Wisdom of the Tumbuka People

William Mumba

Description

Proverbs in Africa are capsules of the wisdom of the people. Luviri Press is happy to present another collection of such proverbs this time focussing on the Tumbuka people who live in Northern Malawi and Eastern Zambia. The people of Central Africa are a mixed people with mixed cultures due to a mixed history. Citumbuka, the language as it is known today, is a result of a complex process of interactions of the different languages of ethnic groups knitted together by historical events. A study of the Tumbuka proverbs and expressions reveal this cultural interaction.

Sujets

• Islamic Studies
• Social Science
• Anthropology

Informations

• Publié par: Luviri Press
• Date de parution: 04 janvier 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9789996066658
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 11 Mo

Extrait

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Wisdom of the Tumbuka People
Vinjeru vya anthu a Citumbuka


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Copyright 2022 William Mumba
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission
from the publishers.
Published by
Luviri Press
Mzuzu
ISBN 978-99960-66-64-1
eISBN 978-99960-66-65-8
Illustrations: Eliezer Mwanahata
Cover: Josephine Kawejere
Luviri Press is represented outside Malawi by:
African Books Collective Oxford (also for e-books)
([e-mail])
www.africanbookscollective.com
‚
Wisdom of the Tumbuka People
Vinjeru vya anthu a
Citumbuka
William Mumba
Luviri Press
Mzuzu
2021
Introduction
Wisdom makes one wise man more powerful than ten rulers in a city (Ecc. 7:19).
Vinjeru vikwiza na uchekuru - “Wisdom comes with old age”.
These are words of wisdom that mean that long experience breeds
experience, which is achieved with age. Wisdom properly learned can
make an inexperienced person wise and clever. It can also help you
teach young people how to be resourceful and live more responsibly in
life.
However, for us to fully appreciate and comprehend Tumbuka
proverbs and expressions, we need to understand the Tumbuka
people themselves and their language. Therefore, before we delve
into the proverbs and sayings, we shall look very briefly at the history
of the Tumbuka and the evolution of their language.
It is very difficult to speak about the Tumbuka without being entangled
with other ethnic groupings in the Malawi historiography. The people
of Central Africa are a mixed people with mixed cultures having a
mixed history. Citumbuka, the language as it is known today, is a
result of a complex process of interactions of the different languages
of ethnic groups knitted together by historical events. A study of the
Tumbuka proverbs and expressions reveal this cultural interaction.
It is believed that the Tumbuka were the earliest Bantu people to
migrate into Northern Malawi. They settled in the area that stretches
all the way from the Songwe River in the north to the area beyond the
Dwangwa River covering the whole of present-day Kasungu district on
the South; and from Lake Malawi on the east to Luangwa valley in
Zambia. Most writers today agree with that the Tumbuka migrated
from further north, possibly south of Lake Victoria in the Nyanza
Province into Malawi. Historians agree that the Tumbuka once formed
part of a large empire of the Luba in the Congo. Reasons for migration
are not very well known but the most likely reason was the search for
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land. The Tumbuka occupation of the north dates back to as early as
th ththe late 13 century or the early 14 century.
When the Tumbuka came into the area there were no other Bantu
ethnic groups there, but the Akafula, who were the original
inhabitants of the region. By the time the Portuguese traveler,
Gammitto made his stop-over at Kasungu, each ethnic group lived in
separate colonies side by side. Among the people mentioned by the
thPortuguese explorers, Gasper Bocarro and Barretto, in the 17 century
as being in the area were the Tonga, the Ngonde and the Tumbuka.
thThe Ngoni are a later group that came into the area in the mid-19
century.
By the time the missionaries arrived in the area, there were already six
ethnic groups that had settled there: the Tumbuka, Senga, Chewa,
Tonga and Ngonde, who all originated from the Luba Empire. In
addition, there were the Ngoni who had come from South Africa in
ththe mid-19 century. The Citumbuka that is spoken today is the result
of the interaction of these ethnic groups. The Tumbuka being the
dominant ethnic group exerted great influence on the new arrivals
with some ethnic groups like the Ngoni and Senga, losing their
languages and greatly affecting the remaining ones to the extent that
Citumbuka became the lingua franca of the north. The culture,
traditional customs and values of the Tumbuka cross-bred with those of the
other ethnic groups. It is this Tumbuka culture that forms the
background to the proverbs presented in the following pages.
Objective
The objective for collecting these proverbs and figures of speech is to
preserve our cultural heritage more especially so now that they are
becoming extinct. This collection is in no way exhaustive of the
expressions in use today. It, however, does give a fair representation
of a variety of the cross-section of proverbs among the Tumbuka
speaking people of Central Africa. For us to better understand them
and encourage their use, let us create room for them in the modern
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society especially in our system of education as Citumbuka is being
reintroduced in the public life of our country through the media. The
proverbs identify and dignify the Tumbuka culture, putting life into
wisdom and wisdom into daily life.
It is, however, sad to note that modern thought-pattern and life fail to
recognize the potential value of these proverbs. It is equally sad that
they are associated with the primitive and rustic world. Despite this
negative association they are the main means of communication in
daily life of all age groups of the Citumbuka-speaking people. This was
made possible with the help of the Christian churches, I have in mind
here, the CCAP Synod of Livingstonia and the Roman Catholic Church
who kept the language alive as a liturgical language used in the
churches. The other reason is that the people themselves have a
strong feeling and passion for the language because of its richness in
proverbial expressions, which makes it easy as a medium of
communication in the North. With it you can go anywhere in the north
and people will respond to your needs.
In spite of their wide use in daily ordinary life, political scientists,
economists, lawyers, artists, sociologists and many others have not
done enough to integrate these proverbs into their disciplines in order
to develop a genuine African identity. The challenge to integrate these
proverbs into modern thought pattern is not only for learning and
quoting a few of them periodically. Rather the challenge calls for a
careful study at various levels and from different disciplines in order to
recognize and appreciate the themes and patterns of different
proverbs for their evaluation. These proverbs have preserved not only
many uncommon words and interesting grammatical constructions for
a student of language and culture but there is also much that the
student of economics and political science can use. These proverbs
contain many customs, beliefs, values and folktales, which could be of
great value for behavioral change especially now in the age of HIV and
AIDS.

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Proverbs in Context
Chakanza has said, “a proverb develops a metaphor, namely a
meaning that differs from the literal meaning of the words used.” The
word is variously translated into the Tumbuka as cinthanguni singular;
plural vinthanguni or mwambi singular and miyambi in plural and
figurative expressions as ntharika singular or zintharika plural or
cigetwo singular and vigetwo for plural. Proverbs are words of wisdom
timely spoken to counsel, admonish, warn, give direction and teach
morals. Proverbs touch all aspects of life: economics, agriculture,
poverty, work, trade, love, animal husbandry, hunting, health,
sickness, joy, sorrow, eating, cooking, music, dancing, fishing, building,
hospitality, kindness, hate, marriage, sex, pregnancy, child bearing,
upbringing, the list is endless. There are proverbs for all kinds of
people, the young, old, chiefs, nobles, serfs, peasants, men, women,
the rich, the poor, craftsmen and many more. They also deal with
human character: lying, stealing, borrowing, backbiting, giving,
faithfulness, laziness, pride, ingratitude, and many others.
One general observation about proverbs is that they do not provide
reasons or argue for the position taken on any particular concept or
subject; they simply affirm the concepts. Proverbs are short and pithy,
easy to remember. When you have applied them in any given
situation, they become alive and shed more light on any given subject.
Proverbs can be compared to "a mustard seed, which is full of life.
When it has fallen into the ground, it germinates and grows into a big
tree that birds of the air nest in it and animals rest in its shade" (Mt.
3:31-32). Proverbs can also be compared to the words of the elders,
which are like a deep pool in which you can swim (Mazgu gha arara
nchizi a ungagezamo). Proverbs express the wisdom which reveals
the people’s belief system, values, customs and are a means of
security. Sayings in the form of figurative expressions-vigetwo are call
names about someone or something so that others will not know what
is being said e.g. kumangira muceka (To bind one’s bowels) or
manyenye ghawa (Black flying-ants have fallen).
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Proverbs are not ascribed to any particular individual in Malawi just
like elsewhere in Africa. These are collective words of wisdom of the
ancestors—the wise men and women of old. In any given situation
when a proverb is applied, it is preceded by a statement like: avura
zakale akuti… In this way the sayings become authoritative. This is
also a way of expressing corporate ownership of the proverbs. As such
they are experienced, wise and valid counsel to be acknowledged by
all.
Translation
The literal translation of each proverb into English may not be as
perfect as the language requires. The purpose of the translation is to
bring the reader who is a learner of Citumbuka as close as possible to
the original version. To remain faithful to the Tumbuka version, a
certain purity of English has been sacrificed. It must also be noted that
the meaning of the proverbs is not really to be derived from the lite