Bomvana

Bomvana Abakweta being painted

The Bomvana people, also called AmaBomvana, are a Southern African ethnic group. Their traditional homeland has been in Elliotdale, in the Transkei region of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The name AmaBomvana translates to “the red ones” so named after the red and orange ochre they cover their faces in. Large portions of the Bomvana people currently reside in the district of Elliotdale in the Transkei region between the Umtata and Mabse Rivers, in a region that has rolling hills, meadows, rivulets and rivers where bushes and trees grow.

Language

The Bomvana people are a Bantu speaking group of people who form a part of the southern Nguni, including the Xhosa, Mpondo, Fingo, Ngqika, Baca, and others. They speak isiXhosa a language which is spoken by more than 3.9 million South Africans. The languages of the AmaBomvana, AbaTembu and AmaMpondomise speakers are closely related to the standard variant of Xhosa.^[1] The AmaBomvane intermarried with the San and Khoi people at an earlier stage and this can be picked up in their language that has various clicks.

Origins

According to their own tradition, the Bomvana people originated from the Amanguema, a people from Kwa-Zulu Natal. The AmaBomvana are descended from Nomafu, the first of the AmaNgwana tribe and from Bomvu, who gave rise to the AmaBomvu tribe. Bomvu's Great Son, Nyonemnyam, carried on the Bomvu dynasty. His son Njilo is the progenitor of the AmaBomvana.^[2] The AmaBomvana people left Natal in 1650 to settle in Pondoland after a dispute over cattle. After the death of Njilo’s wife, their grandson Dibandlela refused to send, in accordance with custom, the isizi cattle to his grandfather. This led to an open dispute. Dibandlela fled with his supporters and their cattle to settle in Pondoland ^[2]

The AmaBomvana remained in Pondoland until 1837. After experiencing two centuries of tribal wars, the amaBomvana were driven out of Pondoland into the area east of the Mbashe river, including the present-day Cwebe reserve and they put themselves under the wing of the Gcaleka people with permission from the amaXhosa chief, Hintsa.^[3]

They are historically related and share a common lineage with the AmaMpondomise, AmaXesibe, AbakwaMkhize, AmaBomvu and AmaMpondo as they all have related cultural similarities. The passing of four centuries since their division and the influence of neighboring tribal groups have brought about the linguistic and cultural differences, and differences in their rituals and rites of passage that we observe today.^[4]

Agriculture and Husbandry

The Bomvana people are pastoralists and agriculturists, breeding a type of cattle they consider sacred called Bolowana Cattle or Izankayi. Bolowana cattle are used for ploughing and other draft purposes. The possession of land and cattle, for example, is necessary for full participation in the social and religious life of the tribe.^[5]

After their migration from Kwa-Zulu Natal Bomvana people remained affluent across the Mbashe river, because their chief, Ntshunge, had refused to participate in the prophecy of Nongqawuse, the Xhosa prophetess whose prophecies led to a millennialist movement that culminated in the Xhosa cattle-killing movement and famine (1854–1858). While most of the other Xhosa tribes suffered famine because of this prophecy they had obeyed, the Bomvana people grew their cattle and farmed their lands.

After the turn of the century subsistence for the AmaBomvane people and other groups living around the Mbashe river became more problematic. Two waves of cattle disease, in 1897 and 1910, decimated the herds of the Bomvana and plunged them into poverty and dependency.^[6]

The Bomvana tribe have been said to have traded tobacco and cannabis with the Amapondo and other Xhosa speaking tribes for metal ^[7]

Early Education

Education had effectively split the Amabomvana into two groups: the “red” illiterate people and the “school”. The red people, or amaqaba, continue to paint themselves with red ochre and are classified as educated in traditional ways and the “school” people, or "amaqhobhoka”, are people who have left traditional life and are usually Christians and educated in Western ways.

In 1878, the countryside which the AmaBomvana occupied was involved in a war and Moni, the chief of the Bomvanas, was unable to maintain neutrality so applied to be received as a British subject. The high commissioner accepted his offer, and took possession of the district surrounding the Mbase River, called Elliotdale, and brought the area under the British flag, ensuring the protection of the AmaBomvana. In the aftermath of the annexation of the Transkei in the 1890s, measures to disempower the traditional leaders and extend the authority of the colonialists brought dislocation to the societies, which mostly depended on traditional leadership like the Bomvana and the Gcalecka.

Similarly, the impact of migrant labour during the apartheid years has withhdrawn from their tribal society and mobilised men between the ages of 18-50 for the labour market.

Beliefs

Among those who maintain traditional beliefs, religion, ancestor worship and herbal medicine have a close relationship. The Bomvana feel themselves totally dependent upon their own ancestors in all the vital aspects of life: procreation, cattle and other property, as well as in the well-being of the family. According to the Bomvana, UThixo (God) existed from the very beginning and emerged from the sea. UThixo was the first ancestor from whom the people originated.

See also

• Xhosa clan names
• Nguni people
• The Heart of Redness (2000), novelist Zakes Mda

References

External links

• Social Organisation and Ceremonial Institutions of the Bomvana
• The Xhosa