Table Of Contentmacgonagle mech 3 7/27/07 10:01 AM Page 1
Crafting identity
in zimbabwe and
Mozambique
E
Elizabeth MacGonagle
“Elizabeth MacGonagle has written an extremely important and meticulously researched historical study of the
complex and contested Ndau-speaking region on the Zimbabwe-Mozambican frontier. This excellent study
explores the issues of identity formation and memory, crucial for understanding contemporary politics in Mozam-
bique. Essential reading for students interested in the history of this strategic borderland.”
— allen isaacman, regents professor of history, university of minnesota
I
n an examination of historical patterns over four centuries, Elizabeth MacGonagle reveals both
continuities and changes in the crafting of identity in southeast Africa. This work challenges
conventional approaches to the study of ethnicity and “tribalism” in Africa by showing that con-
temporary ethnicity is not merely a creation of the colonial and postcolonial eras, but has much
deeper roots in the precolonial past. By focusing on collective historical experiences that affected
ethnic identity before the influence of European colonialism, MacGonagle contends that the long
history behind ethnicity reveals African agency as central to the formation of “tribalism.”
With this first comprehensive history of the Ndau of eastern Zimbabwe and central Mozam-
bique, MacGonagle moves beyond national borders to show how cultural identities are woven from
historical memories that predate the arrival of missionaries and colonial officials on the African con-
tinent. Drawing on archival records and oral histories from throughout the Ndau region, her study
analyzes the complex relationships between social identity and political power from 1500 to 1900.
Ndauness has been created and recreated within communities through marriages and social
structures, cultural practices that mark the body, and rituals that help to sustain shared beliefs.
A sense of being Ndau continues to exist into the present, despite different colonial histories,
postcolonial trajectories, and official languages in Zimbabwe and Mozambique. MacGonagle’s
study of ethnic identities among the marginalized Ndau sheds light on the conflicts and divi-
sions that haunt southeast Africa today. This compelling interpretation of the crafting of identi-
ty in one corner of Africa has relevance for readers interested in identity formation and ethnic
conflict around the world.
Elizabeth MacGonagleis assistant professor of African History at the University of Kansas.
Front Cover: Eresi Mashava after an interview with the author in Mhakwe, eastern
Zimbabwe, July 1999. Photo by author. Back Cover: The Sithole homestead in ™xHSLFSAy462570zv*:+:!:+:!
Chikore, Zimbabwe, June 1999. Photo by author.
Cover design by Adam B. Bohannon.
university of rochester press
668 Mt. Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620-2731
P.O. Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP12 3DF, UK
www.urpress.com ISBN-10: 1–58046–257–X
ISBN-13: 978–1–58046–257–0
CRAFTING IDENTITY IN ZIMBABWE
AND MOZAMBIQUE
Toyin Falola, Senior Editor
The Frances Higginbotham Nalle Centennial Professor in History
University of Texas at Austin
(ISSN: 1092–5228)
A complete list of titles in the Rochester Studies in African History and the
Diaspora, in order of publication, may be found at the end of this book.
CRAFTING IDENTITY IN ZIMBABWE
AND MOZAMBIQUE
Elizabeth MacGonagle
UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER PRESS
Copyright © 2007 Elizabeth MacGonagle
All rights reserved.Except as permitted under current legislation, no part of this work may
be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system, published, performed in public, adapted,
broadcast, transmitted, recorded, or reproduced in any form or by any means, without
the prior permission of the copyright owner.
First published 2007
University of Rochester Press
668 Mt. Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620, USA
www.urpress.com
and Boydell & Brewer Limited
PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK
www.boydellandbrewer.com
ISBN-13: 978–1–58046–257–0
ISBN-10: 1–58046–257–X
ISSN: 1092–5228
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
MacGonagle, Elizabeth.
Crafting identity in Zimbabwe and Mozambique / Elizabeth MacGonagle.
p. cm. — (Rochester studies in African history and the
diaspora, ISSN 1092-5228 ; v. 30)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-58046-257-0 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 1-58046-257-X
1. Ndau (African people)—Ethnic identity. 2. Ndau (African
people)—Social life and customs. 3. Ndau (African people)—History.
I. Title.
DT3328.N38M33 2007
305.896(cid:1)3975—dc22
2007012900
A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
This publication is printed on acid-free paper.
Printed in the United States of America.
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations vi
Acknowledgments vii
1 A Mixed Pot: The Crafting of Identity 1
2 The Historical Landscape of Southeast Africa 25
3 Early Exchanges: Political and Economic Contexts 39
4 Ties That Bind: Social Structures and Cultural Practices 53
5 Keeping Up Appearances: Identity and Adornment 70
6 Brewing Beer, Making Rain, and Holding Court 81
7 Memories and Identities in the Shadow of Ngungunyana 91
8 Past and Present in the Ndau Region 106
Notes 115
Glossary of Ndau and Portuguese Words 163
Bibliography 165
Index 185
ILLUSTRATIONS
Maps
1.1 Major rivers between the Zambezi and the Save 4
1.2 Early states in the Sofala hinterland, ca. 1700 6
1.3 Ethnographic map showing the eastern Shona region 9
1.4 Twentieth-century ethnographic map of Mozambique 10
1.5 Portion of 1867 map showing the wider Shona region 12
1.6 Portion of 1889 map of Mozambique 13
1.7 Doke’s map of the distribution of Shona-speaking peoples 15
1.8 Fieldwork area in Zimbabwe and Mozambique 21
7.1 Extent of the Gaza state 94
Figures
1.1 Building in stone, Chibvumani ruins in southeastern Zimbabwe 8
7.2 Ngungunyana’s warriors 100
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Chafamba chapenga.
One who has set out on a journey cannot help being foolhardy.
—Shona proverb
Numerous people, both at home and abroad, helped me navigate to the end
of this project. Scholars gave generously of their time and knowledge, while
friends and family kept watch as a supportive crew. I heartily recognize my
mother, Cinny MacGonagle, who has always provided the right charts and the
best harbor. Over the past several years, colleagues at the University of Kansas
were there to see that I stayed on course.
The elders of the Ndau region made this work possible, and I am grateful
for their willingness to share a small part of their history with me. I am deeply
indebted to my four assistants: Pinimidzai Sithole in Zimbabwe, and Jaime
Maconha Augusto, Farai (António Francisco) Raposo, and Pedro Castigo in
Mozambique. Their contributions helped ensure successful fieldwork.
Looking back, it is difficult to imagine working with anyone else, for these
scholars made the many journeys and interview experiences among the Ndau
enjoyable and productive.
This book began as a dissertation on history and identity in the Ndau
region. As a graduate student at Michigan State University, I received support,
assistance, and funding from the African Studies Center, Department of
History, College of Arts and Letters, and the Graduate School. Advice and
encouragement came from many places and professors, including the
Africanist contingent of Bill Derman, Elizabeth Eldredge, Harold Marcus,
John Metzler, David Robinson, and David Wiley. Peter Beattie, Harry Reed,
and Steve Averill helped me explore other regions beyond Africa. Harold
Marcus, David Robinson, and Peter Beattie deserve special recognition for
seeing the dissertation through to the end with grace and wit. Paul Wendland
drafted the original maps, and Darin Grauberger transformed them into their
final state at the University of Kansas.
Fieldwork in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Portugal in the 1990s was car-
ried out with grants from Fulbright-Hays, the Social Science Research
Council, the Luso-American Development Foundation, and the National
Library of Lisbon. The University of Kansas provided further assistance for
viii Acknowledgments
writing and fieldwork in 2003 and 2004 with grants from the General
Research Fund. A Fulbright to Iceland in 2004 allowed for more time to write.
A fellowship with the American Philosophical Society in 2005 enabled me to
conduct further research in Mozambique. The Friends of the Hall Center for
the Humanities at the University of Kansas supported publication with a sub-
vention award. I gratefully acknowledge all of this financial support.
I walked down many paths during the course of fieldwork, and I appreciate
the cordial receptions I received at the end of them. In Mozambique, Gerhard
Liesegang not only shares his insight into Mozambican history each time I
visit, but he also provided me with a place to stay during the elections in 1994.
David Hedges, Solange Macamo, Amélia Neves de Souto, Luís Covane, and
Benigna Zimba have been helpful fonts of knowledge at the Universidade
Eduardo Mondlane, along with the libraries of the Centro de Estudos
Africanos and the Archaeology and Anthropology Department. I would also
like to thank Fernando Dava and ARPAC (in Maputo, Beira, and Chimoio) for
their support. The staff at the Arquivo Histórico de Moçambique were most
accommodating, and this work is enriched by the many sources that António
Sopa brought to my attention in the archives. In Machaze, the staff of CARE
graciously provided lodging in their compound. The acampamento in
Moribane, a very special place, also hosted us. Rachel Chapman, James
Pfeiffer, and Wendy Johnson provided good food and company in Chimoio.
In Maputo, Carrie Manning, John Fleming, Heidi Gengenbach, Lloys Frates,
Anne Pitcher, Martin Murray, Allen Isaacman, Sidney Bliss, Eric Allina-
Pissano, Rob Marlin, Daphne Sorensen, Kathleen Sheldon, Sherilynn Young,
and Jeanne Marie Penvenne provided support, encouragement, and com-
panionship. Research in Maputo would have been an entirely different
endeavor without their presence over the years.
In Zimbabwe, the Mpofus provided me with a home away from home in
Chikore that was much appreciated. I would also like to thank Lorraine and
Bill Giles and Mbuya G. for providing transport and conversation in and
around Chikore and Chimanimani. David and Melanie McDermott Hughes
hosted us in Chipinge and provided not only a ride to Vhimba, but also more
importantly an entrée into the community. Ruben Zuze was a gracious host in
Vhimba, where alas, my time was too short. Elias Nyamunda made fieldwork
in Vhimba run smoothly. His keen sensibilities allowed us to meet and inter-
view many elders in the area. Elias also conducted several interviews in
Vhimba for this study. Gilbert Pwiti, Innocent Pikirayi, and the staff at the
University of Zimbabwe’s History Department made sure that my time at UZ
was productive. Likewise, the staff at the National Archives of Zimbabwe facil-
itated my archival research in Harare. Colleagues in Zimbabwe including
Diana Jeater, Tony King, Mark Guizlo, and Heather Holtzclaw provided com-
pany and support for this endeavor. Others, in ways both large and small, were
there to assist and encourage—including many unnamed in the United States
and Portugal.
Acknowledgments ix
This project builds on the careful and thoughtful work of other scholars
steeped in the region. Allen Isaacman always offered warm guidance as this
project progressed over the years from a dissertation to a book. James
Bannerman (and his detailed maps) provided insight into early Shona history.
Anne Pitcher has served as a wonderful guide both in Mozambique and the
United States. Finally, I deeply regret the loss of David Beach of the University
of Zimbabwe, who died in February 1999. His copious work in Shona history
is unparalleled, and he displayed an unwavering enthusiasm and support for
my investigations into precolonial history. From our very first correspondence
and meetings in 1994, I appreciated his indefatigable encouragement and
kind assistance. This manuscript, regrettably not enriched directly by his com-
ments, builds upon his scholarship and enthusiasm. I worked on this book
with fond memories and a shared passion for the study of the region’s early
history. Nhasi haasiri mangwana—Today is not tomorrow.1
Description:With this first comprehensive history of the Ndau of eastern Zimbabwe and central Mozambique, Elizabeth MacGonagle moves beyond national borders to show how cultural identities are woven from historical memories that predate the arrival of missionaries and colonial officials on the African continent
