Nehanda means 'solid', or 'strength'.
"Her features are strong, unsmiling and confident. Strangers, naturally, ask who she is; but Zimbabweans know. She is Mbuya Nehanda- heroine ancestor, spirit medium."
In the Shona society, it is believed that the spirits of our great great ancestors of many generations past are still among our supernatural protectors. However among them were especially powerful and respected spirits, Midzimu Mikurukuru. Such great spirits were called mhondoro or lions. Spirits that overlooked the well being of entire regions of different tribes are believed to reside in lions. These spirits were among the most powerful as they were responsible of giving advice to several tribes, ensuring peace among these tribes as well as presiding over rainmaking and other important ceremonies and rituals. One such spirit was a woman by the name of Mbuya Nehanda whose spiritual leadership spanned the entire region on Zimbabwe. Her spirit possessed only those who were most respected and had leadership skills and qualities. Her spirit mediums here only women. A woman who became Nehanda's spirit medium remained single and was immediately bestored the spirit name, Mbuya Nehanda. Nehanda was so powerful and well respected that when people had any social concerns, they could not come directly to her. Instead they went to her assistant who was always given the name Nechombo. Nechombo would listen to people's concerns and relay them to Mbuya Nehanda. Indeed it was an honor to be Nehanda's assistant. At one point in time, Mbuya Nehanda spirit medium was the daughter of Chief Mutota (Ishe Mutota), who led the VaRozvi tribe. This young woman was given the name Mbuya Nehanda at birth and subsequently became Mbuya Nehanda's spirit medium. She died near a mountain which, to this day bears her name, Gomo reNehanda or Nehanda Mountain.
When Europeans arrived in Zimbabwe, Nehanda's spirit medium was a woman by the name of Nyakasikana. She lived in the northern part of Zimbabwe. Some believe she was of the VaRozvi tribe but others suggest she was from the VaHera tribe. It so happened that during Nyakasikana's mediumship, another great regional Shona spirit medium (Mhodoro Huru), by the name of Kaguvi possed a man by the name of Gumboreshumba (lit. the lion's foot). Gumboreshumba's spirit is affectionately known in Shona circles as Sekuru Kaguvi. Kaguvi and Nehanda used their leadership to spearhead the first war of resistance (Chimurenga CheKutanga) against European domination of the region. They instructed all the regional chiefs to arm and resist this domination in whatever way they could. It is during this resistance that some of the great Shona warriors emerged. Chief Mashayamombe who lived near Mhondoro, chiefs Gondo and Zhanda were also instrumental warriors during this time. They armed and spread the around the nation. Regions like Makoni, Shangani, Chishawasha and Mazoe where hotbeds of struggle during Zimbabwe first war of liberation.
Nehanda and Kaguvi where captured, tried and sentenced to death by hanging. They were hung on a hill near what is now the city of Harare in Zimbabwe. However before she was hung Nehanda promised the Europeans that her bones will rise to lead the second struggle against them.....Maybe that's Mugabe.
Ever heard of the Danamombe stones? These are stones which were found at the Danamombe ruins but are believed to have originated from Great Zimbabwe. As you can see from the photo, these monoliths were decorated with snake and crocodile motifs, our own unique Zimbabwean hieroglyphics. They also have marks which coincide with the cyclical observable period for the planet Venus in its synodic period. What does this mean you may ask?
You see Venus is also known as the evening star which appears shortly after sunset. Its sinoidal cylce (or year) lasts 583.9 days and is divided into four phases – appearance, which lasts 263 days, disappearance, 50 days, appearance, 260 days, and disappearance, 8 days. The pockmarks on the Dhlo-Dhlo stones are divided in this fashion and are records of a naked eye planet/moon observation with a circle and a crescent. Due to Great Zimbabwe’s coordinate location of 20.27° S, 30.93° E, this calendar cycle would only be accurate if observed at Great Zimbabwe. The reader needs to put this in perspective. More than 600 years ago, some of our ancestors of the Great Zimbabwe Empire who were called “rainmakers”, tracked the Venus cycle over years, and recorded the sitings on the Danamombe stones, which means that this was our first “written” calendar. Our ancestors then meticulously planned their agricultural season, and other activities using this calendar.
This also explains the origins and links that Nehanda had with Great Zimbabwe. The Mhondoro (royal ancestor) spirit was the protector of the land and the bringer of rain. Unlike all other Mhondoro mediums, Nehanda is believed to have two separate, equally legitimate traditions of mediums, one in the Mazowe region near Harare, the other in the Dande area in the northern most tip of Zimbabwe close to the border with Mozambique. Most of the Nehanda came from the Dande area, which is where some of the descendants of Great Zimbabwe are believed to have settled after Great Zimbabwe began to decline in the 15th Century.
In essence the Nehandas were “priest-astronomers”, who counted the stars using the Danamombe stones calendar, and were responsible for performing the all-important rain making ceremonies to allow the planting season to begin.
(Fits in with the Rivaini seers stuff we hear about in the DA games.)
"Grandmother Nehanda
You prophesied,
Nehanda's bones reincarnated,
ZANU's spear caught their fire
Which was transformed into ZANU's gun,
The gun which liberated our land.
The exploiters of Zimbabwe
Were cannibals drinking the masses' blood.
Sucking and sapping their energy.
The gun stopped all this.
Grandmother Nehanda.
You prophesied."
There were a lot of Nehandas.
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