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Living with a Tyrant: Ndau Memories and Identities in the Shadow of Ngungunyana Author(s): Elizabeth MacGonagle Source: The International Journal of African Historical Studies, Vol. 41, No. 1 (2008), pp. 2953 Published by: Boston University African Studies Center Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40282455 . Accessed: 02/08/2013 09:29
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international Journalof African HistoricalStudies Vol. 41 , No. 1 (2008)

29

Livingwitha Tyrant:Ndau Memories and Identities in the Shadow of Ngungunyana* By ElizabethMacGonagle

was a problem. . . Ngungunyana Weare called Ngungunyana 's people yetwe are Ndau. We werechangedintoChangana (Shangani)} - JonaMwaoneniMakuyana

herewerecalled Machangana (Shangani), People whowerestaying ... butthey wereNdau. Theirleader was Ngungunyana Weare called Ndau, butwe are Shangani? - John Kunjenjema

Whenspeaking about Ndau in central history longago (karehare),many Mozambiqueand easternZimbabwerecall a past markedby a shifting of politicaland culturalterrain in thenineteenth This turbulent invasion anddomination known century. by many period, of severalnorthern as a timeof terror, Nguni peoples,most began withthe migrations in the 1830s and returned who first in theNdau heartland theGaza Nguni, settled notably from to Most of the in thiscorner laterforan extended 1862 1889. occupation population and the Mozambicancoast of southeast Africa(between Zimbabwe'seastern highlands and came to be known as Ndau partly in response to the submitted to Gaza Ngunioverrule This conquestby theGaza Nguniin the nineteenth of theseoutsiders. century presence a their and assume sense of Ndauness with a actedas a foilfor theNdau torecreate identity In that reverberated into the twentieth the shadow of the salience Gaza century. powerful in shaping bothwomenandmenwereactively involved Ndau NgunileaderNgungunyana, and of them meaning. landscapes memory giving
and theanonymous readersoilJAHS Foley,Megan Greene,Leslie Tuttle, comments on thisessay. fortheir helpful 1 JonaMwaoneni interview Zimbabwe,14 July1999. Makuyana, by author, Zamchiya, 2 John interview Chikore, Zimbabwe,30 June1999. Kunjenjema, by author, * I would like to thank Ellen

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Elizabeth MacGonagle

A wave of common a senseof being at thehandsof theNgunireinforced suffering Ndau as previousexchanges had not.Outsiders, came to rule over theNdau or others, on the eve of colonialrule,and thisharshreality intothe periodof continued directly formal colonialismunderthe Portuguese and the British.Indeed,some would say that of overrule whowerenotNdau- suchas lastedbeyond whenothers aspects independence, Shona in Zimbabweand members areas in Mozambiqueof ethnic groupsfromother in nations. There werefewNdau in the over the Ndau two living prevailed independent Ndau national of either or Zimbabweafter Instead, independence. Mozambique leadership of the were more to be members likely prominent politicaloppositionin speakers thatwaged a war againstthe Zimbabwe or leaders of the Renamo rebel movement intheir that Mozambican The Ndau cite a domination of began history government. pattern with theperiodof overrule discussed here.3 Over the past twenty scholarsin AfricanStudieshave countered popular years, withAfrican howEuropeans, notions as a static abouttribalism phenomenon by showing and divided tribalism identities thecolonialperiodthatcreated assistance, during forged when ethnic ones their African identities out earlier of Rigid subjects. emerged permeable and fixed under colonial rule. However, this popular identitieswere manipulated suchas that "invention of tribalism" thesis doesnotadequately explainhowidentifications reveals behindethnicidentities of the Ndau took shape even earlier. The long history Africanagency in the precolonialperiod as centralto the formation of tribalism. Precolonial as I demonstrate also used ideologyto promote rulers, here, groupidentificaa tion.Politicaland cultural in southeast Africaprompted the Ndau to craft dynamics collective formal colonialism. identity before European The history behind thedevelopment is closelytiedto debates of ethnic identities abouttribalism in Africa. character The historical anditstenacious relevance of ethnicity, that"refuses to vanish,"deserves further Even though are often identities exploration.4 and or the of a broad sense of muddled, concept identity messy belonging, expresses group This state is relational and opposedto theexistence of an "other." Thus, beingsomething. theidentities of a particular as exist "in a of and context relativities" people oppositions The psychologist groupsclassifyothersduringtheirown acts of self-identification.5 ElizabethSpelke notes"thepervasive of all over the world to categorize tendency people others intodifferent social groups, and to our common and universal humanity, despite endowthesegroupswithsocial and emotional and that fuelsethnic conflict significance
3 This withNdau elders duringfieldwork in Mozambique and pattern emergedfromconversations Zimbabwe. In 1998 and 1999, 1 conducted withover 200 eldersthroughout interviews the Ndau-speaking region. 4 JohnComaroffand JeanComaroff, and the HistoricalImagination(Boulder,Colo.: Ethnography WestviewPress, 1992), 66. 5 Elizabeth Tonkin, (New MaryonMcDonald, and Malcolm Chapman, eds., Historyand Ethnicity York: Routledge,1989), 16.

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a Tyrant 31 Livingwith

can be strong Identities or hardand weakor soft, as can evenlead to warand genocide."6 and Brubaker note.7 Calls these authors either to abandon the Frederick by Rogers Cooper andelusive or to move"beyond use of theterm identity identity" pointto theambiguous how the of theconcept.8 nature Yet, recent recognizes scholarship indispensable concept butalso as a category are not of practice, of analysis. Identities is, notonlyas a category influences. fortheychangein intriguing static, ways and are subjectto numerous They behind them that the of and a meaning have a story making. complicates history identity derive from in thepast.As Kwame identities somewhere fluidnature, Despitetheir are made of continuities and andtheidentity "Cultures changes, Anthony Appiahobserves, thesechanges."9 Neither northeproduct of can survive of a society through primordial Jan Vansina arise from collective historical identities ethnic colonialism, experiences. and common evidentin a sense of culturalunity how a single tradition, reconstructs in Africa. Vansina small units Central forcenturies flourished institutions, among political and declares andtools" as a processwith tradition redefines values,institutions, "concepts, with alive."10 Butoutsiders also shapeidentities that it"must continually changeto remain to dramatic the overrule the Gaza led For as an "other." their Ndau, by Nguni presence theshadowoftyranny. as they livedunder changes a nineteenthof memories and identities amidst theunfolding Thisessayexamines overa short became verypowerful to showhow a Ndau identity of terror culture century in American on the of death" South work Michael of time. Taussig's "space period of terror informs this and where theculture flourishes" is endemic "where torture societies is a social state that can "serve terror as Taussigarguesthat here.11 Just focuson overrule the fearand tyranny of colonialhegemony," as a mediator spreadby the par excellence Gaza Nguni cast a hegemonicshadow over the Ndau region beforethe comingof
4 September 2006, 101. Talbot,"The Baby Lab," New Yorker, Margaret 7 Frederick Cooper, with one chaptercoauthoredby Rogers Brubaker,Colonialismin Question: of California Press,2005), 67. History (Berkeley:University Knowledge, Theory, 8 Ibid.,90. Like the termtribe, at to different can mean manythings people- and,therefore, identity and I am still means something to many, at all. However,in theend, identity almostnothing timesperhaps here use of tribe.I use the termidentity to abandon the termas manyhave done withtheir not prepared in Colonialismin Question, 59. contend to it,as Cooper and Brubaker without surrendering 9 He they're just dead." Kwame changearen'tauthentic; goes on the concludethat"Societies without York 1 New Times 2006, 30-37, 52; see Magazine, January Anthony Appiah,"The Case forContamination," W. W. in a York: Ethics World also his book Cosmopolitanism: Norton, (New 2006). ofStrangers 6

10 JanVansina,Paths in theRainforest: Towarda Political Traditionin EquatorialAfrica(Madison, in equatorial tradition of a single cultural of WisconsinPress, 1990), 258. Another Wise: University study is Games within their varied Robert Nunu the and Harms, environments, Against Africa, by by adaptation Nature: An Eco-CulturalHistory University of theNunuof Equatorial Africa(Cambridge,UK: Cambridge Press, 1987). 11 Michael Taussig, Shamanism,Colonialism,and the Wild Man: A Studyin Terrorand Healing of Chicago Press,1987), 4. (Chicago: University

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is The relatively Ndau identity recent and heightened senseof a common Europeanrule.12 similar to theawareness a the of collective during by Igbo people Igbo identity developed theBiafran Warthat followed in Nigeria.ChinuaAchebeexplainshow the independence invention anddeclaration where "You of Biafra led to theemergence of a complexidentity can suddenly a for long from becomeawareof an identity whichyou havebeen suffering time without Achebe notes that being Igbo "became a very powerful knowing."13 consciousness" "But it was real all the time,"he thatarose amidst thehorror of war.14 insists.15 The experiences and memories influence on the of terror can have a profound articulation ofan ethnic akin to tribalism. identity In addition to the case of the Igbo, Kwame Anthony Appiah pointsto how the "tribe"in variousAfrican "is new uses and meanings" invested with precisely settings because peoplebelievein it and give it meaning.16 These complicated identities ariseout to of a response to forces, and are"almostalwaysin opposition bothinternal and external, other a commonethnic or identities."17 As a group, theNdau came to recognize identity, an awareness thatone could label (carelessly)as tribal,in responseto sharedcultural and thepresenceof an other. Overrule by theGaza Nguniin thenineteenth experiences a newbelief in anda newmeaning ofbeingNdau. century triggered Memories as the past. The present and identities are as muchabout the present influences of and andpresentation. such as recollection, selection, aspects memory identity In South Africa, in the popular for instance, the Zulu leader Shaka is remembered and claimedby manyin ways thatchangeover time in the discourse, as imagination Hamilton in her as demonstrates work.18 discusses Shaka She Carolyn memory, metaphor, and history in herexamination of thelimits invention. and history, to historical Memory can be in fundamental Norahas articulated forthecase of as Pierre moreover, opposition, For Nora,"Memoryinstallsremembrance France.19 within the sacred; history, always it is suspiciousof memory and deadsetagainst Thus,history prosaic,releasesit again."20 to thepoint of embarking on a mission to suppress and destroy to Nora. it,according Yet,
12 Ibid.,5. 13 ChinuaAchebe, quoted in KwameAnthony Appiah,In My Father'sHouse: Africain thePhilosophy Culture UK: Oxford (Oxford, Press, 1992), 177. of University 14 Ibid. 15 Ibid. 16 in theoriginal Emphasis quotation.

In MyFather's House, 178. Appiah,

"Ibid. CarolynHamilton,Terrific Majesty: The Powers of Shaka Zulu and the Limits of Historical Invention Mass.: Harvard Press,1998). (Cambridge, University ^ PierreNora,"Between 26 (Spring Memoryand History:Les Lieux de Mmoire,"Representations, 1989), 7-24. 20 Ibid.,9. 18

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a Tyrant 33 Livingwith

Jennifer Cole's work shows thatthereis a space betweenmemory and history for how and individuals communities construct to the She uncovering relationships past.21 thepastin eastern that Betsimisaraka elements argues represent Madagascar bycombining and history. Cole's ethnography of remembering of bothmemory revealsthe complex In Madagascar,both individual nature of remembering and forgetting.22 and memory Portelli social memory are woventogether, demonstrates forhis study just as Alessandro of Italy. His work focuseson the errors(and forgetting) the retelling of surrounding For Portelli, the telling of "wrong"tales actuallyenhances episodesin Italian history. and lead us through and beyondfactsto since inventions, "errors, myths understanding, Both Cole and Portelliargue that recenteventsoftenshape the theirmeanings."23 and telling of thepast.The interplay thewriting between discourse surrounding memory who oral how scholars use evidence to consider and identity aspectsof identity prompts are gendered and flexible of eldersand how identities forboth playout in the memories menandwomen. of identities are also inextricably linkedto Studies of the social construction dure. For Sandra Greene's work on Anlo over the histories instance, longue gendered and explicitly clans of the Upper Slave coast reveals how Anlo women consciously In within and of their boundaries the clans and shifted ethnic lineages society.24 supported in thepastpertains aboutshifting identities moreto evidenceuncovered theNdau region, menand womenin Ndau societies thanthoseof women.Even though men'sexperiences theirown identities, we know much more about the activelydefinedand redefined thegendered withthesegaps as it considers of men.Thus,thisessay grapples activities Ndau. and the surround that among memory identity meanings The ComingoftheNguni theNdau attribute to Ngungunyana that timeand "problem" The difficult actually began s grandfather, two generationsbefore his time with the arrival of Ngungunyana' He was one leaderamongseveralgroupsof Nguni-speaking (Manukosi).25 Soshangane in Natal associated withtherise of theZulu statein South disturbances fleeing migrants first reachedthearea of central Africa. These Nguni speakers Mozambiqueand eastern in 1820s. and Ndau the occurred the inhabited Zimbabwe Raids,battles, retreats along by
21 Jennifer Cole, Forget Colonialism?: Sacrificeand theArt of Memoryin Madagascar (Berkeley: California of Press,2001), 106 University 22 Ibid.,8. 23AlessandroPortelli,The Death of Luigi Trastulli, and OtherStories: Form and Meaning in Oral of York 2. New NY: State Press, 1991), University History (Albany, 24 Sandra Greene,Gender,Ethnicity, and Social Change on the UpperSlave Coast: A History of the NH: Heinemann, Anlo-Ewe 1996). (Portsmouth, 25 Jona Mwaoneni Makuyana described Ngungunyanaas "a problem" during an interviewin Zimbabwe,14 July1999. Zamchiya,

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of environmental, the routesof these migrationsthe resultof a complex interaction in and weaker At time economic factors.26 this positionssought political, populations leaders.Violent societiesruledby powerful intostronger security through incorporation to and andchaotic submit both led vulnerable to voluntarily involuntarily episodes groups the founder of Gaza men" the such as and Shaka,Moshoeshoe, Nguni "great Soshangane, state in southern Mozambique. a culture of A handful of Nguni-speaking groupsunderseveralleaderscultivated in the wider Shona-speaking terror area that spreadbeyond the world of the Ndau. northward intothelakesregion before However, manyNgunistayed moving onlybriefly nearthe in theeastern ofEastAfrica.27 For instance, theleaderNxaba remained highlands modern border and around of Sanga and Danda foralmosta decade,from theNdau states of theZambezi north about1827to 1836,before drovehimand his followers Soshangane and Sofala for such as Teve areas River.28 warriors also raided Nguni heavilypopulated fooduntil theGaza Nguniunder (see FigureI).29 TheseNguniSoshangane gainedcontrol
thistime, changes thattookplace during consequencesof thedramatic ecane Aftermath oftenreferred to as the Mf ecane, see works such as Carolyn Hamilton, ed., The Mf in Southern Witwatersrand Press, 1996); ElizabethEldredge,"Sources of Conflict (Johannesburg: University c. 1800-1830: The 'Mfecane' Reconsidered," Journalof AfricanHistory33, 1 (1992), 1-35, and Africa, in and Leadershipin Early Nineteenth-Century South Africa:The Case of Matiwane," Conflict, "Migration, 26 For moreon thecauses and

RobertW. Harms,JosephC. Miller,David S. Newburyand Michelle D. Wagner,eds., Paths Towardthe Past: African HistoricalEssays in Honor of Jan Vansina(Atlanta,Ga.: AfricanStudies AssociationPress, of theMakingof "The Character and Objects of Chaka: A Reconsideration 1994),39-75; CarolynHamilton, Shaka as 'Mfecane' Motor,"Journalof African "Has the 33, 1 (1992), 37-63; J.D. Omer-Cooper, History, Mfecanea Future?A Response to the Cobbing Critique," Studies 19, 2 (June Journalof Southern African Peires, "ParadigmDeleted: The 1993); 273-94, and The Zulu Aftermath (London: Longmans,1966); Jeff Materialist Studies 19, 2 (June1993), 295-313; of theMfecane,"Journalof Southern Interpretation African J.B. Wright, "Political Mythology and the Making of Natal's Mfecane,"The Canadian Journalof African Studies23, 2 (1989), 272-91, and JulianCobbing, "The Mfecane as Alibi: Thoughtson Dithakongand Journal 29, 3 (1988), 487-519. Mbolompo," ofAfrican History 27 These included Zwangendaba,Maseko, and Nxaba. Maseko left the Ndau area and crossed the Zambezi River around 1839. Zwangendaba,the leader of one group thatcrossed the Zambezi Rivernear Zumboin 1835, eventually in Tanzania, 1,200 milesfrom settled his birthplace, came to wherehis followers be knownas the Ngoni. GerhardLiesegang, "Nguni Migrations Between Delagoa Bay and the Zambezi,

1821-1839," AfricanHistorical Studies 3, 2 (1970), 317-37; J. D. Omer-Cooper,The Zulu Aftermath (London:Longmans,1966). 28 Accordingto David Beach, Nxaba enteredthe Save valley in 1827 and conquered Mutema's of Sanga. The Shona and Zimbabwe,900-1850 (Harare, 1980), 177; see also Liesegang,"Nguni territory 325, 337. Migrations," 29 BothNxaba and withan attack on Sofala in 1836, butLiesegangarguesthat Soshanganeare credited the Gaza Nguni underSoshanganewere not involvedin thisraid. GerhardLiesegang, "Aspects of Gaza 1821-1897," Rhodesian History6 (1975), 3, n. 9, and "Nguni Migrations," 317, 325-27; NguniHistory, "Relatorio sobreas Unas do Archipelago 31 de Bazarutoe Pescariasde Perolas" (FranciscoPena, Bazaruto,

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a Tyrant 35 Living with

Figure 1. Extentof Gaza Nguni.

de Dezembrode 1909. In "Relatorios e Informaes" Annexo ao BoletimOfficial (1910), 404-405, Arquivo de Moambique(herafter Histrico AHM), Maputo.

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thebalanceof powerin thewiderregion raids,conquest, through speaking groupsrocked An assortment ofrecollections andconnections andtheimposition of overrule. aroseoutof the Gaza and the of central the nineteenth-century between Ndau Nguni relationship Mozambique and easternZimbabwe. And for many Ndau elders today, the name with all thememories associatedwith and at times is synonymous distinct, Ngungunyana The Ndau have condensedtheir short-lived, periods of overruleclouded by terror. memories of Nguni dominancelike a telescope to focus mainly on the leader Ngungunyana. who established theGaza Ngunistate and his Ngunifollowers It was Soshangane the pattern of in the lower LimpopoValley to thesouthof theNdau region.Following and both local of the leaders time,Soshangane refugees populations incorporated strong Mzilikazi of the in numbers. Like his contemporary to gain strength underhis control state with age Ndebele in southwest Zimbabwe,Soshanganeruled over a military in Zulu South Africa. Several centuries based on the model formale warriors regiments had dominated someof thesame Tsongaearlier, (Karanga)chieftaincies Shona-speaking of the to live under that came However, bythebeginning Soshangane.30 speaking groups to establish had assertedtheir theseTsonga chieftaincies nineteenth autonomy century Thispopulation came to be Ndau neighbors.31 from their distinct themselves as culturally Gaza the first called Shangani (alternately Shangaanor Changana) afterSoshangane, their midst. in who settled leader Nguni to thefertile of movedhis capitalnorthward In about 1836,Soshangane highlands in thisarea of Sanga only nearthemiddleSave River.He remained theNdau heartland location to his previoussouthern until 1839 whenhe returned by the Limpopo briefly River.32 AfterSoshanganedied in the late 1850s, a son namedMzila emergedas his moved the capital back amongthe Ndau in the In 1862, Mzila promptly successor.33 of the Buzi River.Later,underthe leader near Mossurizeat theheadwaters highlands The to thesouthneartheLimpopoin 1889.34 returned court the eventually Ngungunyana, in the southat of its location,remained regardless shifting capital,called Mandhlakazi in the until thestatewas conquered of Inhambane) Bilene(to thesouthwest by Portuguese 1895.
30 This was thearea betweenthecoastaltownof Inhambane and theSave Riverto thenorth. 31 David Beach, TheShona and Their (Oxford:Blackwell, 1994),27. Neighbours 32 s 58. Liesegangnotesthatthe statewas namedafter The Zulu Aftermath, Soshangane' Omer-Cooper, 328. grandfather, "NguniMigrations," 33 Mzila brother his Mawewe in a successionwar from1858 to 1862. with struggled 34 For detailson s rise to power as a "usurper"who was "notthelegitimate heir,"see Ngungunyana' in Journal A African the History ofAfrican Diplomacy," Douglas Wheeler,"Gungunyane Negotiator: Study 9, 4 (1968), 585-602.

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a Tyrant 37 Living with

ofOverrule The Influence The lengthy Gaza Nguni presenceamidstthe Ndau, centered for a timein the Ndau Ndau politiesin different affected to the heartland, ways.Some Ndau leaderssubmitted invaderswhile othersrefusedto accept Gaza Nguni rule and were killed.35 Mzila's thoselivingin thehighlands, and the conquestof manyof the Ndau people,particularly to been rule of his son have harsh, Ngungunyana appear especially subsequent according in the to thememories of Ndau elders- bothmenand women.Whileeldersinterviewed muchof theterror thatpeople faced at thehandsof the late twentieth attribute century also citetheearlier Gaza Ngunito themorerenowned rule (andrecent) Ngungunyana, they relocation of thecapitalto of Mzila from1861 until1884 as repressive. Ngungunyana's an exodus of Ndau forced was accompanied to demonstrate Bilene in thesouth many by defeated theGaza Nguniin thelatenineteenthto him.After thePortuguese their loyalty Ndau left African Bileneto return to their scramble for territories, many century European and Save River. behind settled in the south north of the homeland however, Others, stayed to theoverlapping and fluidnature of ethnic outsideof theNdau heartland, contributing in thewider identities region. in severalways, of the Gaza NguniupontheNdau was significant The influence in the naming of thiswidespread and perhapsmostsymbolically groupas Ndau. Most in their actof supplication usedbyNdau-speakers to thephrase Ndau-wey Ndau-we, likely, a to select the term Ndau as label for their subled the the Nguni, Nguni greet invading a derogatory nickname used by theGaza Nguni, it Ndau was initially Even though jects.36 in a Most elders with as label. no overrule endured interviews, lasting apparent through theorigin backtothedeferential Ndautraced or shame, embarrassment Ndau-we, greeting to the languageof the Gaza Nguni withtheirown we.31The Ndau, in turn,referred
35 In 1888, Americanmissionaries to visitNgungunyana at his capital (about thirty miles attempting of thecountry." control Theiraccountalludesto life"under from Mt. Selinda) notedthathe "was in complete as one good reasonforwhiteruleand missionary influence. "Local History," thecruelhandof Gungunyana" Historical 6-7 (1934? Background and history of Rhodesia to 1897, compiled for schoolchildren) National Archivesof Zimbabwe UN 3/8/1, United Church Board for World Ministries, Manuscripts, Eram Subordinados" Fundo do NAZ), Harare; "Relaao Nominaldos Regulos que Antigamente (hereafter de Sofala,Caixa 3, Sala 8, AHM. Sculo XIX, Governodo Distrito 3^ Those who came to be called "Ndau" wouldsay Ndau-we, Ndau-we(We saluteyou! We saluteyou!) Sekai Sithole, interview to exclaim deference. Chikore, Zimbabwe,29 June1999; JosFontes by author, "Os 'Vatssangas' ou Mundau"(Beira, 1956) Seco Especial, a. III, p. 6, no. 80, AHM. Pessoa de Amorim, theconquestsof Nqaba to designate thewordcame intouse after arguesthat Liesegang,forinstance, armaments. who wore dress and used men local assimilated Nguni Liesegang,"Sofala, Beira e a sua Nguni an 32. But Rennie that earlier reference is apparently from J.Keith Zona," Arquivo6 (October1989), argues who the in traders crossed Save River 1739 to trade their thatmentions a Portuguese document "Mujao" gold of "Ndau." This reference to "Mujao" is similarto "Ndjao," theInhambane version forclothat Inhambane. Politicaland CommunalIdeologies amongthe SouthJohnKeith Rennie,"Ideology and State Formation: in Ahmed Idho Eastern Shona, 1500-1890," Salim, ed., State Formation in Eastern Africa (Nairobi: 168-69. Heinemann Educational, 1984), 3^

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and called the Ngunimabziti, or warriors.38 In the case of the term, xibitzi, pejorative the as with the and to describe Ndau, elsewhere, naming Igbo region practices employed otherare oftenof a derogatory However,these givenlabels tend to stickas origin.39 an important to reflect identifiers thatcome to be appropriated by thegroupin question aspectof identity. Social and PoliticalIdentities in To secureloyalty defined from theNdau,theGaza Ngunisuccessfully politicalidentity a web through terms The state of a state culture.40 drewpeopleintoa systematic apparatus for combination of incorporation Ndau menwho livedwithNgungunyana, and conquest. as a subject theNdau also becameGaza Nguniwarriors.41 instance, However, population, to and while to the the Gaza influence culture of Nguni submitting managed language One male elder,drawing theGaza Nguni and theNdau, overrule. between comparisons notedthatthe mother This historical of Ngungunyana was a Ndau woman.42 memory, with of Ndau womenas wives consistent thewritten reflects theimportant record, presence Ndau women servedas and mothers amongthe Gaza Nguni elite.43In this position, This social their of variousaspectsof a Ndau cultural to children. transmitters identity traits of cultural revealsone method theNdau relieduponto maintain a continuity reality amidst overrule. political
38 An alternate of mabzitiis madzviti. MartinhoManhacha JacksonSimango, interview by author, Machanga, Sofala, Mozambique, 5 September1998. Mulenje Macama William Simango, interview by from is probablyderived 1998. The term or chibitzi, author, Bzi, Sofala,Mozambique,23 September xibitzi, in commonusage), i.e., theNguni.Dzviti is also an abusive term foran dzviti, (or warrior meaninginvader Ndebele person, according to Desmond Dale in Duramazwi: A Shona English Dictionary (Gweru, Zimbabwe: Mambo Press, 1981), 54. Beach pointsout thatthe Shona called all Nguni-speakers madzviti, thuscreating some confusion. Shona and TheirNeighbours, 139. See also John Keith Rennie,"Christianity, Colonialism,and the Originsof Nationalismamong the Ndau of Southern Rhodesia, 1890-1935" (Ph.D. Northwestern thesis, 1973), 145. University, 3^ Achebe, quotedin Appiah,In MyFather's House, 177. 4^ Renniediscussesthis Colonialism." pointin "Christianity, 41 Elders used theNdau termmabzitihere. See also, Mulenje Macama William Simango, interview. Rennie,"Christianity, Colonialism,"145. 42 Luis Mangate Bill Mapossa (interviewedwith A. Manduze Jorge Chiteve Simango, Regulo 1998. ChiTeve), interview by author, Machanga,Sofala, Mozambique,11 September 43 Wheeler's of Ngungunyana notesthattheleader's mother was a Ndau. He also speculates that study s military leader,Maguiguana,may have been Ndau as well, or else he may have come from Ngungunyana' theneighboring theNegotiator," 589. Chope or Valenge to thesouth."Gungunyane

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a Tyrant 39 Living with

A singleGaza Nguniculture never under emerged amongthediverse living groups Gaza Ngunirulein thewiderregion.44 as such the Ndau Instead, conquered populations the small Gaza Nguninucleus,perhapsoriginally influenced only about 100 people.45 this such as theGaza Nguniuse of occurred Cross-cultural throughout period, exchanges Ndau's an indigenous from the southern The northern language neighbors. Tsonga-based in use, but loanwordsinfiltrated other Nguni languageof the elite scarcelyremained most Ndau. end of the nineteenth Gaza such as the also century Nguni By languages spoke a sub-group of thelocal Tsonga languagein southern Mozambique.The Gaza Shangaan, to thesouth and a Ndau identity of a Tsongaidentity to the certain Nguniassumed aspects a a north. pridein glorious military pastNguniclan names,songs,dances,and certain colonial all resistance to the of rulesurvived. coming Two-way emphasized alongside as theGaza Ngunicameto be Shangaan. overinto thecolonialperiod carried acculturation between ofreciprocity Therewas an element Nguniwaysand Ndau culture. By the andpots,as well as theGaza NguniwereusingNdau drums endofthenineteenth century, nhamussoro.46 In southeast Africa andtheNdau wordfor Ndaumethods of healing healer, the in the a as most continue to healers Ndau enjoy reputation powerful practitioners today, boththerulers and theruledinevitably In thelargeand mobileGaza Ngunistate, region. from the characteristics small combined that identities Nguni elite and their shaped based his government in structures for instance, followers.Soshangane, incorporated Ndau and on south-central Meanwhile, chiefly lineages. populations Mozambique Tsonga maintained their ownsenseof identity sincethey themobile far from Mandhlakazi, capital, theNdau region, eldersat on theperiphery. to assimilate facedlittle Throughout pressure a and sense of resilient theendofthetwentieth beingNdau,while proud century expressed thatmake up influences the "mixedpot" of blendedcultural some also acknowledged ofNdauness.47 current notions overtime, led to "a common their As theNdau recreated identity conquest pool of of culture the with that of the the transforming conqueror key signifiers binding
44 Rennie, Colonialism,"147 and W. Rodney,"The Year 1895 in Southern Mozambique: "Christianity, AfricanResistance to the Impositionof European Colonial Rule," Journalof the Historical Society of Nigeria5 (191 1), 511. 4^ This cited in Monica Wilson and Leonard Thompson,A Historyof SouthAfricato 1870 figure, Olden Timesin Zululand and (Boulder,Colo.: WestviewPress, 1983), 100, comes fromAlfredT. Bryant, Clans (London: Longmans,1929). Earlier PoliticalHistory Natal,Concerning oftheEastern-Nguni "Os 'Vatssangas.'" The use of nhamussoro Liesegang,"Sofala, Beira e a sua Zona," 32; Amorim, continues Mozambique. See Heidi Gengenbach,"Where Women Make History:Pots, today in southern and Changein Magude District, Accountsof Community and OtherGendered Tattoos, Stories, Mozambique, of Minnesota, c. 1800 to thePresent" 1999). (Ph.D. thesis, University Manyuniexplained,"We are now a mixedpot; it is no longerNdaus only." Idah Manyuni, official referred to "modifications" in Ndau culture due Zimbabwe,28 June1999; One Portuguese Chikore, "Os 'Vatssangas.'" to theGaza Ngunipresence. Amorim, 47 Idah 46

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in SouthAmerica.48 However, Taussig conquered," justas Taussig arguesforhisresearch notesthatsignifiers can be "strategically out of jointwithwhattheysignify" leadingto and revengeof signification."49 In interviews, Ndau speakersdescribedthe "rupture was fullof in the as an that of the Gaza intense presence Nguni region periodof rupture view of theearlier difficult recollection in contrast a memories. This was to morenostalgic theinvaders. themisdeedsthataccompanied Beforetheseoutsiders arrived, past without Some one eldernoted, "Our fathers toldus that here were people livingharmoniously."50 with thecoming Thesepolitical realities regions by consensus.51 changed practiced politics camenew Out this and its violence of theGaza Nguniand their of overrule transgressions. of identity. meanings the Ndau todayrefer to theGaza Ngunias "theZulu," even though Frequently, in and often aboutwhatit meant to be Zulu wereshifting nineteenth-century conceptions in South Zulu chiefdom flux.In thebeginning of thenineteenth for the instance, century, Africa was quitesmallin relation to larger suchas theNdwandwe, Mthethwa, Ngunistates and Ngwane.After theZulu kingdom the deathof Dingiswayoof theMthethwa, grew the Zulu As Shaka conquered underShaka's leadership. chief gained surrounding doms, fameand emerged as a powerful Africa.Ndau eldersin thetwentieth statein southeast to be the powerful thentransferred century image of the fierceZulu warriorreputed to and ruthless action- to a similar theGaza Nguni. According proneto violent oppressor, one Ndau elder,the Ndau say that"Shangani, Zulu, and Ndebele are one and the same Soon afterthe Gaza Nguni conquestNdau clan names in the regionwere thing."52 transformed into their Nguni equivalents.53 When these "Zulu" arrived, "everything the Zulus would the most Ndau women."54 because beautiful Thus, the changed marry Gaza Ngunipresence Ndau social structures, altered thenamesof disrupted significantly identities intoquestion. clans,andcalledexisting The Gaza Ngunileadersappointed their ownNgunipolitical and military deputies known as ndunas to control thefarreachesof their the Ndau Ndau state, region. including
48 and theWildMan, 5. Colonialism, Taussig,Shamanism,

49 Ibid. 50 John one local history thatNgungunyana makes the argument Kunjenjema,interview. Similarly, cruel in Albert "The African "put important positions." people Historyin the Nineteenth Hlatywayo, of Charles Davies DA NAZ. 8/2/2, (n.d.), (1906-1971) Century," Papers Stephen 51 Jos Paulo Maduca 1998. 52 Simnago, Machanga, interview by author,Sofala, Mozambique,4 September

the Nguni by author,Chikore,Zimbabwe,29 June 1999. Historically FreddySithole, interview ancestorsof the Shangaan, the Zulu, and the Ndebele did sharea commonlanguageand culture, so these connections are notinaccurate. D3 For instance, Mwoyobecame Sitholeor Nkomo. 54 Allen Mundeta, interview 28 June1999. Chikore, Zimbabwe, by author,

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a Tyrant 41 Living with

couldbe ndunasas well.55 These vitaldeputies actedas governors that men,if"found fit," Ndau chiefs who to the Gaza rulers. some elders Yet, Nguni supervised pledgedallegiance of Gaza Ngunirule,and theyclaimedthattheconquerors thedespoticnature described to trustNdau chiefs. For instance,one elder recalled,"The likes of were reluctant werenotallowedto rulebecause Ngungunyana was theonlychiefwithout Musikavanhu Wherever he wouldnotrespect or co-chiefs. subordinate Ngungunyana conquered, anyof Time and again eldersrelayed of as his subordinates."56 s rule perceptions Ngungunyana' of Ndau chiefs, suchas Mafussiforexample, The majority submitted to thesystem harsh. had since the little of the Gaza of overrule.57 choice, military might Many Nguni was formidable. to assert controlover Ndau The Gaza Nguni used tactics of intimidation resisted When ChiefNgorima incorporation by the Gaza Nguni he faced populations. His subjects fledintotheChimanimani and he their raidsfrom mountains, army. repeated in west Gutu.58 The Gaza of further Nguni captured many Ngorima's soughtsafety a dual identity Thiscreated them intotheir forthese and incorporated followers regiments. "This is we are and elder from Chimanimani Ndau Ndau as one men, explained: why of competing This ambiguity at thesametime."59 loyalties-to leaderssuchas Shangaans in warriors fellow and local Ndau and regiments deputies, political military Ngungunyana, with memories that more thanthe Ndau to leaders- led many identify shape Ngungunyana intotheir own hands,their When Gaza Nguni leadersdid not take matters stateitself. link Ndau and as the between the the state serve to ruling apparatus attempted deputies overthem. withNdau ancestral connection The Gaza Ngunifailed to develop an apparent As old territorial forsuccessful rule.60 tiedto the land,an important relationship spirits of ritual realities to the Gaza with new clashed conquest, opposition political loyalties the grew.The Gaza Nguniharassedand exiledmanyNdau chiefsfrom Ngunipresence
55 This statement with M. Hlatcwayo, quoted in comes from J. Keith Rennie's 1970 interview Colonialism,"145. "Christianity, interview Chikore, Zimbabwe,29 June1999. by author, PhillipMutigwe, 57 See David McDermott "Frontier Dynamics: Strugglesfor Land and Clients on the Hughes, of California, Border" 1999), 40. (Ph.D. thesis, University Berkeley, Zimbabwe-Mozambique 5^ Ibid., 40-41. Mountainstrongholds, such as thatof Mtassa, were an obstacle to successfulNguni to theNegotiator," 585-86. raidsin the1880s in Manicaland, "Gungunyane according Wheeler, 5^ "Interview 30 January Dzvairo (born 1905)", interviewed withHerbert 1979), by Dawson Munjeri, 56

"You see, we are the Oral HistoryInterviews, AOH/47,NAZ. Sekuru Mlambo made a similarstatement, withAmon MakufaMlambo (bornc. 1895)," Ndau and at the same timewe are the Shangaan." "Interview interviewed AOH/46, 1979, Oral History Interviews, by Dawson Munjeri,13 December 1978 and 9 January NAZ. 60 Rennie has noted this in his informative work on ideologies. Rennie, "Ideology and State 184. Formation,"

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but groupssuch as the Musikavanhu territorial cult survivedto unite the highlands, Ndau.61 As Rennienotes, withthe "theNguninevermanagedto reachaccommodation territorial cultleaders, in the the'ownersof thesoil', and to createideologicalconsensus samewaythattheNdaurulers of Sanga,Teve, and Danda seemto havedone."62Despite thepowerheld by rainshrines of Ndau territorial theirlegitimacy cults,Mzila rejected under hisleadership andchosenotto (orperhaps them intotheGaza couldnot)incorporate realm. This Ndau overrule served division between beliefs and Gaza Nguni Nguni political toreinforce cultural andpolitical thetwogroups. differences between The instrumental or control thecreative of theGaza Ngunicouldnotdestroy power ofpublic oftheterritorial an entirely cults. "constituted power Mediumship separate sphere as to mediums Steve Feierman itself invisibility.63 authority," Spirit argues, lending exerteda moral and religiousauthority in a realm separate from the expressive arena of chiefs.Religiousfigures concerned withthe spirituality, health, sociopolitical and well-being an intangible sense of a shared of thecommunity security, helpedfoster most whereas the of was visible the rule chiefs and for stable, identity; part.An overall lack of firm religiousbacking weakened some Ndau polities and added to their in thewiderregion of ritual did notend withdefiance However, vulnerability. opposition Gaza Nguni overrule.During both Zimbabwe's struggleagainst colonial rule and anticolonial resistance in Mozambique, mediums suchas Nehanda femalespirit protracted as to actors the the world and threatening between emerged powerful bridge gap spirit situations at hand. In a similar Ndau chiefsrelyon femalespirit postcolonial adaptation, "who act as power mediums of chiefs brokers between thedifferent butoverlapping worlds andgovernment" where menpredominate.64 in mediums and other Spirit religious figures, their briefmoments of visibility, have occupiedfluidspaces and workedwithintheir communities to maintain thetiesthat bindtheNdautogether.

61 J.K.Rennie,"FromZimbabweto a Colonial Four Transformations of theMusikavanhu Chieftaincy: Territorial Cult in Rhodesia,". J.M. Schoffeleers, in Guardians the Land ed., (Gweru,Zimbabwe: Mambo of Press,1978), 258. 62 Rennie, 184. "Ideologyand StateFormation," 63 Steven Feierman, "Colonizers,Scholars, and the Creationof Invisible Histories,"in Victoria E. Bonnelland LynnHunt,eds., Beyond the CulturalTurn:New Directionsin theStudy of Societyand Culture of California Press, 1999), 187, 210, nl2. See also, David L. Schoenbrun, (Berkeley: University "Conjuring theModernin Africa:Durability and Rupture in Histories of Public HealingbetweentheGreatLakes of East TheAmerican Historical Review111,5 (December2006), 1403-39. Africa," 64 Carin '"The People You Live With': GenderIdentities and Social Practices, Vijfhuizen, Beliefs,and Powerin the Livelihoods of Ndau Women and Men in a Village withan Irrigation Scheme in Zimbabwe" (Ph.D. thesis, Netherlands, 1998), 265. Wageningen Agricultural University,

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a Tyrant 43 with Living

Figure2. Ngungunyana'swarriors.

One of themostdramatic was the shifts forNdau society in thenineteenth century arrival of Gaza Nguniwarriors who becamea "military of non-producers."65 aristocracy These conquerors, as depictedin Figure2, appropriated and cattlefrom food surplus collected theexport tax,monopolized surrounding Theyregulated populations.66 hunting, of ivory, andcontrolled cattle movements.67 The Gaza Ngunireliedon personal subordinationandclients to maintain control to overtheir vaststate.Local populations wereforced to thestateand support raidsof nearby communities. Some menand pay tribute military womenpledged themselves to Nguni deputies,and PatrickHarrieseven argues that scholars have overlooked theexistence of internal within theGaza Ngunistate.68 slavery and destitute of subraids,orphans, Captivesfrom peoplebecameclients.Variousforms knownas kukhonza-either or bride serviceservience, allegiance,capture, pawning,
65 Rennie, 182. "Ideologyand StateFormation," 66 Timteo Mabessa Simango, interview by author,Machanga, Sofala, Mozambique, 4 September 1998. 67 Fernando Vitorino 1998; Tuzine, interview by author, Machanga,Sofala,Mozambique,4 September and theOrigins of Nationalism," 137. Rennie, Colonialism, "Christianity, 68 For moreon the enslavement" derivedfrom theNgunisystem of kukhonza, see Patrick "ambulatory and SurplusExtraction: The Natureof Free and UnfreeLabour in Harries, "Slavery,Social Incorporation, South-East Journal "of extreme Africa," 22, 3 (1981), 309-30. He describesrelationships ofAfrican History and exploitation" that he definesas slavery servility (p. 3 11).

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44 Elizabeth MacGonagle

constrained Cattle,animalskins, manyNdau in boththeirdaily laborand widerlife.69 all tribute.70 Women and brass beads were items of and cloth,food, soughtprotection or Ndau chiefs hisdeputies, as thewivesof either Ngungunyana, loyalto theGaza support with Ndau women children from were marriages given to the Nguni.Ngungunyana's Ndau speakers wereforced elite- Ngunior acculturated Nguni- as wivesand laborers.71 wives as Gaza and the on their to act as soldiers, concubines, Nguni capitalized porters, in theNdau people.72 wealth GenderedIdentities rolein theshaping of nineteenthBothNdau and Gaza Nguniwomenplayedan important Africa.Theircontributions were mostnotable cultureand societyin southeast century with the women to produce alliancesor arrangements whenmarriage opportunity provided an integral a order. Women theregional andreproduce played partin maintaining political a scholars over wide often overlook the culture and common area, yet geographic language in Southern of women.In The Creationof Tribalism activities Africa, LeroyVaii repeats that"womenhave no tribe"and arguesthatthe appeal of ethnicity theTswana proverb womenwereactivein thecrafting of Yet in the Ndau region, "was strongest formen."73 withincommunities, identities clans, and lineages.Ndau womenraised theirchildren thatshapedidentity formation. And framework and linguistic a certaincultural within men usuallyheld positionsof politicalpoweramongthe Ndau, femalechiefs although their in Ndau society as Womentendedto assert at times.74 wereappointed powerovertly mediums. and influential healers spirit heldbothpolitical family AmongtheGaza Ngunielite,some womenof theruling Ndau woman exerted the and social power.75 mother, Empiumbecasane, Ngungunyana's of a village.76 was also and theaffairs overherson's decisions control Empiumbecasane the grave of his the head priestessat the shrinewhere Ngungunyana worshipped
in Gogoi and Vhimba.This Dynamics,"for detailedexamplesof kukhonza Hughes,"Frontier 147. of obedienceis also notedin Rennie,"Christianity, offer Colonialism," 70 Fernando 183. Vitorino Rennie,"Ideologyand StateFormation," Tuzine,interview; 71 Rennie, Colonialism,"146. "Christianity, 72 Ibid. of California Africa, (Berkeley:University Leroy Vaii, ed., The Creationof Tribalismin Southern Press,1989), 15. 74 Albeit and "A Contribution to the Studyof Ndau Demography, Totemism, rarely.H. P Junod, Bantu Studies8 (1934), 22; Rennie,"Christianity, Colonialism," 77; "Revistade Manica e Sofala" History," (la. Serie,No. 3, Maio de 1904), 33-34, AHM. Rodney,"The Year 1895,"516. 76 Ibid. Parallels Nande in SouthAfrica.An alternate of may existwithShaka and his mother spelling is Empiumbecasane Impiucazamo. 75 73 69 See

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a Tyrant 45 Livingwith

Some of the wives of the rulerlived in distant partsof the grandfather, Soshangane.77 a wide area.78 leader to maintain relations over These and the Gaza Nguni region helped in of outlying womenmostlikelysupervised agricultural production the royalgardens and areas. Thus, women who were both Ndau and Gaza Nguni servedsymbolically as of the state. stewards practically in interviews, mostNdau women When I raised the subject of Ngungunyana andtheaffairs knew"nothing" aboutthetimeof Ngungunyana claimedthat they initially for harsh ofterror details realm. This is notreallythecase, however, of menin thepolitical with about the rule of the Gaza in interviews women and intimidation (and men) emerged with Nguni leader. The reluctanceof women (as opposed to men) to identify in southeast Africa. Politics s of the is gendered political spaces reign telling Ngungunyana' have shown howmenandwomen is viewedas therealmof men.Other however, studies, Diana Jeater's identities.79 work in of their cultural the on themargins shaping participate in the Gwelo District of Zimbabwe colonial on marriageduringthe early period and difference of womenbetweenlineagescreated how thetransfer demonstrates "gender This was in societies."80 women bridewealth men and between social identities separate who Ndau-speakers surelythe case forNdau men and womenas well. Disadvantaged as who came from as well as the social definitions their "other," groups challenged actively to "fit" into an acceptable of society,were able to alter theiridentities the fringes timein theNdau of thisturbulent state.A consideration a centralized within community thesocialfield. and across between connections interwoven reveals ethnicity gender region that usheredin new The Gaza. Nguni conquest followed migratory patterns male coastal Mozambican and central to theZimbabwe inhabitants plain.Emerging plateau secured their own where to new territories and migrated with broke leaders they patriarchs in earlier Shona state of the famous the Even over history Mutapa breakup people. power invadedmore The Nguni,however, thatfollowsthis pattern. is explainedby a myth to thearea.The Gaza Nguni of timethanprevious overa shorter migrants length territory butoutward some conquered to incorporate cultural their widened signs subjects, identity It was men who were morecommonamongNdau men thanwomen.81 of assimilation servedin their ears in theGaza Ngunifashion, thelanguageof therulers, learned pierced
77 Ibid.,517. 78 Rennie, were of theroyalfamily 184. Rennie notesthatmembers "Ideology and State Formation," the state." towns around in "dispersed 79 Both Sandra Greeneand ElizabethEldredgemake thispoint.Greene,Gender, and Social Ethnicity in Lesotho Pursuit The A South Nineteenth-Century Security of AfricanKingdom: Change; Eldredge, Press,1993). University Cambridge (Cambridge: 80 Diana Jeater, of Moral Discourse in Southern Marriage,Perversionand Power: The Construction Press,1993), 19. Rhodesia,1894-1930 (Oxford:Clarendon 81 "Letter, NativeCommissioner, NC Melsetter to CNC, Salisbury"(9 March 1896), Public Archives, 183-84. NUE 2/1/1, Melsetter, NAZ; Rennie,"FromZimbabweto a Colonial Chieftaincy,"

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to theNdau thearmy, and renamed theirclan usingthe closestGaza Nguniequivalent term.82 Some Ndau men even adoptedthe Nguni languageas theirown and wore a theprocessof assimilation Ndau men distinctive however, Through Ngunihead ring.83 of on itsheadto developa uniqueidentity also cameto be Ndau.Theyturned assimilation their own. that wereassigned to Gaza Nguniage regiments Ndaumenwho servedin thearmy raidedfrontier tiedto political broke downexisting loyalties.84 Regiments groupidentities Ndau men in the royalhomesteads of the king's wives.85 Unmarried areas and worked The inorder to severtheir local tiesand loyalties. weredispersed to other areasof thestate whentheruler's a sense of "national" Gaza Ngunistatesystem identity helpedto foster the was reinforced head of the and as duringstate agricultural cycle army position Even thoughNdau formof labor tribute. ceremonies.86 service was another Military numbers of Gaza men, Nguni traitsand cultural large adopted speakers, particularly and his in 1998 and 1999 considered Ngungunyana manyeldersinterviewed practices, eldersrejecta warriors to be theonly trueGaza Nguni.Thus, in the present memory, and assimilation. of ethnic historical integration process Gaza of identity of men's earswas one obviousmark that The piercing symbolized ears to piercetheir overtheNdau. The Ndau say thatmenonlystarted Ngunidominance those to identify reliedon ear piercing after theGaza NguniinvasionwhenNgungunyana for A similar mark exist to his overrule.87 does not who had submitted body identifying those deemed women,but Gaza Nguni controlover women's bodies (particularly a the was of described Idah of Chikore beautiful) very publicsign subjugation.88 Manyuni "He is of identity" that was Ngungunyana's directive.89 of men'searsas "a form piercing to Ngungunyana; "The piercing theone whodidthis," she said,referring ofearswas a sign of identity to showthatwe are warriors, This act demonstrated Ndaus,"she explained.90
NC Melsetter to CNC, Salisbury"(9 March 1896), and "Out "Letter, PhillipMutigwe,interview; to CNC" (2 April 1896), Public Archives,Native Commissioner, NUE L.C. Meredith Letters, Melsetter, NAZ. 2/1/1, 83Rennie, 186. "Ideologyand StateFormation," 84 Ibid. 85 Dynamics,"40. Hughes,"Frontier 86Rennie, 184. "Ideologyand StateFormation," 87 Interviews author:Joo Guerra 1998; by Muchanga,Machanga,Sofala, Mozambique,4 September Luis Santana Machave, Machanga, Sofala, Mozambique,4 September1998; Mateus Simango,Zamchiya, Zimbabwe,14 July1999. "bodylanguage"visibleto others through jewelryand decorative suchas tattoos (pika) and scarification markings (nyora). OJ Idah Manyuni, interview interview. Chikore, Zimbabwe,28 June1999; PhillipMutigwe, by author, 90 Idah interview. Manyuni, 88 Ndau womendid,however,sharea 82

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a Tyrant 47 Living with

Ndau men"werewarriors, that toPhillip The Ndaucalled madzviti"according Mutigwe.91 to after order ears invader or warrior.92 chidzviti dzviti, Ngungunyana's meaning pierce of "It was a mark ears of are to MubayiMhlanga Zamchiya explained, identity. My pierced I belongto Ngungunyana."93 echoedthissenseof belonging to an showthat Otherelders that recalled the Gaza their custom identity. Nguni"upheld PhillipMutigwe by claiming thatthosewithunpierced ears did not belongto them."94 Subjectswithout piercedears ofthem" earswerespared werekilled,"butthose with because whowere"notpart pierced he explained.95 Sitholeconcluded, "So we from theyshareda common identity," Freddy ofNgungunyana, distinct of ears."96 we had this Bilene,as followers identity, pierced ear piercing oftheGaza Nguniby thePortuguese, becamea rite of After thedefeat in and before for Ndau men the late nineteenth twentieth all early century young passage in theminesand fieldsof SouthAfrica. Most timeas migrant laborers theyservedtheir This as "form of tribal their ears when reached men identity," they puberty. young pierced for all of the men who went to headmandescribedit, was necessary one former ears and some created Men used a knifeto piercetheir largeholes that Johannesburg.97 Thispractice madea manmore staff.98 ora peeledmaize stalk container couldholda snuff in Zimbabwe One womanfrom Chikore standards of beauty.99 and maintained attractive an uncommon saw men from the east in Mozambiqueactuallywearing earrings, sight their ears, onlytheNdaupierced Amongmale Shona speakers, amongmostNdaumen.100 Chikore an identity thatwas visibleto all.101One elderfrom and thismarkproclaimed Ndaumento piercetheir ears"because warriors first forced that Ngungunyana's explained
91 Or mabziti. Idah Manyuni, interview. interview; PhillipMutigwe, 92 Idah interview; PhillipMutigwe,interview. Manyuni, 93 The sense here is of identity ratherthan ownership. Mhlanga went on to state,"Those without those we call to be from across the said ears were Save; people vaDuma. But now such distinctions pierced where are no more.Long back on theway to Mutareif you werestranded you could notputup forthenight interview would kill because could see author, by Zamchiya, Mhlanga, Mubayi they you." you people suchas and identity wereexpressed sentiments aboutear piercing 1999. Similar Zimbabwe,13 July by others 1 and 1999 Mateus interview Zimbabwe, author, Chikore, Simango, July by Siyanzi Raphius Gapara, interview. 94 interview. PhillipMutigwe, 95 Ibid. 96 97 interview. Sithole, Freddy 28 June1999. interview Chikore, Zimbabwe, by author, VaTarangwa,

98 Interviews author: Catherine Mtetwa, Zimbabwe,30 June1999; Chinungu Dhlakama, Chikore, by 13 1999. Zimbabwe, July Zamchiya, 99 Catherine Dhlakama,interview. 100Sekai Sithole, interview. 101Allen Mundeta, interview.

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it was a Zulu customthateveryadultshould have piercedears."102 "It all started with an of to elder who as and Ndaus Ngungunyana distinguished Tongas,"according people that Ear piercing "was a signof identity forpeople under Zamchiya.103 Ngungunyana"104 earsto showthat "servedto differentiate tribal identities."105 Ndau menpierced their they "If you did not have as anotherelder explained, were subordinates of Ngungunyana; orderto pierce side."106 Ngungunyana's piercedears you were not on Ngungunyana's mark intheNdauregion. men'searswas one lasting oftheGaza Ngunioccupation "to showthat In thehighlands, menalso pierced to one elder, their ears,according to setthem Ear piercing we are notvaDuma."107 was used by Ndau menin thehighlands otherswho did not pierce theirears, such as the Duma who live apartfrommasvina, Ndau men further west acrossthe Save Riveror Malawians knownas mabhurataya.m the continued butlater earsinitially becauseof a Gaza Ngunidirective, they piercedtheir that were to others mark ethnic and demonstrate choice to boundaries they by practice thisinitial Ndau. Although it is possiblethatsome Ndau may have come to remember as earpiercing mark to Gaza Ngunioverrule, it is rareforeldersto describe of submission a voluntary tradition that cultural merely expresses pride. senseof Ndauness The piercing of men'searsis one distinct exampleof a gendered Whatwas once a themselves Gaza overrule. thattheNdau manipulated following Nguni a as Tamara GilesVernick the Gaza became Ndau act. Just of distinct Nguni practice of the are critical for Africanways seeing and interpreting past arguesthatequatorial in the central thememories of African rainforest, environmental histories understanding andknowledge under Gaza Nguniruleoffer critical local perceptions theNdau themselves In central thecomplicated as a bodyof abouttheir ofdoli served Africa, history.109 process for the to themselves socially,and biologically, knowledge Mpiemupeople "reproduce their The Mpiemualtered of thepastand thepresent through historically."110 conceptions FortheNdau,the theprism of doli as they encountered others in therainforest overtime. oftheir ownhistory is refracted ofa lifeunder their memories terror. The retelling through
102 interview. PhillipMutigwe, 103 interview. Mtetwa, Chinungu 104 SiyanziRaphiusGapara,interview. 105Ellen Zimbabwe,1 July1999. Gapara,Chikore, 106Mateus Simango,Zamchiya,interview. 107 see also Phoebe Mukokota, 30 June1999. Mtetwa, interview; Chikore, Zimbabwe, Chinungu 108 interview. Sithole, Freddy 109 Tamara GilesHistoriesof the Central Vernick,Cuttingthe Vines of the Past: Environmental Rain Forest(Charlottesville, of Press, 2002). African Virg.:University Virginia 110Ibid., 1. "Doli is not a notesGiles-Vernick, "butit is historical." Doli shouldalso not"be history" of memory, forit is a specificand changing methodof consignedto the treacherous, overlybroad terrain and makingclaimsof truth about thepast and theSanghaforest environment." Ibid., evaluating, interpreting, 4.

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a Tyrant 49 Living with

of suffering Ndau see their commonhistory and perseverance as a key aspect of their a past boundup withmaking sharedcultural out of memories and experiencemeaning identities. Livingwitha Tyrant in an assortment conditions of ways.We Politicalandcultural giveriseto social identities in Zimbabwethat knowfrom studies suchas TerenceRanger'sworkon Manica identity werenotdupedintoaccepting Africans acrossthecontinent tribal affiliation anyrandom at timespeople were able to embraceaspectsof the colonialperiod.111 Rather, during and ethnicidentification role in what identities thatsuitedthem, playedan instrumental a complicated "us" and "them."However,the always remained process of defining and threat of violence from theGaza Nguniconstrained real intimidation, very repression, in the to and identities theiropportunity express the Ndau and limited adopt cultural andtwenty-first thislegacyled FortheNdau in thetwentieth nineteenth centuries, century. to the Gaza Ngunipresence.The Ndau sense of being Ndau in contrast to a powerful into commonconnections a sense of of terror that fostered shaped theirmemories community. of Ndaulifeandhadthepowerto order the facets controlled The Gaza Nguni many with elders reveals a historical Evidence from interviews deathof their memory subjects. The Ndau remember to Ngungunyana.112 attributed atrocities of incredible Ngungunyana harsh forhis subjects.One elderrecalled leaderwho ordered as an oppressive penalties of animal and histhreat to killpeoplewholeft forthesight bones s distaste Ngungunyana' notedthat toreout theeyes of anyone Another their bonesin fullview.113 Ngungunyana who looked at one of his wives, echoinga similareighteenth-century practicein the and forkilling was infamous menindiscriminately of Sofala.114 hinterland Ngungunyana his warriors. Informants assert that as to for distribution their offerings daughters seizing he would orderthe massacreof an entire village when one personwas suspectedof Men and womenwho fora local leader.115 excessivesympathy witchcraft or ofdisplaying
Ranger, "Missionaries, Migrants,and the Manyika: The Inventionof Ethnicityin in Vail' s ground-breaking volume, Zimbabwe,"in Vail, Creationof Tribalism;see also the otherchapters in Tribalism Southern The Creation Africa. of in "Ideologyand StateFormation foroffences" as punishments of property and expropriation ,"184. 112 Renniealso refers about the king's ability"to ordermutilation, to the "ample testimony" killing, 113Most TimteoMabessa Simango,interview. bones to avoidpunishment. their begantobury 114 Isaias Veremo Dhlakama, interview Chibabava, Sofala, Mozambique, 15 September by author, in Jos dos Reis e Gama, Reposta das Questoenssobre os Cafres 1998. This earlieract is described Carlos Lisbon: Junta de Investigates, 1966. (1776), ed. Gerhard Liesegang, 115 Pedro Machanga, Sofala, Mozambique, 4 September1998; by author, Bapiro Gafuro,interview 4 September1998; FilimonDongonda Simango,Dongonda, Chibabava, interview Joo GuerraMuchanga, on Sofala, Mozambique, 15 September1998. An Americanmissionary reportfrom 1884, commenting It is no of his allies, noted a "numberof desertedkraals to be met with everywhere. Mzila's treatment 111 Terence

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committedadulterywere assaulted- sometimes theireyes were removed and theirhands or a crime cut off116-and murdererswere executed.117 People suspected of witchcraft such as the theftof a cow were impaled on wooden sticks and left on display at the junction of two paths.118These corpses were left to rot withouta burial to serve as a

A person found guiltyof almost any crime was most to potential offenders.119 deterrent As one man gravely likelykilled duringNgungunyana's time, accordingto manyelders.120 noted,"He did what he wantedat will."121 and persecutedsubjects" was not unique to The phenomenonof "capricious tyrants as work the Ndau region in the nineteenth by MeredithMcKittrickand othershas century, shown.122In northern Namibia, for instance, McKittrickargues that"kings insisted upon their legitimacy by claiming ever greater rights to inflict violence on their own

But this cultureof violence in the Ndau regionwas an eerie foreshadowingof subjects."123 what was to come duringthe colonial period, the strugglefor independence,and the war between Renamo and Mozambique's independent government.As the Ndau embraced their own lineage of identity,violence- once again- entered into their landscapes of memory.
and southa much north I think, 75 miles wide extending to say thatover a stripof country exaggeration, remained This was also a timeof famine, notmorethanone kraalin everythree inhabited." distance, greater of Mzila's warriors. thanto escape thewrath so communities "Letter, may have fledin searchof food rather ErwinH. Richardsto Kilbon, Secretary, AmericanZulu Mission,24 October1884, Mongwe, Inhambane," Board of Commissioners forForeign Missions (East Central AfricaMission,1883-) MISC/AM 1, American NAZ. 116 Cases of sexual assaultas Jona "punishment" by the Gaza Nguniwere also notedin interviews. MwaoneniMakuyana,interview by author, Zamchiya,Zimbabwe,14 July1999. 117John Kunjenjema,interview. 118 Ibid. would orderthe death of a person"by sinking a sharpwooden peg intotheir Ngungunyana their back intotheground," head through Jona Mwaoneni interview. to Makuyana, according 119 John Jona Mwaoneni Makuyana,interview; Kunjenjema,interview; Companhiade Moambique, Secretaria Geral, Processosi Luciano Lanne, "Notas sobre Alguns Usos e Costumes Indigenas da de Mossurize"(1906) Caixa 445, page 26, AHM. Circumscripo 120 SiyanziRaphiusGapara,interview. 121 PhillipMutigwe,interview. 122Meredith McKittrick, "CapriciousTyrantsand Persecuted Subjects:ReadingbetweentheLines of Recordsin Precolonial Northern Namibia," in ToyinFalola and Christian Missionary eds., Sources Jennings, and Methodsin African Unearthed NY: University of Rochester Press, History: (Rochester, Spoken,Written, 2003), 219-36. 123Ibid.,229.

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a Tyrant 51 Living with

Exodus to Bilene mass exodus fromhis capital at Mossurize to Bilene in southern Ngungunyana's forthe Ndau. The Gaza Nguni leader mostlikely Mozambiquewas a grave hardship to reapthebenefits of thefertile thismigration lowerLimpopovalleynearBilene ordered march in to thelandinhabited Ndau eldersrecallthisforced andreturn byhisgrandfather. a march" wheremany Ndau died from lackof foodand water 1889 as a "death during trip from60,000 to 100,000Ndau migrated, with thatlastedaboutone month.124 Anywhere Some to deserters them.125 Gaza Nguni guardspunishing managed by killing escape butmany moreNdau hadto waituntil and return to their thejourney communities, during couldreturn to their defeat at thehandsofthePortuguese before after they Ngungunyana's with in the south form a remained to Others homeland.126 contingent Ndau permanently associated in the population aroundBilene.127 Despite the deathand suffering heritage for Ndau elders credit with this involuntary migration, today Ngungunyana bringing thisis how theNdauhave come to interpret to their "civilization" military region. Perhaps a in the In has overrule. and addition, Ngungunyana reputation strong-armed prowess are These hero for his stance the an as anti-colonial narrative historical against Portuguese. of Ngungunyana's the interesting presencethatlingeralongsidehis local repercussions terror. and of legacy despotism Ndau chiefs resumed other from theNdau region, After departure Ngungunyana's warriors Some of Ngungunyana's as theiraides and juniors.128 rule withheadmen their ofwarriors of thisgroup later.129 members or decidedto return behind Presumably, stayed Ndau to leave theirNdau wives (said to be some of the mostbeautiful were reluctant
124Wilson Nada 25 (1948), 72; of theAmatshangana," Mhlanga,"The Storyof Ngwaqazi: The History Public Native October to NC Melsetter Archives,Native 1895) (12 "Letter, Secretary, Department," Zulu American H. to Erwin Richards NUE Kilbon, 2/1/1, NAZ; "Letter, Melsetter, Commissioner, Secretary, Missions of for American Board Commissioners 24 October Inhambane," 1884, Foreign Mission, Mongwe, in 1884, (East CentralAfricaMission, 1883-) MISC/AM 1, NAZ. Richardsclaimed thatNgungunyana, Mzila's capital. himof thetimeittookto reachBilenefrom informed 125 Rennie,"Ideology and State Formation," 187. Douglas Wheelernotes thatestimates rangedfrom accountfrom the Negotiator," 589. A Portuguese May of 1889 40,000 to 100,000 people in "Gungunyane arrivalat Mossurizewithabout 10,000 menen routeto Mandhlakazi(Manjacaz) in recordsNgungunyana's thesouth.JosCasaleiro da AlegriaRodrigues(?)(Mussurize, 13 de Maio de 1889), Fundo do Sculo XIX, de Sofala, 8-17/M2(2),AHM. Governodo Didstrito 126 "Local

(Dumisani Mhlanga,Zimbabwe; Century," Historyof the Vandau People Before the 20th refers to Mzila as NAZ. This "history" n.d.). Papers of Charles StephenDavies (1906-1971) DA 8/2/1-2, "theVandau chief." 127 ArmandoVaz Pereira Brites,"MonografaEtnografica sobre a Sub-Raa 'Senas,'" (Beira, post 187. This 1910?), Seco Especial, a. V, p. 7, no. 274, p. 41, AHM; Rennie,"Ideologyand StateFormation," is understudied. mostlikely quitesubstantial, presence, 128 interview. PhillipMutigwe, 129Ibid.

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a new lifein thesouth. to be wereconsidered Yet thosewho remained women)and start outsiders.130 the Ndau and assumed their Nevertheless, they political accepted presence who warriors "The likesofchief areNgungunyana's roles,as one elderexplained, Mpungu remained here.Thatis whereyou can findmostof thereturnees This from Bilene."131 how theNdau region of Gaza Ngunioverrule bearsthemarks todayin exampleillustrates It is said thatNdau spirit mediums warnedaboutthe ways bothsubtleand conspicuous. of Gaza the land "warriors would dominate that these coming Nguniwarriors, declaring butweredestined to movesouth andreturn no more."132 The Legacy ofNgungunyana's Shadow of The Ndau recallan incredible theirexperience assortment of memories surrounding a a casts under at the end of the nineteenth legacy living tyrant century. Ngungunyana's This Mzila and Soshangane. the presence of his predecessors, large shadowthatdwarfs of in southeast Africareveals the between and identity exploration relationship memory within thattheGaza Nguniinfluence is one aspectof theconstant of identities reworking a sense of the Ndau context. Some Ndau eldersgive Ngungunyana creditfor forging men he "left" them the a Ndau for before sense of identity among Ndau,particularly being to head south.133 that were Othersreferto the practice of assumingmale identities or Zulu Ndau. As Gaza a for the overrule as transformative event Shangaan during Nguni the elder John Kunjenjema mused, "People who were stayinghere were called buttheywereNdau.Theirleaderwas Ngungunyana.... We are Machangana (Shangani), called Ndau, but we are Shangani."134 s comments reflect the shifting Kunjenjema' memories and ambiguous identities embraced and twentieth bytheNdau in thenineteenth centuries. Another eldersummed whenhe oftheGaza Nguniexperience up theuncertainty we wouldhaveendedup hadNgungunyana notdied."135 said,"We do notknowwhere The history of Ndau subjugation at thehandsof theGaza Ngunidemonstrates how is shapedby cultural andoften aims.Although used to further ethnicity practices political ethnic identities arise under a host of are most famous forleadingto conditions, may they violencewhenthey are used to satisfy one group'saspirations at theexpenseof others'. EdwinWilmsen and Patrick McAllister holdsthekeyto structures of arguethatethnicity
130Ibid. 131Ibid.; Chief a half-brother of Ngungunyana." Mpunguwas said to be "a son of Mzila and therefore "Local History," 6. withstudents from1893, (1973; based on interviews UnitedChurch BoardforWorldMinistries, UN 3/8/9, 1907,etc.); Historical NAZ. Manuscripts, 133 "Interview with Amon Makufa Mlambo, born c. 1895," interviewed by Dawson Munjeri, 13 December 1978 and9 January 1979; Oral History Interviews, AOH/46,NAZ. 134John interview. Kunjenjema, 135"Interview withAmonMakufaMlambo." 132 PeterSithole,"Mission Work in Gazaland"

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a Tyrant 53 Livingwith

the object of manipulationin the exercise of power.136The inequality and is frequently to definethe subordinate, dominantuse group identities but the subordinatecan "adopt the This is terms of their definition"to organize and assert theirown collective identity.137 what the Ndau managed to do as theyfaced a harshepisode of Gaza Nguni overrulein the

nineteenth century. After noting wryly that "Ngungunyana was a problem," Jona s people yet we are Ndau. Mwaoneni Makuyana claimed, "We are called Ngungunyana' We were changed into Changana (Shangani)."138 The experience of the Ndau illustrates how the powerfuland the weak, men as well as women, reproducedan ethnicallyordered world underthe shadow of a tyrant.139 The story of how the Ndau came to be Ndau tells us something about the more about importanceof examininglonger historiesand culturalprocesses to understand both Africa's historyand modern realities on the continent.A sense of being Ndau colonial continues to exist into the present,albeit in a modified form,despite different in Zimbabwe and and officiallanguages histories,postcolonial trajectories, Mozambique. The investigationof ethnic identitiesamong a marginalizedgroup such as the Ndau has

societies. The psychological effectsof overrule compelling importancefor contemporary in Mozambique remainunclear,but recentviolenttransgressions amidst a cultureof terror of the be tied to the cultural war the history region.140History intricately may during matters,and the past sheds light on conflicts and divisions that haunt southeast Africa today.

136 Edwin N. Wilmsenand Patrick EthnicPremisesin a eds., The Politicsof Difference: McAllister, of Chicago Press,1996). WorldofPower (Chicago: University 137 Ibid., viii. For a similarargument in South Africa,see Isak Niehaus, about Shangaan identity Shangaan Identityin the South African "Ethnicityand the Boundaries of Belonging: Reconfiguring 101 (2002), 557-83. Lowveld,"African Affairs 13** interview. Emphasisadded.JonaMwaoneniMakuyana, 139Wilmsenand McAllister, viii. PoliticsofDifference,

140 The notion of a cultureof violence and the meanings produced,contested,and reemerging and culture of terror a of thenature is for future For one examination terror around consumed subject study. A Kind War in see war the recent Story(Philadelphia: of Mozambique, CarolynNordstrom, Different during of Pennsylvania Press,1997). University

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