Soko · monkey
Soko, also written Shoko, is the monkey totem. A study note on Shona totems says the monkey was chosen for how it lives: in a group, caring for and defending its own, with the young respecting their elders. It is kept by the Chuma, Kumene, Moyondizvo, Murehwa, Nehumba and Vhudzijena clans.
The Soko poems laugh at themselves the way people laugh at monkeys. They praise their clans as Makwiramiti, the climbers of trees, and as Mahomuhomu, and they speak of people who are afraid to farm and live off what they take from other people's fields, walking about with little pouches to carry it off in. Mukanya and Matarira run through most of the poems, and Chirongo through several.
Rain runs through them too. Nehumba calls its people rainmakers up among the clouds, and Vhudzijena calls them rainmakers of Matonjeni and smiths of copper; a Shona dictionary explains the praise name Mushambanegore, used in Vhudzijena, as the monkey that washes only when the rain washes it, and as ancestors who live close to the clouds and bring rain. The clans part over their ancestors: Chuma names Samambita and the children of Madziva, Kumene is the child of Mutinhima, Murehwa the child of Pfumojena and of Chinamhora, Moyondizvo says it came from Nembire, and Vhudzijena says it won its chieftaincy through wisdom.
Soko, kana kuti Shoko, mutupo wevanhu vanoera tsoko. Madetembo avo anovakudza seMakwiramiti, Mukanya naMatarira, achiseka tsika dzetsoko dzokuba muminda. Mamwe anovati vanayisi vemvura, uye reVhudzijena rinoti vakawana ushe nouchenjeri. Chidao chimwe nechimwe, seMurehwa kana Nehumba, chinoratidza dzinza racho.
The monkey. A Shona dictionary calls Shoko the totem of people who take the tsoko, the monkey, as their animal, and the Wikipedia article on the Shona and a study note on totems list Soko as the monkey.
A Shona dictionary explains Vhudzijena, white hair, as a Soko praise name that describes the white hairs on the monkey's body. The Soko Moyondizvo poem uses it as well.
No. It keeps Soko, the monkey. The Mitupo 2025 collection prints it among the Soko poems, and a Shona dictionary gives Mbire as its praise name. Moyo Moyondizvo is a separate clan of the heart totem.
Soko Chuma, Soko Kumene, Soko Moyondizvo, Soko Murehwa, Soko Nehumba, Soko Vhudzijena.
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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