Spirit of the dance

The spirit of the Zulu people is captured vividly in the village of Shakaland. JENNY HAWORTH is immersed in African culture.

Zwa-Zulu-Natal is the home of the Zulu people, of great kings such as Shaka, Dingaan and Cetaswayo and rulers of southern Africa. Called the People of Heaven, the Zulu moved into the area at the beginning of the 17th century. They were a warlike people whose wealth was based on cattle. But what gave them ascendancy over other Africans was their military strength, particularly the assegai, a short jabbing spear designed by King Shaka.

They were also artistic and their skill with creating patterns from coloured beads, in weaving, basketwork, pottery and woodcarving are recognised worldwide as some of the most colourful and intricate in Africa.

Majority rule has revived interest in Black African culture. Africans search for pride in themselves by examining the traditions of their ancestors. Visitors also want to experience these colourful civilisations, so culture villages like Shakaland are popular holiday experiences.

Here they package the culture but with sufficient skill to demonstrate something of the colour, sense and taste of the traditional.

Shakaland grew from a film set created in the 1980s to make Shaka Zulu. Surrounding "the King's village" are a number of beehive huts for overnight guests who stay for the full cultural experience.

At 4.30pm we headed for the main village to be welcomed by our hostess Dawn, a Zulu actress from Durban whose job was to explain the experience.

As we arrived she told us: "First pick up a stone - any one will do from the path - then spit on it and throw it on that pile." As we did that she explained that such an action brought good luck to travellers.

We stood before the model of a Zulu village (an umuzi), while she told us the biggest house was not for the headman but for the ancestors. "We Zulu do not worship our ancestors but we did believe that they were able to intercede with the gods for us."

Next to this was the headman's house and one for each of his wives was built below his on the sloping hillside. "The site was chosen carefully so that the rain drains away and the inhabitants have greater protection from the enemy."

"A man never took a second or even a third wife until he had the agreement of the other wives. But often the wives were quite keen for him to have another - it made all the work that was expected from them just a little easier."

In the centre of the village was the kraal for cattle - this reflected the village's real wealth. These cattle were currency - the lobola - the price a man had to pay for a new wife. "He did not buy her," explained Dawn. "He gave the cattle to his father-in-law to acknowledge her worth as a person."

From there we entered the village. Its round, beehive huts were similar to those we were staying in. To build them, the men tie together thousands of saplings to fit the circle they had already drawn on the ground. Later when I looked up from the bed, I was amazed at the intricate lattice network of crisscrossed shafts.

The walls beneath were of mud brick. From the outside, all I could see was the great waterfall of thatched grass reaching almost to the ground. This was bound down by a number of grass ropes. The only concession to modernisation was the comfortable bed and the en suite.

In the village we saw women weaving baskets, making pots, carrying water on their heads, concentrating on their beadwork and cooking food. Even making beer was woman's work. The only jobs for village craftsmen were
making the warriors' skin uniforms and shields and forging steel assegai.

I watched fascinated as women worked with minute, coloured beads threading them into intricately patterned bracelets and necklaces. Some were crafted into elaborately designed skirts. These colourful glass beads were brought by the early Europeans and were so popular that the Zulu traded ivory, gold and even slaves for the beads.

"This bead work is a language," she explained. "Women weave them to speak to their boyfriends and the colours and patterns became symbolic. For instance white was associated with purity; red with love; blue with loneliness; yellow with jealousy and green with pining."

Finally we gathered in a circle outside the headman's hut, men on the right and women on the left, as is traditional. Here we watched how Zulu beer was made from ground up mealie meal which is left to ferment, then strained through finely woven reed bag.

"The first to drink the beer is the woman - she has to check that it is not poisoned," added Dawn. Then it was passed to the chief, then the men and finally we women are allowed a sip.

That night we dined in a restaurant on Zulu food. I sampled a mix of beef stew, kidney beans, sugar beans, wild pumpkin, wild spinach, samp and maize meal. All were served in great iron pots similar to what was once hung on a hook over an open fire. It was heavy food - a meal for people who were physically active.

While we ate, Dawn elaborated on King Shaka: "He was a military hero as well as a sadist. It was his invention of the assegai, which allowed him to conquer the neighbouring tribes. Those who opposed him were massacred; those who supported him became part of the new kingdom.

"He was the illegitimate son of a minor chief Senzangakhona and because of this many people treated him harshly. Even his name Shaka is that of an intestinal beetle which everyone hoped Nandi, his mother, had within her - not a baby. But he really loved his mother and when she died he ordered the massacre of around 6000 people. He was eventually killed by his brother Dingaan."

After dinner a cry summoned us to the dancing. We were taken by torch light procession to the royal hut of King Shaka. There we watched as the sangomas (the diviners), cleansed the hut using chants. We were given a whiff of imphepho (wild heather) to appease the ancestral spirits.

Then followed a programme of athletic dancing that left me breathless. The young men had to be able to throw their feet above their head, stamp and pound the ground, leap and twist in the air. All this was done to the constant rhythm of the drummers who often lifted the tempo as the dance progressed until not only the dancers but also the audience was exhausted.

Next morning was another cultural show. A young maiden was captured by a young man from a neighbouring village and we watched the appropriate ceremony of betrothal.

But what interested me more was the role of the sangoma - called a spiritual healer. "They were not practitioners of Black Magic," Dawn explained carefully. "They were men and women who were wise about the natural world around them. They and Inyanga could interpret the forest plants and knew how to use them for medicinal purposes."

"But they were also trained to interpret the signs of the supernatural and the messages of the ancestors. This is often done by casting bones in front of them. Those selected to train for such positions are highly respected and their face and bodies are often painted white in recognition of their special status."

I left Shakaland feeling that I had had a real insight into the colourful culture and beliefs of the Zulu. Also I was perhaps close to realising why they were able to fight with such ferocity and athletic ability.

* Jenny Haworth travelled courtesy of South African Airways and South African Tourism.

Shakaland


Case notes

Shakaland, in the Nkwaleni Valley, is about 160km from Durban. It lies between Eshow and Melmoth.

The cultural experience is organised around a one-night stay. You need to arrive in time to check in before the cultural show starts.

The cost for one night is 619 rand a person ($122). This includes dinner and breakfast and all cultural activities.

There is also a three-hour cultural experience in the middle of the day for those who do not want to stay overnight.