Take a walk on the Wild side . . .
Nongqawuse
1856 was a bad year for the Xhosa nation of the Wild Coast.
Their lands had been taken by the British, drought had withered their crops, and their prized cattle were dwindling under a mysterious disease.
The people were facing a hard winter when hope came in the shape of a young girl called Nongqawuse, the niece of a prophet. Nongqawuse claimed that the spirits of the ancestors had spoken to her from a pool in the Gxara River.
If the people would only kill all their cattle and burn their crops, a day would come when new cattle and crops would arise along with an army of the ancestors who would drive the whites into the sea.
The "vision" took hold among the desperate people, who followed her orders.
By February 1957 more than 200 000 cattle had been slaughtered and left to rot. All the summer crops had been burnt.
The allotted day dawned and nothing happened. The weakened population began to starve and within a few months more than a third of the entire Xhosa people had died of starvation and disease.
It was easy for the British to take over the remnants of the tattered Xhosa kingdom and imprison the chiefs for their role in this ??genocide??.
Nongqawuse was taken to Robben Island for her own safety but her people were broken.
The 1856 cattle killing has receded into legend and its tragic manifestation is Nongqawuse's pool, which can still be seen on guided tours from the resort of Qolora Mouth on the Strandloper Coast.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nongqawuse for more info.
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Comments
Anonymous (not verified)
Tue, 24/06/2008 - 08:29
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Nongqawuse
Jeff Brown
Fri, 27/06/2008 - 16:35
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Research & theories
Anonymous (not verified)
Mon, 26/10/2009 - 02:35
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Nongqawuse
Anonymous (not verified)
Wed, 04/08/2010 - 15:46
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I agree with the previous
Nondanele (not verified)
Wed, 02/07/2014 - 22:11
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Nongqawuse
Anne Rogers (not verified)
Tue, 15/05/2018 - 00:40
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In other words the Xhosa were
Alan Jefferies (not verified)
Wed, 02/12/2009 - 16:55
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Nongqawuse - The Ashamed Silence?
Morgan (not verified)
Tue, 03/04/2012 - 12:38
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Hi thanks for this
Lwandiso Zamxaka (not verified)
Thu, 22/09/2011 - 14:36
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Interesting
Jeff Brown
Thu, 22/09/2011 - 16:33
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Knonki family
Anonymous (not verified)
Mon, 09/09/2013 - 08:46
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Nkonki Family
More Info (not verified)
Tue, 08/05/2012 - 06:19
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Reply to comment | WILD COAST
Debbie (not verified)
Thu, 12/01/2012 - 10:38
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Red Desert
Gareth Angelbeck (not verified)
Thu, 14/03/2013 - 14:24
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Hi Debbie I am an archaeology
Lwandiso (not verified)
Tue, 03/04/2012 - 15:50
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Nongqawuse
Jeff Brown
Tue, 03/04/2012 - 16:09
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Historical imperative
Mshwai (not verified)
Mon, 21/05/2012 - 19:53
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Nongqawuse
Anonymous (not verified)
Fri, 30/11/2012 - 17:58
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The Cattle killing - a well planned genocide by the British
Owen Starkey (not verified)
Sun, 03/09/2017 - 09:25
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Hi, Many years ago I read a
Thivhilaeli MAKATU (not verified)
Fri, 07/12/2018 - 12:08
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Very insightful. You may
Mr Mlanjeni Xolile (not verified)
Tue, 10/08/2021 - 19:04
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Very impressive and detailed
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