Friday Feature: Nehanda and Kaguvi of the Zezuru

Kaguvi (front,left) and Nehanda (front,right) after their capture

Nehanda Charwe Nyakasikana (c1840-1898) was a spirit medium of the Zezuru Shona people. As one of the spiritual leaders of the Shona, she provided inspiration the revolt against the British South Africa Company's colonisation of Mashonaland and Matabeleland (now Zimbabwe). She was a Hera of the Hwata Mufakose Dynasty. She and her ally Kaguvi were eventually captured and executed by the British. 

The spirit Nehanda is said to be the mhondoro, a royal mudzimu (ancestral spirit) or "lion spirit". At one time this spirit resided in Nyamhika, one of the daughters of Nyatsimba Mutota,who was given the name Nehanda at birth. Nyatsimba Mutota was the first leader of the Munhumutapa state. 

As medium of the spirit Nehanda, Nyakasikana made oracular pronouncements and performed traditional ceremonies that were thought to ensure rain and good crops. As the spirit medium of Nehanda at the time, Charwe Nyakasikana at first promoted good relations between the Zezuru people and early European settlers pioneers. However, following the imposition of a "hut tax" and other tax assessments in 1894, both the Ndebele and Shona people revolted in June 1896, in what became known as the First Chimurenga or Second Matabele War. The rebellion, in Mashonaland at least, was encouraged by traditional religious leaders including Nyakasikana. After the end of the rebellion in 1897, she was captured. Nyakasikana was charged with the murder of Native Commissioner Pollard. She was found guilty after eyewitnesses claimed that she had ordered an associate to chop Pollard's head off. Consequently, she was hanged. Much mythology grew up around the difficulty in killing her. 

She must have had great authority even before the 1896-7 Rebellion and it is interesting that no greater authority than the Anglican Church in a map drawn up showing missionary work by the Church after 1888 there is a village in the area called Nehandas. She was a powerful woman spirit medium that was committed to upholding traditional Shona culture, she was instrumental in organising the nationwide resistance to colonial rule during the First Chimurenga of 1896–7. Even Lobengula recognised her as a powerful spiritual medium in the land. 

According to historical sources the original Nehanda was daughter of Mutota the first Monomatapa who was living in the escarpment North of Sipolilo in about 1430. Mutota was the founder of the Mutapa state, Mutota also had a son who later became the second Monomatapa, and the son was called Matope. Matope was Nehanda’s half brother, and to increase the power of Matope, Mutota ordered his son to commit incest with his half sister, Nyamhika, who became widely known as Nehanda. This incest ritual is believed to have increased Matope’s ruler and his empire, due to this Matope handed over a portion of his empire to Nehanda who became so powerful and well known that her spirit lived on in the human bodies of various spirit mediums over the years until almost 500 years later when we find it occupying the body of the Mazoe Nehanda. Nehanda Charwe Nyakasikana was considered to be the female incarnation of the oracle spirit Nyamhika Nehanda.

As white settlement increased in the land, according to sources Nehanda initially welcomed the occupation by the Pioneers and counselled her followers to be friendly towards them "Don't be afraid of them" she said "as they are only traders, but take a black cow to them and say this is the meat with which we greet you." Unfortunately relationships became strained when the settlers starting imposing taxes, forced relocations, forced labour, etc.

Kaguvi

Kaguvi (a.k.a. Kagubi) was believed to be the spirit husband of the other great Shona spirit, Nehanda, and it may have been this connection which enabled him in due course to persuade Mbuya Nehanda to preach the gospel of war resistance in Mashonaland, which led to the first Chimurenga. The role as well as the influence of the spirit mediums in form of Kaguvi and Nehanda, can not understated. As far as the people were concerned Nehanda and Kaguvi were the voices of God a.k.a. Mwari. Kaguvi and later Nehanda (after convincing by Kaguvi) preached that according to Mwari the cause of all the trouble that had come upon the land was the white man. They had brought the locusts and the rinderpest, and to crown it all, they, the owners of the cattle which had died, were not allowed to eat the meat of the carcasses, which had to be burned or buried. Mwari decreed that the white men were to be driven from the country. They, the natives, had nothing to fear, Mwari would turn the bullets of the white man into water.

Nehanda’s heroism became a significant source of inspiration in the nationalist struggle for liberation in the 1960s and 1970s. Her name is now usually prefixed by the respectful title of Mbuya, or grandmother. The maternity section of Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare is named after her. The College of Health Sciences of the University of Zimbabwe is located there as well.

Feature accessed on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nehanda_Nyakasikana on 25 July 2014.

Friday Feature: The Modjadji: Rain Queen of the Balobedu

The Modjadji or Rain Queen is the hereditary queen of Balobedu, a people of the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The succession to the position of Rain Queen is matrilineal, meaning that the Queen's eldest daughter is the heir, and that males are not entitled to inherit the throne at all. The Rain Queen is believed to have special powers, including the ability to control the clouds and rainfall.

There are several different stories relating to the creation and history of the Rain Queens of Balobedu. One story states that an old chief in 16th century Monomotapa (South eastern Zimbabwe), was told by his ancestors that by impregnating his daughter, Dzugundini, she would gain rain-making skills. Another story involves a scandal in the same chief's house, where the chief's son impregnated Dzugundini. Dzugundini was held responsible and was forced to flee the village. Dzugundini ended up in Molototsi Valley, which is in the present day Balobedu Kingdom. The village she established with her loyal followers was ruled by a Mugudo, a male leader, but the peace and harmony of the village was disrupted by rivalries between different families, and therefore to pacify the land, the Mugudo impregnated his own daughter to restore the tribe's matrilineal tradition. She gave birth to the first Rain Queen known as Modjadji which means; "ruler of the day".

According to custom, the Rain Queen must shun public functions, and can only communicate with her people through her male councillors. Every November she presides over the annual Rainmaking ceremony at her royal compound in Khetlhakone Village.

She is not supposed to marry but has many "wives", as they are referred to in the Balobedu language (These are not spouses in the usual sense of the word; as a queen regnant she has the equivalent of royal court servants, or ladies-in-waiting), sent from many villages all over the Balobedu Kingdom. These wives were selected by The Queen's Royal Council and in general are from the households of the subject chiefs. This ritual of "bride giving" is strictly a form of diplomacy to ensure loyalty to the Queen.

The Rain Queen's mystical rain making powers are believed to be reflected in the lush garden which surrounds her royal compound. Surrounded by parched land, her garden contains the world's largest cycad trees which are in abundance under a spectacular rain belt. One species of cycad, the Modjadji cycad, is named after the Rain Queen.

The Rain Queen is a prominent figure in South Africa, many communities respecting her position and, historically, attempting to avoid conflict in deference thereto. Even Shaka Zulu of Zululand sent his top emissaries to ask her for her blessings. The fifth Rain Queen, Mokope Modjadji maintained cordial relations with Nelson Mandela.

The Rain Queen has become a figure of interest, she and the royal institution becoming a significant tourist attraction contributing to the South African economy. The Rain Queen was offered an annual government civil list. The stipend was also expected to help defray the costs of preserving the cycad trees found in the Rain Queen's gardens.

However there are worries that the 400-year old Rain Queen dynasty may be coming to an end since no new Rain Queen has been enthroned since the previous one, Makobo died (In 2005). A male branch of the extended royal clan has also petitioned the South African President to restore the male line of the Balobedu royal house which reigned before 1800. This entreaty is considered unlikely to be granted, inasmuch as the Rain Queen heritage is recognised as a national cultural legacy and interest in it has stimulated significant tourist trade.

Previous Rain Queens
Rain Queen I Maselekwane Modjadji (1800-1854)
Rain Queen II Masalanabo Modjadji (1854-1894)
Rain Queen III Khetoane Modjadji (1895-1959)
Rain Queen IV Makoma Modjadji (1959-1980)
Rain Queen V Mokope Modjadji (1981-2001)
Rain Queen VI Makobo Modjadji (2003-2005)

Currently there is no ruling Rain Queen as the previous Rain Queen died on 12 June 2005.

This information was accessed on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rain_Queen on 4 July 2014,10:35.

Memoirs of a Born Free by Malaika Wa Azania- Book Review

By Kesewa John

Having read about the phenomenon of the 'Born Frees' from abroad, and giggled at Cape Town-based blogger Tawanda's take on the notion, I was very pleased to come face-to-face with some Born Frees when in South Africa. Even more luck befell me when I had the opportunity to read 'Memoirs of a Born Free' by Malaika wa Azania. I wangled a copy from the Steve Biko Centre's Mwelela Cele, the archivist extraordinaire assisting my research on the Black Consciousness Movemement in King.

Memoirs is the story of a young South African activist's journey to a political home via 'a letter to the ANC'. To a foreigner not especially acquainted with South African political history (hence the research), the author offers an insider's take on current political formations in South Africa, and an alternative view of 'the end' of apartheid.

Given her location in history as the daughter of an apartheid-era ANC activist, who grew up in the townships around Soweto 'after apartheid' that grew disillusioned after her grandmother, but before her mother, her story is must-read for anyone interested in the before and after of democratic South Africa.

However Wa Azania is also a writer; a newspaper columnist and a comms person (you know, as well as a second year uni student). As such, her book is well-written and features a fully human, youthful black feminist voice. Memoirs is both a story about a family, and a story about a changing political landscape and how people reorient themselves on shifting sands. Wa Azania's tale re-centres the people with far less bitterness than one might expect.

Slightly reminiscent of Wild Swans by Jung Chang in the way it deals with three generations of non-conformist women living through a particular historical phenomenon, without giving too much away, Wa Azania is also an activist, and it is on this plane that I connected with her story.

For those of us who are children of a movement, ie whose parents believed in ideals that they never set aside for material success, political expediency or despite shifts in political paradigms, today's world is a harsh place. We're talented but not built for corporations and conformity, and we're too idealistic for petty party politics. But we're not apathetic.

We are those John Blake calls the Children – and grand-children – of the movement. We may use facebook daily on our smartphones, but we also read Biko and Fanon, while listening to music that enlightens and inspires. We hear and believe in young people, but we don't have a set place in contemporary party politics. And we're not sure we really want one. Perhaps because our parents got too close, got burned and we have no desire to jump into a shark pool. Or perhaps because we are rebels.

I conversed once with a Ghanaian journalist who was present at the 1960 Congolese independence ceremony. He remembers Lumumba, and underlined that Lumumba was in the position of forming a government in a country that had four or five people with a university education and a lot of nationalists; people determined to create a fair 'system' which would serve the people of the Congo. Today's neo-colonial governments we concluded, were filled with university-educated people, but no nationalists. As a Nigerian friend put it, 'everybody wants a slice of the national pie.' But nobody wants to cook it.

The young people in the auditorium at the Steve Biko Centre articulated grievances about some of the untruths that they felt subjected to. Narratives that did not reflect their lived experiences. Ideologies that they simply did not buy into. Malaika Wa Azania asked whether those of us interested in social change, transformative egalitarian change, were married to the vehicle we hoped would bring that change, or the change itself. Truth-telling, the young people agreed, was imperative.

The following statements, made by the young people conversing that evening, made me pause for thought:

1) There is no rainbow nation in South Africa, let us stop fooling ourselves.

2) Whichever way the light hits a rainbow, the colours are always fixed in the same place. Blue never becomes red or orange or yellow. Green never bleeds into purple. The hierarchy between the colours never changes nor do they swap places, even momentarily.

3) I don't believe there are born frees because even if you grow up black with all the privilege of Sandton, at some point surely you must ask yourself 'If I am truly free, why do my people continue to be on the periphery of economic activity? Why do my people continue to be at the periphery of knowledge generation?'


Kesewa John teaches English at the University of the French West Indies and is interested in black intellectual history, particularly historical articulations of blackness by black thinkers.