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History of the amaXhosa
The amaXhosa people are Bantu speakers living in south-east South Africa, and in the last two centuries throughout the southern and central-southern parts of the country. Xhosa people currently make up approximately 18% of the South African population. By number: in 2008: Botswana 9,900; Lesotho 22,000; South Africa 7,529,000; Zimbabwe 29,000
During the seventeenth century, a gradual migration of the Nguni took place which led thousands of people from the southern Zaire Great Lakes area to move south, displacing the original Khoisan hunter gatherers of Southern Africa.
The Xhosa culture (and Nguni culture as a whole) has borrowed from the Khoisan culture and language, and the two peoples lived symbiotically and even intermarried. The Xhosa people speak a language called "Xhosa" which is known as a "click" language, having three basic clicks, borrowed from the Khoisan languages.
Xhosa peoples were well established by the time of the Dutch arrival in the mid-17th century, and occupied much of eastern South Africa from the Fish River to land inhabited by Zulu-speakers south of the modern city of Durban.
The Xhosa and white settlers first encountered one another around Somerset East in the early 18th century. (However, there were also many more European, Indian & Asian Shipwreck castaways assimilated into these lines than we may think; and renegade slaves & colonists came and joined the Xhosa with some regularity. Their genes appear to be solidly interwoven into the lines of the chiefs and the kings from the 1500's onwards. See Castaways on the SA Coast project.) In the late 18th century Afrikaner trekboers migrating outwards from Cape Town came into conflict with Xhosa pastoralists around the Great Fish River region of the Eastern Cape. Both the Boers and the Xhosa were stock-farmers. The competition for grazing land led first to quarrels between the two groups, and eventually it came to a number of wars.
As South Africa shifted politically between British and Dutch rule, clashes with the Xhosa grew in magnitude, as with the Zulu in the Natal area farther north. The politics of the colonial government attempted to enforce the separation of white and black settlement areas with the Fish River as the border. But the more the colony developed into a modern state with a strong military organization, the more the whites tended towards a policy of land annexing and the subjugation of the black population.. Following more than 20 years of intermittent conflict, the Xhosas were forced east by British colonial forces in the Third Frontier War. This dislocated Xhosa clans and disrupted the traditional lineage-family homesteads and social system. The Xhosa were pressed into highland areas where the terrain offered some defence. In the 1830s and 1840s, after major battles, the British stripped the Xhosa chiefs of effective power. Certain areas were finally designated as semi-autonomous territories, while the British settlers took the prize areas.
Many Xhosa-speaking clans had also been pushed west by expansion of the Zulus, as the northern Nguni put pressure on the southern Nguni as part of the historical process known as the mfecane, or "scattering".
The Xhosa-speaking southern Nguni people had initially split into the Rharhabe(who had moved westwards across the Kei river).
In British South Africa, traditional areas of the Xhosa and other peoples were preserved as autonomous territories. These later became administrative districts of the Union of South Africa in 1910. The Union remained part of the British Empire and Commonwealth until after WW II.
In the election of 1948, the Afrikaner National socialist party won control, restoring Afrikaner control to South Africa for the first time since the annexation of the Boer Republics by 1879. The Afrikaner government withdrew South Africa from the Commonwealth and imposed the segregation policy called "apartheid" (apart-ness), which created separate regions that were described as Bantustans (homelands) for black people of African descent. Two regions—Transkei and Ciskei—were set aside for Xhosa people, and proclaimed independent. Thousands of people were forcibly relocated there and denied South African citizenship.
The Xhosa were active in the following decades in opposing this policy, while they were persecuted and separated from most civil and legal rights. Xhosa and other black African peoples did have access to some education and there was some economic freedom. There were Xhosa lawyers (like Nelson Mandela) and business people who worked within and outside the system (See Steve Biko) - to oppose apartheid until it was finally dismantled with the change to democracy in 1994. [COULD USE MORE DEVELOPMENT ON THE RISE OF THE BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS MOVEMENT & THE ANC - ANY HELP?]
AmaXhosa Clan Lineage Traditions
Major Xhosa-speaking nations or groups
(IT SEEMS TO ME THAT THESE 'TRIBES' ARE STILL NOT RIGHT, AS SOURCES CONFLICT. I WOULD WELCOME HELP FROM ANYONE WITH MORE EXPERTISE)
According to tradition, the leader from whom the Xhosa people take their name was the first King of the nation. Some writers say that 'Xhosa' and his brothers 'Zulu' and 'Swazi' were the sons of 'Mnguni'.
There is, however, every reason to believe that the word ‘Xhosa’ comes from the Khoi word ‘//kosa’ , meaning ‘angry men.’
Another tradition stresses the essential unity of the Xhosa-speaking people by proclaiming that all the Xhosa subgroups are descendants of one ancestor, Tshawe. Indeed, the earliest historical tradition to do with the Xhosa concerns the installation of the amaTshawe as the royal family of the Xhosa. [Peires p 18] See also Xhosa Royalty Project
The creation of the major political groupings of the southern Nguni area, the Xhosa, the Thembu,the Mpondo & the Mpondomise, resulted from the rise of particular descent groups, respectively, the Tshawe, Hala, Nyawazu & Majola to a position of dominance over their localities. The extension of their power was a slow process, beginning long before the more dramatic creation of the Zulu state in northern Nguniland, & continuing right up to the Colonial conquest. [Peires p23]
- The amaMpondo, amaMpondomise, amaXesibe and amaQwathi nations are related,
- but the amaQwathi settled in Thembuland more than 350 years ago and as a result Qwathi chiefdom is more Thembu in culture and political association.
- The Khoi living east of the Keiskamma in 1775 - the Gona, Dama & Hoengiqua - were absorbed into the Xhosa nation when they were displaced by them. [Peires p23-4]
AmaXhosa
(the kingdom is in dispute between amaGcaleka and amaRharhabe: One of Xhosa's descendents, Rharhabe, the warrior, a son from the Right Hand house, wanted Gcaleka's throne but was defeated and banished and settled in the Amathole Mountains.)
Maxhobayakhawuleza Sandile Aa! Zanesizwe is the King in the Great Place in Mngqesha. The Zwelonke Sigcawu was crowned King of the Xhosa on June 18, 2010.
AmaMpondo
Faku: Rulership and Colonialism in the Mpondo Kingdom (c. 1780-1867) By Timothy J. Stapleton
(their kingdom is in dispute, like that of the amaXhosa) The AmaMpondo have their separate lineage that is traceable from Sibiside to Dlemini to Njanya, to Mpondo and Mpondomise (twins) and Xesibe. The descendants of Mpondo are Santsabe, Sukude, Msiza, Ncindise, Cabe, Gangata, Bhala, Chithwayo, Khonjwayo, Ngcoya, Hlamandana, Tahle, Nyawuza and many others.
The story of how the Mpondo kingship transferred from Qiya to Gangata
Qiya, the Great House Son and heir to the Mponde king, Cabe, fell out with his younger brother, Gangata. In the fighting that ensued he was forced to retreat across the Mtata River. Qiya settled on the western bank, but his Great Wife refused to move to the new country with him. She was taken to wife by her husband’s rival, Gangata, and the son that she bore him was then acknowledged as the Great Son or heir, and so it came about that the kingship of the Mpondo passed from Qiya’s line to that of his younger brother. [Crampton, p 32]
Old map of the Eastern Cape, showing Mpondoland (highlightedBy Abu Shawka
AmaMpondomise
(their kingdom was destroyed by British colonists in revenge for the killing of magistrate Christopher Hope by Mhlontlo's forces during the Anti-Colonial Revolt of 1880. The revolt was led by Mhlonto of the amaMpondomise together with Gecelo of the amaGcina, Dalasile and Stokwe of the amaQwathi and Squngathi of the abaThembu). Known Kings: Mpondomise, Myeki (fl 1859; Mhlonto (fl 1880)
The story of how the Mpondomise were wiped out
On 23 Oct 1880, Paramount Chief of the Mpondomise, Mhlonto, lured Hamilton Hope, the third resident magistrate at Tsolo in the Eastern Cape, and his staff to Sulenkama where they were massacred, during a revolt against the British. Hope was lured to Sulenkama, Chief Mhlonto's capital, by promises that the Mpondomise would assist the British government defeat the Basotho during the Gun War of 1880-1881. In return, the British government would supply the Mpondomise with arms and ammunition. Chief Mhlonto asked Hope to address the assembled warriors before marching to battle. It was at this moment that the six men rushed to Hope and his two men and stabbed and killed them within a few minutes. The only life spared was that of a Davis, whose father and brother were missionaries among the Mpondomise. In retaliation the colonialists wiped out the Mpondomise clan altogether. SAHistory Online
AbaThembu
See abaThembu Descent Line Project Possible YDNA Haplogroup E1b1a (aka E-M2) - as this is Nelson Mandela's Y Haplogroup.
The Story of Ngangelizwe the abaThembu wife-beater & his father-in-law, Sarhili of the Gcaleka Xhosa, & how he came to cede his territory to the British
Sarhili’s daughter, Novili, was Ngangelizwe’s Great wife and his brutal behaviour towards her caused a war, after she had fled to her father covered in wounds. The incident was viewed as an insult to the Xhosa as a whole and Sarhili (King of the Gcaleka Xhosa) began preparing for war against the abaThembu. Ngangelizwe hurriedly approached the British for help, but they advised him to pay cattle as compensation. Sarhili was not satisfied and invaded Thembuland.
Ngangelizwe dressed his soldiers in western clothing, and, not to be outdone, so did Sarhili. (Despite having said previously “I can’t stand the smell of the dressed native’ – as he felt they seldom washed their clothes and became unbearably stinky.) Within 3 weeks every trading store in his territory was sold out!
Sarhili’s forces totally routed the Thembu, winning not only the style war but also the military one: ‘Babaleka barazuka imisintsila,’ the Xhosa said of their enemies: ‘They ran so hard they broke their coccyx.’ Ngangelizwe himself reportedly fled in the most undignified manner, tearing off his trousers so that he could run faster. He sought sanctuary at Clarkebury mission, where he hid out in the kitchen, and offered to cede his whole territory unconditionally to the British in exchange for their protection, but, at the vehement objection of his counsellors, settled for a truce instead. It was probably in remembrance of this affair that Sarhili named one of his sons, Bulukwe (‘Trousers’).
Ngangelizwe had married Novili in May 1866, a year after her father, Sarhili’s, return from exile in Bomvanaland, where he had fled following the cattle-killing. Ngangelizwe had been circumcised 3 years before, and had only recently become king. Unusual as it was to take a Great Wife so early, this may have been necessitated by the recent political hot potato of a failed marriage arrangement between Ngangelizwe and Emma, the daughter of Sandile. A Christian schooled in Cape Town, she expected the marriage to be monogamous – which Ngangelizwe’s people wouldn’t let him agree to, despite his protests.
On the surface, Ngangelizwe was a very attractive man – 6 feet tall, with a beautiful body, a smooth pleasant countenance, and a sweet, charming voice. Usually mild mannered, he was, however, subject to fits of ungovernable rage, linked to his alcoholism. He is said to have ordered regular killings, and is remembered as a man of ‘savage disposition’ – something his wives appear to have borne the brunt of.
In May 1875, he beat one so badly that she was forced to take refuge with her brother, Daliso, where she subsequently died of her wounds.
His assault in 1870 on his Great Wife, Novili, had left her with severe injuries; a British official who met her shortly afterwards said ‘pieces of bone were coming away through a wound in her injured leg.” But she was more concerned about her children than herself, ‘her greatest grief was that, according to the law she cannot see her children who are bound to reside with their father.’ Because of this, Novili returned to her despotic and violent husband. She had a total of 5 children with him, including Dalindyebo, who, as the eldest son of the Great Wife, was heir to the throne.
A few years after the assault that precipitated the war, Ngangelizwe caused another crisis by assaulting one of his concubines, Nongxokozela, who suffered serious injuries, and was killed, on his orders, a few days later. Unfortunately for him, she was a niece of Sarhili, and secret information about what had happened to her soon reached the Xhosa king. Another war seemed imminent; but the British came to his assistance again, and deployed a strong colonial police force to maintain the peace. Consequently Ngangelizwe reopened negotiations with them – and despite his counsellors’ objections – ceded his territory to them in Dec 1875. *Paraphrase of the longer and very recommended version by: Crampton, Hazel. ‘The Sunburnt Queen’. Johannesburg: Jacana. 2004. Print. p251-254
AmaBhaca
(descended from Madzikane, chief of the amaNgwane, killed during the invasion of Thembuland in 1828)
AmaMfengu (amaHlubi, amaBhele, amaZizi, amaNgwane, etc.)
AmaGqunukhwebe
AmaVundle
The “Iziduko” (clan) matters most to the Xhosa identity (even more than names and surnames), and are transferred from one to the other through oral tradition. Knowing your “Isiduko” is vital to the Xhosas and it is considered a shame and “Uburhanuka” (lack-of-identity) if one doesn’t know one's clan. This is considered so important that when two strangers meet for the first time, the first identity that gets shared is “Isiduko”. It is so important that two people with the same surname but different clan are considered total strangers but the same two people from the same clan but different surnames are regarded as close relatives. This forms the roots of "Ubuntu" (neighbouring) - a behaviour synonymous to this tribe as extending a helping hand to a complete stranger when in need. Ubuntu goes further than just helping one another - it is so deep that it even extends to looking after and reprimanding your neighbour's child when in the wrong.
One traditional ritual that is still regularly practiced is the manhood ritual, a secret rite that marks the transition from boyhood to manhood (Ulwaluko). After ritual circumcision, the initiates (abakhwetha) live in isolation for up to several weeks, often in the mountains. During the process of healing they smear white clay on their bodies and observe numerous taboos.
Girls are also initiated into womanhood (Intonjane). They too are secluded, though for a shorter period. Female initiates are not circumcised. Other rites include the seclusion of mothers for ten days after giving birth, and the burial of the afterbirth and umbilical cord near the village. This is reflected in the traditional greeting Inkaba yakho iphi?, literally "Where is Your Navel?" The answer "tells someone where you live, what your clan affiliation is, and what your social status is and contains a wealth of cultural information. Most importantly, it determines where you belong".
A clan comprised of a number of groups, each led by a chief, or Inkosi, who owed his position to his mother's status (the society, however, was a patriarchal one in which women weren't formally accorded political authority and were expected to leave their families to live with their husband's family.) The Xhosa are polygynous (though today only the wealthier men have more than one wife). Marriages are arranged by the families. The family of the boy approaches the family of the girl and begins "negotiations". The lobola, or bride price, must also be agreed upon. It is typically 10 cows or the equivalent in money. The bride is captured by the groom's family and taken to live with them. In secular settings, they are considered married. In Christian settings, they proceed to the church for a two day service in which one day is spent at the groom's village and the other at the bride's village. The migrant labor system has put great strains on the traditional family. Some men have established two distinct families, one at the place of work and the other at the rural home. With the end of apartheid, some of the families previously separated by the labour laws are beginning new lives in urban areas.
Xhosa clan names (iziduko) are family names which are considered more important than surnames. Much like the clan system of Scotland, each Xhosa person can trace their family history back to a specific male ancestor or stock. Mentioning the clan name of someone you wish to thank is the highest form of respect. Thus Nelson Mandela is called by his clan name ‘Madiba’ in SA.
When a woman marries she may take her husband's surname, but she always keeps her own clan name, adding the prefix Ma- to it. A man and a woman who have the same clan name may not marry, as they are considered to be related.
Children are usually named by their fathers or grandparents and all names have special meanings. When a woman marries, her mother-in-law gives her a new name. When children are old enough to attend school, they were often given an English name.
Names in Xhosa often express the values or opinions of the community. Common personal names include Thamsanqa (good fortune) and Nomsa (mother of kindness). Adults are often referred to by their isiduko (clan or lineage) names. In the case of women, clan names are preceded by a prefix meaning "mother of." A woman of the Thembu clan might be called MamThembu . Women are also named by reference to their children, real or intended; NoLindiwe is a polite name for Lindiwe's mother.
A few names of amaXhosa and related ethnic groups include:
- Bhayi (Khetshe, Mkhumbeni, Msuthu – they belong to the amaVundle people)
- Bhele (divides into several sub-clan groups: Dongo, Langa, etc.)
- Cethe (ooChizama)
- Cirha (ooNcibane)
- Deyi
- Debeza – OoDebeza, ngoJebe, Nonyanya, Nongoqo, Mbeka Ntshiyini Bathi uqumbile, Khonkcoshe Mbokodo engava mkwetsho (These are royalty in the Amampondomse group. Their main concentration is in the former Transkei, in Tsolo, Qumbu and Umthatha in the Eastern Cape.)
- Dlamini (or Zizi,Jama kaSjadu, the clan name of Thabo Mbeki, an Mfengu subgroup)
- Dlane
- Dlomo (different lines, Thembu or Hlubi subgroups)
- Dontsa- oNoDlidlu, oNoDlabathi, oSwahla, oMntungwa uNdukuMkhonto, uShembe, bath' uDontsa akananyongo kant' abay'bon' uba igqunywe ngesbhadlalala so mhlehlo... (Hlubi clan)
- Dosini
- Duma (Nxuba)
- Faku (Nyawuza, Thahla, Ndayeni, Mpondo, Hlamba ngobubend'amanz'ekhona)
- Gaba (Mngqosini, Mjobi, Thithiba, Cihoshe, Nozinga, Mnt'womlambo, Thikoloshe, Ndoko, Mbokodw'emnyama Kahili, Msuthu)
- Gadluma
- Ganu
- Gebe (a Bomvana clan name)
- Gqunu
- Gqwashu (with Khoi-khoi ancestry)
- Gxarha (Mpodomise subgroup clan name)
- Hegebe
- Jola SingaMampondomse ngohlanga, oJola, oomphankomo, nomakhala, njuza, sthukuthezi, sithandwa mhla kukubi, hoshode, hakaha, mfaz'omabele made oncancisa naphesha komlambo
- Jwarha (Mtika, Mazaleni, Jotela, Khatiti, Mnangwe, Mayarha, Mbelu, Ndabase, Bantw'abahle noba bapheth' izikhali,
- Khawuta
- Khiwa (Khonjwayo, a Pondo clan)
- Khumalo (Mfengu clan name)
- Khwetshube (Mpondo clan name)
- Kwayi (Ngconde, Togu, Ubulawi, Ngcond'oneentshaba, etc.)
- Madiba (the clan name of Nelson Mandela, a Thembu. Important rulers and chiefs include Mthikrakra, Ngangelizwe, Dalindyebo, Joyi, Jumba, Sabatha, Buyelekhaya)
- Maduna (Gubevu, Nokhala, an Mfengu clan name)
- Manci(Mbali, Wabane, Tshitshis'intaba, Mdludla ka Bekiso, Zinde Zinde Zinemiqala)
- Maya (omaya oyem yem osophitsho, omagwa, ongqolomsila, obhomoyi)
- Mahlangu
- Matshaya Mbathane
- Mbanjwa
- Mbatha
- Mbotho
- Mdlangathi: Mome mome Sirhama Somntwana, Juta
- Mfene (Olisa, Ojambasi)
- Mhaga
- Miya, Gcwanini
- Mjoli (Qubulashe, Wushe)
- Mkhwemte Dabane Sgadi Mekhi Ntswentswe Fulashe Nojaholo Ncibane Qhanqolo Ntlokwenyathi Ngququ venge
- Mpehle (Mpodomise subgroup clan name)
- Mpemvu (a Thembu clan name)
- Mpinga (Mawawa): the clan of Enoch Sontonga, author of "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika", part of Nationa Athem of Republic of South Africa.
- Mtakwenda (Leta, Libele, Tyebelendle, Ngcwadi, Kwangeshe, Mentuko, Mboyi, Solizembe)
- Mvulane (Ncilashe, Msuthu – they belong to the amaVundle people)
- Myirha Mzondi Sampu Ziyeka (Ithambo lenyoka lihlaba elimzondayo)
- Ncuthu
- Ndala (Ndala ka Momamana, uMncotshe, Msunu Sdumbu, Thole, Ngxunga Smukumuku, Ndithinina )
- Ndlovu Mntungwa Gengesi Malunga Mancoba (zidlekhaya ngokuswela umalusi)
- Ngcitshane
- Ngxongo
- Ngwanya
- Nkomo (Mntungwa, Khumalo – amaMfengu. They are originally Ndebele from Natal and arrived in as refugees in Thembuland in 1828 during the time of the Mfecane wars.)
- Nkwali (Mfengu/Hlubi clan name: bhukula, Mkhwanazi, Nkwali ye Nkosi)
- Nqarhwane
- Ntshilibe
- Nxasana
- Nxuba (Mduma, Rhudulu)
- Nyawuza (Faku, Mpondo ruling line, chiefs including Faku, Sigcau, Bokleni, Ndamase)
- Nzothwa
- Mqadi Ngqwili Nondlobe
- Qhinebe - Gqugqugqu, Zithonga-zthathu, Haha, Mlunjwa, Mkhomanzi, Duka namahlathi
- Qocwa (Zikhali Mazembe, Jojo, Tiyeka, Butsolo Beentonga Mbizana, Mabombo)
- Qoma
- Qithi (Ndinga, Zondwa, Thembu)
- Mqwambi, Holomi
- Qwathi - Iinkomo zikaXesibe, zikaJojo, zikaMtshutshumbe, ogqaz'indlel'ebhek'ebuNguni. (The amaQwathi are not a clan but an independent nation founded by Mtshutshumbe kaMthetho who split from the amaXesibe nation and settled in the Mqanduli area in Thembuland some 350 years ago. Later they settled in their present capital of Engcobo during the reign of King Dlomo of abaThembu, about 1680. This small but fiercely independent and anti-colonial nation divides into several clans: amaDikela, amaTshaba, ooSdindi, ooBhlangwe, ooBhose, amaNzolo, imiNcayi, amaNtondo, amaKhombayo, ooMkhondweni, amaVumbe, ooKhebesi, amaBangula, amaDumba, ooMhotho, ooCakeni, ooBhabha, amaMvala, amaDabisa, ooS'ximba, etc. Prominent chiefs include the heroic anti-colonial Stokwe ka-Ndlela, the courageous Dalasile kaFubu, the great Fubu himself (who fought and killed both Rharhabe and his son Mlawu in 1872, defended his capital and defeatedMadzikane of the Bhaca in 1824 and Matiwane of Ngwane in 1828 during the Mfecane wars triggered by Shaka, etc), Zwelakhe (present chief))
- Rhadebe ndlebentle'zombini (amaHlubi)
- Rhoyi
- Sithathu – means "third" (the third Khoi-khoi ancestry clan)[oChisana, Khopoyi, Ndebe, Hasa,Lawu]
- Sikhosana
- Skhoji (A group of Xhosa speaking people who mainly occupy the small town called Tsolo on the Tsitsa valley. They are the direct descendants of a Scottish man by the name of William Saunders who befriended a Xhosa girl and later had issue.)
- Shiya
- Sohobese
- Sonani
- Sukwini (with Khoi-khoi ancestry) – [Chwama, Dibashe ,Lawu'ndini, Nja-bomvu, Sandlala-ngca, Ithole loMthwakazi].
- Thangana (Krila, Rhaso, M'bamba, Bodlinja, Gobingca)
- Thole (Gqagqane, Buzini, Ndlangisa, Mzimshe, Lwandle)
- Tolo (amaMfengu – Dlangamandla, Mchenge, Mabhanekazi, Zulu, Mabele-made)
- Tshangisa (Zulu, Skhomo, Mhlatyana, Rhudulu, Nxuba, Mngwevu)
- Tshawe (the ruling house among all the Xhosa. Chiefs include Hintsa, Sigcawu, Sarhili, Xolilizwe, etc.)
- Tshezi (the ruling Bomvana clan of the Jalamba-Gambushe line, with European shipwreck ancestry)
- Tshomane (with shipwreck ancestry, split from the ruling Nyawuza clan of the Mpondo)
- Xesibe (AmaXesibe are a nation made up of several clans and tribes but their history is not well documented. Common clan names are: Nondzaba, Mbathane, Tshomela ka Matsho).
- Xhamela (They are also called amaGcina, found in Thembuland).
- Zangwa (Khwalo – amaMpondo).
Traditional Culture Veneration of the ancestors, sometimes called "ancestor worship," is very prominent among the Xhosa people. The ancestors are still considered part of the community of the lineage. They believe the ancestors reward those who venerate them and punish those who neglect them. Many mix ancestor worship with their Christian faith. There is a strong sense of loyalty among the tribe or community. The land was communally held; and great emphasis placed on giving according to need: everything was shared, in bad times as well as good; Xhosa families still routinely help one another with such tasks as hut-building.
The body of Xhosa lore has much in common with that of the other Nguni peoples such as the Zulu and Swazi. Animism, and recognition of the presence and power of ancestral spirits and of a supreme authority, are basic elements of belief. Misfortune and illness are attributed to unnatural of supernatural influences (such as the tokoloshe, a hairy and potentially malevolent goblin who attacks at night). Other figures are the huge lightning bird (Impundulu), and the gentle aBantu bomlambo, human-like beings believed to live in rivers and the sea, and who accept into their family those who drown.
The Xhosa also have amagqirha or diviners in their tribes. The diviner is the Xhosa's healer. There are herbalists amaxhwele, prophets izanusi, and healers inyanga for the community. The diviners are mostly women. They wear a shawl and headdress of fur most of the time. It takes about five years of being an assistant to a diviner until you become one yourself.
The key figure in the Xhosa oral tradition is the imbongi (plural: iimbongi) or praise singer. Iimbongi traditionally live close to the chief's "great place" (the cultural and political focus of his activity); they accompany the chief on important occasions - the imbongi Zolani Mkiva preceded Nelson Mandela at his Presidential inauguration in 1994. Iimbongis' poetry, called imibongo, praises the actions and adventures of chiefs and ancestors.[1] Xhosa traditional music places a strong emphasis on group singing and handclapping as accompaniment to dance. Drums, while used occasionally, were not as fundamental a part of musical expression as they were for many other African peoples. Other instruments used included rattles, whistles, flutes, mouth harps, and stringed-instruments constructed with a bow and resonator. There are songs for various ritual occasions; one of the best-known Xhosa songs is a wedding song called " http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfZA4TkjbtE Qongqongthwane", performed by Miriam Makeba as the "Click Song." Missionaries introduced the Xhosa to Western choral singing. ["http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFW7845XO3g Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika"], part of the National anthem of South Africa is a Xhosa hymn written in 1897 by Enoch Sontonga.
DNA
The first genetic analysis of schizophrenia in a black African population, which drew on DNA provided by South Africans of Xhosa descent, has found that people with the disorder are more likely to carry rare but damaging genetic mutations than those who are well.
Africans have the greatest genetic diversity because Africa is the ancestral home to all people.
References
- http://www.encounter.co.za/article/126.html
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xhosa_people
- http://orvillejenkins.com/profiles/xhosa.html
- http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Rwanda-to-Syria/Xhosa.html#b
- http://www.southafrica-travel.net/history/eh_xhosa.htm
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xhosa_clan_names
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Xhosa_people
- Peires, JB: ‘The House of Phalo’. 1981, Raven Press, Johannesburg, SA
- Crampton, Hazel. ‘The Sunburnt Queen’. Johannesburg: Jacana. 2004. Print.
- http://members.iinet.net.au/~royalty/states/misc/xhosa_tree.html
- http://members.iinet.net.au/~royalty/states/misc/thembu_tree.html
- https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/science-and-environment/...
- Faku: Rulership and Colonialism in the Mpondo Kingdom (c. 1780-1867) By Timothy J. Stapleton
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