Soko · Monkey
Soko Chuma is a Shona clan of the Soko totem, the monkey. Its men are greeted as Soko, and the detembo also calls the clan Chuma, Mukanya and Gototsa, and this Soko of Samambita. Its women are greeted as MaNcube, Mwenewazvo or Soko.
Evoi Chuma, Soko yangu yiyi yaSamambita. Maita Gototsa Mukanya, Chuma chaMukaradzi china mahapa, Chinoti kapa kapa. Maita vari kuna Mhomhozi. Maita vari kuna Mukaradzi naGwetera.
Kuziva zvenyu VaChigumbate, Maita VaSamambita naMunyeche, Zvaitwa mwana wachikudzunga naDerere, Aiwa zvaoneka vana vaMadziva, Zvaonekwa waDzeka naKabija.
Your mutupo and its detembo as an image for WhatsApp, your status or a post, carrying the Kwaunobva mark.
The Chuma detembo is a short one. It greets the clan as Chuma and Mukanya and as Gototsa, and calls it Soko yangu yiyi yaSamambita, this Soko of Samambita. It names Chuma chaMukaradzi, Mukaradzi's chuma, which it says goes kapa kapa.
The rest names the clan's people and homes. It greets the clan at Mhomhozi and at Mukaradzi and Gwetera, thanks Chigumbate, Samambita and Munyeche, and calls it the child of Chikudzunga and Derere and the children of Madziva. It closes on Dzeka and Kabija.
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.
Soko Chuma mutupo weSoko. Varume vanokudzwa seSoko, vakadzi seMaNcube naMwenewazvo. Detembo ravo rinovadaidza kuti Chuma, Mukanya naGototsa, Soko yaSamambita. Rinovakwazisa vari kuna Mhomhozi, Mukaradzi naGwetera. Rinoti vana vaMadziva, mwana waChikudzunga naDerere.
Men are greeted as Soko, and women as MaNcube, Mwenewazvo or Soko. The detembo also calls the clan Chuma, Mukanya and Gototsa, and this Soko of Samambita.
The children of Madziva, and the child of Chikudzunga and Derere. It also thanks Samambita, Munyeche and Chigumbate by name, without telling their story.
A study note on totems says animals were taken as totems for qualities worth copying, and gives the monkey as its example: monkeys live in a group, look after and defend one another, and the young respect their elders.
In Shamva, 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 Soko 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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