Chopi people

Last updated

The Chopi are a Bantu ethnic group of Mozambique. They have lived primarily in the Zavala region of southern Mozambique, in the Inhambane Province. They traditionally lived a life of subsistence agriculture, traditionally living a rural existence, although many were displaced or killed in the civil war that followed Mozambique's liberation from Portuguese colonial rule in 1975. In addition, drought forced many away from their homeland and into the nation's cities.

Contents

The Chopi speak Chichopi, a tonal language in the Bantu family, with many also speaking chiTsonga and Portuguese as secondary languages. They are related to the Tsonga people of Mozambique and South Africa and their neighbors include the Shangaan ethnic group who live to the west, in the Gaza Province, and who invaded Chopi territory in the 19th century. Historically, some Chopi were made subjects under Portuguese protection and others became migrant laborers in South Africa.

The Chopi identify culturally, as a people, with the elephant.

History

According to oral traditions of the people themselves, the Chopi people are part of the original Bantu people who migrated from Central Africa between 100AD and 200AD and settled in parts of Tanzania, Malawi, Northern Zambia, and Mozambique, and are reputed to be the first of the Bantu tribes to establish contact with the San people of South-East Africa. [1] The name of the people is properly spelled as "Bacopi" or "Vacopi" in the Chopi language which is remarkably similar to the Xitsonga language. The name of the Chopi people comes from their use of bows and arrows, which they adopted from the San people as they were the first to interact with the early San bushmen from the area between Tanzania and Mozambique.

The Chopi people in reality are part of the first Thonga (Tonga) people who went on to form various colonies in southern Africa in countries such as Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, and South Africa. The people mastered the art of manufacturing using wood, iron, and clay from a very early stage. They made wooden instruments, smelted iron, and hunted elephants and other animals. Portuguese sailors, who were the first Europeans to arrive in Africa, encountered the Chopi people on the coast of Mozambique in the 1400s. [2] The Portuguese people established trade operations on Chopi territory and many of the Chopi people were conscripted into the Portuguese army as time passed. Breakaway groups migrated away from these parts in the 1640s to settle in South Africa where they founded new kingdoms (such as the N'wanati Kingdom of the Chopi king Gunyule). [3] The Chopi people were well-known craft-makers in Mozambique and in the 1700s traded with the kingdoms of Zimbabwe, which gave rise to great empires such as the Rozwi-Kalanga empire. Chopi tribes included names such as Mondlane, Chivambu, Mbande, Mavila, Masingisa, Chirinda, Makwakwa, and many others.

In the 1820s the Chopi people were invaded by Nguni warlords who left South African territory from the Natal region. Nguni tribes were embroiled in wars between themselves from around 1815 where many tribes were slain at the hands of dominant war lords such as Shaka Zulu and the tribes led by Zwide. The impact of the Nguni wars Mfecane reached the Chopi territory where Manukosi Soshangane and others from Zwide's kingdom overran various parts of Mozambique with the intent of subjugating as many tribes as possible and to control the land's vast resources for gold, iron, ivory, and taxation. The Chopi people at the time were still under Portuguese rule and the Shangaan invaders feared attacking the Chopi people as they were armed with rifles from the Portuguese soldiers and many of them also used bows and poisoned arrows. When the new ruler of Gaza (Nghunghunyana) invaded their territory near the Limpopo River and attempted to subjugate them in 1888, a war ensued between the Chopi people and the Gaza forces that effectively lasted from 1889 and ended in 1895 when Nghunghunyana was defeated by the Portuguese and Chopi soldiers. [4] The Chopi people have managed to sustain their senior traditional leadership from invasion and it exists today in Inhambane, Bileni, and even as far as the Limpopo River at the Mapai territory.

Music and dance

A xylophone of the Chopi, with ten bars and calabash sound boxes below COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Xylofoon met 10 toetsen en kalebas-klankkasten TMnr 0-67.jpg
A xylophone of the Chopi, with ten bars and calabash sound boxes below

The Chopi people are famous for their traditional music, the most famous of their instruments being the mbila (plural: timbila), a xylophone played in large groups. This music was proclaimed a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2005. The music and dance of the timbila is performed in a large orchestra and the dancers put on a show and dance that bears much similarity to the dance style of the Tsonga people of South Africa, particularly the Xibelani dance and other footwork dance styles. Most of the Tsonga traditional music features synthesized marimba instruments and this musical tradition appears to have been carried down from the Chopi people.

In his book The Life of a South African Tribe: The Psychic Life, Henri-Alexandre Junod identified the Chopi people stating that "in the Province of Mozambique the Ba-Chopi are certainly the best musicians" - referring to the Chopi people's mastery of marimbas, xylophones and other native instruments. [5] He further adds that "many timbila are often played together by musicians who form an orchestra. This is rarely the case amongst Thonga but frequently amongst the Ba-Chopi, who are the true "masters" of this instrument (Junod 1913, p. 254). Other instruments used by the Chopi include panpipes, whistles, animal horns, rattles, drums of various sizes, musical bows, and a globular flute with three holes made from the dried shell of the nkuso fruit (bush orange).

Cuisine

The Chopi's traditional foods include cassava (manioc) and cashew nuts. They also produce a number of traditional alcoholic beverages, which are produced from fermented tangerines or cashews.

Films

See also

Related Research Articles

The native folk music of Mozambique has been highly influenced by Portuguese colonisation and local language forms. The most popular style of modern dance music is marrabenta. Mozambican music also influenced another Lusophone music in Brazil, like maxixe, and mozambique style in Cuba and New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tsonga language</span> Bantu language of the Tsonga people of Southern Africa

Tsonga or, natively, Xitsonga, as an endonym, is a Bantu language spoken by the Tsonga people of South Africa. It is mutually intelligible with Tswa and Ronga and the name "Tsonga" is often used as a cover term for all three, also sometimes referred to as Tswa-Ronga. The Xitsonga language has been standardised for both academic and home use. Tsonga is an official language of South Africa, and under the name "Shangani" it is recognised as an official language in the Constitution of Zimbabwe. All Tswa-Ronga languages are recognised in Mozambique. It is not official in Eswatini.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaza Province</span> Province of Mozambique

Gaza is a province of Mozambique. It has an area of 75,709 km2 and a population of 1,422,460, which is the least populous of all the provinces of Mozambique.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swazi people</span> Bantu ethnic group of Southern Africa

The Swazi or Swati are a Bantu ethnic group native to Southern Africa, inhabiting Eswatini, a sovereign kingdom in Southern Africa, and South Africa's Mpumalanga province. EmaSwati are part of the Nguni-language speaking peoples whose origins can be traced through archaeology to East Africa where similar traditions, beliefs and cultural practices are found.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ndwandwe</span> Bantu Nguni-speaking people

The Ndwandwe are a Bantu Nguni-speaking people who populate sections of southern Africa. They are also known as the Nxumalo's

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tsonga people</span> Bantu ethnic group in Africa

The Tsonga people are a Bantu ethnic group primarily native to Southern Mozambique and South Africa. They speak Xitsonga, a Southern Bantu language. A very small number of Tsonga people are also found in Zimbabwe and Northern Eswatini. The Tsonga people of South Africa share some history with the Tsonga people of Southern Mozambique, and have similar cultural practices, but differ in the dialects spoken.

The Ndau are an ethnic group which inhabits the areas in south-eastern South Africa. The name "Ndau" means Land. Just like the Manyika people in northern Manicaland, their name Manyika also meaning "Owners of the Land", the name Ndau means Land. E.g "Ndau yedu" meaning "our land" When the Ngoni observed this, they called them the Ndau people, the name itself meaning the land, the place or the country in their language. Some suggestions are that the name is derived from the Nguni words "Amading'indawo" which means "those looking for a place" as this is what the Gaza Nguni called them and the name then evolved to Ndau. This is erroneous as the natives are described in detail to have already been occupying parts of Zimbabwe and Mozambique in 1500s by Joao dos Santos. The five largest Ndau groups are the Magova; the Mashanga; the Vatomboti, the Madanda and the Teve. Ancient Ndau People met with the Khoi/San during the first trade with the Arabs at Mapungumbwe and its attributed to the Kalanga people not Ndau. They traded with Arabs with “Mpalu” “Njeti” and “Vukotlo’’ these are the red, white and blue coloured cloths together with golden beads. Ndau people traded traditional herbs, spiritual powers, animal skins and bones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gungunhana</span> King of the Gaza Empire

Ngungunyane, also known as Mdungazwe Ngungunyane Nxumalo, N'gungunhana, or Gungunhana Reinaldo Frederico Gungunhana, was a tribal king and vassal of the Portuguese Empire, who rebelled, was defeated by General Joaquim Mouzinho de Albuquerque and lived out the rest of his life in exile, first in Lisbon, but later on the island of Terceira, in the Azores.

Soshangana Ka Gasa Zikode, born Soshangana Nxumalo, was the Founder and the Monarch of the Gaza Empire, which at the height of its power stretched from the Limpopo river in southern Mozambique up to the Zambezi river in the north. Soshangana ruled over the Gaza state from 1825 until his death in 1858. Soshangana was also known by the name of Manukosi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sub-Saharan African music traditions</span> Traditional sound-based art forms developed by sub-Saharan African peoples

In many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, the use of music is not limited to entertainment: it serves a purpose to the local community and helps in the conduct of daily routines. Traditional African music supplies appropriate music and dance for work and for religious ceremonies of birth, naming, rites of passage, marriage and funerals. The beats and sounds of the drum are used in communication as well as in cultural expression.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bantu peoples of South Africa</span> Ethnic descriptor in South Africa

South African Bantu-speaking peoples represent the majority of people in South Africa and who have lived in what is now South Africa for thousands of years as an indigenous people alongside other indigenous groups like Khoisans. Occasionally grouped as Bantu, the term itself is derived from the English word "people", common to many of the Bantu languages. The Oxford Dictionary of South African English describes "Bantu", when used in a contemporary usage or racial context as "obsolescent and offensive", because of its strong association with the "white minority rule" with their Apartheid system. However, Bantu is used without pejorative connotations in other parts of Africa and is still used in South Africa as the group term for the language family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaza Empire</span> Empire in southeastern Africa

The Gaza Empire (1824–1895) was an African empire established by general Soshangane and was located in southeastern Africa in the area of southern Mozambique and southeastern Zimbabwe. The Gaza Empire, at its height in the 1860s, covered all of Mozambique between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers, known as Gazaland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nguni people</span> Southern African Bantu cultural group

The Nguni people are a linguistic cultural group that migrated to South Africa, made up of Bantu ethnic groups from central Africa, with offshoots in neighboring countries in Southern Africa. Swazi people live in both South Africa and Eswatini, while Ndebele people live in both South Africa and Zimbabwe.

The culture of Mozambique is in large part derived from its history of Bantu, Swahili, and Portuguese rule, and has expanded since independence in 1975. The majority of its inhabitants are black Africans. Its main language is Portuguese. Its median religion is Roman Catholicism, but only about 40% of the inhabitants are Christian. It has a rich history in the areas of arts, cuisine, and entertainment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xibelani dance</span> Traditional dance performed by the Tsonga people in northern South Africa

The xibelani dance is an indigenous dance of the Tsonga women of the Limpopo province in northern South Africa. The name of the dance comes from the native Xitsonga language and it can translate to "hitting to the rhythm", for example, the concept "xi Bela ni vunanga". The name "xibelani" typically refers to the dance style while the skirt itself is referred to as "tinguvu", however, the term "xibelani" is sometimes used to refer to both the dance and the skirt.

Tswa (Xitswa) is a South-Eastern Bantu language in Southern Mozambique. Its closest relatives are Ronga and Tsonga, the three forming the Tswa–Ronga family of languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Makuleke tribe</span>

The Makuleke are a Tsonga tribe living in the Pafuri Triangle of South Africa at the confluence of the Luvuvhu river and Limpopo river in what is now the Kruger National Park. The Tsonga-speaking agricultural and fishing tribe settled the area in the seventeenth century with decentralized homesteads. When the park was created they were exiled outside the gates, but had title to their lands restored as part of post-apartheid restitution laws. There are about 12,000 members of the clan and they are part of an eco-tourism economic development with the land they received from the park.

Waterval is a residential township in front of Elim Hospital, it is situated in the Hlanganani district of the former Tsonga homeland of Gazankulu, alongside the R578 road to Giyani in the Limpopo province of South Africa. Waterval includes Njhakanjhaka, Lemana, Elim Hospital, Elim Mall, Hubyeni Shopping centre, Magangeni but excludes Shirley village, which is a separate and stand alone farm, sharing a legal boundary with Waterval and Mbhokota village to the east.

Valdezia is a sprawling rural settlement situated at the foothills of the Soutpansberg mountain range in Louis Trichardt, Limpopo Province, South Africa. It was formerly known as Albasini before Swiss Missionaries renamed it Valdezia in 1875. The village itself was formally established in 1820 by Tsonga refugees who were fleeing despotic rule from Soshangane. It is roughly 10 km east of Elim Hospital in the Hlanganani district in the former Gazankulu homeland, South Africa. It was the site of a Swiss mission station, and it was named after the Swiss canton of Vaud. Valdezia's population, according to the official census of 2011, currently stands at between 7,600 and 8,000 people. It is considered the birthplace of the written Tsonga language in South Africa.

Shangaan electro is a dance movement and musical style born from a 21st-century reboot of local folk traditions in South African townships, Tsonga Disco and Kwaito House. The movement has been spearheaded by DJ Khwaya and the producer Nozinja in recent years, who has turned it into an iconic Afro-futurist strain of electronic dance music. Shangaan Electro is also called "Tsonga Electro" in the Limpopo province of South Africa.

References

  1. ↑ Maluleke, V.M. (2013), "My Roots", Retrieved on September 29 2018, from https://vhutshilosthoughts.wordpress.com/2013/11/21/my-roots/
  2. ↑ Junod, Henri (1977), Matimu Ya Vatsonga: 1498-1650, Braamfontein: Sasavona Publishers.
  3. ↑ Mathebula, Mandla (2002), 800 Years of Tsonga History: 1200-2000, Burgersfort: Sasavona Publishers and Booksellers Pty Ltd.
  4. ↑ Afrolegends (2013), ‘Gungunyane: The Lion of Gaza or the Last African King of Mozambique’, Retrieved 23 August 2018 from http://afrolegends.com/2013/09/21/gungunyane-the-lion-of-gaza-or-the-last-african-king-of-mozambique/
  5. ↑ Junod, HA 1913, The Life of a South African Tribe: The Psychic Life, Imprimerie Attinger Freres, Neuchatel. pp. 249
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.