Moyo · Heart
Moyo Moyondizvo is a Shona clan of the Moyo totem, the heart, a totem taken from part of an animal rather than a whole one. Its men are greeted as Moyondizvo, and the detembo adds Sahayi, Dhewa and Nhandare; its women are greeted as MaMoyo or Vapamoyo. The detembo places the clan among the Rozvi at Dzimbahwe.
Hekani Sahayi Dhewa Moyondizvo
Vakami vomukaka Bvumavaranda vakadzi vaChiza vomene
Dzimbahwe rerupwetepwete Vari urozvi Nhandare Sahayi mhondoro
Jengetanyika Mwene wavanhu VaChuru chamapfunde manji
VaChirisamhuru Muzinda wen'ombe Gorokotera
chiri mudanga ndambachirashwa VokwaChuma chamambo
chamachira chinosakara Mupfudze waNyan'ombe Chiwanzamukaka
Chipuriro chamafuta Vachisiyandanyara Vari Manyanga
Vane mudzi unobva mabvazuva, uchinobaya Rupango Vakapera nhenda muDzimbahwe Vachaona mudongo
vagadzi voushe Muti unokope chirimo zhizha uchikozhendove
Mururamanhanga Vesviromo svitokotoko svine nzungu inosvitsa dakataka
Dzimbahwe Vorupazho rupwetepwete runonama imba
Vamatakaringa hwirika zvirume zvichiringa pasi Dyembeu, kurima kwakona
Mutengeni wazvozvovenga Mambo usitandavare Kutandavara, mvura inova mubvumbi
Vazvikwechekweche zvinonongwa nevavindukira Asina kuvindukira anowana zvapera
zvaenda nemwando Hekani, Nhandare Mupfudze uri mudanga
VokwaBhasvi VaNyoka haisvosvwi Kuisvosva, inoruma munhu
Vedombo rakakona chimwango nemarangadya Vamatururamvura Ziendavachisiya
Nyamutorazvose Nyama tinodya Mafuta tinozora
Mukaka tinonwa nokusevesa sadza Debwe tinowarira
Nyanga igonamombe Ndove tinodzurura mumba Muswe udenhawo
Haiwa, tatenda Varidzi venyika Zvaitwa, Sahayi
Muzinda wapasi Changamire
Your mutupo and its detembo as an image for WhatsApp, your status or a post, carrying the Kwaunobva mark.
The Moyondizvo detembo is a poem of rule. It greets the clan as Sahayi, Dhewa, Nhandare and Bvumavaranda, places them among the Rozvi (vari urozvi) at Dzimbahwe, and calls them Jengetanyika, the one who watches over the land, Mwene wavanhu, lord of the people, and those who set chiefs in office (vagadzi voushe). It says the clan's root lies in the east (mudzi unobva mabvazuva).
Cattle fill the rest of it. The clan is Muzinda wen'ombe, the home of cattle, and Ndambachirashwa, the one who throws nothing away, and the closing lines show why: the meat is eaten, the fat is smeared on, the milk is drunk with sadza, the hide is slept on and the dung is spread on the floor of the house. The longer version given here ends on the name Changamire.
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.
Moyo Moyondizvo mutupo weMoyo. Varume vanokudzwa seMoyondizvo, Sahayi, Dhewa naNhandare, vakadzi seMaMoyo naVapamoyo. Detembo ravo rinovaisa pakati peVaRozvi kuDzimbahwe, richivati Jengetanyika naMwene wavanhu. Rinotiwo mudzi wavo unobva kumabvazuva. Rinotaura zvakawanda nezvemombe: nyama inodyiwa, mafuta anozorwa, mukaka unonwiwa nesadza.
The Wikipedia article on the Shona names the Rozvi state as Moyo Ndizvo and traces the origins of the Shona to it. The same article says the Ndebele destroyed Changamire's Rozvi state in the 1830s. The clan's own detembo places it among the Rozvi at Dzimbahwe.
Shona people (Wikipedia print), p. 1; Shona people (Wikipedia print), p. 3; Mitupo: A Collection of Some of Zimbabwe's Totems, p. 30
The Wikipedia article on the Shona names the Rozvi state as Moyo Ndizvo, and the Moyondizvo detembo itself places the clan among the Rozvi at Dzimbahwe.
Men are greeted as Moyondizvo, and the detembo also calls the clan Sahayi, Dhewa, Nhandare, Bvumavaranda and Changamire. Women are greeted as MaMoyo or Vapamoyo.
Moyo is the heart. It is a totem taken from part of an animal rather than a whole animal.
In Bikita, Chikomba, Mhondoro-Ngezi and Gutu, 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 Moyo 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.
Made in Zimbabwe by Invalcre (Pvt) Limited. Free, and they work offline.
Provisional Test ZimbabweZimbabwe VID test and Highway Code
DanhoZIMSEC O and A Level past papers
BhaibheriThe Shona Bible and its hymnals
DenheZimbabwe's public record
