Shava · Eland
Shava Mufakose is a Shona clan of the eland totem, Shava. Its men are greeted as Shava, Mufakose and Mhofu, and its women as Chihera, AChihera or Ashava. The detembo also calls the clan Chidavarume, Nhuka, Matuka and Mhofu yomukono, and names it the child of Hwata.
Maita Shava, Maita Mufakose, vokwaNyamhangambiri. Maita Chidavarume,
Vanotokundwa pakusakura, Pavakadzi pasina anovakunda. Maita mwana waHwata,
Mukonde wangu yuyu. Maita veGomba vakabva kwaNyashanu, Mwana waShirichirima,
Ano mutsa nengoni, Akaitira ngoni vakanga vatandwa, Akavadzorera muShavarunzwe,
Maita vokwaSadzadete, Gobvu rinokonza chitsi. Maita Gurudza vokwatsangadzi
Isakacherwa ikapera, Maita Nhuka yangu yiyi, Matuka, mhofu yomukono.
Kudya mhofu kudya munyepfu, Kudya bvupa meno omokotoka. Aiwa zvaonekwa Shava yangu yiyi,
Tatenda mwana waHwata.
Your mutupo and its detembo as an image for WhatsApp, your status or a post, carrying the Kwaunobva mark.
The Mufakose detembo opens by calling the clan those of Nyamhangambiri and praising them as Chidavarume, people who may be beaten at weeding but whom no one beats where women are concerned. It names them the child of Hwata, and the Gomba people who came from Nyashanu's country.
At its centre is Shirichirima, remembered for kindness and mercy (mutsa nengoni), who took pity on people who had been driven out and brought them back to Shavarunzwe. The poem also greets the clan as those of Sadzadete and of Gurudza. Before closing on Hwata it turns to the eland itself, calling it Matuka and Mhofu yomukono and speaking of its flesh (munyepfu).
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.
Shava Mufakose mutupo weShava, mhofu. Varume vanokudzwa seShava, Mufakose naMhofu, vakadzi seChihera naAshava. Detembo ravo rinovati Chidavarume, mwana waHwata, veGomba vakabva kwaNyashanu. Rinorumbidza Shirichirima, aiva nomutsa nengoni, akadzorera vakanga vatandwa muShavarunzwe.
The poem calls the clan the child of Shirichirima, one who had kindness and mercy, who took pity on people who had been driven out and brought them back to Shavarunzwe. It says nothing more about Shirichirima than that.
The detembo gives Chidavarume with a boast: the clan may be beaten at weeding, but where women are concerned no one beats them. The name is shared with other Shava clans; the Museyamwa and Mutenhesanwa poems use it too.
Men are greeted as Shava, Mufakose and Mhofu, and women as Chihera, AChihera or Ashava. The detembo adds Chidavarume, Nhuka, Mukonde, Matuka and Mhofu yomukono, and calls the clan the child of Hwata.
In Mount Darwin and Mazowe, 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 Shava 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
