Nyati · Buffalo
Nyati Chirombwe is a Shona clan of the Nyati totem, the buffalo. Its men are greeted as Nyati, Zvigarambabvu, Shonga and Makoni, and the detembo calls the clan the child of Muswere; its women are greeted as Shonga or Muzvare Shonga.
Maita Nyati, Maita Zvigarambabvu, Hekani Nyati yangu yiyi,
Zvaitwa shinga, Mwana waMuswere. Tatenda vari Museso navari Minanga, Vagari veMhinha, Shonga yangu yiyi,
Vanoramba kudya nyama yomusana, Muchida yechityu. Maita Nyati, maita Shonga,
Hekani Makoni wangu mazamu eNyati, Vanotukwa nedengu romupunga, Rorukweza riri munyasi.
Kuziva zvenyu Nyati yangu yiyi, Vachibaya mombe, Kudya mbudzi urombo.
Zvaitwa vari Masendeke, Vasingaiswi vhu munzeve, VokwaChireranherera,
Vari muHomwe, MuUngwe waDerere asingadyi derere, Kuteketera kuteketerwa nedengu romupunga,
Rorukweza ngeremhamba, Vanhu vasingaiti mhezi, Maita varere Mhinha nevari Masendeke,
Zvaitwa muUngwe.
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 Nyati, Zvigarambabvu and Shonga, a brave one (shinga) and the child of Muswere, and names it Makoni. It greets them at Museso, Minanga, Masendeke and Homwe, as the dwellers of Mhinha, and in Ungwe, where it names Derere, who does not eat derere (okra). It calls them VokwaChireranherera, those of the one who raises orphans.
Much of the poem is about food and offerings. The clan will not eat the meat of the back and prefers the chityu cut; they slaughter cattle, and the poem calls eating goat a sign of poverty. The ancestors are addressed (kuteketera) with a basket of rice with finger millet (rukweza) beneath it.
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.
Nyati Chirombwe mutupo wenyati. Varume vanokudzwa seNyati, Zvigarambabvu, Shonga naMakoni, vakadzi seShonga naMuzvare Shonga. Detembo ravo rinovati vana vaMuswere. Rinoti havadyi nyama yomusana, vanoda yechityu, uye vanobaya mombe. Vadzimu vanoteketerwa nedengu romupunga rine rukweza pasi.
Besides the buffalo itself, the detembo says the clan will not eat the meat of the back and prefers the chityu cut. It also calls eating goat a sign of poverty, since they slaughter cattle.
Men are greeted as Nyati, Zvigarambabvu, Shonga, Makoni and Mashonganyika, and the detembo calls the clan the child of Muswere. Women are greeted as Shonga or Muzvare Shonga.
The detembo says the ancestors are addressed (kuteketera) with a basket of rice with finger millet at the bottom.
In Makoni 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 Nyati 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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