Growing Up & Marrying Hausa

Getting ready

Learning a trade, saving, and preparing a household.

Lesson 1 of 3

The young man’s road

Learn, work, save

A saurayi is expected to be gentle, courteous and hardworking. Once he learns a trade, he may work for ten or fifteen years to save enough for marriage. Salamone reports that rich men therefore tend to marry younger than poor men.

Lesson 2 of 3

The young woman’s road

Following her mother

A budurwa “follows” her mother and learns from her how a proper Hausa woman acts: choosing material, making cloth, cooking, cleaning and the many small details of running a home. One of her tasks is to fetch water. The goal is to become an uwar gida, literally “mother of the house”.

Lesson 3 of 3

Kayan daki

Preparing the household goods

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  1. 1. The family prepares

    For typical Hausa, a dowry called kayan daki is part of marriage.

  2. 2. Items come in sixes

    Salamone says the goods come in units of six: six bags of rice, six bags of millet, six fabrics in a gown, and so on.

  3. 3. Rich families may help

    A wealthy groom may even give the bride’s family money for her dowry, so that she keeps her pride and financial independence.

  4. 4. A romantic exception

    A poor man who waives the dowry because he wants a particular woman is described as terribly romantic, and rare.

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Getting ready

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