We found a
book about African folklore in the Barn, one day that we were crazy looking for
the charger for the spotlight that we use in leopard trapping. Here is the
fragment in which the origin of Venda people, according to their
tradition is explained. By the way, the Vendas are the dominant group around here
(apart from the immigrants from Zimbabwe), that is why:
<<Kale, kale –long, long ago- before
there were Venda people in the world, there was a large snake called Tharu
(Python) living on the mountain slopes pf the present land of the Vedas. That
which came about happened during a year of prolonged drought, It was then that
Tharu divided humself into two parts- Thoho, the Head, and Tshamutshila, the
Tail. When Tharu had so divided himself, each part became a snake. They lived
on, until one day Thoho said to Tshamutshila: “The drough has brought great
famine everywhere. I fear that we shall die of hunger unless we do something to
avoid starvation. Therefore, let us separate. You go westward in search of
food, and I shall search in the east.”
Then Tshamutshila went westward searching, into
the land that is now the country of the Vendas. When he arrived in
that place he became a human being. He gathered herds of cattle, he married
many wives (Let me
just say that religions and traditions seem to be in agreement that women have
a different origin than men…¬¬’ anda que…) bore
Tshamutshila numerous children. These numerous children married and begot more
children, and in time all these people became a tribe. Tshamutshila became
their chief, and he was called by the name Ramabulana. He built Musanda,
meaning Great Place, and from there he ruled.
The land of the Venda people was fertile
and full of rivers and springs, and rain was plentiful. The people grew maize,
millet, squash, pumpkins, peanuts, sweet potatoes, cassava, beans, sweet cane
and many other kinds of crops. They had cattle, sheep, goats, fowls, dogs and
cats. Food was plentiful and the people were prosperous. Tshamutshila, or
Ramabulana as he was known, became a chief whose name was in far-off lands.
Now, Thoho went east to a place in what is now Mozambique, and there he founded the Ronga people. In time he also turned human,
and he came to be known by the name Nyamusoro. But the lands he rued were lands
of drought and famine. The soil was not fertile, there were not many rivers and
little rain fell. In order to procure food for himself, Nyamusoro became a
wandering singer and entertainer. He travelled from one village to another,
from one country to another and from one Great Place (dweling of a chief) to another. He sang and danced in return for food
to eat and beer to drink. And he arrived one day at the Great Place of Ramabulana, he who
founded rhe Venda nation. He danced and sang at the outer gate of the Great Place, and the people
gathered until there was a great crowd. His dancing stirred up a cloud of dust
that rose into the sky and hung there over the town.
Many people went to Ramabulana to urge him to
come and see the dancing, but he refused. Knowing thet he and Nyamusoro were
parts of Tharu, The Python, he feared that the two parts would again be joined.
So he would not listen to those who urged him to come to the town gate. But
Ramabulana’s wives implored him even more strongly than others. They sang:
“Go out of your house, O Vhamusanda,
For Nyamusoro’s singing and dancingm O
Vhamusanda.
It is a spectacle too great to be missed by any
living person,
A sight never before seem or heard,
Come out and go to the gate, O Vhamusanda!”
Importuned this way, at last Ramabulana could
not resist. He agreed to go to the gate to hear Nyamusoro sing and see him
dance, He arose. He went to the gate where the great crowd was watching, and
where the dust was still rising from the groud into the air. He went forward,
till he and Nyamusoro saw each other. And instantly they came together, the two
parts of Tharu, and they joined and became Tharu the Phyton again. And even as
the Venda people watched, Tharu coiled and uncoiled and then made his way out of
the town into the forest.
Thus Great Place of Ramabulana was a Great Place without a chief.
Ramabulana`s sons grew up, they married and had children; but they quarrelled
among themselves and could not agree on anything. So they parted, each of the
sons taking his family and his followers. Each chose a different direction.
Werever one of the, settled with his people he became a chief. Thus Venda people spread across
the country, all of the progeny of Ramabulana, who began as a part of Tharu,
and who returned to Tharu.
(From “A
Treasury of African Folklore- Harold Courlander”)
I had a break in Spain preparing PhD applications and proposals and arranging everything to get here. After others 5 months, I’m getting everything ready for my first lonely travel in Africa while waiting to know if I get an amazing job I applied for or not. Guess this has being a really amazing year; but I have the feeling that the next quarter of century is going to be unbelievable
