Bantu peoples of South Africa
Encyclopedia
Black South Africa
ns were at times officially called "Bantu" by the apartheid regime
. The term Bantu is derived from the word for "people" common to many of the Bantu languages
. In South Africa Bantu is no longer in wide use as a description of black South African people. The Oxford Dictionary
of South African English
describes its use in a racial context as obsolescent and offensive because of its strong association with white minority rule and the apartheid system. However, "Bantu" is used without pejorative connotations in other parts of Africa.
was established as the capital of a trading empire. Around this time there is evidence of coastal trading with Arabs, with the South East Asian region, and even with China. As the southern groups of Bantu speakers migrated southwards two main groups emerged, the Nguni
(Xhosa, Zulu, Ndebele, Swazi), who occupied the eastern coastal plains, and the Sotho–Tswana who lived on the interior plateau. The two language groups have diverged and differ on certain key aspects (especially in the sound systems).
When the early Portuguese sailors (cf. Vasco Da Gama
and Bartholomew Dias) rounded the Cape of Good Hope
in the 15th century very few Bantu speakers were found there. The predominant indigenous population around the Cape was made up of Khoisan peoples. Following Jan van Riebeeck
's settlement at the Cape in 1652 European settlers — mostly Dutch, French Huguenot
s and German
s, known in the past as Boer
s (today referred to as Afrikaner
s) — began to occupy Southern Africa in increasing numbers. Around 1770 Boers migrating North encountered land permanently occupied by Bantu speakers (in particular around the Fish River) and frictions arose between the two groups. This began a pattern in which the new (white) settlers used superior force to subdue and/or displace the Bantu speakers they encountered, much as had been done with the aboriginal Khoisan peoples the Boers had previously encountered at the Cape.
From the late 18th and early 19th centuries, there were two major areas of frictional contact between the white settlers and the Bantu speakers in Southern Africa. Firstly, as the Boers moved North inland from the Cape they encountered the Xhosa, the Basotho, and the Tswana. Secondly attempts at large coastal settlements were made by the British in Xhosa territory (now the Eastern Cape), and in Zululand (now KwaZulu-Natal
).
At the time KwaZulu-Natal was populated by dozens of small Zulu-speaking clans. In 1816 Shaka
acceded to the Zulu throne (at that stage the Zulu were merely one of the many clans). Within a relatively short period of time he had conquered his neighboring clans and had forged the Zulu into the most important ally of the large Mthethwa
clan, which was in competition with the Ndwandwe
clan for domination of the northern part of modern day KwaZulu-Natal
. By many accounts Shaka used ruthless military force against his opponents, often adopting a scorched earth policy to destroy or displace civilian populations.
After the death of the Mthethwa king Dingiswayo
around 1818, at the hands of Zwide
, the king of the Ndwandwe, Shaka assumed leadership of the entire Mthethwa alliance. The alliance under his leadership survived Zwide's first assault at the Battle of Gqokli Hill
. Within two years he had defeated Zwide at the Battle of Mhlathuze River and broken up the Ndwandwe alliance, some of whom in turn began a murderous campaign against other Nguni communities, setting in motion what has come to be known as Mfecane
, a mass migration of communities fleeing the Zulu. By 1825 he had conquered a huge empire covering a vast area from the sea in the east to the Drakensberg mountains in the west, and from the Pongola River
in the north to the Bashee river in the south, not far from the modern day town of East London.
Shaka is well known for the many military, social, cultural and political reforms he used to create his highly organized and centralised Zulu state. The most important of these were the transformation of the army, thanks to innovative tactics and weapons he conceived, and a showdown with the spiritual leadership, limiting the power of traditional healers, and effectively ensuring the subservience of the Zulu church to the state. Whereas previous battles had been limited to relatively minor encounters, Shaka introduced the more deadly stabbing spear to replace the throwing spear, military encirclement to replace allowed retreat of the enemy, and the total destruction of lands to remove any means of sustenance for the enemy.
Shaka integrated defeated clans into the Zulu, on a basis of full equality, with promotions in the army and civil service being a matter of merit rather than circumstance of birth.
s, not around Nation
al federation
s, but independent groups from some hundreds to thousands of individuals.
The smallest unit of the political organisational structure was the household
, or Kraal
, consisting of a man, woman or women, and their children, as well as other relatives living in the same household. The man was the head of the household and often had many wives; and was the family's primary representative. The household and close relations generally played an important role. Households which lived in the same valley or on the same hill in a village were also an organisational unit, managed by a sub-chief.
Chiefdomship was largely hereditary, although chiefs were often replaced when not effective. With most clans the eldest son inherited the office of his father. With some clans the office was left to the oldest brother of the deceased chief, and after his death again the next oldest brother. This repeated until the last brother died. Next was the eldest son of the original chieftain; then the oldest one of the brothers as the leader. The chief was surrounded with a number of trusted friends or advisors, usually relatives like uncles and brothers, rather than influential Headmen or personal friends. The degree of the democracy
depended on the strength of the chieftain
. The more powerful and more influential a chieftain was, the lesser the influence of his people. Although the leader had much power, he was not above the law
. He could be criticized both by advisors as well as by his people, and compensation could be demanded.
, Sotho–Tswana, Vhavenda
and Shangana Tsonga, with the Nguni representing the largest group. These are divided as follows (this list is not exhaustive):
Common among the two powerful divisions of the Nguni and the Sotho–Tswana are patrilineal societies, with which the leaders formed the socio-political units. Similarly, food acquisition was by cultivation and hunting. The most important differences are the strongly deviating languages, although both are Southern Bantu languages
, and the different settlement types and relationships. With the Nguni settlements were villages widely scattered, whereas with the Sotho–Tswana settled in towns.
s. Borders were natural features such as rivers or mountains, which were not by any means fixed.
acquisition was primarily limited to agriculture and hunting
, where generally the women were responsible for agriculture and the men drew for the hunt. Except with the Tsonga
(and partially the Mpondo), fishing was surprisingly of little importance. The diet consisted of corn (introduced from South-East Asia), meat (mostly wild game and beef
), vegetables; and milk
, water
and grain beer (which contained very little alcohol
compared with European beer).
There were a number of taboo
s regarding the consumption of meat. No meat of dog
s, ape
s, crocodile
s and snake
s could be eaten. Likewise taboo was the meat of some bird
s, like owl
s, crow
s and vulture
s, as well as the flesh of certain totem
animals.
All Bantu speaking communities commonly had clear separation between the tasks of the women and those of the men.
use the Beehive house
, a circular structure out of long poles, which is covered with grass. The huts of the Sotho–Tswana, Venda
and Shangana Tsonga use the cone and cylinder house types. A cylindrical wall is formed out of vertical posts, which is sealed with mud and cow dung. The roof is built from tied-together poles. The floor of both types is compressed earth.
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
ns were at times officially called "Bantu" by the apartheid regime
Regime
The word regime refers to a set of conditions, most often of a political nature.-Politics:...
. The term Bantu is derived from the word for "people" common to many of the Bantu languages
Bantu languages
The Bantu languages constitute a traditional sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages. There are about 250 Bantu languages by the criterion of mutual intelligibility, though the distinction between language and dialect is often unclear, and Ethnologue counts 535 languages...
. In South Africa Bantu is no longer in wide use as a description of black South African people. The Oxford Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary
The Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press, is the self-styled premier dictionary of the English language. Two fully bound print editions of the OED have been published under its current name, in 1928 and 1989. The first edition was published in twelve volumes , and...
of South African English
South African English
The term South African English is applied to the first-language dialects of English spoken by South Africans, with the L1 English variety spoken by Zimbabweans, Zambians and Namibians, being recognised as offshoots.There is some social and regional variation within South African English...
describes its use in a racial context as obsolescent and offensive because of its strong association with white minority rule and the apartheid system. However, "Bantu" is used without pejorative connotations in other parts of Africa.
History
At some stage after the tertiary dispersal period a settlement at Great ZimbabweGreat Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe is a ruined city that was once the capital of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe, which existed from 1100 to 1450 C.E. during the country’s Late Iron Age. The monument, which first began to be constructed in the 11th century and which continued to be built until the 14th century, spanned an...
was established as the capital of a trading empire. Around this time there is evidence of coastal trading with Arabs, with the South East Asian region, and even with China. As the southern groups of Bantu speakers migrated southwards two main groups emerged, the Nguni
Nguni people
-History:The ancient history of the Nguni people is wrapped up in their oral history. According to legend they were a people who migrated from Egypt to the Great Lakes region of sub-equatorial Central/East Africa...
(Xhosa, Zulu, Ndebele, Swazi), who occupied the eastern coastal plains, and the Sotho–Tswana who lived on the interior plateau. The two language groups have diverged and differ on certain key aspects (especially in the sound systems).
When the early Portuguese sailors (cf. Vasco Da Gama
Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira was a Portuguese explorer, one of the most successful in the Age of Discovery and the commander of the first ships to sail directly from Europe to India...
and Bartholomew Dias) rounded the Cape of Good Hope
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...
in the 15th century very few Bantu speakers were found there. The predominant indigenous population around the Cape was made up of Khoisan peoples. Following Jan van Riebeeck
Jan van Riebeeck
Johan Anthoniszoon "Jan" van Riebeeck was a Dutch colonial administrator and founder of Cape Town.-Biography:...
's settlement at the Cape in 1652 European settlers — mostly Dutch, French Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
s and German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
s, known in the past as Boer
Boer
Boer is the Dutch and Afrikaans word for farmer, which came to denote the descendants of the Dutch-speaking settlers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 18th century, as well as those who left the Cape Colony during the 19th century to settle in the Orange Free State,...
s (today referred to as Afrikaner
Afrikaner
Afrikaners are an ethnic group in Southern Africa descended from almost equal numbers of Dutch, French and German settlers whose native tongue is Afrikaans: a Germanic language which derives primarily from 17th century Dutch, and a variety of other languages.-Related ethno-linguistic groups:The...
s) — began to occupy Southern Africa in increasing numbers. Around 1770 Boers migrating North encountered land permanently occupied by Bantu speakers (in particular around the Fish River) and frictions arose between the two groups. This began a pattern in which the new (white) settlers used superior force to subdue and/or displace the Bantu speakers they encountered, much as had been done with the aboriginal Khoisan peoples the Boers had previously encountered at the Cape.
From the late 18th and early 19th centuries, there were two major areas of frictional contact between the white settlers and the Bantu speakers in Southern Africa. Firstly, as the Boers moved North inland from the Cape they encountered the Xhosa, the Basotho, and the Tswana. Secondly attempts at large coastal settlements were made by the British in Xhosa territory (now the Eastern Cape), and in Zululand (now KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal is a province of South Africa. Prior to 1994, the territory now known as KwaZulu-Natal was made up of the province of Natal and the homeland of KwaZulu....
).
At the time KwaZulu-Natal was populated by dozens of small Zulu-speaking clans. In 1816 Shaka
Shaka
Shaka kaSenzangakhona , also known as Shaka Zulu , was the most influential leader of the Zulu Kingdom....
acceded to the Zulu throne (at that stage the Zulu were merely one of the many clans). Within a relatively short period of time he had conquered his neighboring clans and had forged the Zulu into the most important ally of the large Mthethwa
Mthethwa
Mthethwa could refer to the:* Mtetwa Paramountcy* Nathi Mthethwa, South African minister of police from 2008...
clan, which was in competition with the Ndwandwe
Ndwandwe
The Ndwandwe clan are a subgroup of the Nguni people who populate sections of Southern Africa.The Ndwandwe, with the Mthethwa, were a significant power in present-day Zululand at the turn of the nineteenth century...
clan for domination of the northern part of modern day KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal is a province of South Africa. Prior to 1994, the territory now known as KwaZulu-Natal was made up of the province of Natal and the homeland of KwaZulu....
. By many accounts Shaka used ruthless military force against his opponents, often adopting a scorched earth policy to destroy or displace civilian populations.
After the death of the Mthethwa king Dingiswayo
Dingiswayo
Dingiswayo was a Mtetwa chief, best known for his mentorship over a young Zulu general, Shaka Zulu, who rose to become the greatest of the Zulu kings.He was born Godongwana, son of Mthethwa chief Jobe...
around 1818, at the hands of Zwide
Zwide
Zwide kaLanga was the chief of the Ndwandwe clan from about 1805 to around 1820. He was the son of Langa KaXaba, a Ndwandwe Chieftain. Legend has it that Zwide's mother, Queen Ntombazi was a sangoma.- Political life :...
, the king of the Ndwandwe, Shaka assumed leadership of the entire Mthethwa alliance. The alliance under his leadership survived Zwide's first assault at the Battle of Gqokli Hill
Battle of Gqokli Hill
The Battle of Gqokli Hill was conducted in 1818, a part of the Zulu Civil War, between Shaka of the Zulu nation and Zwide of the Ndwandwe, in Shaka's territory just south of present-day Ulundi....
. Within two years he had defeated Zwide at the Battle of Mhlathuze River and broken up the Ndwandwe alliance, some of whom in turn began a murderous campaign against other Nguni communities, setting in motion what has come to be known as Mfecane
Mfecane
Mfecane , also known by the Sesotho name Difaqane or Lifaqane, was a period of widespread chaos and warfare among indigenous tribes in southern Africa during the period between 1815 to about 1840....
, a mass migration of communities fleeing the Zulu. By 1825 he had conquered a huge empire covering a vast area from the sea in the east to the Drakensberg mountains in the west, and from the Pongola River
Pongola River
The Pongola River is a river in South Africa. It is a tributary of the Maputo River. It rises near Utrecht in northern KwaZulu-Natal, flows east through Pongola, is dammed at Jozini, and crosses the Ubombo Mountains; then it flows north towards Mozambique, joining the Maputo River....
in the north to the Bashee river in the south, not far from the modern day town of East London.
Shaka is well known for the many military, social, cultural and political reforms he used to create his highly organized and centralised Zulu state. The most important of these were the transformation of the army, thanks to innovative tactics and weapons he conceived, and a showdown with the spiritual leadership, limiting the power of traditional healers, and effectively ensuring the subservience of the Zulu church to the state. Whereas previous battles had been limited to relatively minor encounters, Shaka introduced the more deadly stabbing spear to replace the throwing spear, military encirclement to replace allowed retreat of the enemy, and the total destruction of lands to remove any means of sustenance for the enemy.
Shaka integrated defeated clans into the Zulu, on a basis of full equality, with promotions in the army and civil service being a matter of merit rather than circumstance of birth.
Social organization
Until very recently, Bantu speaking communities were often divided into different clanClan
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clan members may be organized around a founding member or apical ancestor. The kinship-based bonds may be symbolical, whereby the clan shares a "stipulated" common ancestor that is a...
s, not around Nation
Nation
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...
al federation
Federation
A federation , also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government...
s, but independent groups from some hundreds to thousands of individuals.
The smallest unit of the political organisational structure was the household
Household
The household is "the basic residential unit in which economic production, consumption, inheritance, child rearing, and shelter are organized and carried out"; [the household] "may or may not be synonymous with family"....
, or Kraal
Kraal
Kraal is an Afrikaans and Dutch word for an enclosure for cattle or other livestock, located within an African settlement or village surrounded by a palisade, mud wall, or other fencing, roughly circular in form.In the Dutch language a kraal is a term derived from the Portuguese word , cognate...
, consisting of a man, woman or women, and their children, as well as other relatives living in the same household. The man was the head of the household and often had many wives; and was the family's primary representative. The household and close relations generally played an important role. Households which lived in the same valley or on the same hill in a village were also an organisational unit, managed by a sub-chief.
Chiefdomship was largely hereditary, although chiefs were often replaced when not effective. With most clans the eldest son inherited the office of his father. With some clans the office was left to the oldest brother of the deceased chief, and after his death again the next oldest brother. This repeated until the last brother died. Next was the eldest son of the original chieftain; then the oldest one of the brothers as the leader. The chief was surrounded with a number of trusted friends or advisors, usually relatives like uncles and brothers, rather than influential Headmen or personal friends. The degree of the democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
depended on the strength of the chieftain
Chieftain
Chieftain may refer to:The leader or head of a group:* a tribal chief or a village head.* a member of the 'House of chiefs'.* a captain, to which 'chieftain' is etymologically related.* Clan chief, the head of a Scottish clan....
. The more powerful and more influential a chieftain was, the lesser the influence of his people. Although the leader had much power, he was not above the law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
. He could be criticized both by advisors as well as by his people, and compensation could be demanded.
Ethnic partitioning
South Africa's Bantu speaking communities are roughly "divided" into four main groups: NguniNguni people
-History:The ancient history of the Nguni people is wrapped up in their oral history. According to legend they were a people who migrated from Egypt to the Great Lakes region of sub-equatorial Central/East Africa...
, Sotho–Tswana, Vhavenda
Venda
Venda was a bantustan in northern South Africa, now part of Limpopo province. It was founded as a homeland for the Venda people, speakers of the Venda language. It bordered modern Zimbabwe and South Africa, and is now part of Limpopo in South Africa....
and Shangana Tsonga, with the Nguni representing the largest group. These are divided as follows (this list is not exhaustive):
- NguniNguni people-History:The ancient history of the Nguni people is wrapped up in their oral history. According to legend they were a people who migrated from Egypt to the Great Lakes region of sub-equatorial Central/East Africa...
- Northern Nguni
- Swati
- Zulu
- Ndebele
- NgoniNgoni peopleThe Ngoni people are an ethnic group living in Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia, in east-central Africa. The Ngoni trace their origins to the Zulu people of kwaZulu-Natal in South Africa...
(in Northern Zimbabwe)
- Southern Nguni
- Mfengu
- Mpondo
- Mpondomise
- Thembu
- Xhosa
- Northern Nguni
- Shangane Tsonga
- Sotho–Tswana
- BasothoBasothoThe ancestors of the Sotho people have lived in southern Africa since around the fifth century. The Sotho nation emerged from the accomplished diplomacy of Moshoeshoe I who gathered together disparate clans of Sotho–Tswana origin that had dispersed across southern Africa in the early 19th century...
- LoziLoziLozi may refer to:*The Lozi language*The Lozi people*Lozi in South West Africa...
- Northern Sotho
- BalobeduBalobeduBalobedu is an African tribe of the Northern Sotho group. They have their own kingdom, the Balobedu Kingdom, within the Limpopo Province of South Africa with a female ruler, the Rain Queen Modjadji. Their language is known as Selobedu, which is a "non-Pedi" dialect of Northern Sotho...
- Bapedi
- Balobedu
- Batswana
- Basotho
- VhavendaVendaVenda was a bantustan in northern South Africa, now part of Limpopo province. It was founded as a homeland for the Venda people, speakers of the Venda language. It bordered modern Zimbabwe and South Africa, and is now part of Limpopo in South Africa....
- VhalembaLembaThe Lemba or 'wa-Remba' are a southern African ethnic group to be found in Zimbabwe and South Africa with some little known branches in Mozambique and Malawi. According to Parfitt they are thought to number 70,000...
- (speaking Tshivenda)
Common among the two powerful divisions of the Nguni and the Sotho–Tswana are patrilineal societies, with which the leaders formed the socio-political units. Similarly, food acquisition was by cultivation and hunting. The most important differences are the strongly deviating languages, although both are Southern Bantu languages
Bantu languages
The Bantu languages constitute a traditional sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages. There are about 250 Bantu languages by the criterion of mutual intelligibility, though the distinction between language and dialect is often unclear, and Ethnologue counts 535 languages...
, and the different settlement types and relationships. With the Nguni settlements were villages widely scattered, whereas with the Sotho–Tswana settled in towns.
Culture
Traditionally, Bantu speakers were not territorially minded like the Europeans, but rather group-related. As long as sufficient land was available, they had only very vague conceptions of borderBorder
Borders define geographic boundaries of political entities or legal jurisdictions, such as governments, sovereign states, federated states and other subnational entities. Some borders—such as a state's internal administrative borders, or inter-state borders within the Schengen Area—are open and...
s. Borders were natural features such as rivers or mountains, which were not by any means fixed.
Food acquisition
Their foodFood
Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
acquisition was primarily limited to agriculture and hunting
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
, where generally the women were responsible for agriculture and the men drew for the hunt. Except with the Tsonga
Shangaan
The Tsonga people inhabit the southern coastal plain of Mozambique, parts of Zimbabwe and Swaziland, and the Limpopo Province of South Africa...
(and partially the Mpondo), fishing was surprisingly of little importance. The diet consisted of corn (introduced from South-East Asia), meat (mostly wild game and beef
Beef
Beef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle. Beef can be harvested from cows, bulls, heifers or steers. It is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of the Middle East , Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Europe and the United States, and is also important in...
), vegetables; and milk
Milk
Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...
, water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
and grain beer (which contained very little alcohol
Ethanol
Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs. Best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, it is also used in thermometers, as a...
compared with European beer).
There were a number of taboo
Taboo
A taboo is a strong social prohibition relating to any area of human activity or social custom that is sacred and or forbidden based on moral judgment, religious beliefs and or scientific consensus. Breaking the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society...
s regarding the consumption of meat. No meat of dog
Dog
The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
s, ape
Ape
Apes are Old World anthropoid mammals, more specifically a clade of tailless catarrhine primates, belonging to the biological superfamily Hominoidea. The apes are native to Africa and South-east Asia, although in relatively recent times humans have spread all over the world...
s, crocodile
Crocodile
A crocodile is any species belonging to the family Crocodylidae . The term can also be used more loosely to include all extant members of the order Crocodilia: i.e...
s and snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
s could be eaten. Likewise taboo was the meat of some bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s, like owl
Owl
Owls are a group of birds that belong to the order Strigiformes, constituting 200 bird of prey species. Most are solitary and nocturnal, with some exceptions . Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish...
s, crow
Crow
Crows form the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae. Ranging in size from the relatively small pigeon-size jackdaws to the Common Raven of the Holarctic region and Thick-billed Raven of the highlands of Ethiopia, the 40 or so members of this genus occur on all temperate continents and several...
s and vulture
Vulture
Vulture is the name given to two groups of convergently evolved scavenging birds, the New World Vultures including the well-known Californian and Andean Condors, and the Old World Vultures including the birds which are seen scavenging on carcasses of dead animals on African plains...
s, as well as the flesh of certain totem
Totem
A totem is a stipulated ancestor of a group of people, such as a family, clan, group, lineage, or tribe.Totems support larger groups than the individual person. In kinship and descent, if the apical ancestor of a clan is nonhuman, it is called a totem...
animals.
All Bantu speaking communities commonly had clear separation between the tasks of the women and those of the men.
House types
Traditionally, communities live in two different types of houses. The NguniNguni people
-History:The ancient history of the Nguni people is wrapped up in their oral history. According to legend they were a people who migrated from Egypt to the Great Lakes region of sub-equatorial Central/East Africa...
use the Beehive house
Beehive house
A beehive house is a building made from a circle of stones topped with a domed roof. The name comes from the similarity in shape to a straw beehive.The ancient Bantu used this type of house, which was made with mud, poles, and cow dung....
, a circular structure out of long poles, which is covered with grass. The huts of the Sotho–Tswana, Venda
Venda
Venda was a bantustan in northern South Africa, now part of Limpopo province. It was founded as a homeland for the Venda people, speakers of the Venda language. It bordered modern Zimbabwe and South Africa, and is now part of Limpopo in South Africa....
and Shangana Tsonga use the cone and cylinder house types. A cylindrical wall is formed out of vertical posts, which is sealed with mud and cow dung. The roof is built from tied-together poles. The floor of both types is compressed earth.
Literature
- Guthrie, M. 1967. Comparative Bantu. Farnborough: Gregg International Publishers Ltd. Vols. 1-4.