Coins for blood and blood for coins: Towards a genealogy of sacrifice in the Transvaal Lowveld, 1930-1993

Abstract

In 1889 Tylor defined sacrifice as a form of gift-giving to spiritual beings (Tylor 1958:461). This definition has formed the conceptual framework for both classical and contemporary anthropological understandings of sacrifice. Subsequent theorists have viewed these gifts-to-gods as fundamentally different from gifts-to-people. Indeed, sacrifice has been seen as essential to the quest for morality, purity and salvation. The sacrificial gift, it has been contended, is offerred to establish communion with the sacred and to sacrilize the sacrificer (Robertson-Smith 1984, Hubert and Mauss 1964). Evans-Pritchard (1970) described Nuer sacrifices as aimed at ridding individuals from the dangerous state of nueer brought about by pathogenic contact with the Divinity. More recently, Gregory (1980) and Parry (1986) have viewed sacrifice as a 'pure gift' which is surrendered without the expectation of recall and return in this life. Parry (1986: 460-61) suggests that in salvation-orientated religions ultimate destiny is determined by supernatural reward. As such unreciprocated gifts mean liberation from the bondage of the profane world and create an image of the other world in this one. Whilst these contributions yield general insight, there is an urgent need to refocus attention on the meanings of sacrifice in particular performative and narrative contexts (Hoskins 1993). Generalized and static formula often obscure intricate, diverse, and changing emic models of sacrifice. This article investigates continuities and changes in concepts of sacrifice among Sotho and Tsonga-speakers of the Transvaal lowveld. It warns against the generalized formulation of sacrifice as a moralistic act and contemplates the possibility that sacrifice may well be motivated by more imediate and materialistic concerns. My analysis is based on fieldwork I have conducted, for intermittent periods over past four years, in the lowveld village of Green Valley. Green Valley has a population of approximately 20 000 people. It forms part of the Setlhare chiefdom and is situated in the Mapulaneng area of Lebowa. My account is diachronic, but genealogical rather than historical. The aim is not to provide a comprehensive overview of process based on the chronology of events, but merely to highlight prominent cultural assumptions underlying the conceptions of sacrifice at different times [1]. Along with Cousins and Hussain (1984) I see the critical potential of the genelogical method as lying in its ability to trance symbolic connections between seemingly diverse phenomena. As such phenomena can be shown as not nearly as timeless and distinct as they appear. My analysis differs significantly from earlier functionalist and structuralist accounts of sacrifice in the lowveld (Junod 1966, Krige and Krige 1965, Monnig 1988, Hammond- Tooke 1981, de Heusch 1985). I do not merely focus on the performative aspects of offerings to the ancestors, but incorporate reference to mythical and imagined sacrifices. As such I explore the wider meanings of sacrifice in cultural discourses. These discourses are located within changing local religious, socio-political and economic contexts.