The Relationship Between Bukalanga and the Shona: Are We Really a Shona People?
[The]Makalanga in the region of Southern Rhodesia… seem to be of different stock from other Mashona tribes and apparently are of alien origin. [They]… have preserved their distinct physical features, so many of the royal families of Rhodesia seem to have retained “Hamitic” characteristics for some time. The early Portuguese noticed the difference in appearance between the Batonga, Barwe, and Monga on the one hand, and the Makalanga on the other, the latter appearing to have been “not of a very black color” and “men of great stature”. Many other physical attributes have been ascribed to the Makalanga in order to distinguish them from the other natives; “They are a noble race, and respected among the Negros”; “they are very strong, light and agile” and “are very proud” and “each one seems to be a king of the woods” – H. A. Wieschhoff 1941 The Zimbabwe-Monomotapa Culture in Southeast Africa. When reading Zimbabwean school history textbooks, one finds everywhere plastered the word S...