Moyo · Heart
Moyo Sithole 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 Chirandu, Dhewa and Gono, and its women as MaMoyo or Vapamoyo. Its detembo, the praise poem, opens 'Ewoni Sithole, Moyo' and greets the clan as Mombe, the cow.
Ewoni Sithole, Moyo, Mombe, Wasanga, Ganyamatope, Mutupo watakaera tese, Mwaita Mombe, Mushayachiraswa, Mutupo uri mudanga, Tinobonga Chirandu,
Dzemudza wangu.
Mwaita wari kuna Hamudiyamwe,
Ngaone,
Tabonga vari Madzadza.
Zvigare zvakadaro,
Mhera narini,
Ngavatungamirwe
Kuti ndaramo yavo irebe,
Ndabonga nyamho.
Your mutupo and its detembo as an image for WhatsApp, your status or a post, carrying the Kwaunobva mark.
The Sithole detembo opens 'Ewoni Sithole, Moyo' and greets the clan as Mombe, the cow, and as Wasanga, Ganyamatope and Mushayachiraswa. Cattle run through it: Moyo is called the totem we all hold together (mutupo watakaera tese) and the totem that is in the cattle pen (mutupo uri mudanga).
It thanks the clan as Chirandu, a praise name the Sithole share with several other Moyo clans, and greets the family at Hamudiyamwe and at Madzadza. It closes with a blessing: may things stay as they are, and may the family be guided so that their lives are long (ngavatungamirwe kuti ndaramo yavo irebe).
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 Sithole mutupo weMoyo, unoreva moyo wemhuka, kwete mhuka yose. Varume vanokudzwa seChirandu, Dhewa naGono, vakadzi seMaMoyo naVapamoyo. Detembo ravo rinovadaidza kuti Mombe, Wasanga naGanyamatope, uye rinoti Moyo mutupo uri mudanga. Rinotenda vari kuna Hamudiyamwe nevari Madzadza. Rinopera nokukumbira kuti vatungamirwe, upenyu hwavo hurebe.
Men are greeted as Chirandu, Dhewa and Gono, and women as MaMoyo or Vapamoyo. The detembo itself also calls the clan Sithole, Mombe, Wasanga, Ganyamatope and Mushayachiraswa.
No. Moyo is the heart, a totem taken from part of an animal rather than a whole animal, in the same way as Gumbo (the leg) and Bepe (the lung).
In Chipinge, Bikita and Chimanimani, 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.
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