Royal Wedding

Shortly after arriving in Anka and settling into our old routines, His Royal Highness the Emir of Zamfara graciously invited us to his daughters' wedding ceremony. We'd had the good fortune of attending a wedding in Bagega almost a year ago, where women congregated in the bride's house and danced, drummed, and cackled jubilantly. Outside, the men mingled, most likely aware of the women inside the mud walls cutting loose but perhaps not fully appreciating the contrast in the day to day lives of the mothers compared to the wild behavior and antics going on indoors. Later, everyone inside helped to carry the bride's possessions to her new home with her husband's family, where they were presented together for the first time.

I was excited to see how the rural wedding celebration would compare to a royal wedding in the town.

The wedding was segregated by sex once again, and I expected to be diverted to join the women once we arrived at the palace. Instead, as I was attending with two men, I was invited indoors. It was immediately clear that I was out of place in a room crowded with men. I prepared to engage in a full retreat after greeting the Emir and offering our congratulations. But he offered the three of us places to sit in the room and darting a glance at our good friend and local cultural expert, I saw I would be able to join the room full of well-attired muslim men and glimpse the other side of the ceremony. After everyone approached the Emir and offered their blessings for his daughters' marraiges (a dual wedding!), everyone sat on the floor of the large room and began to pray. A man with a megaphone lead the prayer excitedly and then, 15 minutes later, it was over and everyone stood to chat and slowly exit the room.

Outside was different - and we quickly realized the indoor ceremony was the Muslim portion while outdoors the long-standing traditional celebrations were about to begin. Drummers entered the outdoor portion of the palace and straightened their stances and exaggerated their movements for the video cameras.

And on the street, dancers materialized with more drums and whistles, weilding swords with which it is said they could be cut but would never draw blood due to their exceptional strength and power. An exceptional celebration!