The Shona Peoples: An Ethnography of the Contemporary Shona, with Special Reference to Their Religion

401 Pages·2000·161.56 MB·English

by  Michael F. C. Bourdillon

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THE SHONA PEOPLES
Shona Heritage Series: Volume 1
THE
SHONA PEOPLES
REVISED EDITION
AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE CONTEMPORARY
SHONA, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THEIR
RELIGION
by M.F.C. Bourdillon
D. Phil. (Oxon.)
MAMBO PRESS
MAMBO PRESS
P.O. Box 779, Gweru
P, Bag 66002, Kopje,Harare
P. Bag 921S, Gokomere, Masvingo
THE SHONA PEOPLES
1st print 1976
2nd revised edition 1982
3rd revised edition 1987
Cover design by Burford Hurry
Copyright © 1976, 1982 and 1987 M.F.C. Bourdillon
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise without prior permission from the publisher.
ISBN 0 86922 188 4
Printed and published in Zimbabwe
by Mambo Press, Senga Road, Gweru
1987
CONTENTS
Prefaces ix
Acknowledgements xix
CHAPTER 1
Historical background 1
The sources of Shona history 3
Shona history to the fifteenth century 6
Later Shona history 11
CHAPTER 2
Kinship and Village Organisation 21
Patrilineal kinship 23
The mother and mother’s kin 31
Shona marriage 36
The position of women 50
The village 57
CHAPTER 3
From Subsistence to Cash Economy 65
The land 67
Subsistence farming 71
Commercial farming 79
Migrant labour 87
The use of wealth 97
CHAPTER 4
Chief ship 101
The chiefdom 103
The appointment and instalment of a new chief 106
The role of the chief 111
Chiefship and government administration 118
CHAPTER 5
Courts 125
Aims and procedures of traditional Shona courts 127
Divorce cases 133
Reconciliation and the administration of law 135
Shona courts today 138
CHAPTER 6
Sickness and Personal Misfortune 147
Consulting the medicine man 149
Divining 151
Treatment 160
Becoming a n’anga 163
The treatment of sickness today 166
CHAPTER 7
Witchcraft 171
The belief in witchcract 173
The paradigm of witchcraft 174
Sorcerers 179
Suspicions of witchcraft 183
Reactions to witchcraft 187
Witchcraft in daily life 192
Witchcraft eradication 194
CHAPTER 8
Death and After 197
Death and burial 199
After the funeral 205
Settling the spirit of the deceased 209
The inheritance ceremony 214
Kinship and the rituals of death 217
The spiritual aspect of man 219
CHAPTER 9
Traditional Religion in the Family 225
Family spirit elders 227
Angry spirits 233
Spirit possession 236
Alien Spirits 242
Spirit elders in modern life 247
CHAPTER 10
Traditional Religion at the Tribal Level 251
Lion spirits 253
Rituals to territorial spirits 260
Lion spirit mediums 263
Sayings of the spirits 269
Unity across chiefdom boundaries 272
The high god 277
CHAPTER 11
New Religions 283
Mission churches 285
New independent churches 292
The African Apostolic Church of Johane Maranke 297
Faith-healing 302
Interrelations between religious groups 305
CHAPTER 12
Becoming Urban 308
The attraction of town life 311
Family life in the towns 314
New forms of union 319
Voluntary associations 322
Social control 325
Stratification 327
BIBLIOGRAPHY 333
INDEX 348
INDEX OF MAPS, DIAGRAMS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
Early Shona migrations
Shona terms of cognatic kinship
► following p. 28
Typical homestead in the bush
Homesteads in Chibi and Chikwaka
,
Operating ox-drawn plough
Poor subsistence farming
V following p. 76
Progressive farmer
Irrigation plot in Chilimanzi
N’anga
Two sets of ‘hakata’ \ following p. 140
Instruments used by the n’anga
Offering for a deceased family head
Possessed hosts of family spirit elders
Shrine to a territorial spirit ■ following p. 220
Ceremonies in honour of a territorial spirit
Apostles of John Maranke
A gathering of Zionists
The church of Mai Chaza r following p. 284
RC church at Serima I
Different scenes of urban life following p. 312