The Makonde are an ethnic group in southeast Tanzania and northern Mozambique. The Makonde developed their culture on the Mueda Plateau in Mozambique. At present they live throughout Tanzania and Mozambique and have a small presence in Kenya. The Makonde population in Tanzania was estimated in 2001 to be 1,140,000, and the 1997 census in Mozambique put the Makonde population in that country at 233,358, for a total estimate of 1,373,358.

They speak Makonde, also known as ChiMakonde, a Central Bantu language closely related to Yao. Many speak other languages like English in Tanzania, Portuguese in Mozambique, and Swahili and Makua in both countries. The Makonde are traditionally a matrilineal society where children and inheritances belong to women, and husbands move into the village of their wives. Their traditional religion is an animistic form of ancestor worship and still continues, although Makonde of Tanzania are nominally Muslim and those of Mozambique are Catholic or Muslim. The Makonde successfully resisted predation by African, Arab, and European slavers. They did not fall under colonial power until the 1920s. During the 1960s the revolution which drove the Portuguese out of Mozambique was launched from the Makonde homeland of the Mueda Plateau. At one period this revolutionary movement known as Frelimo derived the majority of its financial support from the sale of Makonde carvings. The Makonde are best known for their wood carvings and their observances of puberty rites. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Swahili (also called Kiswahili; see below for derivation) is a Bantu language. ... The Makua language is a language belonging to the Niger-Congo family, spoken by 5 million Makua people, who live north of the Zambezi River in Mozambique. ... Matrilineality is a system in which one belongs to ones mothers lineage; it may also involve the inheritance of property or titles through the female line. ... The Mozambican Liberation Front (FRELIMO, pronounced fray-LEE-moo; Portuguese: Frente de Libertação de Moçambique) is a political party that has ruled Mozambique since independence in 1975. ...

Makonde art

The art of the Makonde must be subdivided into different areas. The Makonde traditionally carve household objects, figures and masks. Since the 1950s years the socalled Modern Makonde Art has been developed. An essential step was the turning to abstract figures, mostly spirits (Shetani) that play a special role. Makonde are also part of the important contemporary artists of Africa today. An outstanding position is taken by George Lilanga. There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ...

More information about Makonde Art see: Hamburg Mawingu Collection George Lilanga

Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 390 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2033 × 3127 pixel, file size: 734 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Carving from Makonde. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 517 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1816 × 2107 pixel, file size: 415 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Carving from Makonde. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 242 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (1218 × 3014 pixel, file size: 527 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Carving from Makonde. ... Download high resolution version (640x853, 58 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...

Trivia

Chikungunya, the name of a mosquito-borne viral fever, is derived from the Makonde word meaning "that which bends up," after the disease was first identified on the Makonde plateau. The derivation of the term is generally falsely attributed to Swahili. Chikungunya is a relatively rare form of viral fever caused by an alphavirus that is spread by mosquito bites from the Aedes aegypti mosquito, though recent research by the Pasteur Institute in Paris claims the virus has suffered a mutation that enables it to be transmitted by Aedes albopictus (Tiger... Swahili (also called Kiswahili; see Kiswahili for a discussion of the nomenclature) is an agglutinative Bantu language widely spoken in East Africa. ...