Tag: Kwanyama king

Who/What killed Mandume, the Last Resistant to Portuguese Colonization in Angola

On By Dr. Y.In Great PeopleLeave a comment
Early resistant, bronze plaque for King Mandume ya Ndemufayo at the Independence Museum in Windhoek, Namibia

Mandume Ya Ndemufayo, the king of the Cuanhama (Oukwanyama) principal subgroup of the Ovambo in Southern Angola, was one of the last and most important resistance leader against Portuguese conquest in Angola [Mandume and the Ovambo Resistance to Portuguese Colonialism in Angola]. By the size of his army, he could be compared to Samori Touré, but he did not have the same historic aura or military genius, and died early. No European colonizer seriously challenged the well-organized and well-armed Ovambo kingdoms until 1915 and the beginning of World War I which coincided with a massive local drought. Thus, there are several versions to his death. Below are a few.

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… the death of such a person could not fail to give rise to several versions. The South African version is military:  four machine gun bullets, and death in the bushes. A Cuanhama version claims that he committed suicide surrounded by his last followers, another that he ordered a young squire to finish him off. A third, still believed today, claims that the South Africans cut off his head and buried it in Windhoek. This last variant would explain itself by the fact that the small monument commemorating the campaign which cost the lives of nine south Africans would include in effigy the head of an African, clearly visible in Windhoek. The Cuanhama workers residing in the capital would therefore have associated this face with that of their formidable hero. Currently, the tomb of Mandume is a simple tumulus surrounded by stakes. Relatively well maintained (by the family ? nationalists ?), it is located a few kilometers from the border, to the east of Namacunde, in Angolan territory.

Les Africains, Tome 8, p. 226, ed. Jaguar. Translated to English by Dr. Y., Afrolegends.com

Kwanyama Poem in Honor of King Mandume

On By Dr. Y.In Great Civilizations, Great PeopleLeave a comment
King Mandume ya Ndemufayo, portrait extracted from a photograph of the King with British representatives in South Africa

I found this Kwanyama poem written in honor of King Mandume. It is simple, and rich in culture. It emphasizes the Kwanyama culture: how can one cowardly abandon his king? the only son of his mother? A mother’s only son is everything, so he needs to be protected by those around. It also shows the respect given to the king, as to him were extended leather carpets. From this poem, it is clear that Mandume was a very good rider, a fearless knight, and a fine gunman. The term soba, is the term for king in Kwanyama (Cuanhama in Angola) culture. The reference to the “ragged brother” is based upon the fact that from Kwanyama accounts, Mandume used to “disguise himself in poor clothing and walk about the country to listen to what the people were saying, to see if they were satisfied by his laws” (Loeb, 1962:35), given that he had made significant positive changes to laws; while the Portuguese account on the other hand, state that Mandume used to dress in rags to trick those who would not recognize him as the king, “picking quarrels and exacting cruel vengeance to those who responded to his provocations with crude insults” (Estermann, 1960: 221). When living in the desert, water is crucial to survival; thus, water finds its way into this poem: why would anyone share the little they have with an enemy who has been trying to crush them and force them off their land? Enjoy the poem, translated to English by Dr. Y., Afrolegends.com. To learn more, read “Lyrical Nationalism in Post-Apartheid Namibia” by W. A. Haugh, Lexington Books (2014).

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Ovakwanyama ’malai!

Tamuefele Naingo

Adalwa ko ina ewifa,

Semuweda okakambe

N’ outa wosalupenda!

Mandume himupe ombedi,

Himupe nande kanini.

Adalwo ko ina ewifa,

Semuweda okalambe

N’outa wosalupenda.

Ohamba yokayalambadwa

Yokapekwa ya Melulu

Na Ndilokelwa sime.

Oindele hiipe omeva,

Hiipe nande m’omindo,

Yetudipaela ofimu,

Yetudipaela ohamba,

Ohamba yokalambadwa

Yokapekwa ya Melulo

 You, Kwanyamas, you are stupid!

You cowardly abandoned the king

Him, his mother’s only son,

The incomparable knight,

With his beautiful gun Mauser !

To Mandume I will not reproach anything,

No matter how little.

To him, his mother’s only son,

The incomparable knight,

With his beautiful gun Mauser !

The soba to whom leather rugs were extended

Melulo’s ragged brother

And Princess Ndilokelwa.

I will not give whites water,

I will not give them any from my little gourd.

They killed our king,

They slaughtered the sovereign!

The soba to whom leather rugs were extended,

Melulo’s ragged brother.