Phalana - THE LITTLE IMPALA ANTELOPE The core of this show is yet another hunt, as for the porcupine and the leopard. Stayt's (1931 :119) informant calls it ngoma, and indeed the degree of participation by novices would support this classification. However, it was always described to me as a show (ano). As done at Thengwe, it is an abbreviated and simplified version of the drama of Thovhela and Tshishonge, and it is always done by day. Two novices wear mouth-masks of grass and thorns, and play the parts of the dogs Mashango and Mutshena, who belonged respectively to chiefs Thovhela and Tshishonge, who are played by graduates or married women. Thovhela carries a bow and arrow and Tshishonge, a knobkerry. The novices hunt the impala, a stuffed skin model of which has been previously hidden in the bush. The dogs find it, kill it, and take it back to the chiefs, who argue about its ownership. In the ensuing fight, Tshishonge is killed. The animal is 'skinned' and 'turned into' a long skirt (phale), which the novices then wear in turn. Each one recites the clan praise of her mother, her mother's mother, and her father, after saying this general introduction:   Phale ndo nga mme mubebi: Mme anga -Govha ndi Mbedzi. Muakhwa nga -. Khotsi ndi thende-: Ndi tenda tshombunda-thoho. I was given my long skirt by the mother who bore me: My mother, daughter of Govha, is of the Mbedzi people, But was suckled by a daughter of . (My) father is the shaft of the axe: I accept the authority of the moulder of my head.   (This emphasizes the importance of descent traced through females in a society which is strongly patrilineal. Furthermore, the reference to the Mbedzi people, who are rain-makers and are ruled by a woman, may be significant. Some informants said that they were the real originators of domba, and there is considerable evidence to support this.) The milayo refer almost exclusively to the antelope:   307 a mmbwa the teeth of the dogs: Misendo ya Venda small Venda axes for planing wood. (See mulayo No. 184.) 308 Nanga dza phalana the horns of the impala antelope: Vhanna men. (cf. mulayo No. 180). 309 Milenzhe yayo its legs: Vhasidzanyana little girls. 310 Ningo [its] nostrils: Ningo dza nostrils of a crocodile. 311 its eyes: Ndalama dza large Venda cowrie shells [worn as ornaments]. (See mulayo No. 226.) 312 Murura-thokho its rectum: Matombo a tshinyuke old, large, light blue annular beads. 313 Vhula hayo its entrails: Vhulungu ha denga small. dark blue cylindrical beads. 314 Vhula its other entrails: Vhulungu ha mashosho small yellow beads. 315 Golokulo its larynx:  Matombo a matshena (musalasala) big white beads. 316 Malofha ayo its blood: Vhasidzana girls. 317 Vhukuse vhutshena its white fur. Vhanna men 318 Vhukuse vhutswu its black fur: Vhakegulu old ladies. 319 Vhukuse vhutswuku its red fur: Vhasadzi women. 320 Mutshila wayo its tail:  Luunzhi lwa Denga Denga's spike. (See mulayo No. 220.) 321 He ya bva hone, yo bva i tshi mupani: i tshi da Niyani i tshi nanzwa bale: i tshi fhano i a musudzungwane: i a mututulwa. As to the place from where the antelope came, it came out and it eats the mopani tree: when it comes to the dry country to the north of Vendaland, it licks the salty soil [the mountain range in which the Venda live is called Zoutpansberg, the 'mountains of the salt pan']: when it comes here, it eats wild mint [Lippia asperifolia Rich.]: it eats the shrub 'gif-appel' [Solanum panduriforme E. Mey.]. 322 Mathuthulwa the yellow berries of the 'gif-apple': Thambana dza vhalisa the little playthings of herd boys.   This refers both to the testicles and to the game in which herd boys use the yellow berries to represent cattle. Model cattle kraals made by herd boys. The various berries represent cattle. (See mulayo No. 322, above.) During the show phalana, a clown-like figure, called Maluwe, should appear (note). The old lady playing the part of Maluwe has covered her face with charcoal and her arms with white clay; she carries a stick and wears a bizarre costume made of banana leaves and topped with a mop-like wig. At Thengwe, Maluwe also appeared just before the end of domba , when the novices were about to be carried up to the courtyard on the backs of their 'mothers'.    To return, click 'Back' in the browser. Next