Скачать или смотреть NDEBELE CULTURE: Unveiling the Rich Tapestry of Tradition and Identity"

The ancient Ndebele tribes, like many other South African aboriginal communities, believe in spiritual forces that regulate all matters, huge and little. The Ndebele thought that healers and witches could communicate with the spirit realm, and that curses or spells were the source of bad luck. Some Ndebele continue to practice spirit and ancestor worship, whilst others have converted to Christianity. Ndebele art and other cultural practices continue to demonstrate the necessity of preserving ancestral traditions. A significant part of Ndebele life and culture is the passage from childhood to adulthood. There are initiation rites for both boys and girls. Every four years, boys are initiated as a group. For two months, the boys are taken to isolated lodgesm where they are taught about men's rights, obligations, and social roles. The boys' families celebrate their manhood transition with feasts and gifts for them when they get home. Before leaving for home, the chief gives the boys their regimental names. When a girl reaches puberty, her initiation ritual starts. Before getting a ceremonial washing in a river, girls are given an initiation guide and are required to sing and dance for a while. During the remainder of their initiation phase, the girls are kept apart from the male tribe members and taught about the duties and obligations of women by their mentors. During the initiation time, girls adorn their arms, legs, waists, and necks with vibrant beaded hoops. They wear rectangular aprons that were beaded throughout their initiation time to their coming-out ritual. To symbolize their transformation to womanhood, these aprons are changed after their initiation to square beaded leather aprons. The language spoken by the Ndebele people is a member of the Bantu language family. One of South Africa's 11 official languages is Southern Ndebele, or isiNdebele. Because Northern Ndebele is spoken mostly in Zimbabwe, its location and division from Southern Ndebele people have influenced its Sotho and Zulu elements. The Northern Sotho language is also spoken by certain Southern Ndebele. Another dialect used in South Africa that combines elements of Ndebele and Swazi is called Sumayele Ndebele. The traditional Ndebele language was considered redundant during apartheid, and native speakers of South Africa were instead taught Zulu and Northern Ndebele