The Xhosa people ( , ; ) are an ethnic group in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and Lesotho. They are the second largest ethnic group in South Africa and are native speakers of the isiXhosa language.
The Xhosa people are descendants of Nguni clans who settled in the southeastern part of Southern Africa displacing the original inhabitants, the Khoisan. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Xhosa people have inhabited the area since the 7th century.
Presently, over ten million Xhosa-speaking people are distributed across Southern Africa. In 1994 the self-governing bantustans of Transkei and Ciskei were incorporated into South Africa, becoming the Eastern Cape province.
the majority of Xhosa speakers, approximately 19.8 million, lived in the Eastern Cape, followed by the Western Cape (approximately 1 million), Gauteng (971,045), the Free State (546,192), KwaZulu-Natal (219,826), North West (214,461), Mpumalanga (46,553), the Northern Cape (51,228), and Limpopo (14,225).
There is a small but significant Xhosa-speaking (Mfengu) community in Zimbabwe, and their language, isiXhosa, is recognized as an official national language. This community was brought by Cecil John Rhodes for cheap labour in Rhodesian mines in early 20th century.
History
Some archaeological evidence has been discovered that suggests that Xhosa-speaking people have lived in the Eastern Cape area since at least the 7th century. The modern Xhosa are Nguni people.
Origins
The Xhosa people are descendants of the ancestors of Ngunis. Xhosa oral history also mentions a historical settlement called 'Eluhlangeni' believed to have been in East Africa in which the Ngunis lived in for some time before continuing with their migration.
Upon crossing mountains and rivers in South Africa, these farm-working agropastoralists brought their cattle and goats with them and absorbed the weaker San groups in the region. They also brought weapons, notably their assegais and their shields and would form groups or chiefdoms and kingdoms mainly in what is now the Eastern Cape.
Kingdom
According to oral tradition, the modern Xhosa Kingdom was founded somewhere before the 15th century by Tshawe (whom the royal clan of the Xhosas is named after) who overthrew his brother Cirha (assisted by his brother Jwarha) with the help of the clan of the amaMpondomise Kingdom. Tshawe and his army then incorporated formerly independent Nguni clans into the Xhosa Kingdom. Khoekhoe tribes were incorporated, including the Inqua, the Giqwa, and the (both Khoi and Sotho origin).
Formerly independent clans (many of Khoekhoe origin) and chiefdoms in the region became tributary to the and spoke isiXhosa as their primary language.
The Xhosa polity achieved political ascendancy over most of the Cape Khoe extending to the very fringes of the Cape Peninsula.
With the settlement of the Cape by Europeans in 1652, the native Khoisan populations were gradually pushed eastwards until, in the 1700s, the borders of the Cape Colony had pushed populations far enough east (with relations between colonist and native significantly broken down) to create a critical mass of hostile population to resist the colonists in the Eastern Cape. This sparked off the Cape frontier wars, which represent some of the longest military resistance to colonialism.
The historical end result would be the containment of large portions of the Cape native population into native reserves in the Easternmost part of the Cape. However, these populations would also continually serve as labour inside the Cape Colony. These native reserves would be re-branded "homelands" in the 20th century and would only be fully dismantled in 1994, with populations moving back into the wider Cape.
In the 19th century, the Xhosas fought and repulsed many tribes that were escaping the Zulus in the Colony of Natal, this was during the historical mfecane. Those who were accepted were assimilated into the Xhosa cultural way of life and followed Xhosa traditions. The Xhosas called these various tribes AmaMfengu, meaning wanderers, and were made up of clans such as the , , , and Rhadebe. To this day, the descendants of the amaMfengu are part of the Xhosa people and they speak isiXhosa and practice the Xhosa culture.
Xhosa unity and ability to fight off colonial encroachment was to be weakened by the famines and political divisions that followed the cattle-killing movement of 1856–1858. Historians now view this movement as a millennialist response, both directly to a lung disease spreading among Xhosa cattle at the time, and less directly to the stress to Xhosa society caused by the continuing loss of their territory and autonomy.
Some historians argue that this early absorption into the wage economy is the ultimate origin of the long history of trade union membership and political leadership among Xhosa people. That history manifests itself today in high degrees of Xhosa representation in the leadership of the African National Congress (ANC), South Africa's ruling political party in the government.
Language
Xhosa is an agglutinative tonal language categorized under Bantu linguistic classification. While the Xhosas call their language "isiXhosa", it is usually referred to as "Xhosa" in English. Written Xhosa uses a Latin alphabet–based system. Xhosa is spoken by about 18% of the South African population, and has some mutual intelligibility with Zulu, especially Zulu spoken in urban areas. Many Xhosa speakers, particularly those living in urban areas, also speak Zulu and/or Afrikaans and/or English.
Rituals surrounding umtshato (Xhosa marriage) Xhosa marriage, , is one that is filled with a number of customs and rituals which relate to the upkeep of Xhosa traditional practices. These rituals have been practiced for decades by the Xhosa people and have been incorporated into modern day Xhosa marriages as well. The purpose of the practices is to bring together two different families and to give guidance to the newly wed couple throughout.
Ukuthwalwa To start off the procedures the male intending to marry goes through which entails him choosing his future bride and making his intentions of marriage known, however this practice was not done by all the tribes within the Xhosa people. In modern day, the man and woman would most likely have been in courtship or a relationship prior to . Decades before would entail legal bridal abduction, where the man could choose a woman of his liking to be his bride and go into negotiations with the family of the bride without her knowledge or consent. She would have to abide to the marriage as per tradition.
Isiduko Following , the man will then be in discussion with his parents or relatives to inform them of his choice in bride. During this discussion the clan name, , of the woman is discussed. If it were found that the woman and the man share the same clan name they would not be allowed to proceed with the marriage as it is said that people with the same clan name are of the same relation and cannot be wed.
Ikhazi Once discussions with the family are complete and satisfactory information about the woman is acquired then the family of the man will proceed to appoint marriage negotiators. It is these very negotiators that will travel to the family of the woman to make known the man and his intentions. Once the negotiators reach the family of the woman they will be kept in the kraal, , of the woman's family. If the family does not possess a kraal they will simply be kept outside the household as they will not be allowed to enter the household without the acknowledgment and acceptance of the woman's family. It is here where the (dowry) negotiations will begin.
The family of the woman will give them a bride-price and a date for which they must return to pay that price. The bride-price is dependent on numerous things such as her level of education, the wealth status of her family in comparison to that of the man's family, what the man stands to gain in the marriage and the overall desirability of the woman. The payment of the bride-price could be in either cattle or money depending on the family of the woman. The modern Xhosa families would rather prefer money as most are situated in the urban cities where there would be no space nor permits for livestock.
Upon return of the man's family on the given date, they will pay the bride-price and bring along gifts of offering such as livestock and alcoholic beverages, , to be drunk by the family of the bride. Once the from the man's negotiators is accepted then they will be considered married by the Xhosa tradition and the celebrations would commence. These include slaughtering of the livestock as a grateful gesture to their ancestors as well as pouring a considerable amount of the alcoholic beverages on the ground of the bride's household to give thanks to their ancestors. The groom's family is then welcomed into the family and traditional beer, , will be prepared for the groom's family as a token of appreciation from the bride's family.
Ukuyalwa To solidify their unity the family of the bride will head to the groom's household where the elders will address her with regard to how to carry herself and dress appropriately at her newly found household, this is called . Furthermore, a new name will also be given to her by the women of the groom's family and this name signifies the bond of the two families.
Xhosa burial practices Burial practices and customs include a specific sequence of events and rituals which need to be performed in order to regard a funeral as dignified. Once the family has been notified that a member has died, the extended family comes together in preparation for the burial of the deceased.
The "" (to accompany) ritual is performed in order to accompany the spirit of the deceased to the land of the ancestors. The local male clan leader or his proxy is the one who facilitates the process. The purpose of is to keep the bonds between the deceased person and the bereaved alive so that the deceased may be able to return later and communicate as an ancestor. During this ritual, an animal such as a goat is slaughtered. A larger animal like a cow may also be slaughtered for an important person like a head of the family whilst a goat without a blemish may be slaughtered for others.
Further customs include the emptying the main bedroom of the bereaving family, known as ''. This room is where most of the last respects will be paid by family and friends. The emptying of the room is done in order to create space for extended family members to be able to mourn in the main room. The first family members and/or neighbours to arrive arrange the main bedroom to accommodate this seating arrangement by placing a traditional grass mat () or mattress on the floor.
Mourners do not require an invitation to attend a funeral and everyone who can and would like to attend is welcome. This means that the bereaved family has to cater for an unknown number of mourners. Traditionally, mourners were fed with '', which is boiled dried corn and water, and the corn was taken from the family food reserves as well as donated by family members and neighbours. In the 21st century, it is regarded as taboo to feed mourners with '' and, as a result of shame, funeral catering has become a lucrative business for the industry during burial events.
On the day of burial, before extended family members disperse to their homes, the (cleansing) ritual occurs and a goat or sheep or even a fowl is slaughtered.SIPHE POTELWA. (2016) The visual narrative relating to social performance of the Xhosa people during burial. MASTER OF VISUAL ARTS. UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA http://hdl.handle.net/10500/22189 Accessed 15 October 2018Rebekah Lee (2012) Death in Slow Motion: Funerals, Ritual Practice and Road Danger in South Africa, African Studies,71:2,195-211, DOI:10.1080/00020184.2012.702965