Mutupo · Tshivenda
Vhatavhatsindi
- PeopleVhavenda
- Mutupo Nḓou — elephant (for the Vhaṱavhatsindi of Tshiavha, per Netshisaulu)
- Grouping Pre-Singo group; recorded as Karanga-Rozvi arrivals (LUONDE, WIKI-VENDA-PEOPLE, MAGOMA-2021) or as Vhangona
- Surnames recorded Muṱavhatsindi, Netshiendeulu, Nethengwe, Manenzhe, Matidza, Netshiavha, Nemaungani
- Places recorded Central Soutpansberg, Vhutavhatsindi, Thengwe, Tshiheni, Ha-Mabila, Lwandali, Tshiendeulu, Luonde, Maungani, Tshirululuni, Khalavha, Lake Fundudzi
Also Spelled
Vhatavhatsindi is also written Vhaṱavhatsindi, Vhatavhatsinde, Muṱavhatsindi and Tavhatsindi.
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
Stayt gives the etymology reported to him by the missionary Westphal (muta, the yard around the women's huts, plus tsinde, a tree stem) and links it to a forgotten custom of erecting a pole in the yard, and to the group's reputation as medicine men; he records that they crossed the Limpopo, found the BaNgona in occupation, settled peacefully among them, and that their chief was Netshiendeulu with petty chiefs Matidza, Nemaungani, Rapuli, Netshiavho, Manenzhe and Nethengwe. He also records a distinctive funerary custom: exhuming and ceremonially burning the bones some months after burial and scattering the ashes at particular rivers. Luonde places their settlement around 1200 and names Vhakwevho and Vhafamadi as sub-groups. Luonde's Singo tradition says Dyambeu died attacking the Vhatavhatsindi of Tshiheni and Tshiavha, that the drum Ngomalungundu fell and cracked in that fight and was ca. Recorded from the sources named on this entry; the wording here is Sibaya's own.
Families Tell This Differently
Families who carry this name tell parts of it differently. Each way it has been told is below.
Where This Comes From
- Written down by
-
- Luonde.co.za - Brief History; Ngomalungundu (community heritage site), accessed 2026-09-05, luonde.co.za — https://luonde.co.za/brief-history/ and https://luonde.co.za/brief-history/ngomalungundu
- Munyadziwa Magoma and co-authors, Retrieving Intangibility, Stemming Biodiversity Loss: The Case of Sacred Places in Venda, Northern South Africa, 2021 — https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/4/4/249
- 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
- Hugh A. Stayt, The Bavenda, 1931 — https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/59437
- Wikipedia contributors, Venda people (Wikipedia article), accessed 2026-09-05, Wikimedia Foundation — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venda_people
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