Tinovatenda

Performed by Tute Chigamba, from the album Yangu Ndega

“Tinovatenda” (We thank thee, spirits) became a chosen song. But at first, I just thought, “Oh, let me entertain myself, as a person who plays mbira.” Then I heard, “Oh, something exciting is happening here!” And then I continued moving forward.

So finally, I played that song in Old Highfield. VaMutumwa was there, and he listened. I was playing, and he was listening. And then he asked me, “Wafawanaka, what is that song called?” I said, “Oh, I haven’t yet given it a name.” He said, “Oh, that is a sacred song.” I said, “Oh?” He said, “When we go to Chiriseri, there in Domboshava, we want you to play that song.”

We went to Chiriseri, and we played that song there. But oh, what happened there was so surprising. A mudzimu spirit arrived, and pointed at the sky. And people looked up and saw that there were three stones tied to a muhacha tree, hanging there above us as we played mbira in the ritual enclosure. Then they said, “Remove them. We know who it was.” Then we took those things down.

That person knew something was taking place. He had committed chipini, meaning if you take your own daughter and make her your wife, or you take your sister and make her your wife, or take your grandchild’s wife and make her your wife. That is chipini. It is prohibited. If you take your mother, and make her your wife, it is prohibited.

Long ago, you would have been eaten by a lion. Now, they just say, “Oh, it is over, go to the Chief and pay a fine.” But long ago, oh, it used to happen. Once you had done that, you would be eaten by a lion as soon as you stepped outside, because they didn’t want anything like that. Yes, that is chipini. It is a grave breach of custom.

So there, that person was trying to prevent the mudzimu spirit from seeing what he had done, but the mudzimu spirit quickly saw. Because VaMutumwa had come, and he had made the rounds with his young female assistants, looking up in the tree. And after he looked in the tree, he looked at the ground. And then the mudzimu spirit came and said, “There are things tied in the tree.” Then they approached, and cut those things down.

That person had hung them there so that the vadzimu spirits wouldn’t see what he had done, because he had taken his grandchild’s wife. His grandchild couldn’t conceive. So then he entered into his grandchild’s house, which wasn’t allowed. That is what he did. And then he fathered children in his grandchild’s house.

Evil things quickly come to be known. It came to light, and was known. So he tried to prevent the midzimu spirit from passing judgement over him, from levying a fine on him. That is what he was trying to prevent with those stones.

So that is what we do here; those things are not allowed. If you are an elder, you should not go backward. You should go forward. In front of you, there are also elders, and they are the ones you follow. Those who are behind you are following you. Don’t look back.

It’s just like this – if you are an elder, your younger brother’s wife is your muroora, your daughter-in-law. She isn’t your muramu, your sister-in-law, to joke around with. No. I can joke around with amaiguru, my elder brother’s wife. That is the person whom I treat like a sister-in-law. But at my younger brother’s, she is like a daughter-in-law. I can’t interact with her in the same way.

So that is deep inside of us, in our culture. We can’t do that. It is chipini, incest. That is why you find that sometimes, people are dying too frequently here. It isn’t the result of illness. It is those things, that we no longer value, that we no longer follow.

We are treating the vadzimu spirits as if they have become worthless. But what they have given us is the very source of our life. That is what makes God to know that we are here, that we are satisfied. All of that is known by our midzimu spirits. So that is the basis of some of the songs that we are discussing.

So when we left that place, I said, “Oh, this song is important. Let me keep playing it.” So then, whenever we used to start playing mbira, I would begin with that song. It had become like a mbira anthem. So once we had played it, with everyone listening quietly, then we would play whatever else we played.