A Goat Gifting as Ritual of Reconciliation and Forgiveness
To many of us Americans, the culture of goat gifting as a ritual of forgiveness and reconciliation might sound strange. But it is so common all over Africa.
During my recent stay in the Democratic of Congo, I wanted to visit my ten hectares of land in Kenge, a city located 300 miles outside the capital city of Kinshasa. My elder brother who is an engineer in road constructions lives there.
The tradition requires that before doing any visit, we must first pay tribute to the local chief of the village. As we sat in circle around the chief, I found him very wise, and his use of local expressions and maxims impressive.
I didn’t understand everything he said but there was an expression that caught my attention. On several occasions, the chief would say in Lingala, one of the languages spoken in the area “Tala Likolo Tale mpe na se,” which is roughly translated by “you can’t always look in the skies without looking as well here below.
My brother who was familiar with the local culture translated that what the chief was saying was that no one could be indifferent to the need of the people around us. I found the chief’s assertion logical, and it made sense to me. As human beings we are egregious, and our existence is intertwined.
With the chief’s blessings, we visited the land. Because it was getting too late, my brother couldn’t invite us for dinner at his house. In most African cultures, it is considered rude not to offer to a guest a meal. He was heart breaking and had to find a way to amend it.
He came out with the African traditional idea of goat gifting. It is the belief that a goat serves as libation to make up for any misunderstanding or breakup relationship. My brother sent a live goat to my mother’s house. I couldn’t bring the goat with me to the US. It was not an option. I left it in the Congo.
Should the goat been slaughtered, its blood would have been spread all over my mother’s house as a way of paying tributes to the ancestors, those who have gone before us.
The same blood would have also served as well as a gesture of forgiveness and reconciliation. In this case, the very gesture of offering the goat was sufficient as ground of forgiveness.
I wonder whether to make up to our differences in our American society, we need the ritual of goat gifting. But if this is not possible, may I suggest that we ascribe to the notion that Christianity calls us to reconciliation and peace. This should be paramount to our day-to-day interactions.
Moreover, we believe that the blood of Jesus reconciles us to God and foster an environment of forgiveness and peace. In fact, the Bible calls Jesus the prince of peace and lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1: 36). I had a goat, not a lamb. But they both play a role in reconciliation and forgiveness process in the African culture. May be next time I travel to Africa; I would just bring my goat with me.
In His Name,
Will Mafuta
