They come out in large numbers at festivals where they are mostly fluent in Chingoni chants and songs. Professor of linguistics at Chancellor College of the University of Malawi, Pascal Kishindo, says Chingoni is a dead language. He told me he had sent his daughter to the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) because he wanted her to learn more about her Zulu heritage because this is where Ndebele people originated from. After a time two colleagues were sent to my district, I was called upon to help them to acquire the speech of the Ngoni. It need only be further said that the Ngoni is practically a dialect of Zulu, the variations being produced by contact with tribes speaking other languages, and by a recurrence to simpler and possibly more primitive forms. It is being supplanted by Tumbuka, the language of the tribe of that name, a greater part of whom are living as slaves of the Ngoni.
Two important proponents of Manding are Salif Keita and the Railband du Bamako. Masaai: The maasai are probably most popular ethnic group in East Africa. Today it is a spoken language and ethnic group in the East African countries of Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia. Some of these belonged to Ngwana Maseko, Nxaba Maseko and Gama some of whom were located east of Lake Malawi. One of them was Mukasa who entered E. Africa in the region between L. Albert and lake Edward. From Tanzania, other members moved northwards, towards Mt. Kilimanjaro and entered Kenya between Mt. Kilimanjaro and coast most of these people settled around the Kenya highlands, this group was led by Ngugi. The migrations of the Meru and related groups probably began at the Coast. After dropping off the chief I spent some time with the young men in the area, who offered me a sip of their beer, a gesture I accepted even though I don’t drink beer. Rarely in Mzimba now you hear people speaking the Ngoni language, no one is eager to taking action passing on the language to the young generation,” said Chirando. Just when the Ngoni were across the river there appeared on the scene the Swazi under Queen Nyamazana Nkosi of the Dlamini clan. There they fought the people of Chief Kalindawalo who used bows and arrows. This was a revelation to me and I was excited because I had found people in Zambia that I identified as my people and they had accepted me as theirs. I also found it ironic that his surname is Sithole, a very Zulu surname. His Royal Highness King of the Zulu Shaka with his impis (soldiers) was in pursuit. Nc’wala is a royal dance. It comes in different forms, including language and dance. Culture is almost indistinguishable from the language that makes possible its genesis.” Thole also argues that Ngoni is a culture replete with a language as its core component. As Ngugiwa Thion’go, a Kenyan literary writer notes: Language and culture is the collective memory bank of a people’s experience in history. Language use and language choice operate in this space. The analysis presented in this article does not set out to quantitatively predict or calculate the probability for the Ngoni language to sustain the pressure which the national language Swahili represents. The more practical account says the Ngoni were supplied with canoes by one Kanyimbwi. The festival is characterized by eating and dances as one way of celebrating the lives of their ancestral fathers and the victory that they acquired. The Zulu also sing in this way about their king. King Zwide got the better of King Dingiswayo and had him killed. King Zwide’s rising nation state was poised against that of King Dingiswayo Mthethwa the son of Jobe. They introduced centralized administration: They introduced a centralized system of government whereby the king acted as the overall ruler, under whom were the other chiefs, down to the lay person. Prince Mzilikazi then crossed over to serve under King Tshaka. People think that when we are promoting our culture then we have nothing to do. Chisale further said the schools are free and they operate on Saturdays and during holidays to allow people who are interested but have tight schedules to attend. The Ngoni people celebrate Nc’wala, as do the Swazis. This is one of the most interesting festivals that one can’t afford to miss if willing to learn more about the culture of the Ngoni of Mzimba. Later, I chatted to one of the Ngoni chiefs when I gave him a lift back to his house. All this, he says, was an attempt to bring back their cultural identity. The Bantu migrated in order to export their iron-working culture. In order to better understand Mphezeni and his contending brothers we need some historical background to explain the critical events. Initially, they settled down at Chibandakazi and later at Mkoko. Introduction of new crops e.g. yams, bananas: the Bantu introduced and increased the knowledge of food and extensive crop cultivation. Internal conflicts from the Bantu tribes: they migrated due to internal misunderstandings/conflicts between the different clans. Others who have come from more distant countries such as Somalia and India. I later went to Bulawayo in Zimbabwe where I met an Ndebele man who couldn’t contain his joy at meeting a Zulu in his environment. Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. The ultimate aim is to establish whether or not they identify with their cultural origin or the Tanzanian state which increasingly penetrate their lifestyle and world in late modernity.
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