The Himbas of Namibie
"Among the Himba of Namibia in southern Africa, the date of birth of a child is fixed, not at the moment of its coming into the world, nor at that of its conception, but much earlier: from the day on which the child is thought of in his mother's mind.
When a woman decides she is going to have a child, she sits and rests under a tree, and she listens until she can hear the song of the child who wants to be born. And after she has heard this child's song, she returns to the man who will be the child's father to teach him this song. And then, when they make love to physically conceive the child, they sing the child's song, in order to invite him.
When the mother is pregnant, she teaches this child's song to the midwives and elder women of the village. So much so that when the child is born, the old women and people around him sing his song to welcome him.
As the child grows, the other villagers learn his song. So much so that if the child falls, or is hurt, there is always someone to pick him up and sing his song. Likewise, if the child does something wonderful, or successfully goes through the rites of passage, the people of the village sing his song to honor him.
In the tribe, there is another occasion when the villagers sing for the child. If, at any time during his or her life, the person commits a crime or an aberrant social act, the individual is called to the center of the village and the people of the community form a circle around him or her. Then they sing his song. The tribe recognizes that the correction of antisocial behavior does not come through punishment, it is through love and reminder of identity. When you recognize your own song, you don't want or need to do anything that would harm the other.
And so it is throughout their lives. In marriage, songs are sung, together. And when, having grown old, this child lies in his bed, ready to die, all the villagers know his song, and they sing, for the last time, his song.