Ukama Hwedu

How Shona Kinship Is Reckoned

Ukama hwevaShona hunotorwa pamutupo wababa, hama dzokudivi rababa nerekwaamai dzichipiwa mazita akasarudzika anosanganisira babamukuru, babamunini, tete nasekuru.

Tsananguro

Ukama hwevaShona hunowanzotorwa pamutupo wababa; kana baba vasingazivikanwi, mwana anowana mutupo wamai vake. Munin'ina wamai nomurume wake vanonzi babamunini naamainini, munin'ina wababa nomudzimai wake vachinzi zvimwe chetezvo, uye kana vanhu ivavo vari vakuru kuvabereki, vanonzi babamukuru naamaiguru. Hanzvadzi dzababa dzinonzi vatete, hanzvadzi dzaamai dzichinzi vanasekuru; mativi ose ane vanambuya navanasekuru. Ukama hwakasimba, hunobva pamutupo, hunosunga kuti hama dzepedyo hadzibvumirwi kuroorana, uye kutyora mutemo uyu kwaibvisiswa mombe dzinoenda kuna mambo. Kunze kweukama hwenhengo, pane ukamaruswa hunoumbwa nokuroorana kwemhuri mbiri, uye ukamaruswa hunowanikwazve pakati pevanhu vanoera mutupo mumwe chete asi vane zvidau zvakasiyana.

In English

Shona kinship is traced first through the father's totem, with relatives on both the father's and mother's sides given specific classificatory titles such as babamukuru, babamunini, tete, and sekuru.

Shona kinship is traced primarily through the father's totem; if the father is unknown, a child instead takes the mother's totem. A mother's younger brother and his wife are addressed as babamunini and amainini, a father's younger brother and his wife are addressed the same way, and when these relatives are older than one's own parents they are addressed as babamukuru and amaiguru. A father's sisters are called vatete, while a mother's sisters are called vanasekuru; grandmothers and grandfathers exist on both sides of the family. Close kinship, rooted in shared totem, forbids marriage between near relatives, and breaking this rule traditionally required cattle to be paid to the chief. Beyond kinship by descent, there is also kinship created through marriage between two families, and a further form of kinship exists between people who share the same totem animal but different praise-name clan branches.

Zvimwe zvechikamu ichi.

ChiramuChiramu is a custom allowing a wife's younger sister or niece to play a joking, wife-like role toward her brother-in-law, a practice increasingly criticised for creating openings for exploitation of young women.MukuwashaThe husband of a family's daughter, who carries lasting duties of assistance and respect toward his wife's parents and relatives.MurooraThe title given to a married woman by her husband's family, whose role is to bind two families together in kinship and who is both honoured and ritually teased through the custom of chiroora.UkamaShona kinship was traced bilaterally through both parents, and its ties governed who could and could not marry.UsahwiraUsahwira was a bond of ritual friendship between two families, offering mutual support through hardship and ceremony until death.VateteThe paternal aunt held major authority in a family, teaching nieces custom and presiding over marriage and fertility matters.

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