Goat meat, Chicken and other taboos

Did you know that eating goat meat was a taboo for Yandang women and children back in the day? Yes, I know it sounds unbelievable! I was just as shocked when I first found out. Not only were women forbidden from eating it, they were also not allowed to cook it. It was usually cooked outside the house, in a suspended pot over the fire, or at the shrine when men went to judge cases and discuss issues. It was cooked and eaten without any involvement from the women folk. when I asked my uncle why, he said it was because eating goat meat made women look dry and sickly! considering women and children have been eating goat meat without fear, since the dawn of colonialism, it is fair to say this taboo was just founded on superstitious beliefs.

As if denying us of the heavenly taste of goat meat wasn't enough, we were also forbidden from eating chicken! chicken o my sisters!  I cant imagine living in a world where eating goat meat and chicken was a taboo for women. I weep for all my female ancestors who had to live through centuries of never tasting these delicious delicacies.

Eating birds like kpah-kpahkari, Tsat, and Dak Daga. Eating Dogs, Donkeys, Lizards, Horses, Monkeys and Snakes was also taboo. These were general taboos that applied to the whole community, not just women and children. I've never tasted any of these, but I heard Snakes taste like fish and Dog meat is delicious. Shout out to my Calabar, Angas and Berom peeps!

Here is a list of other traditional taboos as listed in the book "Yandang People and Culture". A lot of them are not upheld strictly anymore, but in the past, breaking any of them usually attracted a fine according to the gravity of the crime.

1 Child bearing women were forbidden from sharing the same room/hut with their husbands.
2 Women pregnant with their first child do not talk to men.
3 Younger ones do not leave the meal area until the elders are done eating.
4 Younger ones do not argue or exchange words with an elder.
5 Calling an elder a liar, even if they were lying. You could only say "It is not true" or "It is not so", but never say "You are lying." I remember being reprimanded by my mom a few times when I was younger, because I called an elder a liar.
6 Calling an elder person with their first name or initiation name. Only his initiation age mates and his elders are allowed to.
7 Laughing when an elder does something humiliating or embarrassing.
8 Men eating from the same dish with women.
9 Having sexual relations with a sister-in-law.
10 Women and children seeing the masquerade of Nvakah or calling its name. Guess I just committed a taboo by typing this. :)
11 Women having relationships with a carrier of a disease called soh soh. Does anyone know the English or Hausa name for this disease?
12 A wife calling her husband by his first name. I know wives call their husbands Daddy or Baban mu now, but what did they call them before colonisation?

Feel free to add anyone you know in the comments, or make corrections where necessary.

Sannu le nu Nwhin Kuk!