New book on traditional wedding ‘Lepok Ze Resi’ now on sale in Seychelles

‘Lepok Ze Resi’ is on sale at $11. (Salifa Magnan, Seychelles News Agency)

(Seychelles News Agency) - The Seychelles’ traditional wedding and the various stages included in the process are the subjects of a newly launched book entitled ‘Lepok Ze Resi’ produced by the Department of Culture.  

Written by Cindy Moka, a research officer at the International Creole Institute in the Literature Unit of Seychelles, the book of 36 pages takes the reader through the different stages which took place before and after the ceremony of a traditional Seychellois wedding.

Speaking to SNA, Moka said that: “The stages leading up to the wedding ceremony sometimes lasted for two years. Parents were the one to decide, in the end, if their son or daughter would get married.”

The book of 36 pages takes the reader through the different stages which took place before and after the ceremony of a traditional Seychellois wedding. (Joe Laurence, Seychelles News Agency) Photo License: CC-BY

Moka said the idea for the book came while she was doing some research on Seychellois traditional weddings for one of her projects at the Creole Institute of Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean.

“My objective was specifically to collect romantic ballads, serenade songs, speeches and the proposal letters which were for an exhibition on how a traditional wedding was organised, as part of activities to mark the Creole Festival,” she told SNA.

Moka said she realised that the photos that were going to be used in the exhibition did not show all the stages in a traditional wedding and it was only through a book that this could be done.

Through her research Moka found that the stages leading up to the wedding ceremony sometimes lasted for two years and that parents were the one to decide. (Joe Laurence, Seychelles News Agency) Photo License: CC-BY

The preface of the book ‘Lepok Ze Resi’ describes Seychellois traditional weddings as “a cultural heritage that has lost its place as one of the most prestigious celebrations of our culture. The way that a wedding was organised during the time of our ancestors has been greatly simplified today.”

The 35-year Moka said she collected information from her contacts on the three most populated islands, Mahe, Praslin and La Digue and then interviewed over 50 others to get the correct details on each of the stages.

The ‘La salle verte’ - an open air area decorated with coconut leaves and bougainvillea flowers and the traditional band were important elements of a traditional Seychellois wedding. (Joe Laurence, Seychelles News Agency) Photo License: CC-BY

Moka used the information gathered during her research to illustrate the book which is written in the Seychellois Creole language and says that made it easier to explain the terms that the participants used.

‘Lepok Ze Resi’ has been published by the Creole Festival committee and is the first book to be compiled and researched by Moka. It is on sale at the National Cultural Centre at the National Library in Victoria at $11 [150 Seychelles rupees].

Cindy Moka, a research officer at the International Creole Institute said she collected information from her contacts on the three most populated islands, Mahe, Praslin and La Digue. (Salifa Magnan, Seychelles News Agency) Photo License: CC-BY

Moka who does research for others when working on their publications is already working on another book about another tradition in Seychelles.