Traitor-Child: a new life in the Gouro Tribe
Man-made borders of life
I received a message today from one of my students who was expecting a baby, revealing the birth of that new being. Of course, in European culture, not to say ‘in every culture’, we do not often contemplate the fragility of life when a new baby is born. Far from that! You assume the survival of both the mother and the baby as soon as you get a picture of a "little treasure".
And yet, in the Gouro Tribe, residing in the valley regions of the Ivory Coast, the journey of a new-born begins with a paradoxical title – "traitor-child." I know, it is intriguing, not to say unexpected, because you read it in the title. This term encapsulates a cultural richness of two significant worlds – the living reality and the ancestral spirits, emphasising a unique perspective on the fragility of life in this community.
The Gouro people, with their deep connection to tradition and spirituality, initiate a distinctive naming ceremony that takes place three or four days after the birth of a child. This ceremony is the culmination of a ritual seclusion, a period of reverence and contemplation during which the new-born remains in a liminal space between the physical world and the ethereal realm of ancestors and bush spirits.
The term "traitor-child" is not a condemnation but a reflection of the delicate balance that the infant must navigate in its early days. The survival of the new-born is not assured; it stands on the precipice, with the potential to return to the world from which it came – that of the ancestors and the mystical beings of the bush. The Gouro people acknowledge the tenuous nature of life and the uncertainties that surround the journey from birth to integration into the world of the living.
In the naming ceremony, the diviners play a central role. The name they reveal, depending on the child's sex, intricately weaves the new-born into the family history. The name designates the ancestor of the same name through whom the child received the breath of life. It is a profound connection that transcends the immediate and anchors the child within the continuum of generations.
Yet, this integration doesn’t occur without the baby’s unconscious consent, I would call it. If the infant does not recognize itself in the name bestowed upon it, the Gouro believe it will cry, signalling a need for a new consultation with the diviners. This cry becomes an expression of the child's journey, a dialogue between the living and the spirits, seeking alignment with the ancestral lineage.
However, the fragility of this integration persists, vulnerable to the whims of illness affecting either the child or its mother. The Gouro people understand that the threads binding the new-born to the living world are delicate and require constant care and vigilance.
I hope that by contemplating the unique concept of "traitor-child" today, I invited you to reconsider your own linguistic and cultural lenses. The Gouro people challenge us to see beyond the conventional, to appreciate the nuanced intricacies of life, birth, and identity.
The wisdom embedded in the language and traditions of this tribe transcends man-made borders of thinking about the living and the dead. The paradoxical title, in fact, tames the process of becoming alive and remaining alive, since our existence doesn’t commence with the moment of birth, does it?
Read:
Magical Beginnings, Enchanted Lives:A Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth
Claudie Haxaire, Âges de la vie et accomplissement individuel chez les Gouro (Nord) de Côte-d’Ivoire.