Good Essay About Zande Witchcraft And The Tiwi People

Compare and contrast

The Zande people are an indigenous community in Congo, famously known for their witchcraft practices. The Tiwi on the other hand is an indigenous group of people in Australia, famously recognized by their colorful works of art as well as marriage traditions. Every cultural community has a distinctive feature that describes, them which becomes the central character they are defined with. For instance, when you mention about the Zande people, the first thing that strikes you about the community is their witchcraft. This is so, despite the fact that there are many other cultural activities that such people are involved in, which include hunting, dancing and even marriage. However, the other aspect of their lives is normal and common to other communities, yet witchcraft remains to be a dominant aspect of their life. The same also applies to the Tiwi people whose outstanding feature is their art and marriage practices.
The Zande people are believed to posses a hereditary gene in their stomach that associates them with witchcraft. They are feared because they have the ability to perform black magic to a person. It so happens that a person can mistake by bewitch another without them knowing. It is for this reason that the Zande people go through various rituals with the aim of sanctifying themselves against evil spells. Even though there have been changes in their religious practices, it is believed that the gene still lives within them and that they have the ability of casting a spell on any individual. The witchcraft is not only a traditional practice but also acts as a way through which the people are recognized and respected. People that have been cast by evil spells come from across the world just to seek the intervention of the Zande. They believe that they have supernatural powers that are not only able to cause witchcraft but also ransom those that have been bewitched.
The Tiwi people just like the Zande take pride in their art cultural practices that has earned them a name among various communities of the world. Their art work is so unique that it attracts tourists and even art lovers just to behold their beauty. Another feature of the Tiwi people that actually mesmerizes people is their marriage culture where a girl is engaged to a suitor immediately they are born. The Tiwi people believe that every female, irrespective of their age has the ability to bear children. It is the cultural responsibility of the girl’s parents to find their daughter a suitable suitor once she is born. The suitor could be as old as 60 years, but the girl is not given to man until when she is 14 years. A man can have as many wives as he desires, as long as he has the ability to take care of them and even pay the bride price as demanded by the parents. By the time an old man dies, he could be having over hundred wives of different age groups and even those below the age of 14, whom he does not live with,
Looking at the two cultural groups, you notice the strange aspects of their lives that they hold dear. The most amazing thing is how those who are born into such cultures are initiated into the traditions without their consent. For instance, the Zande believe that every child born in the community possesses the witchcraft gene. This puts them in a position where they cannot deny such a fact and simply live with it. Similarly, a girl born in the Tiwi culture may not have the privilege of growing up to make her own decision on the man to be married to. The decision is made for her, once it was confirmed that she was a girl. As such daughters grow up and give birth to daughters; they are also obliged to marry them off to a suitable partner. The two communities reveal some of the traditional aspects that people are initiated into, that have for long bound the communities. The fact that not observing such practices is likely to earn them a harsh punishment, the fear compels them to observe them, even if it is against their wish.
Witchcraft is a character associated with a number of traditional communities. It was away through which people protected themselves from the evils. Before Christianity spread to most nations, most ethnic communities believed in the existence of supernatural powers that had the ability to bless and even curse. There were specific people in the community that were approached for cleansing and ritual whenever something bad happened. For the Zande however, it was not just about a specific person but every child born the community. Looking deeply at every culture, including the Tiwi who are recognized only for their art and marriage traditions, there are instance of witchcraft. The difference however lies in the fact that their witchcraft activities were not prominent enough to guarantee them an outstanding name in world culture.
On the other hand, art and polygamous marriages are not only practiced by the Tiwi communities but also displayed in other cultures, including the Zande. Polygamy and the issue of marrying off young girls to older men through an arranged form by their parents were common and still common in many cultures. However, the level at which the practice is prevalent among the Tiwi has amazed the world to the level of the community being recognized for it (Hall 227). The fact that women have no power over the choices they make in life is a sad thing that most communities are blinded into through their cultural behaviors. Such cultures may appear strange and unique, but to the people that have grown and practiced them, it remains to be an important aspect of their lives.
Culture is all about identity. Identity comes from unique practices that such a community is identified with. For the Zande, they take pride in their witchcraft which they will always practice. Having been recognized with such a feature makes them work at imposing them on their generations as it is the main thing that puts them above other communities. The Tiwi can also not forsake their cultural practices of art and marriage. The two features give them an identity and privilege which is not enjoyed by other communities. Cultural believes may also act as a strong bondage, especially for the people that desire to cut from such ties. Apart from the pride that such practices gives them, it may also be a curse to them especially when they are discriminated and even avoided on the ground of their believes. Even if they do not believe in such practices, the fact that they come from such communities makes them partakers of them and likely to hinder their progress.

Works cited

Hall, Stuart. "Cultural identity and diaspora." (1990): 222-37.
Peters-Golden, Holly. Culture sketches: Case studies in anthropology. McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2009.