Zulu Clan Essays - Zulu People, Shaka, Mfecane, Zulu Language

Zulu Clan In the 1820's, during a period of social unrest and warfare, the Zulu clan, a Bantu people, rose to political prominence under the great King Shaka in present-day South Africa. This period is called mfecane, or crushing because it was characterized by Shaka's tyrannous reign during which he conquered neighboring peoples and established a kingdom for the Zulu people on South Africa's eastern coast. The word zulu was used in 1824 to refer to a war-like race of South African Blacks. (Ngubane, 1977) The British characterization of Shaka as a monster, however, is now seen as a propagandist attempt to disguise their own interests in procuring land and labor in the region. In fact, much of the violent disruption and displacement of people was probably due to European intervention with the slave trade and their demands for land, cattle. Nonetheless, Shaka is called by many the Black Napoleon because of his short-lived, but impressive, period of glory. This period of greatness came to an end with the eventual defeat of King Shaka and the annexation of the Zulu kingdom to Natal, the British state on the eastern coast. (Ngubane, 1977) The Zulu people are now enmeshed in South Africa's modern, industrial economy and society, with the largest population of them still in the region of KwaZulu Natal on the eastern coast. There has been an adaptation of traditional beliefs to allow for Christian, medical, agricultural, mechanical and other rational, scientific approaches of the Europeans. However, despite the cultural diffusion of Western thought and religion among the Zulu people, traditional thinking, according to Berglund (1976), is not only still very much present in Zulu society, but is receiving more and more attention especially by those who live in rural areas. Perhaps the survival of indigenous belief systems is due in part to the fact that in times of crisis, people turn to tradition as a comfort and as a means of unifying themselves. Considering the social trauma associated with colonialism and apartheid the Zulu responded by clinging more tenaciously to their heritage as a means of psychological survival in a society which systematically degraded and disrespected them as a people. Berglund (1976) points out that it is the rituals and symbols of a society which express the relationships between members of that society and makes living in that society a meaningful experience. The focus of this paper will be centered on traditional Zulu spiritual beliefs and, to whatever extent possible, not those adapted to Western thought. In providing first the basic cosmological beliefs and then moving on to the central theme of traditional spiritual beliefs involving deceased ancestors and their role in Zulu society, my goal will be to demonstrate how social harmony is maintained as a result of the observance of these spiritual beliefs and practices. According to traditional belief, uMveliqangi, the Lord of the Sky, emerged full-blown from the reeds in the realm of the sky. Man later emerged from the reeds and was let down to earth through a hole in the floor of the sky. This explains the origin of the Zulu clan name, zulu meaning of the sky. The Lord of the Sky then sent a chameleon down to earth to tell the people that they will not die. Later on, he sent a lizard to tell the people they will die and, since the chameleon had stopped to feed on some berries along the way, the lizard easily overtook him and delivered his message of death first. When the chameleon later arrived, the people wouldn't believe him and thus, humans are mortal. (Ngubane, 1977) The traditional concept of the sky is interesting, according to myth the sky is a big blue rock stretched across the surface of the earth (which is flat). The earth is held up on the horns of four great bulls who at times, cause earthquakes by shaking their heads. The realm of the sky is believed to have perpetual light which filters through the floor of the sky at night (we see these holes of light as stars). These holes are made by the Lord of the Sky's cattle as they tramp on muddy ground during the rainy season. This is regarded as proof