The BaTonga Impande

The origins of the beautiful impande beads are lost in history, but they are still worn today by the BaTonga and are rich in cultural and mystical significance.

The BaTonga people of Zimbabwe and Zambia are part of the Bantu ethnic group, related to the Tokaleya, and call themselves the Bantu Botatwe or ‘three-tribe people,’ with BaTonga also found in Mozambique and Malawi. They are thought to have lived in the region since at least 1100 AD and possibly even since Stone Age times. The word Tonga is derived from a Shona word meaning independent.

David Livingstone first met the BaTonga over 140 years ago on his travels to the region and found them to be a culture steeped in ancestral worship and other occult practices. Up until the 1950s they continued to live very separate from the outside world, retaining their traditional values and lifestyle. The construction of the Kariba Dam wall led to more than 57 000 people being relocated, resulting in a severe disruption to their way of life.

The BaTonga have a rich oral history and many unique customs and beliefs. They traded extensively with Portuguese explorers based in Mozambique, with high value placed upon beads as a form of ethnographic money, exchanged for gold, ivory and other goods. To the local people, the Portuguese traders were known as ‘those who scattered beads among the people in front of palaces.’

This demand for beads led the Portuguese to create a bead especially for trade in this region and as a result, the local BaTonga people have a unique and rare ‘trade bead’ as an integral part of their culture. The half cosmos or impande bead is a three-corned triangular bead, embossed with half circle markings, thought to date back to the early 1600s in origin and produced and traded up to the 1900s.

Very little is known about the impande beads, as they are found in such a limited area, and there is speculation as to whether they were made in Venice or possibly in India, Holland or Czechoslovakia. The design is thought to be taken from that of the conus shell ndoro, which was also highly valued in trade.

Over time, the impande came to be associated with status and supernatural powers. The BaTonga did not have a formalised chieftain position, but rather lived as family groups, led by spiritual leaders. These leaders were believed to be rainmakers, with a spirituality associated with the moon. It is thought by some scholars that the markings on the impande are linked to the pattern of the TabwaBalamwezi (the rising of the new moon).

A traditional rainmaker, Joseph Chooka, said that he wore the impande “so that people know I am the one who asks for rain in this place, for I have rain spirits.” Traditional healers soaked impande in milk to make eye medications, and historically Tonga women have worn the impande behind their necks in order to protect their babies.

An excellent collection of these rare ndoros and impande is on display at The Jafuta Heritage Centre, part of the Elephant's Walk Village. The origins of these beautiful beads are lost in history, but they are still worn today by the BaTonga and used locally by The Ndau Collection in creating one of a kind jewellery – a piece of Africa’s past brought to life.

Read more articles from this issue:
Zambezi Traveller (Issue 10, Sept 2012)

Zambezi Traveller Directory:
The Ndau Collection
Elephant's Walk Shopping Village