Mukuruvambwa · Sheep
Mukuruvambwa Gwai is a Shona clan whose totem is the gwai, the sheep (hwai). Its men are greeted as Gwai, Gumbi, Mukuruvambwa and Gora, and the detembo also calls the clan Chuma, Gono and Sembe and the child of Gora; its women are greeted as MaChuma.
Maita Gwai,
Zvaitwa Moyo ndizvo, Vane chuma chisingaverengwi Vakatorerwa umambo naMabvakure, Maita hwai yangu iyi, Ikachema kunofa dangwe, Ukaidya unopera mazino, Maita vana vaMbarure, Maita vana vaChigondo, Zvaitwa mhuri yaNyamhunga, Zvaitwa mhuri yaGora, Maita zvenyu vari Goromonzi, Vari Mharamasimbe, Kuziva zvenyu vari Manyewe, Vari Baramhanya, Tatenda vari Mburwi, Zvaitwa Chuma, Zvaitwa Gono, Zvaitwa Gumbi, Zvaitwa Gwai,
Maita vari Mhondoro, Maita Sembe, Chuma-Chitunge, Tinotenda vari kwaMashayamombe, Tinotenda Chinhove changu chichi, Zvaonekwa vari Doworo, Maita mwana waGora, Zvaonekwa Gwai rangu iri, Zvaonekwa Mukuruvambwa. 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 detembo greets the totem as 'hwai yangu iyi', this sheep of mine, and says that if it cries a firstborn dies, and whoever eats it loses their teeth. It calls the clan the children of Mbarure and Chigondo, the family of Nyamhunga and of Gora, and a people whose wealth (chuma) cannot be counted. It greets them at Goromonzi, Mharamasimbe, Manyewe, Baramhanya, Mburwi, Mhondoro, Mashayamombe's and Doworo.
The poem also says the clan had its kingship (umambo) taken from it by Mabvakure. It praises them as Moyo ndizvo, and it ends with lines the Moyo Chirandu poem also uses, on what cattle give (the hide slept on, the horn made into a gona, the dung spread in the house), before calling the clan owners of the land (varidzi venyika) and closing on Sahayi and 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.
Mukuruvambwa Gwai mutupo wehwai. Varume vanokudzwa seGwai, Gumbi, Mukuruvambwa naGora, vakadzi seMaChuma. Detembo ravo rinoti hwai ikachema kunofa dangwe, uye ukaidya unopera mazino. Rinovadaidza kuti vana vaMbarure naChigondo, vakatorerwa umambo naMabvakure. Rinopedzisa richivati varidzi venyika, Sahayi, Changamire.
The clan's own detembo says its kingship (umambo) was taken from it by Mabvakure, praises it as Moyo ndizvo, and closes on Sahayi and Changamire. The Wikipedia article on the Shona names the Rozvi state as Moyo Ndizvo and calls it Changamire's state. The poem does not say how the clan and the Rozvi are related.
Mitupo: A Collection of Some of Zimbabwe's Totems, p. 40; Mitupo: A Collection of Some of Zimbabwe's Totems, p. 41; Shona people (Wikipedia print), p. 1; Shona people (Wikipedia print), p. 3
The sheep. The collection heads the clan 'Mukuruvambwa - Gwai', and the detembo greets the totem as hwai yangu iyi, this sheep of mine, warning that whoever eats it loses their teeth.
Men are greeted as Gwai, Gumbi, Mukuruvambwa and Gora, and the detembo also calls the clan Chuma, Gono, Sembe and Chinhove, and ends on Sahayi and Changamire. Women are greeted as MaChuma.
It says their kingship was taken from them by Mabvakure. It still calls them a people whose wealth cannot be counted and the owners of the land.
In Mhondoro-Ngezi and Murehwa, 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 Mukuruvambwa 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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