Mutupo · Tshivenda
Nḓou
- 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.
Also Spelled
Nḓou is also written Ndou, Dzindou dza Manenzhe and Dzindou dza Hakhomunala.
Spellings differ between families, between records and between countries. Wozekhaya keeps the name as each source wrote it rather than settling on one form.
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
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- 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
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