The munyai then returns with the terms to the groom-to-be. In rural Zimbabwe a man and his cattle are not easily separated. They pull his plough, fertilise his fields and give him security. It is not surprising then that the major portion of roora will usually consist of a specified number of cattle.

Roora is one element of the process. Other gifts, blankets and perhaps shoes, hats and suits for the woman's parents may also be exchanged. The son-in-law will probably deliver these in the short term. However it is not expected that he should provide all the cattle immediately. Completing the process of roora will most likely take the son-in-law a considerable number of years.

ROORA IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY
There is a Shona proverb, which states:

Mukwasha mukuyu, haaperi kudyiwa. (The son-in-law is a fig tree; he never stops being consumed.)

The proverb is likely to be quoted by a munyai in the course of the original roora negotiations or later by a mukwasha bemoaning the “demands” of his tezvara (father-in-law) for another instalment of roora. The elders who receive roora and the young men who pay roora tend to view the custom somewhat differently.

In the modern era when the young men have a greater appreciation than before of marriage customs in other parts of the world, many of them see roora as either primitive or out-of-date. The elders, on the other hand, profess the belief that roora is a key strand in the fabric which is rural Zimbabwean society.

Many young girls see a man's willingness to pay substantial roora as confirmation of his commitment to the marriage. Others might regret that the new family unit is being established already burdened with a semi-permanent and substantial debt.

In practice the custom of roora is concerned with far more than simply the transfer of material goods between the two families. Roora plays a fundamental role in defining the relationships between the two families and, in particular, the levels of respect, which are due between various members of each family.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN IN PRACTICE?
Cattle were traditionally paid not simply to the head of the family of the girl, but to the family group, and were normally reserved for the marriage exchanges of the young men in the group.

Roora paid for her make their marriages possible, and a man can expect special hospitality from his wife's brother's wife who is married with the cattle he originally paid.”Conversely younger brothers owe their married sisters a high degree of respect.

Why do young men continue to pay roora? Under traditional customary law, roora is mandatory. A man's children only belong to him after he pays roora. If a woman died while living with a man before he paid roora for her, he had no right to bury her.

THE WEDDING
As in most Shona ceremonies, the custom took the form of a feast, where beer and meat were in ample supply for the large numbers of people who gathered as witnesses. Its preparation took many days and the actual marriage rites lasted at least half a day.

On these occasions, many of the male relatives of the couple made speeches which were long, full of rhetoric and colorful phrases, and often produced fascinating evocations of the tribe's past. But they could also be monotonous, for most speakers repeatedly emphasized those qualities essential to a happy married life.

It was another of those occasions when people, as a duty and an entertainment, gave themselves the freedom and immunity to speak frankly about anyone they pleased. Anyone could eulogize or abuse the bride or the bridegroom or both, saying openly what they knew of the personal characters of the couple who were receiving the sanction of the tribe to live together.

The silent and defenseless victims were put in the dock of the tribal dare and could be accused of being naggers, liars, misers or lechers. It might be laziness or insobriety — no vice was left out.

It was a solemn occasion and no one attempted to introduce a touch of humour into their pontifical speeches. The reason for this public hearing was to bring it home to the couple that they should embark on this most difficult of human relationships with a reformed spirit.

They were reminded of the problems of married life, of the temptations which threatened marital stability and of the binding nature of their union, whatever its burdens, particularly as old age and responsibility took their toll, and they were urged not to forget that since the white man had taken control of our land, moral values had deteriorated to allow licentiousness.

The western idea that people getting married should be made to feel happy and beyond reproach was far from the minds of the speakers. Well-wishers they certainly were, but in a very different sense from those of white societies.

The Africans reasoned that this was the moment of truth, for it was in the truth about themselves that the couple would discover real happiness. They did not appreciate the romantic view of Europeans that a man and woman should be left to discover each other after they had taken their vows.

They should be warned so that once married, neither of them should have cause to express shock or surprise about the other.

At the end of this indulgence, usually towards sunset, beer was poured on the heads of the bride and bridegroom and they were considered to have been properly married.

The proceedings were so heavy with ritual that it was clear that the couple would have to be very courageous to come back and ask the tribe to absolve them of their vows.

ELOPEMENT
It is customary that the procedures for marriage are instituted after the woman has given a token or pledge (nhumbi), or in other cases, after the man and woman have given each other a pledge.

Should she, however, have sexual relations with the male before the marriage, payments have to be made to her guardian and the first thing she must do is to advise her father's sister (vatete).

The woman now leaves for her lover's home without the knowledge of her parents, but should her father know of the despoilment he might ask the vatete (his sister) to take her there.

The woman need not yet be pregnant. It is accepted that when a woman is found, say, in the bush with a man even during the daytime, sufficiently strong suspicions may be aroused for her to be reported to her father and she is consequently driven to the man's home through the vatete urging her to do so.

In this form of elopement (kutiza mukumbo) it is held that if the woman had not been in love with the man she would not have known his home and it is doubtful that she would have entered his home if she did not have any association with the man.

If it were a distant home where the man lives it is held that the woman must have known about the man's home and that she must have gained the transport fare to go there on her own accord.

When the woman goes to her lover's home on the advice of her vatete, she remains there with him and a certain amount of money is paid by his father to the woman's father through a go-between.

This payment is known as the tsvakirai pano ("you can find your daughter here") and might be said to correspond to the payment called muromo in the preliminary payments made in a normal marriage.

The object of the payment is to indicate to the woman's father the he should not worry about his daughter's absence as she is safe and that the man is prepared to meet his demands and marry her.

The tezvara (father of the woman) now states what he wants in the amount of bridewealth (pfuma). The tsvakirai pano is brought in the evening to the home of the woman by a go-between (munyai), or any other trusted person, who is directed to throw it into the hut where the mother is, or at the door if the hut is shut.

After throwing it, he must move away quickly lest he be caught and beaten, he being regarded as a mbavha (thief). As he leaves unnoticed and when at a safe distance away and without fear of being overtaken, he shouts out alone "Tsvakirai pano!", which is to say "Look for your daughter this way" or he can shout out "Badza remhere iro!" ("There you have the deposit for the offense").

Should the tsvakirai pano not be paid instantly, a fine is instituted when the man returns the woman to her own house. This procedure is called kupereka (to return). It is now that the tezvara demands this money, plus an additional fine for the neglect of paying the tsvakirai pano.