Mhara · Impala
Mhara Chikonamombe is a Shona clan of the Mhara totem, the impala. Its men are greeted as Chikonamombe and Mbuya, and its women as AMaromo. The detembo also praises the clan as Gusho, Mashayamombe and Dzangare, and calls its people the children of Maromo, the Dzete people who came out of Renje.
Maita Mbuya, Maita vari Gombwe, Kuziva zvenyu vari Rare.
Hekani vaDzete vakabuda muRenje, Vachiuyawo kuzotitsvagawo VaMaromo. Zvaitwa vari Zvihota,
Vana vaMaromo, Gusho rangu riri. Maita zvenyu Mhara,
Chikonamombe, Mashayamombe, Manyuka angu yaya,
Makanyaya churu namate chikave murove. Maita vari Gangarahwe Mukonde, Kune Mhara inobhururuka,
Yakaera kutsika pasi kana yomhanya. Kuziva zvenyu Mhara yangu yiyi, Makanga musorwara mhezi
Makatozozadzwa mhezi navaranda, Mazviita zvenyu vokwaSadzadete, Gobvu rinokonza chitsa,
Dzangare, Vauyauya vakabva Renje. Maita vaMaromo, Chigumbu chino unye.
Chinotodenhwa huri usiku Kuchidenha masikati chinovava. Maita variZvihota, chikomo chakaumbwa nevhu,
Chisina kana nakatombo zvako pamusoro, Chinowakwapo chisipiti chete kunge nhova yomucheche Aiwa Zvaonekwa Gusho,
Zvaitwa Mbuya, Chikonamombe.
Your mutupo and its detembo as an image for WhatsApp, your status or a post, carrying the Kwaunobva mark.
The detembo greets the clan as Mbuya and Gusho, at Gombwe, Rare and Zvihota, and calls them the children of Maromo. It says the Dzete people came out of Renje seeking those of Maromo, and praises the clan as Mhara, Chikonamombe, Mashayamombe, Dzangare and those of Sadzadete.
It speaks of a mhara that flies, one that keeps from treading on the ground as it runs (yakaera kutsika pasi kana yomhanya), and of Zvihota, a hill built of earth with not so much as a small stone on top. It closes on Gusho and on Mbuya Chikonamombe.
The Mitupo collection prints a second Mhara Mbuya Chikonamombe detembo. It says the clan never changed its totem (vasingashandure mutupo), calls it one blood with Maromo of Chivhu and Hwedza, and ends by thanking Mhara of Dzete.
Those who carry a totem do not eat its animal. Some families keep away from one part of it only, such as the heart, and the old belief holds that a person who breaks the rule loses their teeth.
The praise names are for every day, not only for ceremonies: a person is greeted by them, thanked with them, and a wife praises her husband with his.
Mhara Chikonamombe mutupo wemhara. Varume vanokudzwa seChikonamombe naMbuya, vakadzi seAMaromo. Detembo ravo rinovadaidza kuti vana vaMaromo, uye rinoti vaDzete vakabuda muRenje. Rinovakwazisa vari Gombwe, Rare neZvihota. Rinotaura nezveMhara inobhururuka, yakaera kutsika pasi kana yomhanya.
A second Mhara detembo printed in the Mitupo collection says the clan came from Dzete, lives at Chivhu, and is of one blood with Maromo of Chivhu and Hwedza, of the Muperekwa line. It traces the clan through Mhondoro and along the Mupfure river to Chikomba, Rare and Mvuma, with some moving on to Sanyati near Kadoma, to Chegutu and to Gokwe. It praises Mashayamombe's people for refusing to pay tax or to have their land taken, and for rising in the Chimurenga.
Mitupo: A Collection of Some of Zimbabwe's Totems, p. 13; Mitupo: A Collection of Some of Zimbabwe's Totems, p. 14
The impala. Duramazwi reChiShona describes the mhara as a small, reddish wild animal that moves in herds. It is not the eland, which is mhofu.
The first poem names Mashayamombe among the clan's praise names. A second Mhara poem in the Mitupo collection praises Mashayamombe's people for refusing to pay tax or to have their land taken, and for rising in the Chimurenga.
Men are greeted as Chikonamombe and Mbuya, and women as AMaromo. The detembo also calls the clan Mhara, Gusho, Mashayamombe, Dzangare, the children of Maromo and those of Sadzadete.
In Mhondoro-Ngezi, Chikomba and Hwedza, though families carrying it live all over Zimbabwe and beyond.
Traditionally, people of the same mutupo and chidawo do not marry: they are counted as one family. Between different Mhara clans some families allow it, often after a ceremony that cuts the kinship (kucheka ukama).
Pick your totem and clan once. The app greets you by your praise name after that.
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