3Wombs of the Earth: Preserving and Reconstituting Feminine Prestige and Dignity through Heritage

Abstract

A select group of Boreda women in southern Ethiopia bolster their sense of prestige and dignity as mothers and leaders through their ancestral landscapes, Bayira Deriya. These Boreda women conveyed their knowledge to me and endowed me with the responsibility to share it only after my longitudinal commitment to becoming a listening cultural apprentice and after becoming a mother. Importantly, their wisdom taught me an alternative way of perceiving motherhood and gender justice and led to a significant scientific discovery for the world.