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Umhlanga, or Reed Dance ceremony, is an annual Swazi and Zulu cultural event. In Swaziland, tens of thousands of unmarried and childless Swazi girls and women travel from the various chiefdoms to the Ludzidzini Royal Village to participate in the eight-day event. The young, unmarried girls were placed in female age-regiments; girls who had fallen pregnant outside wedlock had their families fined a cow.〔 Umhlanga was created in the 1940s in Swaziland under the rule of Sobhuza II, and is an adaptation of the much older Umcwasho ceremony. The reed dance continues to be practiced today in Swaziland. In South Africa, the reed dance was introduced in 1991 by Goodwill Zwelithini, the current King of the Zulus. The dance in South Africa takes place in Nongoma, a royal ''kraal'' of the Zulu king.〔〔 ==South Africa== In South Africa, the ceremony is known as Umkhosi woMhlanga, and takes place every year in September at the Enyokeni Royal Palace in Nongoma, KwaZulu-Natal. The girls come from all parts of Zululand, and in recent years there are also smaller groups from Swaziland, as well as more distant places such as Botswana and Pondoland.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.zululandtourism.org.za/Towns/Nongoma.aspx )〕 All girls are required to undergo a virginity test before they are allowed to participate in a royal dance.〔 In recent years the testing practice has been met with some opposition.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://news.howzit.msn.com/news-in-pics/a-celebration-of-purity?page=2 )〕 The girls wear traditional attire, including beadwork, and ''izigege'' and ''izinculuba'' that show their bottoms.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://eshowe.com/zulu-reed-dance/ )〕 They also wear anklets, bracelets, necklaces, and colourful sashes. Each sash has appendages of a different colour, which denote whether or not the girl is betrothed.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.education.gpg.gov.za/Learners/Grade%2012%20NSC%20Exam%20Papers%20%202011%20Final%20Possible%20Answ/Dance%20Studies%20-%20English.pdf )〕 As part of the ceremony, the young women dance bare-breasted for their king, and each maiden carries a long reed, which is then deposited as they approach the king.〔 The girls take care to choose only the longest and strongest reeds, and then carry them towering above their heads in a slow procession up the hill to Enyokeni Palace.〔 The procession is led by the chief Zulu princess, who takes a prominent role throughout the festival.〔 If the reed should break before the girl reaches that point, it is considered a sign that the girl has already been sexually active.〔 The ceremony was reintroduced by King Goodwill Zwelethini in 1991, as a means to encourage young Zulu girls to delay sexual activity until marriage, and thus limit the possibility of HIV transmission. In 2007, about 30,000 girls took part to the event. The organisers of the ceremony have occasionally enforced strict rules on photographers, as some of them have been accused of publishing pictures of the rites on pornographic websites.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/sowetan/archive/2007/09/10/goodwill-says-virginity-testing-here-to-stay )〕 In past years, the event was attended by the President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma (himself a Zulu), and former Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, Zweli Mkhize.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.witness.co.za/index.php?showcontent&global%5B_id%5D=68221 )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Umhlanga (ceremony)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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