Intertribal marriages have been common in our society for a long period. Different tribes have also become more accepting of other tribes as individuals and friends.
The question of do intertribal marriages pass the test of time has risen with the number of divorces that have been happening around. Married couples from different tribes have come out saying, yes they do go through marital problems that are tribal-related.
One of the main problems that they face is cultural differences. Different tribal communities have different ways of living and practice different doctrines. For many couples, the differences in customs make it hard for them to coexist in the marriage.
Yesterday as I was running errands I decided to listen to a podcast that happened to be on the matter of intertribal marriage. The perspective on how the podcast host spoke on the topic caught my ear.
One of the hosts spoke about a friend who went through marital problems due to tribal differences ‘A friend of mine was married to a Luo and she was Kamba. She told me that after the birth of her child, she could not follow her cultural practices. This is where she would have her mother and aunties come to hold the child but instead, her mother-in-law moved in and this was culturally shocking to her.’
The podcast host stated. Listening to this I thought about how uncomfortable some cultural practices can be to an individual. Problems due to their differences were not only her mother-in-law moving in but also the constant moving in of relatives into her marital house.
This made her unable to handle all that was happening because her husband was also not setting boundaries which led to a divorce. In intertribal marriages, a need for understanding of both parties is needed. Boundaries are important to set to accommodate a partner.
The cultural difference in such marriages is inevitable due to them not being part of the same community. Deciding on when can a certain part of a partner’s culture be implemented is needed.
In a culturally sensitive country where we tend to judge what happens in different communities, a need for us as a country to venture into our cultures and learn about them is needed.
Intertribal marriages do work by being understanding of each other.
