The circumcised one

The screaming crowd that surrounded the young men and the tom-tom players was getting nearer. It was going from one compound to another. It stopped for a moment in each compound where there was a boy full of age usually between twelve to twenty years. It was for this reason it was so slow in coming, yet it was so sure, so ineluctable; as sure, ineluctable as the fate that awaited the young men.

That was the typical scenario for the traditional Jola initiation ceremony also known as Futampaf, the initiation ceremony of boys into manhood rites of passage which is popular in the rural areas of The Gambia. I am sure it is not very common here in Nigeria but I could recall during my last visit to the Gambia, I was told this practise is still common in some villages there.

Futampaf is not the same as circumcision. Traditionally, circumcision is an act which is performed quietly to an individual young man, boy or a group of boys. It is done secretly in the bush with the knowledge of only a carefully selected few.

The ceremony is a culmination of different rituals which occur at the regular intervals of years, a period of seven, twelve or twenty years, depending on the dictates of certain spiritual forces. The ceremony is usually celebrated with eclectic musical performances by women of various groups.

The songs for the Futampaf are revealed to a few people or sometimes only one person in the family who in turn teaches others the songs. The uniqueness of these lyrics lies in the fact that they cannot be taken with other songs because they are meant to raise the emotions and spirits of relatives. The lyrics contain names and heroic deeds of dead relatives in other to incite other people to daring and sometimes violent acts.

The music and beautiful songs of the skilful women can emotionally move people to the extent that they lose all fear of death and possible harm to their persons at the moment. As they danced and enjoy the day, they demonstrate the spiritual powers and combat secrets of our traditional societies.     

Today, in modern day Gambia, it seems modernisation is gradually eroding this cultural feat that has been the hallmark of the country’s cultural heritage. Christianity and Islam which are the antecedents of European incursion have forced the practice of the Futampaf into the suburbs. Many educated Gambians are adopting the Western kind of circumcision where babies are circumcised in the hospitals soon after birth.

But for other educated Gambians who have refused to let go off tradition, the Futampaf is more than a rite but a ritual which they believe must be performed to appeal to the ancestors. It is for this reason that many African-Americans travel to The Gambia annually for a reconnection to their root via the initiation ceremony.

“It is not actually the circumcision itself, explains Alieu Secka, chairman Gambia Hotel Association, it is a ritual. It is the ceremony of the circumcision that the Afro-Americans actually partake in rather than the circumcision itself. It is more of a cultural festival. You can take part from any age.”

Secka had the modern form of circumcision in the hospital while he was young yet he still upholds his belief that circumcision is a sign on manhood. “You can look at the initiation ceremony from two perspectives. In the urban areas, it is very much a routine it is like going into a treasury and coming out but in the cultural areas, it is more of a cultural experience apart from the circumcision itself. In the urban areas, children who are of the same age group, you bring them together and have them circumcised, with a little ceremony that is not the same style or manner as the rural ones but at least you still have some kind of celebration as well.   

Ousmane Kabbeh told me he experienced the cultural form of circumcision and initiation ceremony but he wouldn’t reveal the secrets as it is meant for the ears of the initiated alone. “It was a fearful but wonderful experience is all I can say. The elders trained us on how to live and conduct ourselves. We still believe strongly in the saying that white beards don’t lie” he said. In spite of his education and exposure abroad, Ousmane is a stickler to tradition as he had his first two sons circumcised the traditional way but his other two, modern. His experience tells of the fusion between traditional and modern cultural values that is gradually taking over the little country of Gambia.

I was six when I did it says Sagar Faal, sales and marketing manager, SeneGambia Beach hotel. It’s the tradition to wait till the age of six. It is usually a group of boys in that age bracket. It’s painful because they cut off the flesh. I felt the pain for about six days and it heals thereafter.”

Painful as this experience was for Faal, it’s equally painful that the beauty of the initiation and circumcision ceremony which is contained in the songs, is being gradually slotted into the basket of history with the advent of civilisation. But we can shy away from our culture although some are tagged barbaric. There are some aspects of it that we may not do away with even with civilisation.

FUNKE OSAE-BROWN