Some Aspects of the Soul-Concept among the Bantu-Speaking Nguni-Tribes of South Africa

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to consider some aspects of the fundamental belief system of the Nguni, namely, the worship of the ancestors. Specifically we will be concerned with a few major points; the distinction between the soul and the spirit as the Nguni conceive of it; the difference between family and tribal spirits; the appearance of these spirits to man, and finally the relationship between the living and the dead. This paper pertains to a complex of Bantu-speaking tribes, fairly homogeneous with respect to culture and language, who, with the exception of the Ndebele who moved to the Transvaal little over a century ago, live in the eastern part of southern Africa on the plateau between the Drakensberg escarpment and the Indian Ocean. Generally, they can be divided into three groups, namely the Swazi in the north, the Zulu extending throughout Natal, and the tribes collectively spoken of as the southern Nguni, including the Xhosa, Pondo, Fingo, Ngqika, Baca, Bomvana and others. All of these tribes are historically related, but the passing of four centuries since their division and the influence of neighboring tribal groups, such as the Tonga in the north, Sotho in the west and Khoisan groups in the south have brought about the local linguistic and cultural differences that we observe today. All the Nguni-tribes distinguish clearly in their conception of and their terminology for, the duality in the living person. Each human being has in addition to his physical body (called umzimba by the Zulu), a spiritual counterpart. This takes on the form of the shadow or personality (the Zulu isithunzi) or the breath (the Xhosa umoya), and as an old Xhosa told me, it is this which causes him to lead a good life-in other words it is seen as the conscience. The soul is localized in the chest or heart, or in the head, and according to some is an exact miniature replica of the * This paper was read at the annual Spring Meeting of the American