This write-up is based on a 10-minute presentation titled ‘Ditso tsa Bahurutshe’ which was made at a ceremony marking the ‘Coronation of Kgosi Kebinatshwene I of Bahurutshe Boo-Manyana’, on 2 September 2017.
Origins and Early History
Bahurutshe were part of a group that is believed to have originated from either Egypt or ancient Ethiopia (see History of the Basuto: Ancient and Modern by David-Fr├®d├®ric Ellenberger). Their ancestors are believed to have crossed the Zambezi around the 11th or 12th century, and then the Limpopo somewhere between the 13th and 14th century.
Bahurutshe derive their ethnic identity from one of their ancestors, Kgosigadi Mohurutshe, who is said to have been the daughter of Kgosi Malope I ÔÇôa-Masilo II ÔÇôa-Lowe-a-Melore I ÔÇôa-MheteÔÇöa-Mogale-a-Mmakapane-a-Kwena II-a-Masilo I-a-Phokotsia-a-Moletsi-a-Kwena I -a-Phofhu (see James Mpotokwane in Botswana Notes and Records, Volume 6, 1974). According to both written historical accounts and the oral traditions, Mohurutshe was the product of Kgosi Malope’s senior wife, and that she was followed, in Kgosi Malope’s subsequent ‘house’ or ‘houses’, by Kwena, Ngwato, and Ngwaketse in that order. Mohurutshe in turn gave birth to two sons, Motebele and Motebejana. Kgosi Motebele was later to become the ancestor of those Bahurutshe who are now known as Ba[k]hurutshe and are mainly found in Tonota, Boteti, the North East and many other areas in the Central District like Tswapong and Bobirwa. Motebejana was to become the founder of those Bahurutshe generally referred to as Batshweneng.
Phofhu, the Ancestor and the Totem
Bahurutshe believe that their founding ancestor was Kgosi Phofhu who was a great and benevolent leader. It is believed that the people loved and deeply revered Kgosi Phofhu so much that his name was translated into a totem, with the honour being eventually transferred to phofhu, the eland, which has for centuries remained the main totem for Bahurutshe ba ga Motebele.
The ‘Totemic’ Shift
Bahurutshe, like other ethnic groups, have used various explanations to justfy the change from the initial totem (phofhu) by one group of Bahurutshe to tshwene, the baboon. According to a tale recorded by Ellenberger among Batshweneng ba ga Khiba, there once was a Mohumagadi (a Kgosi’s wife) who was infertile. As a way of curing her condition, Mohumagadi was made to have physical contact with the body or skin of a baboon (tshwene). Consequently, Mohumagadi was cured of her infertility, for a child was conceived who upon birth was given the name Motshwene while his people became known as Batshweneng. Even though there is a school of thought which argues that Bahurutshe boo-Khiba used the method explained above for curing their Mohumagadi’s infertility with the full knowledge that tshwene, the baboon, was their totem; it is also believed that it was specifically after this cure of the Mohumagadi’s infertility involving the baboon’s body or skin that the people adopted tshwene as their totem.
Another legend which we picked from a Motshweneng old man who lived among Bangwato in Shoshong links the adoption of tshwene, the baboon, as a totem for Bahurutshe, with the cultural tradition of the ceremony of the tasting of the ‘first fruit’ known as molomo. This is a tradition whereby the tasting of the first agricultural produce harvested is done in order of seniority in a family or community, and through a special ceremony. According to Rre Mosithaphala-a-Khumoyame-a- Mosetlhe-a-Monyadiwa-a-Lekalake-a-Montsho (who was born in 1920 and passed on a couple of years ago), it was on the eve of the ‘first fruit’ ceremony that Bahurutshe had collected and stored the first melons harvested in preparation for the special ceremony the following morning when the unexpected happened. Overnight a pack of baboons broke into the particular homestead and devoured the melons. Upon discovering this mishap the following morning, Bahurutshe simultaneously experienced disgust and revulsion against, and a sense of awe and reverence at the baboons. They felt that they had no choice but to admit and recognise that the baboons had beat them at their own game; that the baboons had tasted the first fruit of their agricultural produce before them. From then onwards Bahurutshe honoured and revered tshwene, the baboon as their totem.
The most referred-to legend used to explain the shift from phofhu (the eland) to tshwene (the baboon) as a totem by a large section of Bahurutshe involves the question of sibling rivalry. In this particular tale, which is believed to have unravelled at a place called Sedutlane (in Lehurutshe), Kgosigadi Mohurutshe’s sons, Motebele and Motebejana clashed over a baby baboon (tshwenyana). It is believed that while Motebele and his mophato were out on a letsholo (hunting expedition), they captured a baby baboon. Motebele was later to task his younger brother, Motebejana with taking care of the baboon and he warned him to ensure it did not escape. Then it so happened that the baby baboon escaped into the wild, although according to other accounts, Motebejana is said to have deliberately set the animal free, in order to provoke his older brother. When news of the baboon’s escape reached Motebele’s ears, he became furious and decided to severely punish his younger brother, which action in turn angered the section of the people that had sided with Motebejana. A civil war ensued and Motebejana (who is said to have enjoyed popular support from his people as against his elder brother Motebele who was regarded more of an oppressor) won the battle while Motebele was defeated and chased away. From this day on, Bahurutshe boo-Motebejana adopted tshwene as their totem while Bahurutshe boo-Motebele retained phofhu as their totem.
It was thus, the baboon that separated the two sections of Bahurutshe in about the 17th century. Yet today, on 2 September 2017, and some four centuries later, it is Tshwene (as in Rotwe, Kgosi Kebinatshwene I), which/who has brought us together here in Manyana.
(Seatholo Masego Tumedi is Interim Coordinator for Ipatlisise O Ikitse, Tonota Region)