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Nehanda Charwe Nyakasikana

December 07, 2023

Nehanda Charwe Nyakasikana also known as Mbuya Nehanda (c. 1840–1898) was a svikiro, or spirit medium of the Zezuru Shona people. She was a medium of Nehanda, a female Shona mhondoro (a powerful and respected ancestral spirit).[1] As one of the spiritual leaders of the Shona, she was one of the leaders of a revolt, the Chimurenga, against the British South Africa Company's colonisation of what is now Zimbabwe led by Cecil John Rhodes in 1889.[2] She was a Hera of the HwataShava Mufakose Dynasty. She and her ally Sekuru Kaguvi were eventually captured and executed by the company on charges of murder.[3] She has been commemorated by Zimbabweans by statues, songs, novels, and poems, and the names of streets and hospitals.[4] The legacy of the medium continued to be linked to the theme of resistance, particularly the guerrilla war that began in 1972. Her name became of increasing importance to the nationalist movements in Zimbabwe.[5]

Nehanda Nyakasikana (left) and Sekuru Kaguvi (right), after their 1897 capture

History of the spirit Nehanda edit

The spirit Nehanda is said to be the mhondoro, a royal mudzimu (ancestral spirit) or "lion spirit",that uses women as her mediums. The mediums are given the title Nehanda or Mbuya Nehanda.[6] One of the daughters of Nyatsimba Mutota, the first leader of the Munhumutapa state, was considered to possess this spirit.[7] Mhondoro spirits were revered spirits among the Shona, as it was believed that they could interpret the orders and wishes of Mwari, the senior deity.[8] The original Nehanda was considered to be Nyamhita, the daughter of the first Monomutapa Mutota, who was living in the escarpment north of Guruve in about 1430. Mutota was the founder of the Mutapa state. He had a son called Matope who later became the second Monomatapa. Matope was Nyamhita's younger half brother, and to increase the power of Matope, Mutota ordered his son to sleep with his older half sister, Nyamhita, who became widely known as Nehanda. This incest ritual was believed to have resulted in the increase of Matope's rule and empire. Matope handed over a part of his empire to Nehanda who became so powerful and well known that her spirit lived on in the human bodies of various spirit mediums until almost 500 years later when it was believed to occupy the body of the Mazoe Nehanda. During periods of possession by the spirit, spirit mediums were believed to be speaking with the voice and personality of the original Nehanda and not with their own.[9]

Biography of Nehanda Charwe Nyakasikana edit

Charwe Nyakasikana was born in 1840, in what is today called the Chishawasha District located in Central Mashonaland. She was the daughter of a man named Chitaura, who was the younger son of Shayachimwe. Shayachimwe, founded the Hwata dynasty in the upper Mazowe valley in the late eighteenth century.[10] She married and had two daughters and a son, but the name of her husband is not recalled.[11][12] Living in the hills around Mazoe, Zimbabwe, in the mid 19th century, were various subchiefs including Chidamba. In Chidamba's village lived Charwe Nyakasikana, who was considered to be the female incarnation of the oracle spirit Nehanda. D. N. Beach suggests that she became possessed by the spirit in 1884.[13]

As medium of the spirit Nehanda, Nyakasikana made oracular pronouncements and performed traditional ceremonies that were thought to ensure rain and good crops. She held great authority even before the 1896-7 rebellion. She was a powerful woman and staunchly committed to upholding traditional Shona culture. In a map drawn by missionaries (c. 1888) displaying work by the Church, there is a village called Nehanda's. Mbuya Nehanda was instrumental in organising the nationwide participation in the First Chimurenga of 1896–7. King Lobengula recognised her as a powerful spiritual medium in the land. During the arrival of the first European settlers, Nehanda Charwe Nyakasikana occupied an important and influential position in the religious hierarchy in Mashonaland, where she is the only recorded woman known to have held such a significant position during the 19th century.[14]

Spirit mediums at first promoted good relations between the Zezuru people and early European settlers. As white settlement increased in the land, according to sources Nehanda initially welcomed them by the pioneers and counseled her followers to be friendly towards them. "Don't be afraid of them," she said, "as they are only traders, but take a black cow to them and say this is the meat with which we greet you." However, relationships became strained when the settlers started imposing taxes on the Matabele and conscripting them for various labor projects. Following the imposition of a "hut tax" and other tax assessments in 1894, both the Ndebele and Shona people revolted in June 1896, in what became known as the First Chimurenga or Second Matabele War. The rebellion, in Mashonaland at least, was encouraged by traditional religious leaders including Nyakasikana. Due to the cultural beliefs of the local people, the leading roles behind the rebellion were three spirit mediums. The rebellion was initiated in Matebeland in May 1896, led by Mukwati. In October 1896 Kaguvi and Nehanda from Mashonaland joined in; these were the three critical people behind the rebellion.[citation needed]

Kaguvi (aka Kagubi) was believed to be the spirit husband of the other great Shona spirit, Nehanda, and it may have been this connection which enabled him to persuade Mbuya Nehanda to preach the gospel of war in Mashonaland, which led to the first Chimurenga. The role as well as the influence of the spirit mediums in form of Kaguvi and Nehanda, cannot be understated. As far as the people were concerned Nehanda and Kaguvi were the voices of God aka 'Mwari'. Kaguvi and later Nehanda (after being convinced by Kaguvi) preached that according to Mwari the cause of all the trouble that had come upon the land was the white man. They had brought the locusts and the rinderpest, and to crown it all the owners of the cattle which had died were not allowed to eat the meat of the carcasses, which had to be burned or buried. Mwari decreed that the white men were to be driven from the country; that the natives had nothing to fear because Mwari would turn the bullets of the white man into water. A public press photograph was taken of Nehanda and Kaguvi in 1897 to display their success.[15]

After the end of the rebellion in 1897, Nyakasikana was captured and charged with the murder of Native Commissioner Henry Hawkins Pollard in 1896. She was found guilty after eyewitnesses claimed that she had ordered an associate to chop Pollard's head off. Consequently, she was hanged in March 1898.[16][17] Much mythology grew up around the difficulty involved in killing her.[18]

Legacy edit

Nehanda's heroism became a significant source of inspiration in the nationalist struggle for liberation in the 1960s and 1970s. Her name is now usually prefixed by the respectful title of Mbuya, or grandmother [a title also given to female spirit mediums & ancestors in African spirituality]. The maternity section of Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare is named after her. The College of Health Sciences of the University of Zimbabwe is located there as well.[19]

Statue edit

In May 2021, a statue of Mbuya Nehanda was unveiled in Zimbabwe's capital city Harare along Julias Nyerere Way, where the road meets Samora Machel Avenue.[20][21] Zimbabwean sculptor David Guy Mutasa designed the statue of Mbuya Nehanda.[22]

References edit

  1. ^ Mazama, Ama (23 April 2019). "Charwe". Encyclopædia Britannica.
  2. ^ Dube, Zorodzai (10 October 2018). "The ancestors, violence and democracy in Zimbabwe" (PDF). Verbum et Ecclesia. 39 (1): 3. doi:10.4102/ve.v39i1.1875 – via ISSN: (Online) 2074-7705.
  3. ^ "The Suppressed Histories". Female Liberators. Retrieved 1 May 2006.
  4. ^ Beach, D. N. (1998). "An Innocent Woman, Unjustly Accused? Charwe, Medium of the Nehanda Mhondoro Spirit, and the 1896–97 Central Shona Rising in Zimbabwe". History in Africa. 25: 27–54. doi:10.2307/3172179. ISSN 0361-5413. JSTOR 3172179. S2CID 162261666.
  5. ^ Mazama, Ama (2009), "Nehanda", Encyclopedia of African Religion, SAGE Publications, Inc., doi:10.4135/9781412964623.n280, ISBN 9781412936361
  6. ^ "Nehanda | Shona religion". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  7. ^ "History profile of Mbuya Nehanda". Mbuya Nehanda. Retrieved 16 May 2006.
  8. ^ "Nehanda | Shona religion". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  9. ^ Beach, D. N. (1998). "An Innocent Woman, Unjustly Accused? Charwe, Medium of the Nehanda Mhondoro Spirit, and the 1896–97 Central Shona Rising in Zimbabwe". History in Africa. 25: 27–54. doi:10.2307/3172179. ISSN 0361-5413. JSTOR 3172179. S2CID 162261666.
  10. ^ Beach, D. N. (1998). "An Innocent Woman, Unjustly Accused? Charwe, Medium of the Nehanda Mhondoro Spirit, and the 1896–97 Central Shona Rising in Zimbabwe". History in Africa. 25: 27–54. doi:10.2307/3172179. ISSN 0361-5413. JSTOR 3172179. S2CID 162261666.
  11. ^ Hasegawa, Tsuyoshi (2017). Bloody Sunday: February 26. Brill. pp. 262–276. doi:10.1163/9789004354937_016. ISBN 9789004354937. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  12. ^ Beach, D. N. (1998). "An Innocent Woman, Unjustly Accused? Charwe, Medium of the Nehanda Mhondoro Spirit, and the 1896–97 Central Shona Rising in Zimbabwe". History in Africa. 25: 27–54. doi:10.2307/3172179. ISSN 0361-5413. JSTOR 3172179. S2CID 162261666.
  13. ^ Beach, D. N. (1 January 1998). "An Innocent Woman, Unjustly Accused? Charwe, Medium of the Nehanda Mhondoro Spirit, and the 1896-97 Central Shona Rising in Zimbabwe". History in Africa. 25: 27–54 (29). doi:10.2307/3172179. JSTOR 3172179. S2CID 162261666.
  14. ^ Mutunhu, Tendai (1976–1977). Nehanda of Zimbabwe (Rhodesia) : the story of a woman liberation leader and fighter. OCLC 772541723.
  15. ^ Yvonne Vera: The fearless taboo queen, Ivor Hartmann, Munyori Literary Journal, March / April 2009 http://archive.kubatana.net/html/archive/artcul/090415ih.asp?sector=ARTCUL&year=0&range_start=1
  16. ^ The Struggle for Zimbabwe : The Chimurenga War, David Martin and Phyllis Johnson, Zimbabwe Publishing House,1981
  17. ^ Modern Africa: A social and political history (2nd ed.), Basil Davidson, Longman Group, 1989
  18. ^ Keller, Mary (2005). The Hammer and the Flute: Women, Power, and Spirit Possession. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-8018-8188-6.
  19. ^ Herald. "Editorial Comment: Nehanda statue: We make our own history". The Herald. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  20. ^ "Zimbabwe unveils statue of icon 'Grandmother' Nehanda". Deutsche Welle. 25 May 2021.
  21. ^ "President Mnangagwa unveils Mbuya Nehanda statue in Harare".
  22. ^ Herald, The. "Sculptor explains Mbuya Nehanda statue". The Herald. Retrieved 31 May 2021.


Further reading edit

December 07, 2023
nehanda, charwe, nyakasikana, also, known, mbuya, nehanda, 1840, 1898, svikiro, spirit, medium, zezuru, shona, people, medium, nehanda, female, shona, mhondoro, powerful, respected, ancestral, spirit, spiritual, leaders, shona, leaders, revolt, chimurenga, aga. Nehanda Charwe Nyakasikana also known as Mbuya Nehanda c 1840 1898 was a svikiro or spirit medium of the Zezuru Shona people She was a medium of Nehanda a female Shona mhondoro a powerful and respected ancestral spirit 1 As one of the spiritual leaders of the Shona she was one of the leaders of a revolt the Chimurenga against the British South Africa Company s colonisation of what is now Zimbabwe led by Cecil John Rhodes in 1889 2 She was a Hera of the HwataShava Mufakose Dynasty She and her ally Sekuru Kaguvi were eventually captured and executed by the company on charges of murder 3 She has been commemorated by Zimbabweans by statues songs novels and poems and the names of streets and hospitals 4 The legacy of the medium continued to be linked to the theme of resistance particularly the guerrilla war that began in 1972 Her name became of increasing importance to the nationalist movements in Zimbabwe 5 Nehanda Nyakasikana left and Sekuru Kaguvi right after their 1897 capture Contents 1 History of the spirit Nehanda 2 Biography of Nehanda Charwe Nyakasikana 3 Legacy 4 Statue 5 References 6 Further readingHistory of the spirit Nehanda editThe spirit Nehanda is said to be the mhondoro a royal mudzimu ancestral spirit or lion spirit that uses women as her mediums The mediums are given the title Nehanda or Mbuya Nehanda 6 One of the daughters of Nyatsimba Mutota the first leader of the Munhumutapa state was considered to possess this spirit 7 Mhondoro spirits were revered spirits among the Shona as it was believed that they could interpret the orders and wishes of Mwari the senior deity 8 The original Nehanda was considered to be Nyamhita the daughter of the first Monomutapa Mutota who was living in the escarpment north of Guruve in about 1430 Mutota was the founder of the Mutapa state He had a son called Matope who later became the second Monomatapa Matope was Nyamhita s younger half brother and to increase the power of Matope Mutota ordered his son to sleep with his older half sister Nyamhita who became widely known as Nehanda This incest ritual was believed to have resulted in the increase of Matope s rule and empire Matope handed over a part of his empire to Nehanda who became so powerful and well known that her spirit lived on in the human bodies of various spirit mediums until almost 500 years later when it was believed to occupy the body of the Mazoe Nehanda During periods of possession by the spirit spirit mediums were believed to be speaking with the voice and personality of the original Nehanda and not with their own 9 Biography of Nehanda Charwe Nyakasikana editCharwe Nyakasikana was born in 1840 in what is today called the Chishawasha District located in Central Mashonaland She was the daughter of a man named Chitaura who was the younger son of Shayachimwe Shayachimwe founded the Hwata dynasty in the upper Mazowe valley in the late eighteenth century 10 She married and had two daughters and a son but the name of her husband is not recalled 11 12 Living in the hills around Mazoe Zimbabwe in the mid 19th century were various subchiefs including Chidamba In Chidamba s village lived Charwe Nyakasikana who was considered to be the female incarnation of the oracle spirit Nehanda D N Beach suggests that she became possessed by the spirit in 1884 13 As medium of the spirit Nehanda Nyakasikana made oracular pronouncements and performed traditional ceremonies that were thought to ensure rain and good crops She held great authority even before the 1896 7 rebellion She was a powerful woman and staunchly committed to upholding traditional Shona culture In a map drawn by missionaries c 1888 displaying work by the Church there is a village called Nehanda s Mbuya Nehanda was instrumental in organising the nationwide participation in the First Chimurenga of 1896 7 King Lobengula recognised her as a powerful spiritual medium in the land During the arrival of the first European settlers Nehanda Charwe Nyakasikana occupied an important and influential position in the religious hierarchy in Mashonaland where she is the only recorded woman known to have held such a significant position during the 19th century 14 Spirit mediums at first promoted good relations between the Zezuru people and early European settlers As white settlement increased in the land according to sources Nehanda initially welcomed them by the pioneers and counseled her followers to be friendly towards them Don t be afraid of them she said as they are only traders but take a black cow to them and say this is the meat with which we greet you However relationships became strained when the settlers started imposing taxes on the Matabele and conscripting them for various labor projects Following the imposition of a hut tax and other tax assessments in 1894 both the Ndebele and Shona people revolted in June 1896 in what became known as the First Chimurenga or Second Matabele War The rebellion in Mashonaland at least was encouraged by traditional religious leaders including Nyakasikana Due to the cultural beliefs of the local people the leading roles behind the rebellion were three spirit mediums The rebellion was initiated in Matebeland in May 1896 led by Mukwati In October 1896 Kaguvi and Nehanda from Mashonaland joined in these were the three critical people behind the rebellion citation needed Kaguvi aka Kagubi was believed to be the spirit husband of the other great Shona spirit Nehanda and it may have been this connection which enabled him to persuade Mbuya Nehanda to preach the gospel of war in Mashonaland which led to the first Chimurenga The role as well as the influence of the spirit mediums in form of Kaguvi and Nehanda cannot be understated As far as the people were concerned Nehanda and Kaguvi were the voices of God aka Mwari Kaguvi and later Nehanda after being convinced by Kaguvi preached that according to Mwari the cause of all the trouble that had come upon the land was the white man They had brought the locusts and the rinderpest and to crown it all the owners of the cattle which had died were not allowed to eat the meat of the carcasses which had to be burned or buried Mwari decreed that the white men were to be driven from the country that the natives had nothing to fear because Mwari would turn the bullets of the white man into water A public press photograph was taken of Nehanda and Kaguvi in 1897 to display their success 15 After the end of the rebellion in 1897 Nyakasikana was captured and charged with the murder of Native Commissioner Henry Hawkins Pollard in 1896 She was found guilty after eyewitnesses claimed that she had ordered an associate to chop Pollard s head off Consequently she was hanged in March 1898 16 17 Much mythology grew up around the difficulty involved in killing her 18 Legacy editNehanda s heroism became a significant source of inspiration in the nationalist struggle for liberation in the 1960s and 1970s Her name is now usually prefixed by the respectful title of Mbuya or grandmother a title also given to female spirit mediums amp ancestors in African spirituality The maternity section of Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare is named after her The College of Health Sciences of the University of Zimbabwe is located there as well 19 Statue editIn May 2021 a statue of Mbuya Nehanda was unveiled in Zimbabwe s capital city Harare along Julias Nyerere Way where the road meets Samora Machel Avenue 20 21 Zimbabwean sculptor David Guy Mutasa designed the statue of Mbuya Nehanda 22 References edit Mazama Ama 23 April 2019 Charwe Encyclopaedia Britannica Dube Zorodzai 10 October 2018 The ancestors violence and democracy in Zimbabwe PDF Verbum et Ecclesia 39 1 3 doi 10 4102 ve v39i1 1875 via ISSN Online 2074 7705 The Suppressed Histories Female Liberators Retrieved 1 May 2006 Beach D N 1998 An Innocent Woman Unjustly Accused Charwe Medium of the Nehanda Mhondoro Spirit and the 1896 97 Central Shona Rising in Zimbabwe History in Africa 25 27 54 doi 10 2307 3172179 ISSN 0361 5413 JSTOR 3172179 S2CID 162261666 Mazama Ama 2009 Nehanda Encyclopedia of African Religion SAGE Publications Inc doi 10 4135 9781412964623 n280 ISBN 9781412936361 Nehanda Shona religion Encyclopaedia Britannica Retrieved 26 April 2019 History profile of Mbuya Nehanda Mbuya Nehanda Retrieved 16 May 2006 Nehanda Shona religion Encyclopaedia Britannica Retrieved 26 April 2019 Beach D N 1998 An Innocent Woman Unjustly Accused Charwe Medium of the Nehanda Mhondoro Spirit and the 1896 97 Central Shona Rising in Zimbabwe History in Africa 25 27 54 doi 10 2307 3172179 ISSN 0361 5413 JSTOR 3172179 S2CID 162261666 Beach D N 1998 An Innocent Woman Unjustly Accused Charwe Medium of the Nehanda Mhondoro Spirit and the 1896 97 Central Shona Rising in Zimbabwe History in Africa 25 27 54 doi 10 2307 3172179 ISSN 0361 5413 JSTOR 3172179 S2CID 162261666 Hasegawa Tsuyoshi 2017 Bloody Sunday February 26 Brill pp 262 276 doi 10 1163 9789004354937 016 ISBN 9789004354937 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a work ignored help Beach D N 1998 An Innocent Woman Unjustly Accused Charwe Medium of the Nehanda Mhondoro Spirit and the 1896 97 Central Shona Rising in Zimbabwe History in Africa 25 27 54 doi 10 2307 3172179 ISSN 0361 5413 JSTOR 3172179 S2CID 162261666 Beach D N 1 January 1998 An Innocent Woman Unjustly Accused Charwe Medium of the Nehanda Mhondoro Spirit and the 1896 97 Central Shona Rising in Zimbabwe History in Africa 25 27 54 29 doi 10 2307 3172179 JSTOR 3172179 S2CID 162261666 Mutunhu Tendai 1976 1977 Nehanda of Zimbabwe Rhodesia the story of a woman liberation leader and fighter OCLC 772541723 Yvonne Vera The fearless taboo queen Ivor Hartmann Munyori Literary Journal March April 2009 http archive kubatana net html archive artcul 090415ih asp sector ARTCUL amp year 0 amp range start 1 The Struggle for Zimbabwe The Chimurenga War David Martin and Phyllis Johnson Zimbabwe Publishing House 1981 Modern Africa A social and political history 2nd ed Basil Davidson Longman Group 1989 Keller Mary 2005 The Hammer and the Flute Women Power and Spirit Possession Baltimore Maryland Johns Hopkins University Press p 139 ISBN 978 0 8018 8188 6 Herald Editorial Comment Nehanda statue We make our own history The Herald Retrieved 15 May 2022 Zimbabwe unveils statue of icon Grandmother Nehanda Deutsche Welle 25 May 2021 President Mnangagwa unveils Mbuya Nehanda statue in Harare Herald The Sculptor explains Mbuya Nehanda statue The Herald Retrieved 31 May 2021 Further reading edit nbsp Africa portalVera Yvonne 1993 Nehanda Novel Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Nehanda Charwe Nyakasikana amp oldid 1179152498, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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