What are Xhosas famous for?

The Xhosa people were known as hunters and herders and are the second largest cultural group in South Africa after the Zulu. Find out more about the Xhosa people, their origins and who created the backbone of the Xhosa nation.

What is special about Xhosa culture?

In Xhosa tradition, the ancestors act as intermediaries between the living and God; they are honoured in rituals in order to bring good fortune. Dreams play an important role in divination and contact with ancestors. Traditional religious practice features rituals, initiations, and feasts.

What are Xhosa values?

An important traditional value of Xhosa culture is ubuntu, or humanness. At the core of ubuntu is the preservation and stability of the whole. An example of its application is that, in times of war, women and children were never killed.

Why do xhosas cut their fingers?

An ancient Xhosa custom of amputating the joint of the little finger, or of the ring finger on babies is seen by many as an act of cruelty and torture. The Ingqithi custom is practiced by certain Xhosa speaking tribes and is common in the Tembus.

What type of food do Xhosa eat?

The staple food of the Xhosa people is umngqusho made from cracked maize and beans. Maize meal 'pap' is also very popular. There are many different kinds of vegetable dishes that feature alongside the staples and various meat dishes are also often prepared. Food is traditionally prepared by women in the Xhosa culture.

Major Cultural Practices of the Xhosa People

Where do Xhosa originally come from?

Xhosa, formerly spelled Xosa, a group of mostly related peoples living primarily in Eastern Cape province, South Africa. They form part of the southern Nguni and speak mutually intelligible dialects of Xhosa, a Bantu language of the Niger-Congo family.

Who is the Xhosa God?

The Xhosa name for God is Mdali, the supreme being. Other names by which he is known are Thixo and Qamatha, a legacy from the Khoi and possibly the San. Qamatha, the creator of all things, controls all things.

How do Xhosa show respect?

Xhosa have traditionally used greetings to show respect and good intentions to others. In interacting with others, it is crucial to show respect (ukuhlonipha). Youths are expected to keep quiet when elders are speaking, and to lower their eyes when being addressed.

What happens when a Xhosa baby is born?

The Xhosa people have various rites of passage traditions. The first of these occurs after giving birth; a mother is expected to remain secluded in her house for at least ten days. In Xhosa tradition, the afterbirth and umbilical cord were buried or burned to protect the baby from sorcery.

What do Xhosa drink?

In most of South Africa, sorghum beer is the preferred drink of the spiritual realm but in the Eastern Cape, Xhosa-speaking communities brandy and sorghum beers have worked together in matters of ancestral communication and life-stage transition rituals for at least 200 years.

Why do Xhosa paint their faces?

The Xhosa tribe of South Africa uses face paint as a rite of passage. Boys entering adolescence undergo a ritual in which they're separated from the rest of their tribe and embrace the mentorship of an older man. Once the ritual is over, they're painted red.

What is the Xhosa heritage?

The Xhosa live in south-east South Africa, and in the last two centuries, throughout the southern and central-southern parts of the country. The Xhosa people are divided into several tribes with related yet distinct heritages. The main tribes are the Mpondo, Mpondomise, Bomvana, Xesibe, and Thembu.

How old is the Xhosa nation?

Xhosa History. Historical evidence suggests that the Xhosa people have inhabited the Eastern Cape area from as long ago as 1593 and most probably even before that. Some archaeological evidence has been discovered that suggests that Xhosa-speaking people have lived in the area since the 7th century AD.

How important is the baby to this Xhosa culture?

Bathabiles baby was born spontaneously underwater Birth in the Xhosa culture, is an important rite of passage and is therefore treated with due respect, honour and celebration. Traditionally, the birthing mother is attended to by 'grand-mothers' in her 'rondavel', who have experience in birthing babies.

What is Imbeleko in Xhosa?

According to Xhosa tradition, a child should undergo iMbeleko – which involves slaughtering a goat by way of introducing the child to the family and the ancestors – soon after they are born.

What is Xhosa religion?

The traditional religion of the Xhosa people centered around their belief in a single god, called uThixo or uQamata. But most everyday spiritual needs focus on paying homage to ancestors and spirits. Traditional healers, or "amaguira," can be consulted for everything from ill health to emotional complaints.

Is Xhosa a beautiful language?

On Wednesday, an archive video began doing the rounds on social media showing the late American poet and writer Maya Angelou praising the Xhosa language. "There's a wonderful language in South Africa called Xhosa... It's a beautiful language" she says.

What does the name Xhosa mean?

In African Baby Names the meaning of the name Xhosa is: Sweet. (South African).

What do Xhosa people call God?

The supreme being among the Xhosa is called uThixo or uQamata . As in the religions of many other Bantu peoples, God is only rarely involved in everyday life. God may be approached through ancestral intermediaries who are honored through ritual sacrifices.

Which countries speak Xhosa?

Xhosa (/ˈkɔːsə, ˈkoʊsə/, Xhosa pronunciation: [kǁʰóːsa]) also isiXhosa as an endonym, is a Nguni language and one of the official languages of South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Are there Xhosas in Zimbabwe?

The Xhosas in Zimbabwe are a diasporic community who originate from South Africa (Makambe 1982: 7). They are a Mfengu group which is believed to comprise members from several ethnic groups like the Gcalekas, the Hlubis, the Zulus, just to name a few.

How did xhosas end up in Zimbabwe?

Why did the Xhosa migrate to Zimbabwe? Following Mfecane in the 1800s, several refugees who carried specific surnames like my great-great-great-great-grandfather Siskhulu Dhlamini, assimilated into Xhosa-speaking areas in the Eastern Cape Colony.

How many wives can a Xhosa man have?

Isithembu as practiced by the Xhosa people is a complex form of polygamy. In this system a man's wives all have positions in the family. Where a man has two wives the family is divided into two branches called "estates".