ORIGINAL OF ZULU
• Nguni’s
followers sprit up into several family groups and clans and settled down in his
own valley.
• One
of these was a man named Malandella. He later had two son, the young of whom
was called Zulu which means heaven.
• The
Zulu were originally a major clan in what is today Northern KwaZulu-Natal.
• It
founded in 1709 by Zulu nKantombela. According to, The World Book Encyclopedia
(1993) states that, “Zulu, Zoo loo, are the main Bantu- speaking people of
Africa. About 7 million Zulu lived in the Republic of South Africa, mostly in
the Province of Natal.”
• In
the Nguni languages, Zulu or ilizulu or litulu means heaven or sky. At that
time , the area was occupied by many large Nguni communities and clans.
• They
had migrated probably arriving in what is now South Africa in about the 19th
century.
• According
to Ngwane(1997:9) stated that, “In the Zulu language, Amazulu means the Zulu
people and the word Zulu means heaven.
• According
to a Zulu Version of the Creation Story, this name refers to the belief that
the Zulu people come down from heaven.”
• A
small number also lived in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique and Tanzania. Their
language Zulu is a Bantu Language.
SOCIAL ACTIVITIES ZULU
• Socially
Zulu people were engaged in different social activities as follows:-
• Traditionally
the Amazulu had trainings which prepared the youth to adulthood. After that the
girls had written a letter to a boy for courtship by using beads with different
colors that had different messages to relationship. It led the Amazulu to
practice polygamy system.
• Isichei
() analyzed that, during marriage celemonies, were slaughted animals.
• Monogamous
marriage is common among the Zulu especially after converted to
christianity.
• Polygamy
is still practiced particularly in rural kwaZulu-Natal. Post marital residence
is patria local, and woman often adopt the identity of the of the households in
which she has married, even though in daily communication she is called by the
bio name or the name of her father, with the prefix of ma- added.
• Children
belong to their father lineage. The Zulu value marriage, and the process of
getting married involves a host of expensive exchanges with bride-wealth being
the men feature, making the divorce difficult.
• According
to Golan (1990), states that, “Men could not marry till they left the Butho,
and girls often resented their marriage to older men and sometimes eloped”
• Food,
traditionally the Zulu are nomadic farmers whose diet revolved around meat,
grains and wild plants.
• Meat
is served with phutusamp (maize and beans), yams and seasonal greens.
• Zulu meals are a social rituals. Sharing the
same plate or wp is symbolic of friendship and welcome. As a part of a cultural
tenet of sharing. Children eat from one large dish.
• Before
eating hands are washed afterwards. Mounts are rinsed.
ZULU BELIEFS
• Refers to the confidence or the truth that
something is right or good.
• The religious system of amazulu basically mounts
the early Zulu life which lies on traditional worship and Christianity.
• Ancestral
spirits are important in Zulu religious life.
• Offerings
and sacrifices are made to the ancestral for protection, good health and
happiness
• Ancestral
come back in a world in form of dreams, illnesses and sometimes in a shape of
snakes
• Traditionally
the more strongly held Zulu belief was in ancestor spirits (Amatongo or
Amadhozi)who had the power to intervene in peoples lives for good or
ill.(Henry:1870). This beliefs continues to be widespread among the
• Modern
Zulu (Adam:2005).The Zulu also believed in the uses of magic . Anything beyond
their understanding such as bad lucky and illness is considered to be send by
an angry spirit.
• Zulu
people were good in rainmakers. Queens in Zulu were special for creating clouds
by using magic beliefs. These queens were known as majuji. They sacrificed
their first daughters secretly in order to transform clouds to rain.
• Zulu
religion also includes belief in a creator God (unkulunkulu) who is above
interacting in day to day human affairs , although this belief appears to have
originated from by early Christian missionaries to frame the idea of the
Christian God in Zulu terms.(Hexham:1979)
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