- Ayie
Ayie is the first of two stages of a traditional marriage ceremony of the Luo tribe of
Kenya andTanzania . The ceremony involves the payment of abride price by the groom to the mother of the bride. "Ayie" is a Dholuo word, which means "I agree", referring to the fact that the mother of the bride accepts the bride price and agrees for the marriage to take place.Once the ceremony has taken place, the couple are considered to be married, although to complete the union a second bride price, in the form of cattle, should be paid to the father of the bride.
As
polygamy is permitted in Luo tradition, a man may carry out Ayie several times with different women, and all marriages are recognised as legal under the Kenyan law governing traditional marriage. However, if he also carries out a civil or religious marriage ceremony in Kenya, he may not have more than one wife.References
"Some Aspects of Marital Stability in a Rural Luo Community" Betty Potash. "Africa: Journal of the International African Institute", Vol. 48, No. 4 (1978), pp. 380-397doi:10.2307/1158803
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