African Myths of Origin (Penguin Classics) by Stephen Belcher

Author:Stephen Belcher
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9780140449457
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Published: 2006-06-27T04:00:00+00:00

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THE NGUNI PEOPLES OF SOUTHERN AFRICA: ZULU, XHOSA, SWAZI

The differentiation of the Nguni-language peoples into their now distinctive ethnic groups is relatively recent, the consequence of different factors: separation through migration, contact with the earlier inhabitants such as the Khoi-Khoi (Xhosa), isolation in the mountains (Swazi), and, for the Zulu, the political determination of Shaka, who created the Ama-Zulu (the people of heaven) out of the union of groups under his military leadership. Issues of ethnic identity have been complicated by the colonial and later racial policies of the governments in South Africa and the notion of homelands. Swaziland and Lesotho are independent states entirely surrounded by the Republic of South Africa, so politics may exaggerate some of the differences between their peoples and their neighbours. The following versions of the stories are retold from various sources, the earliest from the late nineteenth century.

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