Nehanda Charwe Nyakasikana, who lived from around 1840 to 27 April 1898, was a svikiro, or spirit medium, for the Zezuru Shona people of Zimbabwe, channeling the power of Nehanda, a female Shona mhondoro, or ancestral spirit. In this role she made oracular pronouncements and performed rituals believed to secure favorable harvests, and her authority made her instrumental in mobilizing Shona resistance during the First Chimurenga of 1896 to 1897, a rebellion against the British South Africa Company. After the rebellion was suppressed she was captured, tried for the killing of a colonial administrator, and executed by hanging in 1898, becoming a lasting symbol of resistance later invoked by Zimbabwe's liberation movements.
Facts
Attestation
Veneration TodayActively venerated in a living tradition 2 Function
Domain / Function Belief
TheologyPolytheistic: many gods 1 Sources
1. The Facts on File Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend
Anthony S. Mercatante, revised and expanded by James R. Dow, Facts on File
2. Revolt in Southern Rhodesia, 1896-97: A Study in African Resistance
Terence O. Ranger, Heinemann
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