Swazi

The Swazi are a Nguni-speaking people who live in southern Africa among other Bantu people. It is believed that the Swazi originated in East Africa and moved from that area during the great Nguni expansion southward to their present location. They crossed the Limpopo River and settled in an area called Tongaland, which is now Mozambique. The leader of the Swazis at this time was Dlamini, who became one of the legendary leaders of the people. His descendants established a dynasty that lasted for more than two centuries.

They lived near the Ndwandwe people, another Nguni-speaking people, until economic and commercial interests brought them into conflict, and the Swazis moved to their new area and created a complex kingdom based on their ancient traditions.

The traditions of the Swazi are inculcated into the young right after birth. When a child is born, plants and animal fur related to the child's clan are collected and placed on a fire heap, and the baby is forced to inhale the smoke as a way to protect the child from danger and illness. All children are associated with age-group organizations, and the [Page 641]boys are placed into war regiments and tribute labor teams that are called to work for the king four times a year.

At the core of Swazi communal life are praise singing and poetry. Almost every event calls forth a poem or a praise song about a person or phenomenon. Other arts such as pottery and sculpture are minor in relationship to the culture. Praise singing usually employs a person's surname because every surname has a corpus of praises that extend the name. One may use the praise names after stating the surname. For example, one may say Dlamini and then add, wena wekunene (you of the right), wena welub-langa (you of the reed), and mlangeni lomuble (beautiful one of the sun).

Praise singing is a highlight during all weddings. However, to marry, a man must do more than poetry; he must pay lobola. Marriage among the Swazi relies on lobola, which a man gives to the bride's family. Usually the man pays the woman's family in cattle.

Every family is connected to ancestors by rituals and ceremonies. When a person dies, he or she is buried right on the homestead to demonstrate the relationship to the living family members. Only kings and high royal family members are buried in mountain caves away from the family homestead. Yet the rituals of purification occur for all dead members of the community, whether they are buried far or near. The Swazi believe it is necessary to cleanse the community of the contamination of death.

When the Swazi worship, they honor the Creator Deity and the spirits of ancestors who deal with the ordinary daily affairs of humans. The people often sacrifice animals and serve beer to propitiate the ancestors. All religious experience is related to medicine because in Swazi culture there is an integral relationship between the ancestors and health. Traditional healers, inyanga, use herbal medicines, and they also work with san-goma, diviners, who are usually female, to discover the cause of social or physical problems. Umtsakatsi are individuals who study the use of natural phenomena and who may apply their knowledge in harmful ways.

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