Mountains of Floods. Ritual ceremonies for good
rains and good harvests are held there regularly
by the people of Zimbabwe and the countries of
Southern Africa such as Zambia, Malawi,
Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique,
Angola, and South Africa.
Colonialism and DefilementThe sanctity of the Matopo Hills was defiled by
Cecil John Rhodes, who named them The World’s
View, and chose them as the ideal site for his final
rest as a European deity among African ancestors.
The hilltops opposite Rhodes’ grave bear the cross
that Father Odilo Weeger erected in honor of
Rhodes as a Christian hero and conqueror of
Zimbabwe and Southern Africa. Rhodes’ vision
was to colonize the whole African landmass from
Cape to Cairo. Beside him lies Leander Starr
Jameson, the first Rhodesian colonial administra-
tor of Zimbabwe and Rhodes’ bosom friend.
Another ancient shrine defiled by colonialism and
desecrated by tourism for the sake of money is Great
Zimbabwe. It is a World Heritage Site and an impor-
tant center for the emergence of early organized state
systems in Africa and the origins of world civiliza-
tions. The indigenous people of Zimbabwe refer to it
asMaDzimbahwe, which means The Burial Place
for Royal Ancestors. Zimbabwe, as the name of the
country, was derived from it, to replace the colonial
name Rhodesia after Cecil John Rhodes. National
cerebrations for independence and thanksgiving cer-
emonies for good rains and good harvests are still
held there as a holy shrine.
Among the groves and sites that Africans revere
as sacred, but have been defiled by colonialism and
profaned by tourism, are monuments such as El
Mina Castle in Ghana and Bagamoyo in Tanzania.
They contain the blood and tears of Africans who
were taken into slavery across the seas in chains.
Bagamoyoin Swahili means The Place Where My
Heart Is. That is how Africans felt as they saw their
land for the last time from the ships that were tak-
ing them into slavery across the Indian Ocean. To
defile the sites that Africans regard as sacred in their
religion or history is to destroy the links that con-
nect them to their ancestors as the source of their
identity and values as a people. Equally sacrilegious
is the destruction of symbols that Africans regard as
images of their spirituality and humanity.
The role of totems in African worldview and
religion is to make people identify with the objects
they have chosen as totems and live in harmony
with them and defend them as their heritage. To
destroy the symbols that represent one’s spirituality
as a human being is an abomination as vile as a sui-
cide or a self-murder. The images that African ances-
tors painted and left on the walls of the caves in the
Hills of Matopo and other sites of Zimbabwe and
Africa that archeologists describe as half human/half
animal and expressions of shamanism and animism
in African religion are expressions of African peo-
ples’ complete identification with the animals and
objects they have chosen as symbols of their values
as a people. Painting was a way of immortalizing
them and passing their importance on to future
generations as a spiritual legacy and sacred heritage
unparalleled elsewhere in world history.Vimbai Gukwe ChivauraSee alsoChaminuka; NehandaFurther Readings
Ellert, (1991).The Material Culture of Zimbabwe.
Harare, Zimbabwe: Longman.
Garlake, P. (1987).The Painted Caves:An Introduction
to the Prehistoric Art of Zimbabwe. Harare,
Zimbabwe: Modus Publications.
Martin, D. (1999).Victoria Falls,Mosi-oa-Tunya:
Zimbabwe,Land,People,History. Harare,
Zimbabwe: African Publishing House.
Matenga, E. (1998).The Soapstone Birds of Great
Zimbabwe:Symbols of a Nation. Harare, Zimbabwe:
African Publishing Group.
Parry, E. (2002).A Guide to the Rock Art of the Matopo
Hills. Bulawayo, Zimbabwe: ’amaBooks.
Ranger, T. (1999).Voices From the Rocks:Nature,
Culture & History in the Matopos Hills of
Zimbabwe. Harare, Zimbabwe: Baobab Books, 1999.
Walker, N (1996).The Painted Hills:Rock Art of the
Matopos. Harare, Zimbabwe: Mambo Press.GULU
Gulu is a district in northern Uganda whose name
comes from the main commercial center of the298 Gulu