TrueBW

New post every Thursday!!

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HERITAGE SITES IN MANYANA

David Livingstone tree

This tree is a large fig tree, where David Livingstone conducted lessons and sermons (before the first church was built). The tree is located in a now fenced off area, in the southwest region of Manyana. The tree is called “motlhatsa” [mo-kHl-a-ts-a] in Setswana (the native tongue). The tree is protected due to its beauty; both historically and in terms of looks. David Livingstone’s initials used to be visible on the tree, but unfortunately they faded away due to time and the trees growth.

Kolobeng Site

This is where David Livingstone, in the mid-1940s, had set up a mission school. Sechele, chief of the Bakwena [the ethnic group that hosted Livingstone] was the first Christian convert. When you visit the site, you will see remnants of the huts built by the Bakwena (mud walls), graves and foundations. The Bakwena’s interaction with Livingstone laid the foundation for Modern Botswana’s development. This happened through the establishment of the first church, the first doctor of western medicine, Christian converts, irrigation and European style of building.

Traders had been linked to the native communities that were hosting them, through missionaries. This is actually how the Bakwena acquired guns (through Livingstone). These guns would later be used in the battle of Dimawe; where the Bakwena fought of Boer imperialism.

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[Part 3] Battle of the Bakwena

Before the ambush, Kgosi Sechele had ordered the womem and children to stat clear of the conflict, in the hills. The furthest woman from the conflict was Kgosi Sechele's -then- pregnant wife; in the Mmasechele [MMA-Sechele] caves.

The Boer scouts tried to fight back by stealing some of the villagers cattle, wagons AND they were raiding people's houses. The warriors had used the hills as watch towers, as a tactical advantage. As the Boers would try to reach them up in the hills, the Bakwena warriors would then push large boulders downhill, so as to literally cruah their opponents on the battle "field."

And that's pretty much what went down in the Dimawe area, 1852.

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[Part 2] Battle of the Bakwena/Bahurutse...

The Bahurutse had been successful in reaching Manyana, long before they were tracked there. It was to the point where Kgosi Mangope and Sechele had enough time to come up with simple, yet, effective Battle tactics [it came in handy though when the conflict arose]

Eventually the Boer Scouts had tracked the Bahurutse to Manyana. After their arrival, they had a meeting with Kgosi Sechele - asking where the runaway slaves could be found. Kgosi Sechele had told them “I have eaten Kgosi Mangope. If you want to get to him, you’ll have to open me up and remove him” [lol]. Following this Kgosi Sechele had put teamBW’s [the Bakwena and Bahurutse] battle strategy into play;

After Kgosi Sechele made the claim about eating Kgosi Mangope, he immediately told the Boers that they must remove their shoes when speaking to a Kgosi! [no one will ask you to do this if you visit a Kgotla though...lol]. After the shoes had been removed and tucked away [xD], the Boers had found themselves under attack....THEY’D  JUST BEEN AMBUSHED. Their escape was impossible, due to the coarse texture of the terrain [there’s no way they could’ve ran away].

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[Part 1] Battle of the Bakwena/Bahurutse....the intro!!

It all went down in 1852. around the 3 granite hills - whose area known as Dimawe. The battle was a collaborative effort between the Bakwena, Bahurutse and the missionaries which had settled in Manyana at the time. All these people fought to protect a group of runaway slaves, who had escaped such harsh in order to seek aid from an outside party. That same group ended up settling in Manyana afterwards.

Oral history tells us that the Bahurutse, led by Kgosi Manyana Mangope, had been tracked by group of “scouts” had tracked the Bahurutse group all the way to Manyana.....

[More on the battle in part 2]

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A Brief History of Manyana

Manyana is one of the most historically significant villages in Botswana. To this day, it still has remnants of the early settlements (which allow visitation for any inbound tourists) as well as early modern developments e.g. the first church to be built in Botswana (which opened up the doors for us to adopt European style of architecture).

The dominant ethnic group of Manyana is known as the Bahurutse [Ba-who-roo-tse], which turns out to be the tribe I belong to. In Setswana culture, children automatically identify with their fathers tribe. Manyana is the only village in the South East region of Botswana that features rock paintings, made by early settlers in the region. There are about 55 paintings in total, spread out across 5 different areas throughout the village. During excavations, made in the early 1980s by Larry Robbins, it was concluded that the paintings date back to the stone age.

There are some paintings that can be found in shelters [come and have a look at them…wink wink]. Some of which show various animals; antelope, giraffe, crocodiles. Others are of human figures and geometric patterns; there are those which come from the herding and farming communities.

Unfortunately, some of these sights have been vandalized, as some of the previous visitors displayed no respect for our heritage sights. When you do decide to visit these places, please follow the guidelines which will be explained to you by our tour guides. It really doesn’t require that much effort.....

On the North Eastern side of the village is the Dimawe sight, which is where the battle of the Bakwena took place in 1852. The sight is made up of 3 granite hills. Two of the hills are located on the East side of the area, while the remaining one is on the west side of Dimawe. The largest hill is where Kgosi (chief) Mareko Mosielele’s grandfather was buried. However, the exact location of the grave sight is unknown.

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Triple Feature Thursday

Now I KNOW that I owe y’all a lil sumn sumn....so here it goes. Today I’ll be telling you about my home village, Manyana, and the heritage and History that it holds

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Today's agenda

I owe y'all content from yesterday. So be ready for a double feature today :)

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Welcome to my blog :)

Hi there. 

My name is Oageng Sethibe and I’m a young introvert, based in Gaborone, Botswana.

Currently, I study Tourism Management at Botswana Accountancy College; in transition from 1st to 2nd year. At it’s core, the goal of this blog is really just to be an outlet for my [creative] thoughts and opinions. Anyone who wants tag along on the journey is welcome to.

One BIG thought on my mind lately is the tourism industry in Botswana, and how much potential is yet to be exposed from it. So my age mates and I are taking it upon our selves to expose BW’s culture and history to the world, in order to bring all sectors of the tourism industry to their full potential. 

PLUS you’ll be getting a lil insight on the best places to visit when you do decide to come here [I’m the plug xD]….

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FW ME!!!!

[plustrue67-blog]

Welcome to my blog :)

Hi there. 

My name is Oageng Sethibe and I’m a young introvert, based in Gaborone, Botswana.

Currently, I study Tourism Management at Botswana Accountancy College; in transition from 1st to 2nd year. At it’s core, the goal of this blog is really just to be an outlet for my [creative] thoughts and opinions. Anyone who wants tag along on the journey is welcome to.

One BIG thought on my mind lately is the tourism industry in Botswana, and how much potential is yet to be exposed from it. So my age mates and I are taking it upon our selves to expose BW’s culture and history to the world, in order to bring all sectors of the tourism industry to their full potential. 

PLUS you’ll be getting a lil insight on the best places to visit when you do decide to come here [I’m the plug xD]....