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Wozekhaya

Mutupo · Tshivenda

Nḓou

Also spelled Ndou, Dzindou, Dzindou dza Manenzhe, Dzindou dza Hakhomunala.

  • PeopleVhavenda
  • Mutupo Nḓou — elephant
  • Grouping Two lines: the Nḓou of Ṱavha (Vhangona) and the Nḓou of Tshiavha (Vhaṱavhatsindi)
  • Surnames recorded Nḓou, Maṋenzhe
  • Places recorded Tshiavha, Vhuṱanḓa, Halambani

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Why It Is Not Here Yet

Everything else on this page is unaffected. The clan name, the Tshivenda terms, the totem, the grouping, the surnames and the places recorded are facts, and facts carry no copyright no matter which book they were read in. What is absent is one author's particular wording, which is the part copyright does protect.

N.C. Ṋetshisaulu, 'The Role Played by Nicknames and Totems in the Development of Tshivenḓa Surnames', E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 6(7) (2025)

In copyright. A peer-reviewed article published in 2025. In copyright. Its totem, oath and taboo statements are facts and are published here; its wording is not.

The rendering that was read: Nthambeleni Charles Ṋetshisaulu (University of Venda), The Role Played by Nicknames and Totems in the Development of Tshivenḓa Surnames, 2025 — https://noyam.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/EHASS20256715.pdf

A praise belongs to the families who recite it, not to whoever wrote it down. A Tshivenda-speaking family that still holds this one holds the better version of it, and can put that version on this page.

Written down by families and by the people who recorded them.

About This Record

What Was Written Down

Netshisaulu records that several distinct clans use the elephant as totem and surname while sharing a common origin. The Nḓou of Ṱavha are Vhangona of unknown origin; the Nḓou of Tshiavha are Vhaṱavhatsindi who once lived together and later separated into the Nḓou of Ha-Maṋenzhe, Vhuṱanḓa, Ḓuvhuledza and Halambani, occupying places formerly held by the Vhangona Nḓou. The clan does not eat the trunk of an elephant and holds the animal in high respect; the article describes a hand-clapping formula used to ask an elephant to move aside. Stayt records the Ndou as one of the two chief sibs in the Vhatavhatsinde migration. Wikipedia's list includes several Nḓou lines (Manenzhe, Hakhomunala/Mutangwe) without citation. Recorded from the sources named on this entry; the wording here is Sibaya's own.

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Where This Comes From

Written down by
  • Nthambeleni Charles Ṋetshisaulu (University of Venda), The Role Played by Nicknames and Totems in the Development of Tshivenḓa Surnames, 2025 — https://noyam.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/EHASS20256715.pdf

Recorded Alongside

  • Dzivhani Also recorded among the Vhavenda.
  • Kwinḓa Also recorded among the Vhavenda.
  • Lambani Also recorded among the Vhavenda.
  • Luvhimbi Also recorded among the Vhavenda.
  • Makuya Also recorded among the Vhavenda.
  • Manenzhe Also recorded among the Vhavenda.

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