218 EELIGIOX OF THE BA-VENIIA. 



of their invasion. In that way man can api)roa('h the "'ods 

 who were the original possessors of the land and obtain their 

 blessing, which is always a good plan, as it would be unwise 

 to provoke the anger of any of the departed spirits. On the 

 other hand, the father of this second priest, who is a Ngona, 

 has married a woman from the Shivase ffimily. In this way 

 this man is a " moduhulu," namely, a uterine nephew of the 

 Venda chiefs. The uterine nephew every wliere plays a special 

 part in Bantu ancestor worship. He is the favourite of his 

 malunie, viz., of his mother's brother. Heir of the IN^gona 

 gods, nephew of the Ba-Yenda, he is really the right man in 

 the right place when he assists the chief in this important 

 function. 



III.^TOTEMISM. 



One may find it strange that totemism should be mentioned 

 here in connection with religion. Totemism is prevalent 

 amongst all the tribes of the Suto group, Basuto of Basuto- 

 land, Ba-Pedi of Transvaal, Bechuana, etc. But it consists 

 merely in a few more or less obsolete rites and in taboos con- 

 cerning the killing of the totem animal and the eating of its 

 meat. I do not know of any relation established between the 

 totem and the ancestor gods amongst those tribes. 



Amongst Ba-Yenda, at least amongst some of their clans, 

 this relation exists most decidedly, and it is one of the most 

 interesting discoveries I made when studying their religion. 

 This applies mostly to the Ba-Laudzi, Ba-Nngwe, and 

 Ba-Shidzive clans, all of which have their " mountain " in 

 Yendaland. 



Let us begin with the Ba-Laiulzi. the clan to which 

 belonged my principal informant. Tlieir totem is the baboon. 

 They are called " Ba-ila-pfene," those who taboo the baboon. 

 (Strange to say, I never heard the expression always employed 

 in Suto tribes : ba-bina-pfene, those who dance to the baboon.) 

 liaboons are considered as bearing a sjiecial relation to the 

 clan. When they enter the gardens and steal mealies, one 

 may chase them, but it is taboo to pick up any cob they may 

 have let fall when running away. Sometimes they penetrate 

 into the village ; they enter the special hut -vAliere women stamp 

 their mufoho corp. . This hut is found in CA^ery Yenda village; 

 it has no door; the floor is made of veiy hard clay, in which 

 are buried four or more little mjrtars up to the level of the 

 ground; women grind the cereal on their knees with short 

 pestles. The baboon visitors are allowed to take a little of 

 the grain; however, if they steal too much and become trouble- 

 some, they are chased away. Naturally the Ba-Laudzi do 

 not eat their meat. There is nothing very i)eculiar in these 

 customs; similar dealings witli the totem animal are found 

 in all the totemistic South African tribes. But here conies 

 the proper Yenda theory: It is believed that these baboons 

 are the Badzimu themselves. Each Mu-Laudzi, when he 



