“WE are Christians, we don’t do zveChivanhu pano” was tete Ratidzo’s victorious and thundering closing statement in what had been clearly a heated argument. Soon attention shifted to my arrival. I wanted to join in the discussion but the opportunity did not arise. Soon we became engrossed in discussing this year’s drought.
If I had been given the opportunity to join the heated discussion I wanted to present the binary to tete Ratidzo’s argument; we are Christians, we do zvehumbwa/zvehumhuka or we are Christians, we have no manners expected of human beings. As discussed previously Chivanhu is to be humane, cultured and spiritually and historically conscious. To that extent Chivanhu is hardly in conflict with Christianity or the bible. Moses’s law, the genealogical histories, Jewish traditions and awareness of God, all sand packed in the Old Testament, attest to Chivanhu of children of Israel. If the Old Testament is the foundation on which Christianity is built then surely Chivanhu and Christianity have more in common than what tete Ratidzo would have us believe.
The irony of tete’s attack on Chivanhu was that I had gone to advise her that sekuru Tinarwo was planning to pay mombe yeumai on behalf of his late young brother, sekuru Tachi. Tachi had married from tete’s village but the couple was now late and had left behind a son. Mombe yeumai had remained outstanding all these years. Instead of saying zvarova nekufa kwaTachi, sekuru Tinarwo had been driven by cultural imperatives to pay Tachi’s debts. Tete was touched by sekuru Tinarwo’s uprightness, ascribing it his Christian upbringing under missionaries. She appeared lost to the irony of it all.
Mombe yeumai is a fairly recent Shona marriage ritual. It seeks to recognize the fertility status of a mother-in-law (ambuya) and her female line in the marriage protocol. This ritual comes out of a still prevalent but now modified marriage ritual of masungiro. In ancient times the last marital ceremony was masungiro, to herald newfound fertility. It consisted of two goats and a hoe. Originally the goats were left to multiply into Ambuya’s wealth. In the event that mukuwasha decided kusungira with a bull, this was slaughtered and part of the meat exchanged for goats. Masungiro marked the end of this ancient marriage ceremony. Today mombe yeumai is expected to multiply and be regularly feasted upon in ceremonies led by ambuya’s kinsmen.
Symbolically, in Chivanhu, mombe yeumai signified paying homage to the founder, new family source, and life fountain. It is a long held Shona belief that mombe yeumai protocols can either grow or destroy families. The maternal spirits line was associated with origins, life and fertility. These were considered “anamai or varidzi vemunhu”. If a misfortune befell a family the first enquiry focused on the mombe yeumai protocol, seeking to identify gaps.
There is a related political/spiritual protocol in Shona history. When Mutota defeated Tavara chiefs to found the Mutapa dynasty in the north east, he had to establish peace with Tavara spirits. The Tavara were part of the Tonga riverine communities who ruled with support from spiritual beings namely; Dzivaguru, Karuva and Musumwa Nyamukokoko, autochthons of the area. When Mutota conquered the area he did not destroy the Tavara priesthood. They were incorporated into the Mutapa court as Chief Priests and had complete control over rain making ceremonies within the new state. These Tavara spirits were considered “varidzi vevhu”. At Mutapa’s court these were represented by Tavara priests like Netondo, Bushu, Chikara and Simboti.
Netondo or Nyakutonda was a Tonga Tavara from Chidima who curried favour and trust from Mutota through gifts of cloth and salt. He became a trusted lieutenant of the Mutapa and Netondo became a hereditary office at the court with responsibility to crown Mutapas. The Mutapa throne had to be so legitimated by varidzi vevhu, the mothers/owners of the soil.
Bushu, from whom the present Bushu chieftainship line descents, was a Karuva of the Dzivaguru priesthood. As a Tavara, Bushu shared many roles with Netondo, including Mutapa burial rites. Netondo and Bushu accompanied the Mutapa wherever he went.
Chikara was the chief rain maker. Every time before the start of the planting season, Mutapa would send emissaries to Chikara to ask for rain. He was considered too important to appear before the Mutapa. He was the mother of state fertility as chief rain maker.
Mangwende and Simboti were the other Tavara dynasties. Today Simboti people use the praise name muSena, attesting to a Tonga/Sena/Zambezi valley origin. Some Nhohwe traditions also mention a Sena origin for Mangwende. Perhaps this partly explains the unusual moyo muzukuru totem/praise name.
In the 19th century we saw similar close collaboration between Ndebele conquerors and Mwari priests at Matonjeni. Ndebele rule had to be legitimated by varidzi vevhu. During the First Chimurenga mhondoro spirits like Nehanda and Kaguvi collaborated with Mwari priests like Mkwati.
Chivanhu binds us to accept and respect originators of human life whether at political or family level. The mombe yeumai protocol being advocated by sekuru Tinarwo is an act of great humility, great humanity. And so are the dying rain making protocols. Hopefully tete Ratidzo will one day proclaim; we are Christians, we do Chivanhu here.