De-Coloniality and De-Minoritization of Indigenous Cultural Heritage in Africa: An Exploration of Nambya Religion

Abstract

Scholarship on indigenous populations has tended to downplay the importance of minority cultural heritage. In this article I explore how colonialism, Christianity and ethnicity have colluded in ensuring that indigenous cultural heritage of minority groups is diluted, compromised and disfigured. This has led to the identity loss and cultural circumcision of minority groups like the Nambya people in Zimbabwe. Drawing on religious-ethnographic research of the Nambya I argue that Nambyan culture have been treated as the “other”. I contend that by exploring the role of colonialism, Christianity and ethnicity dominance in impacting on the loss of the rich religious heritage of the Nambyan ethnic group. There are factors which minoritise the other in order to dominate the cultural and religious spaces in multicultural society. I demonstrate that minoritisation of ethnic groups like the Nambya have resulted in the cementing of colonial hegemony and ethnic dominance of the Shona and Ndebele. Lastly I recommend that de-minoritisation of Nambyan beliefs system is imperative as part of the wider efforts to preserve the cultural heritage of people who are marginalised because of ethnicity.

1. Introduction

Hegemonic practices are the bases of Minoritisation in many multi-cultural societies. They dictates the politics of the hegemony’s constituent subordinate states via cultural imperialism, the imposition of its way of life, i.e. its language and religion to make formal its dominance [1]. For this reason, cultural imperialism has in recent years generated contested debate in cultural and religious discourse amidst calls for multicultural and multi-religious society the world over.

It should be noted that the chastisement of indigenous cultural and religious heritage particularly of the Nambyan has exposed the façade of multi-culturalism, freedom worship and religious diversity. Nambyans have been considered a minority group socially, religiously, culturally and above all historically but they have a rich religious heritage which needs to be unpacked and in the process de-minoritising it. The chapter is alive to the realisation that colonialism and Christianity have heavily affected indigenous people’s beliefs by promoting Victorian culture and condemning the religious beliefs and practices of minority groups like the Nambyans by ascribing exclusionary and indoctrinating attitudes towards indigenous people. This was further worsened by the dominance of Shona and Ndebele ethnic groups in cultural space which pushed minority groups to the periphery. This argument is spurred by the realisation that minoritisation of ethnic groups coincides with the extinction of cultural and religious heritage of Nambyans and an emergence of a dominant culture which is influenced by colonial past, Christianity and dominant ethnic groups. This has established that the extinction of religious beliefs and practices of minority groups particularly the Nambyans cannot be understood outside the purview of the neo-colonial hegemony, exclusivism of missionary religion and ethnic power politics [2].

The supremacy given to Christianity, Victorian culture as well as the Shona-Ndebele culture has been detriment of Nambya culture. Thus, throughout the colonial period, Christianity was given the status of a superior religion while indigenous beliefs and practices of the Nambya is more than despised than that of dominant cultural groups in Zimbabweans like the Shona and Ndebele. Thus, the chapter pays attention to colonialism, Christianity and ethnicity in Zimbabwe from which the decolonisation and de-minoritisation process of indigenous cultural heritage begins as a response to and ideological influences embedded therein, which potentially shapes the existence of Nambyan cultural and religious practices. It interrogates how coloniality, religious exclusivism of Christianity and politics of ethnicity (in) directly contributes to the side-lining of religious beliefs and practices of minority ethnic groups as well as identities of the Nambyan people. The chapter concludes by dismantling coloniality and in the process de-minoritisatising Nambyan ethnic culture and practices in the quest of promoting and preserving cultural heritage of all indigenous people in Zimbabwe. It recommends that no religious beliefs and practices are superior to the other.

2. Background of the study

At the moment, Zimbabwe has more than 11 indigenous ethnic groups and these include Shona, Ndebele, Tonga, Nambya, Kalanga, Sotho, Hwesa, Sena, Chikunda, Doma, Tswana, Tswawo/Khoisan, Barwe, Fingo/Xhosa, and Chewa [3] and all of them are marginalised except for Shona and Ndebele. This means that the culture of the Nambyans especially their rich heritage is by far suppressed, subjugated and decimated in Zimbabwe. The Shona and Ndebele cultures have been considered the model of Zimbabwean cultural heritage. For this reason, the Shona and Ndebele cultures are not only considered dominant indigenous cultures but model cultures for every native Zimbabwean. This has generated a cultural identity dilemma in Zimbabwe because the 11 minority cultural groups account for 6% of the total population are marginalised and face extinction while Shona and Ndebele have 75% and 15% respectively are enjoying supremacy in culture and heritage preservation.

It should be noted that the coming the Ndebele to Zimbabwe in contributed to the minoritisation of the Nambyans who had already been inhabitants of the now Matebeleland north. They deleted the Nambyan places with Ndebele names. For instance, Fungautsi was changed to Filabusi while Gwararavaranda was changed to Gwabalanda as well Musorowezhou was changed to Tsholotsho. In Hwange, which is a Nambyan territory they are locations like Mpumalanga which reflect Ndebele dominance among the Nambya. The use of Mpumalanga a Ndebele term instead of Kubuvezhuva is reflection of intolerance to Nambya cultural heritage. For this reason, the changing of Nambyans places resulted in the dilatation of cultural heritage of the Nambyans. The places were over coated with Ndebele elements.

These; indigenous cultures have been threatened with extinction because they are being marginalised through the education system and the colonial legacy [4]. After colonisation of Zimbabwe like in many parts of Africa, the colonial masters were eager to replace indigenous culture with their own. All indigenous people were made to embrace western religious culture as a way of accepting colonial domination and civilisation brought by the colonialists. In this context, the coming of colonialism and Christianity resulted in the cultural erosion of indigenous people. This affected minority ethnic groups whose cultural values and religious heritage was undermined as evil, demonic and backward by the dominant religious culture in form of Christianity [2]. The roots of cultural and religious imperialism that affects the Nambyans in Zimbabwe today cannot be understood outside the context of three broad historical interludes: the coloniality, missionary work and ethnic dominance through their religious convictions and practices which have assisted in loss of cultural heritage of minority groups.

Missionary work in colonial Zimbabwe which happened in 1860’s contributed to the current minoritisation of indigenous people’s beliefs and practices by labelling them as satanic, barbaric, savage and backward. Missionaries felt that African traditions and cultural practices were perceived to be inferior, uncivilised and primitive [2]. They then gave themselves the task to impose their culture through Christian religion whose main task was to civilise Africans [5]. Like other indigenous ethnic groups, the Nambyan people were forced to renounce their religious beliefs and practices in preference of western culture and religion. This resulted in the marginalisation of indigenous cultural and religious heritage. Missionary schools where established by the Roman Catholic church so that Nambyans would be converted into Christianity. Some of the mission schools which became ambassadors of Victorian cultural values and Christianity include St George primary, St Marys, Sacred Heart in jambezi, St Francis Axavier in Dete as well as Marist Brothers among others. These missionary schools taught Nambyans Christianity through English, Shona and Ndebele languages. The Bible was first translated into Shona in 1949 and Nambya was sidelined even upto today. Nambyan had to learn the Bible through other languages. The introduction of Christian education under catechesis which eventually resulted in the teaching of Christianity as the sole religion for salvation and disbandment of Nambyan language, indigenous knowledge system, religious beliefs and practices which are the main facets of Nambyan culture. Firstly, they were taught using English language but later on they were taught Christian values in Ndebele which was the second vernacular language to be translated from English during catechesis. This is because missionaries promoted only Shona and Ndebele and thus the bible was translated into these two languages in Zimbabwe [6]. The promotion of Shona and Ndebele during bible translation by Missionary is also tantamount to say Nambyans among other minority groups were part of the dominant cultural groups. However, it should be noted that Nambyan were a unique cultural group which shared a lot of things in common with Shona and Ndebele cultures but its beliefs systems were marginalised. Therefore, Shona and Ndebele cultures were used to strengthen colonialism as well as marginalisation of small ethnic groups. For this reason, the indigenous culture of the Nambyans was branded as more archaic, backward and evil than the Shona-Ndebele culture.

The coming of the Ndebele was followed by the colonisation of Zimbabwe which also adversely affected the culture of the Nambyans. The Nambyan people were heavily affected by colonialism which recognised the Shona and the Ndebele as dominant cultural groups. This is evident in the naming of provinces with ethnic coated names like Mashonaland, Matebeleland, Manicaland and Masvingo which represented the Shona and Ndebele ethnic groups. The demarcation of Rhodesia into provinces with the terms Matabeleland, Mashonaland and Midlands meant that in areas where the province was Matabeleland, the expectation was that it should be Ndebele that is dominant and is used there; Mashonaland meant that it is the Shona language that was expected to be used there and in the Midlands, it was both Shona and Ndebele languages that were expected to be used there [7]. Shona and Ndebele were the only recognised indigenous cultural groups whose religious worldview was perceived as far much better than the Nambyans. This resulted in the sidelining of minority ethnic groups like the Nambyans whose “speaking minority languages, were lumped into these ethnicised administrative units and their alternative identities ignored” [8]. For this reason, the Nambyan cultural identity was understood within the Ndebele cultural lenses because they were settled in Matebeleland North. Rhodesian colonialism, like colonialism in many other parts of Africa, set into motion the politicisation of African ethnic identities by trying to construct and reconstruct people’s identities and by compartmentalising them in cultural and geographic terms [8]. Colonialists demarcated geographical locations and named the area where Nambyans dominated as Matebeleland North. They stifled the cultural identity of Nambyans by Ndebelelising them. Nambya became mutually unintelligible with Ndebele [7].

This created polarised and reinforced ethnic divisions among Africans, thereby deliberately preventing them from developing nationally integrated identities, by differentiating among them and favouring certain groups against others [9, 10]. It is this colonial misnaming and cultural bunching which marked the cultural neutralisation and minoritisation of the Nambyans. To advance this argument, the conquest of minority cultures is traced to colonisation through the compartmentilisation of ethnic groups, demonstrating the lasting effects cultural extermination and minoritisation of cultural groups with numerical inferiority [8]. The dominance and suppression of the indigenous cultures especially those of minority groups is inextricably linked to racial and tribal domination, which has played a big role in the history of Zimbabwe [8].

The situation of the Nambyans was further worsened in 1980 when the independent Zimbabwean government did little to recognise cultural diversity until the enactment of the new constitution in 2013. This means that the Shona and Ndebele cultures continued to dominate the cultural landscape of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 2012. However, when blacks got into power in 1980, the nationalist leadership of Zimbabwe tried to restructure the inherited colonial racial and ethnic order in a number of ways [8]. They introduced indigenous languages in the education system and the media was also made to use local languages as well as advancing the culture of the indigenous people. On the contrary, efforts made soon after 1980 had a bias towards Shona-Ndebele cultures at the expense of minority groups which had to switch to either Shona and Ndebele in their learning in schools [3]. The marginalisation and minoritisation of minority ethnic groups in language and other national policies also entailed the undermining of the broader cultural values and norms of these minority groups [7]. This means that Nambyans were affected not only by colonial legacies but by the Shona-Ndebele ethnic superiority introduced by the colonialists. The post-colonial government policies for the greater part of the first two decades minoritised the Nambyans and cemented colonial hegemony. For this reason, the Shona and Ndebele ethnicity strengthened cultural segregation and subjugation of the Nambyans and other minority groups through politics of dominance. Ethnicity, in its variant forms refers to the capacity in people to classify themselves as social “others” [11] while Politics of Dominance is simply defined as a situation whereby one group or person has power over another [12]. This dominance was seen in industries and public institution where the dominant indigenous languages were Shona and Ndebele [7]. It is this dominance in question that is referred to as hegemony in this chapter, which means “political, economic, ideological or cultural power exerted by a dominant group over other groups, regardless of the explicit consent of the latter” [12]. It is vividly clear that the politics of cultural dominance of Ndebele and Shona dates back to the colonial era in Zimbabwe when hegemonic principles were introduced. Thus Colonialism created racially hierarchised, imperialistic, colonialist, Euro-American-centric, Christian-centric, hetero-normative, patriarchal, violent and modern world order [13]. It is a power structure which has affected the existence of minority cultures. Therefore, coloniality and minoritisation of Nambyan ethnic groups need to unmasked, resisted and destroyed in order to preserve the cultural heritage of all people regardless of numerical inferiority. This unmasking, destruction and resistance cultural domination of whites, the Shona and Ndebele is part of de-coloniality process which is vital in ensuring preservation of cultural identity for the benefit of future generation. Thus this chapter seeks to de-colonise and de-monoritise the Nambyan cultural heritage particularly their indigenous religion so that cultural diversity, religious inclusivism and plurality is promoted.

2.1 Conceptual framework

Decoloniality is concept that is born out of a realisation that ours is an asymmetrical world order that is sustained not only by colonial matrices of power but also by pedagogies and epistemologies of equilibrium that continue to produce alienated Africans who are socialised into hating the Africa that produced them, and liking the Europe and America that rejects them [13]. This is applicable in this study because the Nambyans have been alienated from their cultural heritage because of the colonial imprints which glorifies western culture and Christianity in every sector of the society. Nambyans have been disconnected from their religious system of worship as well as practices because they have been labelled as demonic, barbaric and superstitious. They were socialised that their cultural practices are primitive and third from western culture and native dominant cultures like Shona and Ndebele culture. Nambyans have been socialised in colonially constructed institutions that they are minority ethnic groups. They have been led to accept western forms of civilisation which glorifies the modernization the Euro-American culture at the expense of indigenous cultural heritage. It critical to deconstruct coloniality in every institution so that all cultures continue to exist without allowing other cultures and ethnic groups to dominate other cultures at the expense of other minority ethnic cultural groups. In this context, the decoloniality seeks to unpack western and local dominant cultures lies concerning other cultures.

3. History of the Nambyans

Nambya consists of dialects namely, the baNizi and the baNyayi [6, 14]. The BaNambya originated from the Rozvi empire of Masvingo Great Zimbabwe and largely seen as a branch of the Shona ethnic group which made an exodus from Great Zimbabwe when one of the sons of the chief had sinned against his father and his life was in danger. The history of the Nambya people begins from what is today known as Great Zimbabwe where they originated from [6]. They left Great Zimbabwe around 1737 [14]. The son of the chief is and he migrated with his sympathisers via Gwai until they reached Binga and went westwards where they settled in the present day Whange area. They established capital city known Bumbusi and Shongano by constructing stone works which resemble Great Zimbabwe [7]. It is this resemblance that made people believe that the Nambyans are people of the wider Rozvi clan and they are the Shona. Their interaction with the Ndebele, Kalanga and BaTonga led to the metamorphosis of their cultural heritage. This means that the culture of the Nambyan people is heavily influenced by the cultures of other native people. Therefore, there are a lot similarity than differences with the Shona and Ndebele cultures yet Nambya is marginalised and minotirised. They managed to create a unique cultural heritage whose values, norms and beliefs are worthy interrogating.

Today the Nambyans are located around Hwange which is found in Matebeleland North. For this reason, the Rhodesian colonialism did not invent ethnic groups or divisions in Zimbabwe as pre-colonial African societies, present-day Zimbabwe was a multi-ethnic society inhabited by a number of Ndebele in Bulawayo, Shona-speaking groups in Mashonaland and Nambya in Matebeleland North in Hwange [8]. It was through colonial demarcation that minoritisation of other cultural groups despite the fact that Africans have a unique culture which is almost uniform. The upliftment of the western culture as well as Shona and Ndebele cultures is by and large scandal to the essence of Ubuntu. This is because the Nambyans are native Zimbabweans whose cultural norms and values cannot be labelled inferior to other native cultural groups on the basis of preserving colonial legacies and politics of dominance which is ethnicised.

In terms of numerical supremacy, the Nambyans are about 110 000. This is the reason why they have been labelled minorities because “all non-dominant groups, whether nationals or not, which are less numerous than the rest of the population, that have separate, distinct characteristics like culture, language, and religion among others are minorities [15]. The minority status of the Nambyans is not based on cultural deficiencies or backwardness but on numbers which have been influenced by colonial factors and politics of dominance of the Shona and Ndebele who wanted their culture to be dominant in every sector.

3.1 Religious and cultural heritage of Nambyan people

As previously adumbrated, the scope of cultural heritage in this chapter is mainly focused on the beliefs and practices of the Nambyans. Like all other Africans, Nambyans are “notoriously religious” [16]. This means that religion for the Nambyans is part and parcel of every stage and eventuality of their lives. It is a very difficult to separate Nambyans from their religion and culture. Religion is therefore part of the fibre of society; it is deeply ingrained in social life, and it is impossible to isolate and study it as a distinct phenomenon [17]. Nambyans have a belief system which is part of the social life and it reflect their Africaness. To firmly grasp the rich cultural heritage of the Nambyans, their religious beliefs and practices is the foundation. However, the cultural heritage of the Nambyans and in particular beliefs and practices have suffered as a result of under-use and the domination of dominant cultures i.e. Western, Shona and Ndebele cultures. These dominant cultures have been influenced by coloniality, missionary work and politics of ethnic dominance to marginalise and make other cultures inferior. As a prophylactic measure to the disappearance of Nambyan belief system and practices, the chapter explores the religion of the Nambyans, unmasking and destroying colonial and post-colonial lies in order to appreciate the rich religious heritage which would result in the cultural inclusivism and plurality.

3.2 Belief system

The Nambyans have a rich belief system based on cosmological, numinological and soteriological beliefs. However, the coming of Christianity and colonialism have led to abandonment of Nambyan beliefs and practices in preference of Christianity. For this reason, colonialists and Christians treated “African religions as evil and did everything possible to ensure that it was ousted” [18]. Christian missionaries believed that traditional religious beliefs and practices of people like the Nambyans were inferior, and together with the traditional customs. The Nambyans have been dominated, the disempowered and dispossessed as the voiceless by the Christians and other native people. This disempowerment has resulted in the loss of their authentic belief system as they accepted Christianity as their religion. It is for this reason that this paper has to retrace the religious heritage of the Nambyans which has been double minoritised by the dominant social class like the colonialists and the Shona-Ndebele cultural group. The belief system of the Nambyans is based on the belief in the existence of one Supreme-Being, spirits and the sacred phenomena. All this is embedded in the sacred days, sacred places as well as rites and rituals practices of the Nambyans.

3.3 Belief in the supreme-being

Nambyans believe in the existence of one Supreme-Being who is actively in involved in human affairs. The belief in that God is at “the centre of African religion and dominates all its other beliefs” [16]. This means that the Supreme-Being is central to the beliefs of the Nambyans who believe that in the existence of the divine being popularly known as Mwali and Umbumbi [the Creator of humankind]. Other names of the Supreme-Being among the Nambyans include Samatenga which means owner of the sky, Tate/Dade which means old father as well as Ukulugulu which means that Great one. God is the Supreme entity among the Nambyans and is considered to be the origin of everything in this universe. This is the reason why the Supreme-Being is called Umbumbi and Mwali. The names of the supreme being among the Nambyans were there before the coming of Christianity. However, one some argue that the fact that even though Africans generally have an awareness of and belief in the Supreme Being, the truth is, this Supreme Being is not known to have been exclusively worshipped by traditional Africans [19]. This is dismissible because missionaries did not bring God to Africa and God has always been in the lives of the indigenous people [20]. Missionaries brought a new belief system which they presented as superior, better and more civilised than that of the indigenous people. The concept of belief in one Supreme-Being is not alien to the Nambyans as they believed in the existence of one Supreme-Being before the coming of colonialists and missionaries. For the Nambyans, the Supreme-Being has attributes like omnipotent, omniscient, creator and provider which is derived from the names which they assign to the Supreme-Being. So the common perception among missionaries that Nambyans had no belief in one God is a misplaced fallacy.

The Nambyans had a clear belief system based on one Supreme-Being before the coming of missionaries. The view that Nambyans had no religion was meant to minoritise indigenous ethnic groups and ‘declare the superiority of Western value systems [and] using this claim to justify European conquest and exploitation of Africa’ [5]. The descriptions that Nambyans are animistic, backward and heathen is thus prejudiced and biased. This is understandable because missionaries had an objective of uplifting their religious belief system at the expense of the dominated people who included the Nambyans. However, Nambyans suffered from a double dilemma i.e. being a minority for the colonialists and being a minority for the Shona and Ndebele people. They had to embrace Ndebele culture and colonialists religious beliefs because they were understood as religious and culturally bankrupt. Consequently, the view that Nambyans have no clear belief system in one God lacks depth and need to be put into religious dust bin. Hegemonic cultural imperialism has resulted in the failure to understand that Nambyan belief in Mwali, the Supreme Being is unique and represented their own ethnic group. Though the colonialists found the Nambyans being rich religiously, they replaced the belief system of the Nambyans with their own. This reduced Nambyans to minorities as they considered their belief as backward and inadequate. The desire of the Ndebeles and missionaries was that the Nambyans as the dominated group would abandon their religion and culture and adopt the dominating western as well as Ndebele religion and culture. This minoritisation of the Nambyans facilitated the extinction of Nambya cultural heritage particularly their religious beliefs and practices.

3.4 Belief in spirits

The Nambyans like many other indigenous cultural groups in Africa believe in the existence of good spirits known as Mijimu which literally means ancestors. Ancestors are given prominence among the Nambyans. Being an ancestor is an ultimate desire of all indigenous people. For this reason, Nambyans believe that death is death but a transference from one state to the other. For this reason, the living dead occupy the ontological position between the spirits and human beings and between God and human beings [16]. Ancestors are valued by the Nambyans. For them ancestors are good spirits which they believe that they bless and protect the living. The Nambyans believe that the Supreme-Being is transcendent and ancestors act as a bridge between the human world and the spirit world. For this reasons Nambyans conduct rituals such as Malila ‘home bringing ceremony’. It is the rituals done to bring back the dead to assist the living by protecting from harm as well as misfortune. Ancestors also provide the living with their daily needs. However, Nambyans believe that when ancestors ‘Mijimu’are angry they can cause untold suffering to the living. They cause drought, pestilence and other natural calamities. To appease ancestors, Nambyans perform an appeasement ritual known as kutebula where they brew beer and offer to the ancestors. Nambyans do not believe in the existence of bad spirits. However, when missionaries came they chastise belief in the ancestors among the Nambyans. They wrongly concluded that Nambyans worship the dead i.e. ancestors yet they only venerate them. For this reason, Nambyans belief system has been branded as ancestor worship. Ancestral veneration or ancestor worship’ is not African because it is a foreign term that has neo-colonial connotation [21]. The Nambyans prefer the use of African terms like kutebula, Mijimu where they use bear to venerate the ancestors. It is because of this that one may argue that in African religious practice ancestors are serviced, but not worshipped” [22] thus for the Nambyans kutebula Mijimu is done through ancestors who act as intermediaries between themselves and the Supreme-Being. On the contrary, the colonialists through Christian missionaries labelled Africans as worshippers of the living dead and they needed to repent from this pagan practice. The conversion of Nambyans into Christianity resulted in collapse of their belief system because of minoritisation their belief system. The Nambyans by virtue of being colonolised and receptive to new religion accepted became dominated and disempowered religiously. It is because of this reason that there is need for de-minoritisation of Nambyan belief system. Nambyan rituals ‘revive relationships within the community and between the living and the ancestors’ [17]. This preserve their religious heritage as their belief in “ancestors continue to be practiced by Nambyan Christians. This phenomenon and practice is an ‘attempt to preserve good relations with the departed kin’ as well as their rich cultural heritage [23].

3.5 Belief in sacred phenomena

The worldview of the Nambyans is a tripartite one as they believe that there is the human world, natural world and spirit world. For them the natural world in sacred and the spirits manifest themselves in the natural world. As such they believe in the sacredness of land, water bodies, mountains and forests. Nambyan natural environment is saturated with sacredness.

Firstly, Nambyans have sacred days which they observe. Thursday which is known as Bwachina is their sacred day and there are taboos associated with this sacred day like people are not allowed to do any work on this sacred day because it is the day when ancestors who are the owners of the land are respected. Any work done on this day is a violation of the taboo and is frowned upon by the spirit. The chief who are the custodians of the land given to them by the ancestors punish people who do what is not permissible on the sacred day. Misfortunes like pestilence, drought and famine also happens when people violate the sacred day. However, the coming of Missionaries led to the replacement of these sacred days when they instituted Saturday and Sunday as sacred days. It is observance of Christian days that have led to the sidelining of Nambyans cultural heritage. This because Thursday is no valued as sacred because of Christian influence.

Nambyans also believe in totems as sacred animals and objects. The dominant totems for the Nambya include Shoko, izhou and chuma are given great value by a particular group of people and is considered as sacred among a group of people. In simple terms, totems are sacred animals and things which are valued by clan. Totems creates ideological, emotional, reverent, and genealogical relationships of social groups or specific persons with animals or natural objects [20]. The beliefs system of the Nambyans is also hinged on totems. Furthermore, believe in the sacredness of the environment is part of the indigenous knowledge systems of the Nambyans. There is a connection between the ancestors and the natural environment. The universe is not static or dead but dynamic or living and powerful [24]. As such, the environment is the residence of the ancestors among the Nambyans. Bambusi and Shangano are sacred place which where Nambyans conduct their community rituals like rainmaking ceremony. Even today, these three sites are considered sacred and are an important part of Nambya cultural identity [14]. These sacred sites are considered as sacred and are protected from any internal or external human interference by the religious practitioners known as Mande ‘spirit mediums and Mashumba ‘lion spirit in charge of the territory’ who live in isolation from other people. Spirit medium among the Nambyans can either be a male or female. Not everyone is allowed to enter into the sacred place but only by the spirit mediums known as ‘mande as well as chiefs ‘bashe’. The sacredness of Bambusi and Shangano reflects the belief system of the Nambyan in ancestors. They believe that sacred spaces are dwellings places for ancestors. These places due to minoritisation, have been subjected to colonial profanement and missionary bombardment. Due to minoritisation “African minds, thought systems, social-cultural institutions, political and religious institutions and bodies have been subjected to colonial experiments” [25].

3.6 Rainmaking ritual practice

From time immemorial, Nambyans have always had knowledge and belief in Mwali or ukulugulu as the provider of rain. They conduct a rain making ritual ceremony known as kupindula where they solicit for rain. The sacredness of the Supreme-Being Mwali manifest himself in rituals connected to myths. For the Nambyan, rain is only provided by the Supreme-Being after rituals are done. Furthermore, the presence of the rain cult among the Nambyans at Chilanga where Mashumba ‘rain making messengers’ resides attests that belief in the providence of the supreme-being. This belief was condemned by colonialists and missionaries who considered this as black magic. For this reason, the Nambyans value the Supreme-Being as the provider of rain and fertility. The belief that rain is given by the Supreme-Being is common among the bantu people. The early missionaries’ failure to properly grasp Nambya belief system and has led to the distortion, misrepresentation and discrimination of Nambyan religious heritage.

3.7 Divination ritual practice

Nambyans believe that health is given by ancestors. As such, they consult diviners ínanga’ for health, social and religious issues. The diviner is ‘the person is a specialist expert in communicating with the ancestors and who may also be able to pass on a message to family members” [26]. The beliefs of the Nambyans in ancestors is seen by their consultation of diviners who have mystical powers to communicate with the spirit world. In the times of pandemics and various ailments a diviner is consulted because of his or her knowledge which is important in the promotion health and well-being. Nambyan diviners can prescribe spiritual remedies as well as physical remedies to diseases. They have the knowledge about herbs like moringa, gavakava, muroro, mupangara and Mutarara which treat various ailments. Herbal medicine for stomach problems, wounds and toothache among other ailments are known by the diviner. It is because of this reason that indigenous healers known as in’anga are required to give spiritual explanation and herbal prescription. Be that as it may, indigenous knowledge system related to herbal medicine and health among the Nambyans have been condemned as un-scientific and not worthy to be used in the civilised society. Nambyan religious heritage has been distorted, obscured, and discarded by the domination of Victorian religious heritage and knowledge systems produced by colonial and missionary institutions. This also compounded to the minoritisation of the indigenous knowledge system of the Nambyans as well as their belief that health is given by ancestors. Health and well-being within the African context is understood from a religious perspective. There is need to revive, the religious heritage of the Nambyans because “African epistemology is situated within a particular cultural context of the indigenous people” [27].

4. Decolonising and De-minoritisation of the Nambyan religious heritage

In 2012, the United Nations marked the 20th anniversary of the landmark Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities (UNDM) [28]. The UN Declaration for Minorities is vital in the decolonization and deminoritisation of the Nambya beliefs and practices as it assist in the preservation of cultural heritage of the minority cultural groups by granting minority rights protection. Zimbabwe as a state party to the Declaration has the responsibility to protect the rights of linguistic minorities like the Tonga, Nambya, Venda and Kalanga to enjoy their cultures, use their languages and practice their religion as reiterated in Article 4 [15]. For this reason, there is need to cherish the religious beliefs and practices of minority groups since religion and culture cannot be separated in African context. This chapter avers that the Nambya people in a multicultural and multi-religious society need to express their belief system without being labelled with pejorative terms and even attached to dominant cultures because it promotes democracy, equality and nation building.

Dismantling of colonial institutions and values as well as adhering to freedom of worship and removal of politics of ethnic dominance are key in unlocking the emancipation of minority groups. The crucial step towards sustainable development in Africa cannot be secured without full involvement of the indigenous minority people through use of their languages [29]. This means that the whole culture which include religion, language and other facets of culture need to be recognised. It is imperative to recognise the culture of all people whether minority or not and racial inferior or not.

Zimbabwe is a multi-cultural country with an estimate of about 16 cultural groups. In 2013 Zimbabwe through the New Constitution recognised cultural diversity. This makes Zimbabwe officially a multicultural and multi-religious country. In a multi-cultural and multi-religious country, there is, quite often a problem of inequality in cultural spaces and religious spaces respectively, a situation which makes it difficult for other cultures to be recognised in the public domain as members of the cultural group leading to cultural extinction and disappearance as the dominant cultures dominate. The present constitution guarantees the principle of multi-culturalism and freedom of worship which cultivates religious inclusivism pluralism and tolerance for different cultures, but the practical implementation of this philosophy may prove very difficult. Minority cultures though officially recognised, they are discriminated and labelled as inferior, backward and insignificant. The cultural heritage of all indigenous groups need security for members of those cultural and ethnic groups to be able to articulate their culture in different public spheres. Their security comes from laws and practices which protect them against harm caused by dominant cultures and other factors. This is because minority cultural groups in multi-cultural societies are some end-up disappearing and being unutilised as they are replaced by dominant cultures.

In 2013, Zimbabwe adopted a new constitution which caters for cultural activities in order to promote various cultures found in Zimbabwe. This policy is consistent with the African Union Cultural Charter for Africa with the main aim of promoting African identity. The policy seeks to promote and respect for cultural identity as it is important for nation building. As a matter of fact, the 2013 constitution of Zimbabwe recognises and appreciates the importance of culture and heritage in national development. According to Section 3 (d) of the constitution of Zimbabwe; cultural, religious and traditional values are recognised among the supreme law’s founding values and principles [30] while Section 6 explores the role of languages, Section 16 speaks of the role of the state and in the promotion and preservation of culture [31]. This constitution is Afro-centred as it seeks to protect indigenous cultural heritage which has been eroded from colonial period up to the present. The cultural policy also influenced the review of the curriculum to suit the heritage of the indigenous people. Although the constitution provides an impetus for the protection of intangible and tangible heritage, the policy has not been fully implemented as the indigenous religious heritage is structurally side-lined despite the legislative framework. The policy seeks to decolonise the mind of the African and preserving culture as embodied in indigenous knowledge systems that have been thrown into cultural dustbins due to colonial influence and Christian influence. Cultural policy ensures the reconfiguration of indigenous norms and values as well as solutions that are found in indigenous knowledge system.

The major objectives of the national cultural policy in Zimbabwe is to promote Multi-culturalism and multi-faith societies which promote respect for, and tolerance towards, cultural and religious diversity. Even though this is a national imperative, not all cultures are utilised, developed and promoted equally. This is particularly so in the case of the minority cultures like the Nambya culture. The dominant cultures tend to replace the range and functions of a minority cultures leading to the disappearance of minority cultures where members of the minority cultures adopt the dominant culture. In Zimbabwe, this seems to be the case where members of the Nambya cultural group prefer to be identified with dominant culture like Ndebele.

Funding the training of teachers from the so called minority groups by UNICEF in recent years. This has been augmented by the establishment of Hwange Teacher’s college has also been to deminoritise Nambyan Culture. Hwange Teachers college which was established in 2019 has the core objective among others of ensuring that people of Nambyan ethnic group are trained in education which will help in the preservation of Nambyan culture. Teachers have the role in safeguarding the cultural heritage in line with the 21st education system which is relevant to the needs of the society in which they operate. So trained teachers with their knowledge in heritage and social studies as well as Family Religion and Moral education will apply their knowledge of Nambya culture in the teaching and learning of the subject which act as repositories of indigenous cultural heritage. It is of paramount importance that teachers being trained are aware of the culture in which they will operate.

Furthermore, the introduction of the updated curriculum in 2017, which saw the introduction of Indigenous religion as a subject which calls for a multi-faith approach is deminoritisation mechanism. The old curriculum created a cultural deficit among the native people. The updated curriculum fill in a serious vacuum left by the old Religious and Moral education which promoted cultural and religious exclusivism. The adoption of the new curriculum in 2017 made changes to the study of religion, and infuses Islam, Hinduism, African and other religions [32]. Thus there was a paradigm shift in terms of curriculum content and methodology. The new curriculum attempted to “limit the exclusionary approach of religious studies, and there was hope that the new curriculum would be neutral, non-hierarchical, and acceptable to religious organisations” [32]. The new family, Religion and Moral education embraces religious diversity as the study of indigenous religious beliefs and practices of the Nambyans are now part of academic study. Thus the updated curriculum helps in the deminoritisation of Nambya religious beliefs and practices which promote inclusive, plural and tolerant society.

5. Conclusion

The Nambyans are not minority ethnic group but they had been minoritised due to historical factors linked to colonialism and the coming of the Ndebeles. Colonialists in order to subjugate native Zimbabwe, made sure that other ethnic groups are identified within the broader ethnic groups like the Shona and Ndebele. On the other hand, the Shona and Ndebele have used the politics of dominance to sideline other ethnic groups. The coming of the New constitution as well as the issue of cultural rights have led to the need to de-minoritise ethnic groups such as the Nambyan which have been minoritised. This is because there is no cultural group that is a minority since all Zimbabweans have one historical background that codifies them as Bantu people. The recognition of every cultural group and granting of the right to exercise their cultural practices makes Nambyans part of Zimbabwe. This assist in the end of minoritisation of ethnic groups that have been institutionalised.

Acknowledgments

I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to many people who made this research a success. Special mention goes to my colleague Mr. Mpala for the reconstruction of Nambyan history and belief systems. I would like also to thank gogo for her oral presentation on Nambyan heritage. Furthermore, I would like to thank all Nambyans students at Hwange Teachers for their views on their culture. Without them, this research would not have been a success.

Notes/thanks/other declarations

There is no conflict of interest in this study.