Ndabaga
Short Story
Ndabaga was born in 1700 in shadow of war. Her father called Nyamutezi went off to serve the king in his army. According to law, healthy men must serve the kingdom into old age, only earning a peaceful retirement upon being replaced by their son. Ndabaga had no brothers, though, so her father’s fate was to die a warrior in the king’s service. There was no course of action for a daughter to relieve a father. Only boys and men were trusted to perform the physical feats of a warrior. Until Ndabaga decided otherwise. She spent her days training. Ndabaga pushed the limits of her speed, her strength, her stamina. She ran and jumped, she learned to wield a spear and a bow and arrow. She learned to fight, and soon she fought better than any boy her age in her village. Finally she replaced Nyamutezi, her father, her great performance in Kingdom’s army made her to be a Queen of the Kingdom.
Main Story
Ndabaga is a girl who lived around 1700, and is the son of Nyamutezi in Bwishaza in Western Province (formerly in Kibuye ). I thought that he was born alone, when he was a baby his father came to his rescue. No one could leave the temple without someone to take him away. It could be done by his Son or another male relative. So this is not what Nyamutezi was, so he had to stay in the sample. When he left, Ndabaga asked her mother where her father lived, and his mother replied that he lived in the temple. I asked, "So he's not coming home?" "It's because he doesn't have a son or a brother to raise him," said his mother. It was then that Ndabaga began to practice the tasks of a boy, such as jumping; shooting; throwing a spear; to make a bow and arrow, to prepare to go to rescue his father in battle. He trained for these jobs and stayed there, he even went to the carpenters to strip and sew their breasts so that they wouldn't open and there would be someone from where he knew she was a girl, his goal was not achieved. His mother asked him his purpose in doing all this, Ndabaga replied: "So I'm in my father's group, and who will be redeemed?"
When Ndabaga reached puberty, she said to his mother: "My father died before I was young, I want to go see him together, and redeem him for example." His mother is covering him with cotton wool, and he says that other old men have taken theirs by example. When she got there, Ndabaga asked the boys of his age to show him Nyamutezi, they showed him and looked at him, they talked to each other and were happy. I asked: "What prevented you from going home?" “I have lost my son and I am failing because of old age,” said the father. I wanted to tell him, don't say I'm a girl, say I'm a boy, because I've learned and know the duties of a boy. His father said: "If you can, what is it like?" I was looking at him. Nyamutezi wants to convince him, he forces him to see if he can do it. I was a witness to it. He gave him a spear and said: “There, throw it there, I'll see you deliver it.” I was going to attack him. He gave him children of his own age to race, and he showed them the rope. His father was very proud of him, so he showed him to the model doctor and said: "This is my son." They let him go home.
I was studying the traditions that existed at that time and he knew them, and he became a loved and admired elite because he was careful and obeyed in everything that he was led. This made him a role model, even giving others to share a lot of cattle. For example, the children who were with him were jealous of him because he gave them a lot of cattle and he came quickly. Her family knew her and said, "When you see Ndabaga, she is better than us to share more cows. She is a girl."
The news reached the King that Ndabaga was a girl. The king is to invite her to know the truth, is to force me to ask questions. “Was it a girl or a boy?” I was afraid of him because he refused to lie to the Lord that it would not be a sin for him to drown his father in the boiling water without letting him go, and he was afraid to tell the truth without asking him why he came to the temple. The king looked at her and decided to tell her the truth: "I am a girl." The king asked him why he came to the temple. Another said, "I ran without seeing my father, I asked my mother and she told me that he is in the war and that she does not have a son to take care of him. I have to learn the boy's work so that I can take care of him. When I found out, I came to my father, and I told him that I have learned enough about the boy's work, show him that I know enough and ask him to take him, and he agreed because he saw that I am capable."
As soon as the king heard Ndabaga's words, he sent to Nyamutezi and asked him questions like he had ordered his daughter. Nyamutezi admitted to her that she was a girl. The king said: "Then what made you let him go to the boys' church?" Nyamutezi said: "Sir, I was old, and I was left as if I were in the same room because I was left alone in my room." Also, I was able to find people who could."
The king is to comfort Nyamutezi and said: Comfort, the girl you gave me, I appreciated her and I am staying with her. Now wash yourself and go with your cattle that you gave him as a gift. From then on Ndabaga was immediately taken to the Kingdom and brought up there, after she was a virgin the King married her, and he was very angry with her. Ndabaga rescued his father from the level of poverty he was in, and since then the King ordered that those who do not grow will be dismissed and return home because it is a scandal to see that Rwanda is still associated with women who are pregnant.
To get to Ndabaga, is to get to difficulties so that someone asks for it and you don't have to buy it. When people see things that are very difficult, as if they should be men, they say the proverb: "Things have come to Ndabaga."
Alternative Story
This story takes place in the 18th century, in Bwishaza, a small kingdom in central Africa. It has been eight days since Nyamutezi’s wife has given birth to a daughter. All neighbours, accompanied by their children, have come to celebrate the happy event.
“My daughter, your name will be Ndabaga !” No sooner has Nyamutezi spoken these words than the sound of war drums echoes throughout the entire kingdom. All healthy men hurry to answer the call. Nyamutezi takes his bow from the hook, ties his quiver around his waist, grabs his spear and shield, and off he goes to war.
Years go by and the conflict still goes on. Nyamutezi watches his fellow warriors leave for home, one by one, relieved by their sons. “And what about me, who have no other offspring than a daughter?” the old warrior keeps asking himself.
During her puberty, Ndabaga decides to learn martial arts to be able to replace her father on the battlefield and give him a chance to spend his old days back home. " “She felt she could do something even when no girl or woman was supposed to replace their father in ‘Itorero’,”
To get her way around the established practice, Ndabaga trained herself to perform tasks that were reserved for boys during her formative years, eventually becoming so good she would outperform boys in masculine tasks.
“She took herself through a series of physical training from jumping fences to shooting and fighting as boys did. She was so committed she would eventually replace her father so much she had to seek traditional services to press down her breasts so no one recognised her real gender when she finally went to the palace.”
When Ndabaga felt that she was ready to replace her father, she headed to the palace and, after identifying and informing him of her mission, she convinced him to leave her behind and return home to rest as he was growing frail.
When Ndabaga was ready and had managed to convince her father, she was presented to the King and everyone else at the palace and she immediately impressed in several tasks and assignments.” Ndabaga, having grasped all the warrior skills, impressed the King so much he asked her to be a leader of her “peers”. Some of the men, however, later started to doubt Ndabaga’s supposed gender since even as she was excelling in various tasks. “Even as she was a typical Intore (specially trained to serve nation) and warrior, she had favor around her just like women or girls…everyone started asking questions,”
“There were some rumors that suggested she was probably not a boy …for instance, some boys and men started wondering why she never bathed with them and always dressed up in private.”
Soon, word reached the King that Ndabaga may not be a boy after all.
The king decided to find out if Ndabaga was indeed a man or not. He challenged her to wrestling sessions for several days but nobody defeated her. But when the rumor persisted, the King, asked her straight out if she was a man or not. Ultimately, she admitted she was a girl and explained that her actions were only aimed at ridding her family of shame. The king was surprised and impressed at the same time, so much that he decided to marry Ndabaga.
Touched by Ndabaga’s actions, the King decided that everyone in Itorero at the palace is returned to their loved ones, coining a now-famous saying, “Ibintu byageze iwa Ndabaga’ (the situation has become so dire that women or girls are now posing as men to save the situation).
Father
Nyamutezi
References
Rwandan Names https://itriedtowarnyou.wordpress.com/2013/11/11/rwandan-baby-names/
