Shava · Eland
Shava Nyakudirwa is a Shona clan of the Shava totem, the eland or mhofu. Its men are greeted as Mhofu, Shava and VaNyakudirwa, and its women as Chihera, Mhofukadzi or VaNyakudirwa. Its detembo greets the clan as Masvinga, Muchamaya, Gurudza, Bonda and Nhuka, and calls it the child of Kache.
Maita Masvinga, Hekani Muchamaya, Zvaitwa mwana waKache
Tinoenda Mhukahuru, Maita vari Shangure, Kuziva zvenyu vari Chikwidibire.
Maita matateguru, Vari Chamukwenjera. Zvaitwa vari Maware,
Hekani Gurudza, Vokwa Tungebwe, vokwaMuchenje. Hekani Bonda, Mhofu yangu yiyi,
Zvaonekwa mwana waMusanyange. Maita Makanganya, Maguhwu. Tinotenda mwana waMukunyadzi naNyanzira,
Varandutsira vamwe pfumo rauya Richibva kune imwe nyika, Aiwa zvaitwa Nhuka.
Your mutupo and its detembo as an image for WhatsApp, your status or a post, carrying the Kwaunobva mark.
The detembo printed for Nyakudirwa is a poem of ancestors and gathering places. It opens on Masvinga and Muchamaya and calls the clan the child of Kache, of Musanyange, and of Mukunyadzi and Nyanzira. It greets them at Shangure and Chikwidibire, greets the forefathers (matateguru) at Chamukwenjera, and names those of Maware, Tungebwe and Muchenje.
Its praise names are Gurudza, Bonda, Makanganya and Maguhwu, and it calls the clan Mhofu yangu yiyi, my own eland. Its last lines praise them as people who shielded others when a spear came from another land (varandutsira vamwe pfumo rauya richibva kune imwe nyika), and it closes on Nhuka. The name Nyakudirwa itself does not appear in the poem.
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 Nyakudirwa mutupo weShava, mhofu. Varume vanokudzwa seMhofu, Shava naVaNyakudirwa, vakadzi seChihera naMhofukadzi. Detembo ravo rinovati Masvinga, Muchamaya, mwana waKache naMusanyange. Rinovarumbidza sevakarandutsira vamwe pfumo rauya richibva kune imwe nyika. Zita rokuti Nyakudirwa harimo mudetembo iri.
The eland. The Wikipedia article on the Shona gives Mhofu as the eland, and Duramazwi describes the mhofu as a reddish animal with long upright horns that lives where trees and grass grow together. A study note on totems glosses shava more loosely as an antelope. The Nyakudirwa detembo calls the clan Mhofu and Nhuka.
No. The poem printed under that heading in the Mitupo collection never uses it; it greets the clan as Masvinga, Muchamaya, Gurudza, Bonda and Nhuka. Men and women of the clan are still greeted as VaNyakudirwa.
The detembo thanks the clan as the child of Mukunyadzi and Nyanzira, just before its closing lines about shielding others from a spear that came from another land. It gives nothing more about them than their names.
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.
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