User:Minou0901/sandbox


 * Is the article's content relevant to the topic?

This topic is relevant because it a non-western culture and I see that the article is very vague in certain points and it can be improved.


 * Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong?

Some important points about the origins can be add. The Zulu culture can be added such as the braids they make, their food, the way they make a living and more other stuff.


 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?

The part talking about culture such as language and clothing is underrepresented and is supposed to have more content because it is a very important aspect in the study of a culture or people in general. And I think that Chaka Zulu should be part of this article because he is the main reason why these people have evolved and also their organization should be brought up.


 * Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic?

This article is a little bit unwell organized because they are some subtitles that can not even be acknowledge. If you do not look closely, you will not catch them and you will be confused. The pictures are also somehow a bit misleading and sometimes are far from the explanation or the statement.


 * How can the article be improved?

This article can be improved by adding a bit of Chaka's involvement in this empire/with these people, the organisation that was installed during that period, the culture: food, more about clothing, making a living, wedding ceremonies, death ceremony, relationships between men and women, social life. It might seem like an anthropologists work but I will have to adopt the armchair method.

= Draft 1 =

Bride wealth
Zulu people have a system called ilobolo. This term is particularly used by Zulu people when it comes to bride wealth. Every African ethnic group has different requirements when it comes to bride wealth. In pre-capitalist Zulu society, ilobolo was inextricably linked to the ownership of cattle. During that time, there was not a fixed amount of cattle required for the wedding to happen. It could be paid before the marriage or during the marriage. The groom will be taking the cattle from his father’s herd in order to perpetuate the family heritage. Nonetheless, this ritual has changed during colonization because in 1869, Theophilus Shepstone, then Natal Secretary for Native Affairs, formalized the ilobolo payment to 10 cattle for commoners (plus the ingquthu cow for the mother1), 15 for hereditary chief siblings and 20-plus for the daughters of a chief. They found it too lenient to let the groom give whichever amount he wants so they decided to instore specific amount of cattle that will be needed this time before or at the start of the marriage. This decision that had been taken by Zulu men who were educated in mission schools but according to the other people, this ritual became “untraditional”. Additionally, with the instauration of the Natal Code, some Zulu men decided to settle another way in which they could decrease the ilobo: offer a token payment or bring a present for the father of the prospective bride in order to decrease the ilobolo amount to be paid. The payment of ilobolo can be sometimes difficult for some families but it is a symbol of pride and respect. Consequently, this is the reason why some are willing to maintain it as long as possible.

Adding to Religion and beliefs
Furthermore, Zulu people are also practicing a ceremony called Ukweshwama in which they praise their creator but also their ancestors. In this ceremony, bulls are killed but more specifically, these warriors are inheriting their power until it evaporates, and that power is believed to be transferred into the Zulu King. Penned up in the royal kraal, the bull trotted around for a while, looking nervously for an escape. Then it hesitated, and the warriors -- all in their late teens or early twenties -- moved in, their hands reaching for anything to grasp, the tail, the legs, those horns.

Adding to Zulu clothing
In South Africa, the miniskirt has existed since pre-colonial times. In the African cultures, such as the Basotho, the Batswana, the Bapedi, the Amaswati and the AmaZulu, women wore traditional miniskirts as cultural attire. These skirts are not seen as shameless but used to cover the women genitals. The skirt are called isigcebhezana and are essential in Zulu ceremonies. For example, Umemulo is a ceremony for women who turn 21 years old of age. It represents a huge transition in the woman's life because it is a symbol of her being ready to accept a boyfriend and even get married. Additionally, each stage of your life is determined by a specific type of clothing. For an unmarried woman, she wears the skirt and nothing on the top, but as she grows up, the woman starts to cover up her body because a time will come in which she will be a married woman and an old woman. Nonetheless, a special type of clothing is reserved to pregnant women. When a woman is pregnant she wears an ‘isibamba’, a thick belt made from dried grass, covered with glass or plastic beadwork, to support her swelling stomach and its additional weight.