Zulu

The Zulu are an African ethnic group whose members live mainly in the South
African province of KwaZulu-Natal, which lies between the Indian Ocean to the east
and the Drakensberg mountain range to the west. The province stretches from the
borders of Mozambique and Swaziland in the north to the Umzimkhulu River in the
south. This is an agriculturally fertile region, with the summer being a very
productive season. The summer season between October and April is warm and
rainy, while the winter between June and August is relatively cold and dry.
Temperatures are moderate. The Zulu are bordered by the Swazi people to the
north, the BaSotho to the west, and the Xhosa and Mpondo communities to the
south.
Zulu identity has changed over time. Before the ascendancy of King Shaka, the term
Zulu referred to only one clan that recognized "Zulu" as its founding ancestor. After
Shaka's mission of conquest and consolidation, the term came to refer to hundreds
of clans under the control of the Zulu monarchy. After the beginning of British
colonial rule of Natal in 1843, Zulu identity became associated with a particular
territory, especially the northern part of KwaZulu-Natal Province, formerly known as
Zululand. Today Zulu "ethnic" identity is linked to the language and the monarchy.
Demography. It is difficult to determine the number of Zulu people as not all people
who speak the isiZulu language can be assumed to be Zulu. KwaZulu-Natal Province
is also open to all South Africans, and not all the people who live there are Zulu.
According to the South African Statistics 2000 report, in 1996, 9, 200, 144 people
out of the total national population of 40, 583, 573 spoke the isiZulu language. In
1997 there were an estimated 8, 713, 100 "Black" people living in KwaZulu-Natal
(out of 31, 460, 970 "Black" people in all of South Africa). It is estimated that among
all isiZulu speakers in South Africa, 74. 6 percent live in KwaZulu-Natal.
Zulu people speak the isiZulu language, which is classified as one of the Nguni
languages in South Africa, which include the isiXhosa, isiSwazi, and isiNdebele
languages. In southern Africa the Nguni coexist with the Sotho and the Khoisan, who

also have their own subdivisions. All these southern African cultural-linguistic groups
with the exception of the Khoisan are often classified as Bantu-speaking peoples
because their languages have some linguistic similarities of a broad nature
compared to other African languages. There is some speculation that this might be
the case because of common origins, but this hypothesis is debatable.

The 22 million Yoruba who live in southwestern Nigeria are one of the four
major sociolinguistic groups of contemporary Nigeria. The others are the Igbo
to the east, and the Hausa and Fulani to the north. Subgroups of the Yoruba
in Nigeria include the Awori, the Ijesha, the Oyo, the Ife, the Egba, the
Egbado, the Ketu, the Ijebu, the Ondo, the Ekiti, the Yagba, and the
Igbomina. These subgroups have been described as belonging to a distinct
cultural category because of such binding factors as a generally intelligible
language, myth of common origin, and basically similar political structures.
Besides the Yoruba in Nigeria, subgroups of Yoruba descent exist in other
areas of the world as a result of the Atlantic slave trade and the artificially
drawn international boundaries. In French Dahomey, now known as The
Republic of Benin, the Yoruba are known as the Nago. In Cuba, they are
known as the Lukumi. In Sierra Leone, they are known as the Aku, and in
Surinam as Yoruba (Warner-Lewis 1996). In Brazil, the Yoruba culture
influenced a religion known as Candomble (Murphy 1994; Voeks. 1997). In
North America, particularly in Miami, Florida, Yorubainfluenced syncretistic
religion is known as Santeria (Gonzalez-Wippler 1998).

Yoruba Culture and the Meaning of Marriage

Yoruba culture is not static. At the same time, every generation tries to
preserve aspects of the indigenous tradition. This effort is counterbalanced
by the pragmatic desire of the Yoruba to appropriate change in the garb of
tradition. The dialectical relationship between the unchanging aspects of
Yoruba culture and the dynamics of change are fueled by two sources of
human interaction. The first source of change pertains to the new conflicts in
human interaction that cannot be explained by Yoruba tradition. The second
is the permanent effect of contact with Islam and the West, expressed in
such institutions as law, marriage, religion, education, and public health
services. Tola Olu Pearce has drawn attention to the importance of situating
the present resistance to women's efforts to participate in the democratic
process in Africa in the context of precolonial, colonial, and postcolonial
times if it is to be fully understood.