Reliving secrecy and ethics in bojale ten years on

Abstract

In this photo essay, I reflect on secrecy and ethics in bojale [girls’ initiation] of Bakgatla-baga-Kgafela a decade after my participant observation in 2009. I had entered the ritual with the dual identity of initiate and researcher-at-home. The images were going to become part of the audiovisual documentation component of my PhD research and would be the first visual record of the ritual. My objectives were to undergo initiation and at the same time obtain data for my research. Creating a balance between academic ethical obligations such as consent and information dissemination and cultural taboos of a ritual clouded with secrecy from time immemorial was not going to be easy. The challenging journey was through overt and covert positions in relation to my fellow initiates, elders and the royal family who authorised the research. Concerns of ethics and trust surfaced, which pushed me into compromising positions as my middle ground was subjective. In conclusion, I did what was best because I personally witnessed the negative impact of knowledge gaps from the past ceremonies due to secrecy. My initiation record was going to become one of the preservation methods of the girls’ initiation knowledge systems.