African Myths of Origin (Penguin Classics)

by Stephen Belcher

  CREATION

  The creation story is simple, and varies according to region and language. Among the Zulu, it is said that the creator made men from reeds (uthlanga) of different colours, each reed giving rise to a different lineage of humans. Among the Xhosa, the word umhlanga may designate a cave, and the story then is that humans and all the animals came into this world from a cave, and then took their places. Among the Swazi, reeds (umlanga) were the means used by the founders of the royal clan to make boats with which they crossed a river and came into the present territory of Swaziland.

  DEATH

  The creator watched the humans and decided that they should live for ever. He summoned the chameleon and told him to carry the message to the humans that they would not die. Then he watched as the humans multiplied, and decided that perhaps it would be better for them to die after all. So he summoned a lizard, and told him to carry the message to the humans that they would die.

  The chameleon moves very slowly and deliberately. The lizard skitters along at great speed. The lizard arrived long before the chameleon and told the humans what the creator had decided for them. When the chameleon arrived with his more pleasant message, it was too late.

  THE DIFFERENT PEOPLES

  There are numerous stories in this region describing the differences among peoples and the disparities of their wealth. The following is offered as a sample, retold from a modern academic account (see also Chapters 8 and 17 for other examples).

  At the beginning, the three kinds of men lived in the homestead of the creator: the Khoi, the Bantu and the white. The Khoi was given to wandering about the land, following the wild animals and hunting them, and he particularly loved the honey-bird who would lead him to the hives and share their sweetness. He spent more and more time away from the homestead, and eventually stopped coming back altogether.

  The Bantu fell in love with the cattle, and would spend all his time leading the cattle to pasture and water and salt and watching them to ensure that no lions preyed on them or that they caught no diseases. This became his share of the inheritance.

  The white remained at the homestead, watching the creator and trying to help in his works. Because he was dutiful and diligent, he was rewarded with many of the creator’s secrets, and that is why now the whites have so much more wealth than the Bantu and the Khoi.

  A SWAZI STORY OF A KING

  A king had many wives and many children. The principal wife’s son was Madlisa; a junior wife, with her hut far out of the line of huts, had a son named Madlebe. Madlebe was unlike other children; he wept tears of blood, and he was born with a magic bracelet on his arm which cried when he did.

  After many of the boys were growing up, the king decided that he should select his heir. He determined a test for the heir: the children would spit, and the one who was able to spit past the king would become the prince. The first to try was Madlisa; he spat towards his father and his spittle landed on his father’s chest. Others tried; some barely cleared their own toes, while others spat four or five feet and one or two spat even further. Eventually, it was Madlebe’s turn; his spittle shot out past the king and was lost in the grasses. Thunder rolled overhead and Madlebe’s bracelet cried out.

  The king was not sure the test had given him the right heir; Madlebe’s mother was powerless and unimportant. He determined to test the boy further. He gave him a gourd for milk, a clay pot and a wooden spoon and told him to keep these items intact, on pain of his life. Madlebe’s mother placed them on a shelf in her hut where they would be out of harm’s way. One day Madlisa and Madlebe were playing together, and Madlisa told Madlebe he was hungry. They could not find any food in the hut. Madlisa pointed out the pot that the king had given Madlebe, but Madlebe refused to try to get it. Madlisa insisted, and eventually Madlebe agreed that they could share the food in the pot. When he reached up to bring the pot down, his hand slipped and the pot fell to the ground and broke.

  Madlisa went and told the king that Madlebe had broken the pot that had been entrusted to him. The king looked very hard at Madlisa, wondering if he had had some part in this, and then sadly turned to his guards and told them they should take Madlebe out over the savannah and kill him, since he had failed to keep the pot intact. The guards fetched Madlebe and led him out over the savannah, but when they pointed their spears at him to kill him, thunder rolled overhead and a bolt of lightning struck nearby. Madlebe was weeping tears of blood, and his bracelet also was crying. The guards recognized the signs of royal power and spared Madlebe’s life. Later, he became king instead of Madlisa.

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  THE KHOI-KHOI: STORIES OF HEITSI-EIBIB

  The Khoi-Khoi, concentrated in modern Namibia, are related by language to the San hunting peoples of southern Africa, but they have modified their lifestyle, adopting cattle-herding as a supplement to their other food-gathering activities (see Chapter 8 for Khoi-Khoi stories about cattle). They were formerly known as the Hottentots but that term is no longer used. They inhabit the south-western quarter of the Kalahari desert, in a territory which became a German colony before the First World War (and in 1904 was the scene of a brutal campaign of repression following a rebellion of the Khoi-Khoi against the German colonizers), and then a protectorate at the end of the war. Their years under the protectorate of South Africa, before Namibia became independent in 1990, were not a period of great prosperity.

  This account of the adventures of Heitsi-Eibib is taken from sources collected at the end of the nineteenth century, and the doings of this figure might be compared with the San stories of Khaggen/Mantis (Chapter 1) or the Maasai stories of the origin of cattle (Chapter 10).

  THE BIRTH OF HEITSI-EIBIB

  There are different stories about the birth of Heitsi-Eibib. One says that he was born of a cow which ate from a luxuriant clump of grass and then became pregnant. She gave birth to a bull-calf which grew into an extraordinarily large animal. One day the people decided it was time to slaughter the bull, but when they came with their knives it ran away down a hill until they lost sight of it. They followed in its direction, and when they came to the place where the bull had disappeared they found a man carving milk-containers from gourds. They asked the man which way the bull had gone, and he asked them, ‘Which bull?’ But in fact the man was Heitsi-Eibib himself.

  Another story says that Heitsi-Eibib was born to a young woman. She and the others had gone out to fetch firewood, and she pulled a stalk of grass from a rich clump and chewed on it and swallowed the juice. And so she became pregnant. When she gave birth she had a son who was very clever.

  HEITSI-EIBIB’S MISCHIEF

  Once, a cow was slaughtered and Heitsi-Eibib made himself into a large pot. The people put the meat and the fat in the pot to cook. But the pot absorbed all the fat, so when they took out the meat it was dry and flavourless.

  Another time, when he was a young child, Heitsi-Eibib accompanied his mother and some other women as they were travelling. He was very difficult and fretful, requiring his mother’s attention, so she had to carry him. Then he soiled himself, and she had to stop and clean him while her friends went on ahead. This happened again, and the friends went out of sight. Then the child suddenly grew into a big man and forced his mother to have intercourse with him. Then he resumed his former childlike size. So when they reached his mother’s mother’s home, his mother, distressed, put the child on the ground and refused to have anything to do with him. Finally, the grandmother asked, ‘Don’t you hear your child crying?’ The daughter answered, ‘If he will behave as an adult he should help himself as adults do.’

  ADVENTURES AND EXPLOITS OF HEITSI-EIBIB

  The people of Heitsi-Eibib lived surrounded by dangers: on one side was Gama-Gorib, and people who went into his lands did not return. On other sides were Han-Gai-Gaib and the lion who at that time lived in a tree.

  When he saw that his people did not return from their excursions, Heitsi-Eibib went to search for them. He passed by the kraal of Gama-Gorib, but did not
stop to greet the owner, as is usually done. So Gama-Gorib sent Hare to call Heitsi-Eibib, but at first Heitsi-Eibib did not answer Hare. After Hare had called to him many times, Heitsi-Eibib answered, ‘I have come to look for my people.’ Heitsi-Eibib then wished to continue on his way, but Hare insisted on leading him to the kraal of Gama-Gorib. Heitsi-Eibib agreed, and followed Hare. Near the kraal was a pit, and this was where Gama-Gorib would throw everyone who came by.

  Gama-Gorib challenged Heitsi-Eibib to play a game of knockdown, and at first Gama-Gorib knocked Heitsi-Eibib into the hole, but Heitsi-Eibib then spoke to the hole. He said, ‘Hole of my ancestors, lift up the bottom a bit and boost me, so I can jump out,’ and the hole did so. So the two of them resumed their game, and again Gama-Gorib knocked Heitsi-Eibib into the hole. Again, Heitsi-Eibib called on the hole to help him, and again the hole pushed him up so he could resume the game. Then Heitsi-Eibib knocked Gama-Gorib into the hole by hitting him hard behind the ear, and when Gama-Gorib fell into the hole he perished. Then Heitsi-Eibib cursed Hare and told him he would carry no more messages, and he would not feed during the day; he could only feed at night.

  Then Heitsi-Eibib continued on to the kraal of Han-Gai-Gaib and passed by without stopping to greet the owner. So Han-Gai-Gaib sent out a messenger to invite Heitsi-Eibib to the kraal, and when eventually Heitsi-Eibib came, Han-Gai-Gaib challenged him to a game. Han-Gai-Gaib had a stone in the centre of his forehead, and he would challenge visitors to throw this stone at him, but it always bounced back and killed the person who threw it, and their body would fall into a great hole. But Heitsi-Eibib realized this, and so when Han-Gai-Gaib challenged him to a game, Heitsi-Eibib said, ‘First you must close your eyes, and then I shall throw the stone.’ So Han-Gai-Gaib closed his eyes, and then instead of throwing the stone at Han-Gai-Gaib’s forehead, Heitsi-Eibib hit him behind the ear with the stone so that he fell dead into the pit. Then Heitsi-Eibib cursed Han-Gai-Gaib’s messenger.

  Heitsi-Eibib went on his way and came to the place of the lion who lived up a tree. He passed by the tree without a word, and then came by a second time and stopped and asked a vulture in the tree where the lion had gone. The vulture said he did not know, and perhaps the lion was out hunting. But in fact the lion was hidden in a nest. So Heitsi-Eibib took out his fire-drill and made a fire at the foot of the tree, so that the entire tree burned down. Then he told the lion that he could no longer live in trees, and he cursed the vulture.

  THE DEATH OF HEITSI-EIBIB

  Heitsi-Eibib and his family were travelling, and they passed a grove where the berries were ripe. Heitsi-Eibib fell ill almost immediately. His second wife observed that he had fallen ill because of the berries, and said death must be in that place. Heitsi-Eibib told his son Urisib that he expected to die, that they should bury him in the grove and that they should not return, or he would infect them so that they all died in the same way. Then he died, and the young wife blamed it on the berries. So they buried him as he had instructed, laying soft stones over him, and then they went away from that place. They made their camp, and they heard noises from the place behind them: it was the sound of people feasting on berries and singing, and the song was:

  I, the father of Urisib,

  I, the father of the unclean one,

  I, who ate these berries and then died,

  And having died, I live again.

  The young wife sent her son Urisib to look at his father’s grave. The son went and saw footprints leading away from the grave to the berry-bushes. So he came and told the wife, and she gave him instructions: he should stalk his father from the lee-side, moving upwind and placing himself between Heitsi-Eibib and his grave so he could not escape. The son did so, and when Heitsi-Eibib saw him coming he ran from the berry-bushes where he had been feasting and singing, and tried to return to his grave, but the son caught him and held him fast.

  ‘Let me go,’ cried Heitsi-Eibib, ‘for I have been dead and I do not wish to infect you.’ But the young wife refused, and they held him fast and brought him to their camp. From that time forth he was again healthy and well.

  OTHER STORIES

  The story of Heitsi-Eibib and his fight with Gama-Gorib echoes that of another hero, Tsui-Goab, and his struggles with Gaunab. It is said that at the beginning, Gaunab would kill people by throwing rocks at them, or by throwing them into a pit in which he had planted a spear with its point up. But Tsui-Goab came and fought him, and either threw him into the pit or killed him with a rock. His victory came at a cost, however, for when Tsui-Goab struck Gaunab behind the ear with a rock, Gaunab struck Tsui-Goab in the knee, and this gave Tsui-Goab his name, which means ‘sore knee’ or ‘wounded knee’. Tsui-Goab and Gaunab rule different heavens: it is said that Tsui-Goab lives in a red heaven that is beautiful, while Gaunab rules a black and unpleasant world.

  THE CENTRAL ATLANTIC

  The Atlantic coast of Africa was sparsely populated south of the grasslands of Angola. Moving around the Cape and then north, one first finds the Namib desert, then the brush and grasslands of Angola, then, north of the Congo river and the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), the dense equatorial forests in the present nations of Congo-Brazzaville, Gabon and Cameroon. The kingdom of Kongo developed along the lower reaches of the Congo river, and its prosperity and trade relations with the Portuguese spread among neighbouring peoples; Kongo had some relations with the kingdoms of the Kuba and the Luba, further inland. The Yaka kingdom, lying to the south of Kongo, was influenced by it to some extent, as were the kingdoms in Angola (they also owe something to Portuguese stimulus for trade). Further north, the populations were far more fragmented, isolated within the forest and in the highlands of Cameroon. The Fang are representative of such peoples, although they actually moved into their current territory within relatively recent times. The story of Jeki, from the Duala of coastal Cameroon, portrays the world of fishermen and hunters who lived along the lagoons, and has been preserved even after most of the Duala turned to trade for their livelihood. In western Cameroon, many of the peoples were organized into kingdoms and small states, possibly responding to pressure from the north as the Muslim Fulani of northern Nigeria moved into the Adamawa area south of Lake Chad and then pressed south, or possibly on their own; the traditions of Bamun are representative of this group.

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  THE YAKA OF THE KWANGO RIVER

  The southern Atlantic coast of Africa was heavily influenced by the early Portuguese trade with the kingdom of Kongo, and in the area around the kingdom peoples moved and conquered each other, competing for access to the trade goods. In Angola, the Portuguese actually controlled some of the territory; elsewhere, they were largely participant observers and traders. The kingdom of the Yaka developed as a result of the movement of peoples in a middle ground between Portuguese-controlled Angola to the south and the Congo to the north, but appears more indebted to Congo culture and institutions. While the original Yaka were apparently wandering hunters, the population of the kingdom was composed of numerous distinct clans, each with their own traditions of origin and an account of their incorporation into the state. This account is based upon historical studies published in the last few decades.

  The first ruler to take the title of Kyambvu (king) along the Kwango river was Sangwa Mwaku Kambamba. He led a band of warriors, and they devastated the lands they crossed, taking the heads of all the men they encountered. He followed the river towards its source and then crossed to the eastern bank. There he met the local ruler, Buka Phangu, and they reached an agreement on the division of lands. Kambamba settled in Ipeshi, but after some time his followers ceased to show him the admiration and deference which had been their wont, and he left them and continued on by himself into the Portuguese territory.

  Buka Phangu would later cede political authority to Muni Putu, who is considered the first true Kyambvu of the Yaka, but Buka Phangu and his descendants retained ritual power and were considered the ‘masters of the land’ whose participation was ess
ential to ensure the fertility of the soil and the regularity of the seasons. The story of Nzadi Membo illustrates the abilities of these first inhabitants. Nzadi Membo was a famous magician in his time. He once caused his village to disappear as he walked through it with his magical objects under his arms: men and women going about their business were astounded when all at once the houses around them vanished: sleeping chambers, storerooms, granaries, bath-houses. All were gone, leaving their contents exposed to view, and the people stared out at Nzadi Membo as he walked on. Fortunately, when he reached the end of the village he restored it.

  When Nzadi Membo died, he gave his sons very precise instructions about his burial rites: he was to be enclosed in a basket, but not interred. They obeyed him. They wrapped the corpse and fitted it into a large basket, which they left at the place he had specified. Then they made their farewells and final offerings and withdrew. Only his wife remained, kneeling by the basket in her grief. As soon as the sons were out of sight of the basket, a rainstorm broke out, and it poured for days until the area was flooded and a huge lake was formed. This lake remains a significant stop in the series of rituals performed at the enthronement of a new Kyambvu.

  Muni Putu, also known as Muni Kongo and by innumerable praise-names, was the grandson of a king named N’teeba. When N’teeba died, his children divided: the men returned to the clans of their mothers, while his two daughters remained in his town. Power passed to the eldest daughter, and after a time she married a hunter named Ilunga who came from beyond her borders. They had a son whom they named N’teeba, after his grandfather; later he became known as Muni Putu.