The uMcwasho Ceremony

Marching into stadium

Swazi girls march into the Somhlolo Stadium in Lobamba for the dance celebrating the end of their one-year “uMcwasho” period during which they were subject to strict laws concerning taking a lover or marrying. That morning those tassels were ritually burnt, leaving the first group to take a lover and the others to marry. They are going to dance in front of the King, who could choose one of them as a new wife.

Photo by Ludo Kuipers, Mon Aug 23, 1971
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