Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The name of these traditional garments is umbhaco, while their cousins, the Zulus, wear animal hide (men) and colourful clothing and beads (women). They usually paint themselves prior to performing. Umxhentso is mostly performed in the Transkei homeland in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa where the tradition is still valued.
Their language, IsiXhosa is over a thousand-year old. Presently, over ten million Xhosa-speaking people are distributed across Southern Africa, although their traditional homeland is primarily the Cape Province . In 1994 the self-governing countries of Transkei and Ciskei were incorporated into South Africa, becoming the Eastern Cape province.
The traditional isiXhosa names for months of the year poetically come from names of stars, plants, and flowers that grow or seasonal changes that happen at a given time of year in Southern Africa. The Xhosa year traditionally begins in June and ends in May when the brightest star visible in the Southern Hemisphere, Canopus, signals the time for ...
The song is known world-wide thanks to the interpretation of South African singer Miriam Makeba (herself a Xhosa). In her discography the song appears in several versions, both with the title Qongqothwane and as The Click Song. The song was written and originally performed by The Manhattan Brothers who made it famous across Africa. Miriam was ...
The Uhadi is played for traditional ceremonies including weddings and varies rite of passage ceremonies. Uhadi performances customarily take place in the afternoons and evenings, usually indoors. There are very few uhadi players in the 21st century, however, acclaimed African musicians like Madosini and Dizu Plaatjies have made uhadi playing an ...
The smoking of the ‘Inqawe’ is a symbol of having a relationship with the ancestors. Therefore, traditional diviners often use it in order to appease the ancestors. Smoking This pipe is used in a number of Xhosa rituals such as the ‘umhlwayelelo’ ritual which is a propitiatory rite for the ‘river people’.
Umngqusho is a South African dish based on samp and sugar beans, usually served with hard body chicken which is called umleqwa in isiXhosa.Traditionally a Xhosa staple meal, it has been adopted by other tribes in South Africa as their staple meal as well.
An imbongi (plural iimbongi), or a Xhosa praise poet, is a member of the Xhosa community who performs ceremonial activities at important events. An imbongi is traditionally a male who recites emotive poetry, sings, explains family relationships, re-tells historical events and comments on current affairs.