Xhosa

PRONUNCIATION: KOH-suh

LOCATION: South Africa (eastern, urban areas)

POPULATION: 6 million

LANGUAGE: Xhosa (Bantu)

RELIGION: Traditional beliefs (supreme being uThixo or uQamata ); Christianity

1 • INTRODUCTION

The word Xhosa refers to a people and a language of South Africa. The Xhosa-speaking people are divided into a number of subgroups with their own distinct but related heritages. One of these subgroups is called Xhosa as well. The other main subgroups are the Bhaca, Bomvana, Mfengu, Mpondo, Mpondomise, Xesibe, and Thembu. Unless otherwise stated, this article refers to all the Xhosa-speaking people.

Well before the arrival of Dutch in the 1650s, the Xhosa had settled the southeastern area of South Africa. They interacted with the foraging (food-gathering) and pastoral (nomadic herding) people who were in South Africa first, the Khoi and the San. Europeans who came to stay in South Africa first settled in and around Cape Town. As the years passed, they sought to expand their territory. This expansion was first at the expense of the Khoi and San, but later Xhosa land was taken as well. A series of wars between trekboers (Afrikaner colonists) and Xhosa began in the 1770s. Later, in the nineteenth century, the British became the new colonizing force (foreigners in control) in the Cape. They directed the armies that were to vanquish the Xhosa.

Christian missionaries established their first outposts among the Xhosa in the 1820s, but met with little success. Only after the Xhosa population had been traumatized by European invasion, drought, and disease did Xhosa convert to Christianity in substantial numbers. In addition to land lost to white annexation, legislation reduced Xhosa political autonomy. Over time, Xhosa people became increasingly impoverished. They had no option but to become migrant laborers. In the late 1990s, Xhosa make up a large percentage of the workers in South Africa's gold mines.

Under apartheid (a government policy requiring the separation of races), the South African government created separate regions that were described as Bantustans (homelands) for black people of African descent. Two regions—Transkei and Ciskei—were set aside for Xhosa people.

These regions were proclaimed independent countries by the apartheid government. Apartheid policy denied South African citizenship to many Xhosa. Thousands of people were forcibly relocated to remote areas in Transkei and Ciskei. The homelands were abolished with the change to democracy in 1994.

2 • LOCATION

Before the arrival of the Europeans in the late 1600s, Xhosa-speaking people occupied much of eastern South Africa. The region extended from the Fish River to land inhabited by Zulu-speakers south of the modern city of Durban. This territory includes well-watered rolling hills near scenic coastal areas as well as harsh and dry regions further inland. Many Xhosa live in Cape Town (iKapa), East London (iMonti), and Port Elizabeth (iBhayi). They can be found in lesser numbers in most of South Africa's major metropolitan areas. As of 1995, there were about 6 million Xhosa, making up approximately 17.5 percent of South Africa's population.

3 • LANGUAGE

The Xhosa language is properly referred to as isiXhosa. It is a Bantu language closely related to Zulu, Swazi, and Ndebele. As with other South African languages, Xhosa is characterized by respectful forms of address for elders and in-laws. The language is also rich in idioms. To have isandla esishushu (a warm hand), for example, is to be generous.

Xhosa contains many words with click consonants that have been borrowed from Khoi or San words. The "X" in Xhosa represents a type of click made by the tongue on the side of the mouth. This consonant sounds something like the clicking sound English-speaking horseback riders make to encourage their horses. English speakers who have not mastered clicks often pronounce Xhosa as "Ko-Sa."

Names in Xhosa often express the values or opinions of the community. Common personal names include Thamsanqa (good fortune) and Nomsa (mother of kindness). Adults are often referred to by their isiduko (clan or lineage) names. In the case of women, clan names are preceded by a prefix meaning "mother of." A woman of the Thembu clan might be called MamThembu. Women are also named by reference to their children, real or intended; NoLindiwe is a polite name for Lindiwe's mother.

4 • FOLKLORE

Stories and legends provide accounts of Xhosa ancestral heroes. According to one oral tradition, the first person on Earth was a great leader called Xhosa. Another tradition stresses the essential unity of the Xhosa-speaking people by proclaiming that all the Xhosa subgroups are descendants of one ancestor, Tshawe. Historians have suggested that Xhosa and Tshawe were probably the first Xhosa kings or paramount (supreme) chiefs.

Xhosa tradition is rich in creative verbal expression. Intsomi (folktales), proverbs, and isibongo (praise poems) are told in dramatic and creative ways. Folktales relate the adventures of both animal protagonists and human characters. Praise poems traditionally relate the heroic adventures of ancestors or political leaders.

5 • RELIGION

The supreme being among the Xhosa is called uThixo or uQamata. As in the religions of many other Bantu peoples, God is only rarely involved in everyday life. God may be approached through ancestral intermediaries who are honored through ritual sacrifices. Ancestors commonly make their wishes known to the living in dreams.

Christianity in one form or another is accepted by most Xhosa-speaking people today. Cultural traditionalists are likely to belong to independent denominations that combine Christianity with traditional beliefs and practices. Xhosa religious practice is distinguished by elaborate and lengthy rituals, initiations, and feasts. Modern rituals typically pertain to matters of illness and psychological well-being.

6 • MAJOR HOLIDAYS

Xhosa observe the same holidays as other groups of South Africa. These include the Christian holidays, Workers's Day (or May Day, May 1), the Day of Reconciliation (December 16), and Heritage Day (September 24). During the apartheid era, two unofficial holidays were observed to honor black people killed in the fight for equality and political representation. June 16 was a national day of remembrance for students killed by police in Soweto on that day in 1976. March 21 honored protestors killed by authorities during a demonstration in Sharpeville in 1960. Both of these anniversaries continue to be recognized with a day of rest, meetings, and prayer. Another important holiday is April 27, the date of the first national election in which black South Africans could vote.

7 • RITES OF PASSAGE

After giving birth, a mother is expected to remain secluded in her house for at least ten days. In Xhosa tradition, the afterbirth and umbilical cord were buried or burned to protect the baby from sorcery. At the end of the period of seclusion, a goat was sacrificed. Those who no longer practice the traditional rituals may still invite friends and relatives to a special dinner to mark the end of the mother's seclusion.

Male initiation in the form of circumcision is practiced among most Xhosa groups. The abakweta (initiates-in-training) live in special huts isolated from villages or towns for several weeks. Like soldiers inducted into the army, they have their heads shaved. They wear a loincloth and a blanket for warmth. White clay is smeared on their bodies from head to toe. They are expected to observe numerous taboos (prohibitions) and to act deferentially to their adult male leaders. Different stages in the initiation process were marked by the sacrifice of a goat.

The ritual of female circumcision is considerably shorter. The intonjane (girl to be initiated) is secluded for about a week. During this period, there are dances, and ritual sacrifices of animals. The initiate must hide herself from view and observe food restrictions. There is no actual surgical operation.

8 • RELATIONSHIPS

Xhosa have traditionally used greetings to show respect and good intentions to others. In interacting with others, it is crucial to show respect (ukuhlonipha). Youths are expected to keep quiet when elders are speaking, and to lower their eyes when being addressed. Hospitality is highly valued, and people are expected to share with visitors what they can. Socializing over tea and snacks is common.

In Xhosa tradition, one often found a girlfriend or boyfriend by attending dances. One popular type of dance, called umtshotsho or intlombe, could last all night. On some occasions, unmarried lovers were allowed to sleep together provided they observed certain restraints. A form of external intercourse called ukumetsha was permitted, but full intercourse was taboo. For Westernized Xhosa, romances often begin at school, church, or through mutual acquaintances. Dating activities include attending the cinema as well as going to school dances, sporting events, concerts, and so forth.

9 • LIVING CONDITIONS

During the early period of white rule in South Africa, Xhosa communities were severely neglected in terms of social services. In fact, rural areas were deliberately impoverished so as to encourage Xhosa to seek wage labor employment. In the later years of apartheid, some attempts were made to address major health concerns in these areas. However, most government money continued to be set aside for social services that benefited whites. As the Xhosa population in rural areas expanded through natural increase and forced removals, rural lands became increasingly overcrowded and eroded. In the twentieth-century, many men and women migrated to urban shantytowns (towns comprised of crudely built huts). Poverty and ill health are still widespread in both rural and urban communities. Since 1994, however, the post-apartheid government has expanded health and nutritional aid to the black population.

Housing, standards of living, and creature comforts vary considerably among Xhosa. Xhosa people make up some of the poorest and some of the wealthiest of black South Africans. Poor people live in round thatched-roof huts, labor compounds, or single-room shacks without running water or electricity. Other Xhosa are among an elite who live in large comfortable houses in quiet suburban neighborhoods.

10 • FAMILY LIFE

The traditional Xhosa family was patriarchal; men were considered the heads of their households. Women and children were expected to defer to men's authority. Polygynous marriages (multiple wives) were permitted where the husband had the means to pay the lobolo (bride wealth) for each, and to maintain them properly. Women were expected to leave their families to live with their husband's family.

The migrant labor system has put great strains on the traditional family. Some men have established two distinct families, one at the place of work and the other at the rural home. With the end of apartheid, some of the families previously separated by the labor laws are beginning new lives in urban areas. Some of these families live under crowded and difficult conditions in shanty-towns and migrant labor compounds.

11 • CLOTHING

Many Xhosa men and women dress similarly to people in Europe and the United States. Pants for women have only recently become acceptable. As a result of missionary influence, it has become customary for a woman to cover her hair with a scarf or hat. Many rural woman fold scarves or other clothes into elaborate turban shapes. They continue to apply white or ochre-colored mixtures to their bodies and faces. Other unique Xhosa dress includes intricately sewn designs on blankets that are worn by both men and women as shawls or capes.

12 • FOOD

Xhosa people share many food traditions with the other peoples of South Africa. Staple foods are corn (maize) and bread. Beef, mutton (sheep meat), and goat meat are popular. Milk is often drunk in its sour form. Sorghum beer, also sour in taste, continues to be popular.

One particular food popularly identified with the Xhosa is umngqusho. This dish combines hominy corn with beans and spices. Xhosa also regularly eat the soft porridge made of corn meal flour that is widespread in Africa. Eggs were traditionally taboo for women, and a just-married wife was not allowed to eat certain types of meat. Men were not supposed to drink milk in any village where they might later take a wife.

The major mealtimes are breakfast and dinner. Children may go without lunch, although school lunch programs have been established by the government.

13 • EDUCATION

The first Western-style schools for Xhosa-speakers were begun by missionaries. One of the most famous of the missionary institutions, the University of Fort Hare, boasts Nelson Mandela and a number of other famous African leaders as former students.

Under apartheid, African access to education was restricted and many of the best mission schools were shutdown. As a result, adult literacy rates (percentage able to read and write) dropped, in some areas to as low as 30 percent. Today, the goal is free education for all those aged seven to seventeen. Literacy and education are now seen as keys to success and are highly valued by most people.

14 • CULTURAL HERITAGE

Xhosa traditional music places a strong emphasis on group singing and handclapping as accompaniment to dance. Drums, while used occasionally, were not as fundamental a part of musical expression as they were for many other African peoples. Other instruments used included rattles, whistles, flutes, mouth harps, and stringed-instruments constructed with a bow and resonator.

Missionaries introduced the Xhosa to Western choral singing. Among the most successful of the Xhosa hymns is the South African national anthem, Nkosi Sikele' iAfrika (God Bless Africa). It was written by a school teacher named Enoch Sontonga in 1897.

Xhosa written literature was established in the nineteenth century with the publication of the first Xhosa newspapers, novels, and plays. Early writers included Tiyo Soga, I. Bud-Mbelle, and John Tengo Jabavu.

15 • EMPLOYMENT

Many rural Xhosa have left home to find employment in the city. Under white rule, Xhosa men were most frequently hired as miners and farm laborers. Women also worked as farm laborers, but work in domestic service was more valued. For those with high school and college educations, the greatest opportunities were in health care, education, and government administration. In the 1990s, Xhosa sought degrees in all fields. South Africa's migrant labor system has dramatically altered Xhosa social life and put strain on the family.

16 • SPORTS

Xhosa children enjoy skipping rope, racing, swimming, and playing hopscotch. Boys enjoy wrestling and stick fighting.

The most popular sport in South Africa is soccer. There are many professional, school, and company teams. There are also organized competitions between schools in athletics (track and field).

17 • ENTERTAINMENT

Popular entertainment includes attending movies, plays, and musical performances. Televisions and videocassette recorders are also popular. Most movies are imported from other countries, but a South African film industry is developing. Plays are often broadcast over TV and radio. Television broadcasts also include programs in Xhosa. Xhosa "soap operas" are a regular feature.

South Africa has a well-established music industry. The most popular musicians are typically those that perform dance tunes. Religious choirs are also popular.

18 • CRAFTS AND HOBBIES

Folk craft traditions include beadwork, sewing, pottery making, house decoration, and weaving. Hand-woven materials were generally functional items such as sleeping mats, baskets, and strainers. Xhosa ceremonial clothing is often elaborately decorated with fine embroidery work and intricate geometric designs.

19 • SOCIAL PROBLEMS

Most of the social problems found among Xhosa people today stem directly or indirectly from the apartheid past. These include high rates of poverty, fractured families, malnutrition, and crime. Competition for scarce resources has also led to conflict with other African ethnic groups. There are also divisions within the Xhosa community—between men and women, young and old, rural and urban, and highly educated and illiterate. These divisions may lead to tensions if not resolved in the post-apartheid era. One of the biggest challenges for South Africa as a whole is to meet rising expectations for education, employment, and improved standards of living.

20 • BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ramphela, Mamphela. A Bed Called Home: Life in the Migrant Labour Hostels of Cape Town. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 1993.

Switzer, Les. Power and Resistance in an African Society: The Ciskei Xhosa and the Making of South Africa. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1993.

Zenani, Nongenile. The World and the Word: Tales and Observations from the Xhosa Oral Tradition. Collected and edited by Harold Scheub. Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 1992.

WEBSITES

Embassy of South Africa, Washington, D.C. [Online] Available http://www.southafrica.net/, 1998.

Government of South Africa. [Online] http://www.polity.org.za/gnu.html, 1998.

Interknowledge Corp. South Africa. [Online] Available http://www.geographia.com/south-africa/, 1998.

Southern African Development Community. South Africa. [Online] Available http://www.sadcusa.net/members/safrica/, 1998.

Xhosa

ETHNONYMS: Caffre, Cafre, Isixhosa, Kaffer, Kaffir, Koosa, Southern Nguni, Xosa

"Xhosa" is the generic name used for a number of related cultural groups in South Africa. Xhosa groups include the Mpondo, Bomvana, Bhaca, Thembu, Mpondomise, Xesibe, Mfengu, Hlubi, and the Xhosa proper. These Southern Nguni peoples, as they are sometimes called, share a common language, Isixhosa, and are culturally similar to one another. Because of their contact with other peoples in the area over the centuries and the strong influence of colonial powers, as well as missionary contact, it is difficult speak of the traditional culture of the Xhosa. Rather, Xhosa culture today is a blend that has resulted from these influences and others. The Xhosa today are much involved in South African political affaire and play a major role in the postapartheid government.

The traditional homeland of the Xhosa was located on the southeastern seaboard of the Republic of South Africa in an area that is currently divided politically into two independent states, Transkei and Ciskei. In 1989 the estimated number of Xhosa living in Transkei was 3,500,000 and in Ciskei, 1,000,000. Xhosa also live in South African cities—especially Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, and East London—and on farms outside Transkei and Ciskei. In 1986 the total population of Xhosa in South Africa was estimated at approximately six million.

The Xhosa-speaking peoples originally consisted of three main groups: the Pondo, the Tembu, and the Xhosa proper. They all spoke the same language and shared the same belief that their culture originated at the headwaters of the Dedesi River. Their customs and beliefs were similar, generally centering around the herding of cattle. They were linked to one another through intermarriage as well as by the diplomatic, military, and political alliances they formed. Through the centuries, internal dissension and further subdivision, contact with San and Khoi-speaking peoples whose territories they overran and conquered, and the arrival of refugees from wars in Natal broke the original Xhosa-speaking nations into diversified chiefdoms and peoples. Nevertheless, the basic division of the Xhosa speakers into Pondo, Tembu, and Xhosa still remains.

In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the Nguni herded cattle, hunted game, and cultivated sorghum. They lived in beehive-shaped huts in scattered homesteads and were ruled by chiefs. One of the main reasons for Xhosa expansion was the splitting off of the sons of reigning chiefs to found new chiefdoms of their own, which relieved the political pressure at the center of the kingdom. Movement was also precipitated by the need to find new hunting grounds and fresh pastures. This was a slow process because of the need to burn down the forest to provide grazing prior to occupation.

The Xhosa traditionally were not a nomadic people, although the need for large pastures to accommodate expanding herds of cattle encouraged steady movement. Xhosa kraals, or cattle enclosures, were surrounded by huts. The kraals formed family clusters tied by allegiance to the Great Place, the principle kraal, that of the chief. The Great Place was usually only a modest grouping of huts.

A Xhosa family homestead was known as an umzi (pl. imizi ), and several adjoining imizi formed a village. An umzi generally housed an extended family, including the head of the family; his wives, children, and aging parents; his married sons and their families; and his unmarried daughters. The huts faced east, toward the sun, and stood in a semicircle around the main focus of their communal existence, the kraal. In the case of a man rich in cattle, who had more than than one wife, each wife had a household of perhaps three huts: a main hut for living and cooking, a second hut for children and visitors, and a third as a storeroom. Close to these huts and never too far from the stream from which they were watered were the gardens in which were cultivated the limited number of crops the Xhosa raised seasonally: cereals such as sorghum, as well as maize, pumpkins, and melons.

Apart from its gardens, a village or group of villages would be surrounded by a substantial territory that represented the hunting grounds and pastures that were common to all.

Villages could contain from fifteen to fifty huts and could be as close as 0.4 kilometers from one another or as far as four to five hours' away by footpath. The inhabitants of a village, or group of villages, could be members of a chiefdom, the many and complex lineages of which could be traced back to a common ancestor. There was generally a local chief, or headman, who ruled over the kraals and who was subordinate to a great chief of a whole district.

Cattle were the focal point of Xhosa existence. Life literally circled around them. Cattle intricately bound together the material realm with the sacred. They were the medium of sacrifice to the ancestral spirits, linking the living with the dead. They represented the future, because they sealed the marriage bond. They also represented wealth and stability. In ordinary daily life, they supplied the principal item of the diet, milk, as well as meat for occassional feasting and leather for clothing. Cattle were viewed as individually as the members of the family itself. The Xhosa language was profuse with varieties of descriptive terms for cattle, mainly based on color combinations and the shapes of the horns.

The Xhosa were bound in their daily lives and actions by reverence for and fear of their ancestors, whose spirits were believed to be omnipresent. If these spirits were offended, they would express their displeasure by inflicting illness, accident, or some other disorder. They were appeased through sacrifice. The sacrificial beasts had to be the best of the herd. During the sacrifice, the slaughterer cut open the belly, thrust his arm up to the heart, and wrenched out the arteries. These ceremonies took place in the cattle kraal and the skulls of the sacrificial animals were placed at the gate posts.

An important traditional value of Xhosa culture is ubuntu, or humanness. At the core of ubuntu is the preservation and stability of the whole. An example of its application is that, in times of war, women and children were never killed. During their anticolonial wars, Xhosa were known to kill White men and their grown sons ruthlessly, at the feet of their wives and sisters; they spared women and children, however, despite the fact that the same kindness was not reciprocated by their enemies.

Bibliography

Costello, Dawn (1990). Not Only for Its Beauty: Beadwork and Its Cultural Significnce among the Xhosa-Speaking Peoples. Pretoria: University of South Africa.

Hodgson, Janet (1982). The God of the Xhosa. Cape Town: Oxford University Press.

Mostert, Noel (1992). Frontiers: The Epic of South Africa's Creation and the Tragedy of the Xhosa People. New York: Albert A. Knopf.

Xhosa (Xosa) Group of related Bantu tribes. The Xhosa moved from e Africa to the vicinity of the River Great Fish, s Africa, in the 17th and 18th centuries. They were defeated and subjected by Europeans in 1835. In culture, they are closely related to the Zulu. Today, the 2.5 million Xhosa live in the Eastern Cape and form an important part of South Africa's industrial and mining workforce. Xhosa is the most widely spoken African language in South Africa.

Xho·sa / ˈkōsə; ˈkhō-/ • n. (pl. same or -sas) 1. a member of a South African people traditionally living in the Eastern Cape Province. They form the second largest ethnic group in South Africa after the Zulus. 2. the Nguni language of this people. • adj. of or relating to this people or their language.

Xhosa •Alissa, Clarissa, kisser, Larissa, Marisa, Melissa, Orissa, reminiscer •fixer, mixer, sixer •convincer, mincer, pincer, rinser, wincer •Amritsar, Maritsa, spritzer •howitzer • kibitzer • purchaser •artificer • officer • surfacer • Pulitzer •Wurlitzer • promiser • harnesser •menacer •practiser (US practicer) •de-icer, dicer, enticer, gricer, paise, pricer, ricer, slicer, splicer •Schweitzer •Barbarossa, dosser, embosser, fossa, glosser, josser, Ossa, Saragossa, tosser •boxer • sponsor • matzo • bobbysoxer •Chaucer, courser, endorser (US indorser), enforcer, forcer, reinforcer, saucer, Xhosa •balsa, waltzer •dowser, grouser, Hausa, mouser, Scouser •announcer, bouncer, denouncer, pouncer, pronouncer, renouncer, trouncer •schnauzer