Palapye is not a Ngwato village
An article entitled "Focus on Palapye; The rise and rise of Palapye" in the latest edition of The Voice newspaper has touched a raw nerve. It is yet another of the myriad writings, some by "prominent historians" which seek to potray the Bangwato as some sort of super-tribe. The supressed truth is that Bangwato were a small insignificant tribe until the British arrived, gave them guns, and unleashed them on other African tribes. The rest is "history", a doctored version of history of course!
If you follow true history however, the one that necessarily starts at Mapungubwe, you will understand that Bangwato originate from Balete boo Seleka (Balindi baka Chiliga), and that they got their totem - phuti, meaning the duiker, not from their Chief Khama iii being saved by a duiker as so-called historians tell us, but from the gods themselves. I have written extensively to explain how the gods assigned totems, therefore I will not dwell on it here.
The name "Palapye" shares the same origin as the name "Mahalapye". They are both corrupted versions of the Kalanga word "mpalabgwe", meaning "hewer of stone". In fact as regards Mahalapye, the Bangwato have not really corrupted the Kalanga name at all; they simply translated it to their Chirwa language. In Chirwa they call Mahalapye, Mhalatswe, which means "hewer of stone" as it should. That is what Bangwato call Mahalapye today. You don't have to have a PhD to find that out; just let any Mongwato refer to the town/village in a conversation today.
The phrase "hewers of stone" (Ba-Palabgwe) refers to the Bahumbe; a tribe I am intimately connected with, hence the raw nerve. Their totem is "Chibelu", meaning the African hoopoe bird. The name "Mpalabgwe" runs through the tribe even today. It is variously rendered as "Mbele", "Mbere", "Ndebele" etc in neighbouring countries.
And so the people occupying the whole District area covering Mahalapye, Palapye are not Bangwato, but Bahumbe. Their totem is not Phuti (duiker), but Chibelu. In Chirwa language Chibelu is often referred to as "Nonyane", meaning "The bird". Granted, ever since the arrival of the British colonisers, the Palapye/Mahalapye area has been subjected to Ngwato overule, but that does not make its people Bangwato. To call Palapye a historically Ngwato village is to falsify history.
If you follow true history however, the one that necessarily starts at Mapungubwe, you will understand that Bangwato originate from Balete boo Seleka (Balindi baka Chiliga), and that they got their totem - phuti, meaning the duiker, not from their Chief Khama iii being saved by a duiker as so-called historians tell us, but from the gods themselves. I have written extensively to explain how the gods assigned totems, therefore I will not dwell on it here.
The name "Palapye" shares the same origin as the name "Mahalapye". They are both corrupted versions of the Kalanga word "mpalabgwe", meaning "hewer of stone". In fact as regards Mahalapye, the Bangwato have not really corrupted the Kalanga name at all; they simply translated it to their Chirwa language. In Chirwa they call Mahalapye, Mhalatswe, which means "hewer of stone" as it should. That is what Bangwato call Mahalapye today. You don't have to have a PhD to find that out; just let any Mongwato refer to the town/village in a conversation today.
The phrase "hewers of stone" (Ba-Palabgwe) refers to the Bahumbe; a tribe I am intimately connected with, hence the raw nerve. Their totem is "Chibelu", meaning the African hoopoe bird. The name "Mpalabgwe" runs through the tribe even today. It is variously rendered as "Mbele", "Mbere", "Ndebele" etc in neighbouring countries.
And so the people occupying the whole District area covering Mahalapye, Palapye are not Bangwato, but Bahumbe. Their totem is not Phuti (duiker), but Chibelu. In Chirwa language Chibelu is often referred to as "Nonyane", meaning "The bird". Granted, ever since the arrival of the British colonisers, the Palapye/Mahalapye area has been subjected to Ngwato overule, but that does not make its people Bangwato. To call Palapye a historically Ngwato village is to falsify history.
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