Xhosa people
The Xhosa people, or Xhosa-speaking people (/ˈkɔːsə/ KAW-sə, /ˈkoʊsə/ KOH-sə;[2][3][4] Xhosa pronunciation: [kǁʰɔ́ːsa] ) are a Bantu ethnic group native to South Africa. They are the second largest ethnic group in South Africa and are native speakers of the isiXhosa language.
Further information: Xhosa languageTotal population
9,415,133 ~ (2022 estimate)
Eastern Cape: 5,102,053
Western Cape: 2,326,704
Gauteng: 862,124
Free State: 320,645
KwaZulu-Natal: 405,140
North West: 225,023
Northern Cape: 101,062
Mpumalanga: 50,225
200,000[1]
12,000
10,000
23,000
UmXhosa
AmaXhosa
IsiXhosa
KwaXhosa
Presently, over nine million Xhosa-speaking people are distributed across Southern Africa, although their traditional homeland is primarily the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Their language, isiXhosa , is one of South Africa's most populous languages. The pre-1994 apartheid system of Bantustan assigned them to have self-governing "homelands" (native reserves), namely; Transkei and Ciskei, both a part of the Eastern Cape Province where most Xhosa remain. A notable population also thrives in the Western Cape province of the country. Cape Town (eKapa in Xhosa), East London (eMonti), and Gqeberha (e-Bhayi).
As of 2003, the majority of Xhosa speakers, approximately 5.3 million, lived in the Eastern Cape, followed by the Western Cape (approximately 1 million), Gauteng (971,045), the Free State (546,192), KwaZulu-Natal (219,826), North West (214,461), Mpumalanga (46,553), the Northern Cape (51,228), and Limpopo (14,225).[5]
There is a small but significant Xhosa-speaking (Mfengu) community in Zimbabwe, and their language, isiXhosa, is recognised as an official national language. This community is the remnant migrated from central Africa into South Africa upon the establishment of Rhodesia with Cecil Rhodes.[6]
Xhosa beadwork[edit]
Beads are small round objects made of glass, wood, metal, nutshell, bone seed and the likes, which are then pierced for stringing.[28] Before glass beads were introduced, people used natural materials to make beads. Xhosa people relied on the San to sell beads to them through trade or barter exchange. Xhosa people would give hemp to the San in exchange for beads. The beads made by the San were made out of ostrich egg shells which were chipped to small size, bored and polished and strung into sinews. Producing them took a long time, so they were scarce, highly priced, valued and in demand. It is recorded that it was only in the 1930s that the Portuguese introduced glass beads through trade.[29]
Xhosa beadwork and its symbolism[edit]
Adornments serve a particular purpose across different cultures as social markers. They are used to ascertain where one belongs to with regards to identity, history and geographical location. They reveal personal information with regards to age and gender and social class as some beads were meant to be worn by royalty. Beadwork creates a sense of belonging and cultural identity and traditions hence people draw their cultural ways of living and meanings, as Xhosa people use them as social markers. Xhosa people believe that the beads also create a link between the living and the ancestors as diviners use them during rituals. Thus beads have some spiritual significance.[29]
Social identities/markers with regards to age, gender, grade, marital status, social rank or role and the spiritual state can be ascertained through Xhosa beadwork. Symbolic references are drawn from the beads through the colour, pattern, formation and motifs. However, it ought to be taken into cognisance that some of these messages are limited to a certain group or between two people. In Xhosa culture beads represent the organisational framework of the people and the rites of passage that people have gone through as the beads are representative of the stages of one's life. Motifs on the beads often used include trees, diamonds, quadrangles, chevrons, triangles, circles, parallel lines that form a pattern that is exclusive to certain age groups. Although the beadwork has some cultural significance with certain motifs having exclusive meanings, the creator of the beadwork has creative control and can create and draw meaning from individual preference. Thus the meanings drawn from the beadwork are not rigidly set.[29]
Among the Thembu (a tribe in the Eastern Cape often erroneously referred to be a Xhosa tribe), after circumcision, the men wore, and still wear, skirts, turbans and a wide bead collar. A waistcoat, long necklaces, throat bands, armbands, leggings and belts are part of his regalia. The dominant colours in the beadwork are white and navy blue, with some yellow and green beads symbolising fertility and a new life, respectively.[29]
Xhosa people regard white as the colour of purity and mediation; white beads are still used as offerings to spirits or to the creator. Amagqirha/diviners use white beads when communicating with the ancestors . These diviners also carry with them beaded spears, which are associated with the ancestors that inspire the diviner; beaded horns; and calabashes, to hold medicinal products or snuff. "Amageza", a veil made of beads, is also part of their regalia, they use these beads by swaying them in someone's eyes so as to induce a trance-like state.[29]
Inkciyo is a beaded skirt that serves as a garment covering the pubic area.[30] Among the Pondo people (Xhosa clan) the beads are turquoise and white in colour. This skirt is worn during a virginity testing ceremony among Xhosa people undergoing their rites of passage into womanhood.[31]
Impempe is a whistle that has a necklace on it. The whistle symbolises one's introduction to adolescence.[32]
Xhosa beadwork and other cultural beadworks have cultural ties, but nowadays beads are also worn as fashion pieces, too, either as cultural appreciation or appropriation. The use of cultural beadworks as fashion pieces means that anyone can wear these pieces without having to belong to that cultural group.[33]