Exploring the history of Xhosa subgroups through the colours and symbols of beadwork

Gcaleka youth. 1967- 1976. Harold E. Scheub Collection

As I study more about South African tribes, I discover that every tribe has its own dialects and linguistic inflections that have been influenced by migration, intermarriage, political changes, and the history of assimilation between neighbouring tribes over many generations. These factors influenced attire, customs, and material culture's aesthetics.

Western anthropologists and photographers captured a large portion of what we know about early indigenous clothing. While these archives are valuable, they are also incomplete. Many of these documenters understood the surface of culture, so documented the individuals and collective tribes at a superficial level. They captured the garments, the beadwork, the silhouettes and at times missed the deeper context. The symbolism in colours, the purpose behind specific patterns, and the spiritual or societal meaning embedded in each piece.

A Brief History of Beadwork in Southern Africa

The oldest prehistoric beads in southern Africa are ostrich eggshell beads, which may be found in locations like Border Cave, an archaeological site in KwaZulu-Natal's western Lebombo Mountains. These beads date back to 44,000–41,000 BP.

It is documented that imported glass beads first appeared between 970 and 1000 AD. These early glass beads came from Indian Ocean trade, in South Africa they arrived in Mapungubwe.

Beadwork has always represented more than just decoration; it was worn in accordance with ceremonies and conveyed rank, life stages, and clan ties. It is and has been a visual language, prehaps more important in prehistoric times.

Beads were an essential part of everyday life, both economically and in terms of material culture. Before colonisation, beads functioned as a form of currency, they were traded, bartered, and exchanged for goods aesthetic and practical.

The ornamental and decorative beading that we see today have developed over time. In the past, beads covered the body, they defined silhouettes, and expressed the wearer's tribe, clan, role or status and rank.

Beadwork as an Ethnographic Identifier in Xhosa Subgroups

Within Xhosa culture, the subgroups have distinct visual identities. The subtleties are shown by the beadwork, particularly its colour combinations, while language and clothing style reveal the nuances of distinction. Each subgroup uses colour sequences, symbols, and beading techniques to convey its ancestry, location, and historical trajectory.

Beads also function as a symbol of status and social functions. In the female line, certain beading separates moms from younger women and brides from single girls. Because of their training and spiritual position, healers wear completely different sets of beads. In this way, beading transcends decorative function and becomes archival, transfering memory, identity, and knowledge across generations.

Gcaleka youth. 1967- 1976. Harold E. Scheub Collection

AmaGcaleka

Beadwork Colours: white, navy or indigo or blue, and black; green or yellow or orange accents

Origins: The AmaGcaleka lineage originates from Gcaleka kaPhalo (c.1728–1779), King Phalo’s heir from his first wife.

A political conflict between Gcaleka and his half-brother Rharhabe during the mid-1700s triggered an interclan split that divided the Xhosa nation into the AmaGcaleka and the AmaRharhabe. Today, the AmaGcaleka remain recognised as the Royal House of the AmaXhosa.

Language or dialect: isiXhosa

Location: central-eastern parts of Eastern Cape (including East London, Alice, Amathole District)

AmaRharhabe, 1981 [photographer unknown]

AmaRharhabe

Beadwork Colours: white, navy, black; yellow or green accents

Origins: The AmaRharhabe's roots go back to the 18th-century split of the Xhosa nation. Their lineage descends from Rharhabe kaPhalo, son of King Phalo, the Right-Hand House branch of Phalo's descendants.

Language or dialect: isiXhosa

Location: central-eastern parts of Eastern Cape (including East London, Alice, Amathole District)

Mpondo man, Harold E Scheub (1967 -1976)

AmaMpondo

Colours: turquoise or light blue and white; bright accents

Origins: originated from the AbaMbo group, who migrated from the regions of the African Great Lakes in East and Central Africa and settled in what is now the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.

Language or dialect: isiMpondo

Location: Mpondoland, was located in the eastern coastal region of the Eastern Cape, (present day Port St. Johns, Lusikisiki, Bizana, Ntabankulu)

Mpondomise matron wearing iqhiya (headdress), Alice Mertens, 1973

AmaMpondomise

Bead Colours: white and turquoise or light blue; multicoloured. Closely related to AmaMpondo.

Origins: also originating from the AmaMbo people, of East and Central Africa, the AmaMpondomise are closely related to the AmaXesibe and AmaMpondo in dress and customs.

Language or dialect: isiMpondomise

Location: their current locations are Qumbu and Tsolo districts in the Eastern Cape. Their historical homeland athe aforementioned districts, plus Mount Frere, Mount Fletcher, Maclear, and Elliot.

Thembu man, eQebe, 1970s. [photographer: unknown]

AbaThembu

Bead Colours: white and navy or blue; yellow or green and pink accents

Origins: The AbaThembu, one of the early Xhosa federations of the Transkeian territories trace their origins to the upper Mzivumbe River in what became Thembuland. Their ancestors migrated from the KwaZulu-Natal region in the 16th century under the leadership of uMthembu KaNtongakazi, also known as Thembu.

Language or dialect: isiXhosa. Abathembu.org states that originally AbaThembu spoke Xam or iXam, a now exinct language distinguished by its click sounds. Their Xhosa dialect reflects aspects of their original language and historical connections to

Location: Thembuland, it encompasses areas such as Mqanduli, Umtata, Engcobo, and the areas of Cala and Cofimvaba.

Xesibe woman, late 1970's or early 1980's [photographer unknown]

AmaXesibe

Bead Colours: white, blue or turquoise, black accents

Origins: also originating from the AmaMbo ethnic group of Eastern and Central Africa, they are the smallest and among the least documented of the group.

Language or dialect : isiXesibe

Location: Xesibeland was a region in South Africa lying between Griqualand East and Pondoland the area around Mount Ayliff.

A Bomvana bride. Image from the British Library archive. Source: Bridgeman Images.

AmaBomvana

Bead Colours: white, blue or turquoise, black and bright accents

Origins: from the AmaNgwane of KwaZulu-Natal, the AmaBomvana clan descends from Bomvu and his lineage, including Njilo, who who established the clan. After a cattle dispute they relocated to Pondoland around 1650, but they were eventually driven out in 1837 and settled east of the Mbashe River.

Language or dialect: a dialect of isiXhosa

Location: around Elliotdale, Coffee Bay, and coastal villages around Dwesa or Cwebe.

Red Blanket Valley book cover, Joan A Broster, 1967.

AmaBhaca

Bead Colours: white, blue, red or pink, yellow, green

Distinctive vertical banding

Origins: Embo ethnic group, migrated from Natal during the chaotic period of Zulu history. During a certain period the tribe lived in Pondoland under the protection of Faku, and today there is intermarriage with the AmaMpondo.

Language or dialect: IsiBhaca is a Bantu language traditionally considered a dialect of Swati, but it is closer to Xhosa, Phuthi, and Zulu, and is a mixture of these languages.

Location: KwaBhaca, present day Mount Frere, they are also present in KwaZulu-Natal in areas such as Umzimkhulu, Ixopo, and Bulwer.

Mfengu woman, postcard, [source: Dee's Postcards, ebay)

AmaMfengu

Bead Colours: black, white, blues, pink, maroon/red

Distinct Mfengu combinations

Origins: The AmaMfengu originate from several Nguni chiefdoms in present-day KwaZulu-Natal, formed when groups like the Hlubi, Bhele, and Zizi fled the Mfecane wars and settled among the Xhosa.

Language or dialect: IsiXhosa

Location: AmaMfengu lived near the Embo river in the Natal region (modern-day KwaZulu-Natal).

Hlubi traditional doctress, Alfred Martin Duggan-Cronin. [source: EMANDULO)

AmaHlubi

Bead Colours: white, blue or turquoise, pink and brown (see example) .  Blue, white and red, sometimes yellow included.

Origins: the Hlubi originate from Central Africa,connected to the Shubi lineage, before migrating southward during the eMbo migrations in the 1300s.

Language or dialect: IsiHlubi is a Tekela language, a subgroup within the Nguni branch of the Southern Bantu language family.

Location: scattered across various parts of South Africa and neighbouring countries including Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Swaziland, Lesotho etc.

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References:

General Xhosa and Nguni Ethnography

Hunter, M. (1936) Reaction to Conquest: Effects of Contact with Europeans on the Pondo of South Africa. London: Oxford University Press.

Soga, J.H. (1930) The South-Eastern Bantu: Abantu Abase Mzantsi. Johannesburg: Wits University Press.

Peires, J.B. (1981) The House of Phalo: A History of the Xhosa People in the Days of Their Independence. Johannesburg: Ravan Press.

Peires, J.B. (1989) The Dead Will Arise: Nongqawuse and the Great Xhosa Cattle-Killing Movement of 1856-57. Johannesburg: Ravan Press.

Mtuze, P.T. (1993) Essence of Xhosa Spirituality and Ethics. Lovedale Press.

Opland, J. (1983) Xhosa Oral Poetry. Johannesburg: Ravan Press.

AmaGcaleka & AmaRharhabe

Peires, J.B. (1981) The House of Phalo. Johannesburg: Ravan Press.

Aylward, A. & Crampton, A. (2017) ‘Royal House of Gcaleka: Reconsidering Xhosa Kingship’, South African Historical Journal, 69(2), pp. 234–256.

Staples, R. (1946) History of the Rharhabe People. Lovedale Press.

AmaMpondo

Hunter, M. (1936) Reaction to Conquest. Oxford University Press.

Mayer, P. (1961) Township Youth and Rural Elders: A Study of East London. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press.

SA History Online (2024) AmaMpondo People.

AmaMpondomise

Mvenene, J. (2016) ‘The History of the AmaMpondomise’, Historia, 61(2), pp. 47–64.

Soga, J.H. (1930) The South-Eastern Bantu.

AbaThembu

Mndende, N. (2006) Thembu Origins and Historical Development. Lovedale Press.

Mager, A. (1999) Gender and the Making of a South African Bantustan: A Social History of the Eastern Cape. Heinemann.

AmaXesibe

Hammond-Tooke, D. (1974) Xhosa in the Transkei. London: Intermediate Technology.

Krige, E.J. (1950) The Social System of the Zulus (used for comparative Nguni lineage analysis).

AmaBhaca

Maphasa, M. (2019) ‘Identity and Memory among the AmaBhaca’, Indilinga: African Journal of Indigenous Knowledge, 18(1), pp. 120–135.

Opland, J. (1998) Xhosa Poets and Praise Traditions.

AmaMfengu

Stapleton, T.J. (1994) ‘They Never Were Fingo: The Mfengu as a Constructed Ethnicity in South Africa’, The Journal of African History, 35(2), pp. 241–266.

Mostert, N. (1992) Frontiers: The Epic of South Africa’s Creation and the Tragedy of the Xhosa People. London: Pimlico.

AmaBomvana

Soga, J.H. (1930) The South-Eastern Bantu.

Kuckertz, H. (1990) Creating Order: The Image of the Homestead in Mpondo Social Life. UCT Press (includes Bomvana ethnographic overlap).

Peires, J.B. (2000) ‘Ethnography of the Bomvana’, African Studies, 59(2), pp. 89–110.

AmaHlubi

Wright, J. & Manson, A. (1991) ‘The Hlubi and the Nguni Expansion’, Natal Museum Journal, 32, pp. 17–40.

Ndlela, A. (2024) Preservation of Indigenous Knowledge Among the Hlubi. Master’s Thesis, CPUT.

Botes, P. (2018) ‘AmaHlubi’s battle against colonial legacy’, Mail & Guardian.