Can someone tell me about the Shona people of Zimbabwe?

Question

Can someone tell me about the Shona people of Zimbabwe?

Answer 1

Shona are best known for their beautifully adorned wooden headrests. Most of the art associated with Shona is either personal or utilitarian. Although they produce no figurative sculpture, they do have a rich tradition of metalworking and woodcarving.

History:

The archaeological ruins known as "Great Zimbabwe" have been radiocarbon dated to approximately 600 A.D. It is believed that the ancestors of modern day Shona built Great Zimbabwe and hundreds of other stone walled sites in Zimbabwe. It was not until the late 19th century that the peoples speaking several mutually intelligible languages were united under the Shona name. There are five main language clusters: Korekore, Zeseru, Manyika, Ndau, and Karanga. The last of these groups was largely absorbed by the Ndebele when they moved into western Zimbabwe in the 1830s. Shona are linguistically related to the central Bantu and most likely moved into present day Zimbabwe during the great Bantu expansion.

Economy:

Shona are primarily agricultural. Their main crop is maize, but they also grow millet, sorghum, rice, beans, manioc, peanuts, pumpkins, and sweet potatoes. They raise some cattle, sheep, and chickens. Women may supplement their income by selling pottery and handwoven baskets that serve primarily as utilitarian objects. Men may work as blacksmiths or carvers by commission. Although cows are milked, they are most often used for bride price. Cows are considered taboo for women, so men must do all of the milking and herding. Men also do some hunting and fishing, but neither contribute greatly to the food supply. Men and women both participate in farming.

Political Systems:

Traditionally, Shona peoples lived in dispersed settlements, usually consisting of one or more elder men and their extended families. Most decisions were made within the family, although organized political states were recognized as a source of centralized power. They were headed by a paramount chief who inherited his position and power in the divine manner of a king. He usually resided in a centralized location and was accompanied by his court who advised him about most important decisions. The head chief often received substantial payment in the form of tributes from his constituency.

Religion:

Shona peoples believe in two types of spirits. Shave spirits are most often considered to be outside or wandering spirits, and vadzimu are ancestor spirits. Shave spirits are associated with populations living outside of Shona territory and may be connected to neighboring peoples, Europeans, or even animals. These spirits may be either malevolent or benevolent. Bad spirits are associated with witchcraft, while good spirits may inspire individual talents associated with healing, music, or artistic ability. Vadzimu represent all that is ideal and moral about a Shona way of life and are usually associated with recent ancestors or with more remote culture heroes whose exact genealogy has been forgotten. They serve to protect society, but may withdraw this protection if Shona moral ideals are not respected.

http://www.uiowa.edu/~africart/toc/peopl...

People of the same clan use a common set of totems. People of the same totem are the descendants of one common ancestor (the founder of that totem). Shona people recognize this totem unity even across tribal boundary lines. This identification by totem has very important ramifications at traditional ceremonies such as the burial ceremony.  A person with a different totem cannot initiate burial of the deceased. A person of the same totem even when coming from a different tribe, can initiate burial of the deceased. For example a Ndebele of the Mpofu totem can initiate burial of a Shona of the Mhofu totem and that is perfectly acceptable in Shona tradition. But a Shona of a different totem cannot perform the ritual functions required to initiate burial of the deceased. If a person initiates the burial of a person of a different totem, he runs the risk of being asked to pay a fine to the family of the deceased. Such fines traditionally were paid with cattle or goats but nowadays substantial amounts of money can be asked for. Similarly Shona chiefs are required to be able to recite the history of their totem group right from the initial founder before they can be sworn in as chiefs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shona_peopl...

The original Shona occupants of Zimbabwe are all embodied under the umbrella name “Hungwe”. The conquerors of the Hungwe fall under the blanket name “Mbire”. It is believed that it was the Mbire who were the founders of the Mutapa Empire as well as the Rozvi Empire which was destroyed by the various Nguni tribes that passed through the land of  Zimbabwe  during the Mfecane wars. Namely, the Ndebele tribe, who now occupy southwest Zimbabwe, and the Shangane tribe in the southeast of Zimbabwe. The Hungwe settled in  Zimbabwe for probably two to three hundred years before the Mbire arrived.  Shona people are internationally known for two art forms: stone sculpture and mbira music (mbira: an instrument made of a hollow gourd with metal reeds that the player plucks).  There have been many civilisations in Zimbabwe as is shown by the ancient stone structures at Khami, Great Zimbabwe and Dhlo-Dhlo. The archaeological ruins known as "Great Zimbabwe" have been radio carbon dated to approximately 600 A.D. Historic findings seems to point to the fact that the ancestors of modern day Shona people built Great Zimbabwe and hundreds of other stone walled sites in Zimbabwe. Bantu-speaking farmers, either Khoisan settlers or Iron Age migrants from the north, were the first occupants of the Great Zimbabwe site in the south of the country. Between 500 and 1000AD, the Gokomere (a Bantu group) enslaved and absorbed San groups in the area. As early as the 11th century, some foundations and stonework were in place at Great Zimbabwe and the settlement, generally regarded as the burgeoning Shona society.  

http://www.bulawayo1872.com/history/shon... (more info on this link)