Seclusion, Protection and Avoidance: Exploring the Metida Complex Among the Datoga of Northern Tanzania

This article deals with metida avoidance pr actices as they exist in daily and ritual practice among the Southern Nilotic, agro-pastoral Datoga-speaking peoples of the Mbulu/Hanang districts of northern Tanzania. The avoidance practices are particularly elaborate in connection with death or death-like events and birth or birth-like events but are also set in motion by many other events that are experienced as abnormal or threatening. Metida implies the seclusion of people, animals and parts of land perceived to be temporarily highly 'infertile' in order to contain and control their inherently 'dirty' ad 'contagious' elements and prevent them from affecting fecund elements or segments. Through diverse forms of seclusion, metida also aims to protect the potential of particularly fertile people, animals and parts of land from 'dirt' (ririnyeanda) or from unlucky evernts perceived to be contagious and dangerous. All Dotoga who believe in and practise metida may be liable to protection or seclusion at particular times in their lives, but women of procreative age are regarded as particularly susceptible to the threats and consequences caused by death and misfortune, and thus commonly experience the most severe restrictions. We are talking about a set of avoidance practices where in some instances women may spend years of their lives with severe restrictions on their conduct in terms of movement and socialization. In this article we shall explore the metida complex as domain of meaning, experience and power that affects large spheres of Datoga lives, and guides and hards Datoga conduct in particular ways. Increasing numbers of educated or Christian Datoga in Mbulu no longer believe in and in principle no longer practise metida. We shall suggest substantial variations in how different groups or individuals perceive and relate to metida prescriptions.