The Story of the Cike

As women from the community gathered around a tree in Jeevanbhima Nagar, sipping tea, Celine and Corinne told them a story from a faraway land in Ethiopia, the land of the savanna and the red mud where live a forgotten people; a people with a haunting ritual that we would like to remember today.

The ritual revolves around the Cike, a staff/stick given by the mother to her daughter at the time of her marriage. The Cike it would seem is a symbol, a gift affirming her power over her own life

The Cike it would seem was a part of the dowry of the women too.

As was the custom of this land, a woman at the time of marriage was given gifts by her family; as she left home for the home of her husband with the gifts, the woman also was given a Cike ; she places it in a corner of the new house where it would remain until some day some violence was done to her....

If her husband physically or mentally harasses her, all she would do is take her Cike from the corner, and walk out of her home towards a common place,
where all the other women in the village would follow her,
each woman holding her own Cike in her hand;
in a quiet, non-violent way the women would gather in a circle;
it is a drama of concern, a circle of caring;
a community of women supporting each other.

Try and imagine what happens in the village;
all the women (with their Cikes) are sitting in a circle;
no food is cooked, no houses cleaned, no children sent to school or fed;
the village it would seem has come to a stand still.
and this will remain so, until,
the man who has beaten or abused his wife comes to ask her pardon,
to seek her forgiveness,
in front of the circle of women.
remember the whole village is at a stand still;
so it is not only the family of the abused woman that suffers
but all the men, and all the
children and the village that suffers.

Having received justice of some sort; a public affirmation of her pain
the woman agrees to go back to her home.
the women smile!
their Cikes dance!

Listen to the women as they arrive from far distances on their dancing feet
listen to the sounds of their thoughts flying
listen to the sounds of their feet dancing

We all need to find our own Cikes!
our own gifts affirming life
saying No! to the battering, the beating, the burning of women!

A very imaginative and lively discussion followed
imagining ourselves with Cikes, with sticks
gathering under a tree, murmuring,
rising in a hubbub of solidarity.

Introduction >> The Story of the Cike >> Photos of the Marmara >>