a diversity of Eastern Cape Tribes of Nguni stock who traveled south across the Kei River from KwaZulu-Natal before the 17th century. Although today the Xhosa are increasingly moving into towns, and adopting a western lifestyle, those who remain on the land cling to their old tribal systems and timeless traditions.
These photographs depict young men of the Xhosa tribe who spend some weeks in the wilderness, after circumcision, surviving only on what nature provides and allowed very little or no contact with outsiders at all during this time period. This ritual is part of the traditional coming of age.
Each rural family lives in a group of huts known as a kraal with a cattle enclosure and a small garden. In every kraal a man lives with his wife and children, together with his married sons and their wives and children. Cattle, sheep and goats play an important role in their social life and its rituals. A man counts his wealth in cattle. His daughters are valuable assets, for their bride price is paid in cattle. At one time, on all solemn occasions -- birth, initiation, marriage and death -- a sacrifice was made to the ancestral spirits, but with the spread of Christianity, such practices are dying out.
In the early days, the Xhosa resisted the encroachment of white settlers, and this led to nine Frontier Wars between the colonists and the Xhosa-speaking people of the Eastern Cape between 1779 and 1878.
