South
Africa is unique in its mixture of languages, beliefs, races, colours,
creeds, traditions, the old and the new, the modern and the historic - and
just about everything else! And it is this mixture that makes it such a
wonderful country. The people
who have had possibly the most exotic impact on the country are the Zulu.
Their history is inseparably entwined with the history of the country.
Traditions: The Zulu are a warrior nation and military might and physical courage are
celebrated in all aspects of the Zulu culture. These ideals are central to
the oral traditions and ceremonies that keep the Zulu culture alive to
this day.Traditionally young boys learned the
art of stick fighting from an early age. Stick fighting is a unique form of martial art and requires great skill
and discipline. Fighters carry a small oxhide shield in the left hand and
a metre-long stick in the other hand. The stick
is used primarily to strike at the opponent’s head. Strength and agility
are important in winning a tournament or fight.
Dance and Music:
Social gatherings present dancers of the various clans with the opportunity of
displaying their skills and fitness while the onlookers accompany them by
playing drums, singing, whistling and ululating.
Dancing, making music and drinking traditional beer all form part of all Zulu
ceremonies, such as the celebration of the coming of age of a boy or a girl, a
marriage or a funeral. Men and boys usually perform separately from the women.
The dances of the men may reflect stylised battle movements or describe the
whipped up energy before the hunt. Women’s dances are more likely to portray a
humorous story.Historical Background: The eastern portion of
Southern Africa, the area known as KwaZulu-Natal, was
settled at the beginning of the 17th century by the clans who would collectively
become known as the Nguni people and, individually, as the Zulu, Xhosa, Pondo
and Swazi people.
The
land they came to was a land of “milk and honey”, a fertile land with numerous rivers and
streams. Their banks were covered with fig trees so huge and dense that their boughs
touched overhead.
Every spring this lovely place erupted into colour as the extravagantly
beautiful Erythrina caffra trees started showing off their crimson flowers. Vast
numbers of antelope and other game roamed the green hills and valleys, each
having a special name - the Lion was iNgonyama (a wild beast of prey), the
Elephant was iNdlovu (the trampler) and the Giraffe was called iNdlulamithi
(taller than the trees). This then was the birthplace of the mighty Zulu nation.
According to tradition, a man named Nguni led the first migrants who settled in
KwaZulu-Natal.
Many years later, King Shaka turned the Zulus into a mighty warrior
nation. Because of his extraordinary military and strategic finesse, Shaka succeeded in building a mighty Zulu nation - to
this day the largest ethnic group in South Africa.
Shaka revolutionised contemporary Black warfare by introducing the short
stabbing spear to enforce fighting at close combat. This method proved to be so
effective that the Zulus were still using it 60 years later in the war against
the British.
Zulu shields made from oxhide were used both as a protection and as a method
of concealing the weapons the warrior was carrying.
Shaka was assassinated in
1828 by his brother Dingaan, but not before he had united all the tribes in the
area, known today as Kwazulu-Natal.
It was
Shaka's brother Dingaan whom the White migrants, the Voortrekkers,
encountered when they crossed the Tugela River. In December 1838, on the banks of a tributary of the Buffalo River,
the two groups faced one another in battle after Dingaan had ambushed and killed
the Voortrekker leader, Piet Retief, and his men. Following the Zulu army’s
defeat at the hands of the Voortrekkers, the river was known as Blood River.
The Zulus paid dearly for
their defeat, they lost not only the battle but also the traditional home
of their fathers. However, under the
subsequent leadership of Cetshwayo, the fame of the Zulu nation grew and forty
years later they regained their pride when they defeated the British in the
Battle of Isandhlwana during the Anglo-Zulu War. The battle was savage and at the end of the day, 58 British officers, 806
British soldiers and 470 African allies, as well as 1 000 Zulus, lay dead or
dying. The Zulus’ pride was restored but they, and later the Voortrekkers too,
would eventually have to bend the knee to Britain.
The British finally defeated the Zulus at Ulundi in July 1879. They partitioned
the Zulu kingdom into thirteen independent chiefdoms, without a monarchy to
unite them. The area known as Zululand was eventually annexed by Britain in 1843
and ten years later it became part of the Colony of Natal.
Courtship and Marriage: The process of courtship and marriage was conducted according to strict rules
and protocol. As each clan was regarded as one family, members of the same clan
were not allowed to marry. A young man was only allowed to woo a girl if
she was considered to be mature enough and if her peer group considered him to
be a good proposition. The man was then allowed to
make a series of indirect approaches, often through his sisters.
After an initial period of playing “hard to get”, the girl was
allowed to indicate her acceptance by sending the man a gift of betrothal beads.
Once her family had indicated their acceptance and approval, the young man set
up a white flag outside his hut, indicating his plan to marry soon.
In the interests of diplomacy, close relatives of the two families undertook the
negotiations for the bride price (lobola). Polygamous marriages were common and
a man could take as many wives as he could afford. He had to pay a dowry in the
form of cattle for each wife he took. Today, money is often used instead of
cattle. The first wife was considered the senior wife and each subsequent bride
had to know her place in the hierarchy and had to take care not to outshine her
elders.
Belief System: The Zulu’s traditional religion was centred on ancestor worship. According to
Zulu religion, the spirits of the ancestors (called Amadlozi) guided their daily
lives and sacrifices were therefore made to appease these spirits. They believed
that the ancestors could only be seen in dreams and that soothsayers (called
sangomas) were the only ones who had the power to communicate with them.
Gender roles: Young boys herd cattle and goats and their elder brothers assist in milking the
cows. Girls clean the huts, collect water and firewood and help in the fields.
In the absence of schools, children learn about their past history and customs
by word of mouth, through story-telling.
Art and Crafts: Ceremonial dress was usually an elaborate combination of exquisite beadwork and
skins, pelts, plumes and feathers. Men often
carried a ceremonial shield and wore an otter skin headband, to indicate their
regiment. Weapons are an integral part of the Zulu tradition and to
this day, men still carry different sized wooden staffs and clubs as part of
their traditional attire.
The choice of animal skin was also indicative of the status of the wearer. For
example, only members of the Royal House were allowed to wear leopard skin and
any leopard killed automatically became the property of the chief.
Small knives and choppers were used to make bowls, platters, combs, spoons,
ceremonial sticks, spear handles and the headrests they used instead of pillows
to protect their elaborate headdresses while they slept. Today, Zulu animal
carvings and masks are popular items in the tourist trade. Zulu women are expert
grass weavers and make a variety of mats and baskets.
Pottery is also a well-developed skill among the Zulu people. Colourful clay
pots are left in the sun, fired by burying them in hot ashes. The
art of Zulu beadwork dates back centuries. The beadwork expresses messages in
symbolic language, such as coded love messages, the wearer’s age or status or
his or her home area. The beadwork is a prime example of the artist’s superb use
of colour and innovative design. Like all the people of Africa, Zulus love to
dance and sing. |
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