From Birth to the Seventh Day: Women, Rituals, and Frozen Time (South Eastern Morocco)

Varia
By Marie-Luce Gélard
English

Among the Aït Khebbach (south-eastern Morocco), filiation is patrilineal. But a thorough examination of kinship representations nuances this determinism. Indeed, during the first rituals of birth, which closely depend on women’s know-how (infant and mother caring, food prescriptions, breast-feeding practices, etc.) frequent references to uterine kinship are often noted. Some time after delivery interference of men in the mother-child couple can be lived as a threat: they are said to have the power of acting on lactation. This power enables them to reappropriate their descent, according to the system of agnatic kinship.

Keywords

  • birth
  • breast-feeding
  • uterine kinship
  • milk cognatic system
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