20th century
Tougan, Burkina Faso
An encounter in 1928 involving a young anthropologist, colonial officials, and local authorities over access to knowledge concerning a circumcision ceremony. The local Master of the Knife argued that complete instruction required the researcher to undergo circumcision and initiation. Pressured to satisfy the inquiry, the canton headman and elders proposed misleading the outsider through the practice called “putting in the straw.”
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The Story
In 1928, while serving at Tougan, the narrator encountered a young anthropologist who wished to study the sacrificial hen used at a circumcision. The French Commandant asked the headman of the indigenous canton to ensure that the investigator received every explanation. The request placed local ritual authorities under pressure to disclose knowledge ordinarily linked to initiation.
The headman assembled leading citizens and consulted the Master of the Knife, the person responsible for circumcision ceremonies and their associated initiation. When asked whether everything should be explained, the old man replied that full teaching was impossible if the anthropologist had not come to be circumcised. In his view, the lessons could be transmitted only to someone who lived the life of the initiated and accepted its rules.
The officials then sought a way to appear cooperative without violating the restriction. The proposed solution was “putting in the straw,” described as hoodwinking an outsider with an invented account when the truth must be withheld. The episode illustrates the tension between colonial demands for information and the principle that certain knowledge is accessible only through participation.
20th century
Tougan, Burkina Faso
An encounter in 1928 involving a young anthropologist, colonial officials, and local authorities over access to knowledge concerning a circumcision ceremony. The local Master of the Knife argued that complete instruction required the researcher to undergo circumcision and initiation. Pressured to satisfy the inquiry, the canton headman and elders proposed misleading the outsider through the practice called “putting in the straw.”
Continue exploring
The Story
In 1928, while serving at Tougan, the narrator encountered a young anthropologist who wished to study the sacrificial hen used at a circumcision. The French Commandant asked the headman of the indigenous canton to ensure that the investigator received every explanation. The request placed local ritual authorities under pressure to disclose knowledge ordinarily linked to initiation.
The headman assembled leading citizens and consulted the Master of the Knife, the person responsible for circumcision ceremonies and their associated initiation. When asked whether everything should be explained, the old man replied that full teaching was impossible if the anthropologist had not come to be circumcised. In his view, the lessons could be transmitted only to someone who lived the life of the initiated and accepted its rules.
The officials then sought a way to appear cooperative without violating the restriction. The proposed solution was “putting in the straw,” described as hoodwinking an outsider with an invented account when the truth must be withheld. The episode illustrates the tension between colonial demands for information and the principle that certain knowledge is accessible only through participation.
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