RECLAIMING and protecting our cultural and spiritual heritage is of utmost importance for Zimbabwe.
The bane of colonisation was the spiritual, geographical and political re-contextualisation of our indigenous heritage spaces which compromised the sacredness, spiritual reverence and importance of these spaces.
The transference of relevance and meaning, interpretations and pronunciations of our indigenous names added further to the colonial despoilment.
Matopo Hills of Zimbabwe are an expansive area of rugged granite monoliths, hills and kopjes which lie to the south of Bulawayo City.
These ancient hills were once the sites of many battles, skirmishes and vigils in the early resistance battles and uprisings. They are a significant indigenous spiritual stronghold.
Here, the landscape is visually and ecologically distinguished from the surrounding dry savannah by a plethora of randomly heaped boulders in a distinctive granite landform, densely packed into a comparatively tight area, rising above the granite shield that covers much of Zimbabwe.
The recently held birthday celebrations for his Excellency the Honourable President of the Republic of Zimbabwe Robert Gabriel Mugabe at the site inspired this writer to examine this archaeological site.
Human habitation in the Matopo Hills stretches back to at least 40 000 years. The evidence for this long period of habitation comes from the deep layers of human detritus excavated from the many caves and rock shelters in the hills.
In the many crevices and caves, clay ovens and other historic artefacts have been found and various archaeological finds date back as far as the pre-Middle Stone Age, Zimbabwe.
Contained within its boundaries are rockscapes of historical and cultural significance. The World’s View Hills – Malindidzimu, and several sacred caves are among the more prominent. Inanke Cave, Pomongwe Cave, Nswatugi Cave, Silozwane Caves, Bambata Cave and White Rhino Shelter complete an interesting geophysical spectacle.
This geo-archaeological region is particularly well-known for the number of finest examples of rock art ensconced in the Stone Age Rock caves art sites.
The infamous graves of Cecil John Rhodes, Leander Starr Jameson, Southern Rhodesia’s first Prime Minister Charles Coghlan and several other leading early white settlers, and the Allan Wilson Memorial, that commemorates all the members of the Shangani Patrol, who were in pursuit of King Lobengula after the First Matabele War, were interred on the summit of the Malindidzimu Hill; its Shona name being ‘Marinda eVadzimu’ – the graves/tombs of our ancestors, situated approximately 44km south of Bulawayo.
Bronze plaques also dotted the bush to mark the location of armed forts or brief skirmishes with white settlers.
After his death in 1868, Mzilikazi was also buried in the hills; where the cave with his wagons and personal effects are said to have been walled-up.
The Ndebele used the Matopo Hills for hunting and cattle grazing.
A game enclosure covering an area of 42 500 hectares was established on the northern edge of Matopo Hills in 1904 and stocked with sable, antelope, waterbuck, reedbuck, zebra, eland, giraffe and a camel.
In 1953, an area of almost 250 000 acres was officially proclaimed as the Matopos National Park under the auspices of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management.
The park covers some of the most beautiful scenery, including spectacular balancing rocks and impressive views along the Thuli, Mtshelele, Maleme and Mpopoma River Valleys as well as Makgadikgadi Pan, Lake Matobo and Toghwana Dam.
A northerly extension, lying along the Maleme Bulawayo Road forms the Matopos Recreational Park.
Considered a hallowed place by all indigenous Zimbabweans, many rituals and other religious rites and ceremonies are performed within the hills.
Matopo Hills are home to the wide-ranging oracular cult of the High God, Mwari, whose voice is believed to be heard from the rocks.
This powerful oracle links the indigenous communities to the hills where the ancestral spirits live in the sacred forest, mountains, caves, hollow trees and pools.
It was the headquarters of the Rozvi’s spiritual oracle, the Mlimo, prior to the colonial era.
The Matopo Hills became the stronghold of Lobengula’s indunas and amabutho in the battles against Rhodes and the colonising pioneers.
The Malindidzimu Hills were the scene of the famous indaba between white settlers and Ndebele leaders in the Second Matabele War of 1896 that is now known in Zimbabwe as the First Chimurenga, which ended with the assassination of the Mlimo by the American scout Frederick Russell Burnham while sheltering in one of the sacred caves.
The Matopo National Park forms the core of the Matopo Hills; an area of granite kopjes and wooded valleys commencing some 35km south of Bulawayo, including the Game Park into which the White Rhinos were re-introduced in he 1960s from Kwa-Zulu Natal; black rhinos from the Zambezi Valley were also introduced into the area in the 1990s.
The Gulati promontory measuring
1 549m is the highest point in the hills, situated just outside the north-eastern corner of the park.
The rocky summit Mwazi, situated in the north of the Matopo Hills, marks the highest part of Matabeleland.
It reaches 1 564m above sea level; though less than 70 metres above the adjacent valleys, which rise approximately 300m above the surrounding valleys.
The more spectacular hills are in the south.
These areas were re-designated for settlement as part of a compromise between the colonial authorities and the local indigenous inhabitants, resulting in the creation of the Khumalo and Matopo Communal Lands.
With the acquisition of World’s View and Hazelside Farms to the north, the park area subsequently increased.
In his final will and testament Cecil John Rhodes decreed that ‘his’ land in the Matopo Hills should be given to the nation for recreational use and that he be buried there upon his death.
Accordingly, in 1902 after his death in the Cape, his body was first transported by train and wagon to Bulawayo, then physically carried up the hill to his burial site upon Marinda eVadzimu – the tombs of our Shona ancestors, prior to the arrival of uMzilawegazi– (the Trail of Blood), Lo wegulayo – the Temperamental One, Khumalo or Mlimo .
Rhodes’ burial was attended by Ndebele chiefs; they asked the firing party not to discharge their rifles as this would disturb the spirits.
The central Matopo area became known as the Matopo National Park, although it had not formally been declared as such.
In 1946 it was handed over to the Government Department of Irrigation to develop for public use.
Controversially, because it was overpopulated and overstocked, hundreds of families had to be removed.
The restitution of our archaeological history is vital within the new Zimbabwean curriculum; lest we continue to transmit the bastardised colonial nomenclature to our offspring.
According to N. Merriman (2004);
“….indigenous people need to have a say in the study and interpretation of their own pasts”.
Our Zimbabwean heritage is in need of restitution and innovative archaeological management.
The informatics of our cultural heritage needs to be expounded from an African-centred viewpoint and language.
From as early as 1997, as a student of Heritage Studies in Seattle, Washington, we began to witness the beginnings of the discipline of digital heritage management; allowing heritage sites to be accessed digitally for the convenience of students without causing permanent, irreparable damage to the environment.
The restoration of African pride and dignity to post-colonial heritage sites is yet to be achieved; an African-centred retrieval of our indigenous archaeological discourse is mandatory, especially at this point in time.
The name Matobo is, in fact, a form of Rhodesian pidgin English known as ‘chilapalapa’ – the sound of it grates in my soul – can I go to England and call the monarch’s residence ‘Windidza’ Castle (Windsor)?!
I am reminded of the title of an archaeological dissertation from Uppsala University entitled ‘Your Monument is our Shrine’. For this writer this dichotomy of Western and African view points of heritage sites is what we need to reconcile.
Our challenge today is to avoid perpetuating the colonially-contaminated memory of our heritage.
Dr Tony Monda holds a PhD in Art Theory and Philosophy and a DBA (Doctorate in Business Administration) and Post-Colonial Heritage Studies. He is a writer, lecturer, musician, art critic, practicing artist and corporate image consultant. He is also a specialist art consultant, post-colonial scholar, Zimbabwean socio-economic analyst and researcher.
For views and comments, email: tonym.MONDA@gmail.com