The Dead Will Arise: Nongqawuse and the Great Xhosa Cattle-Killing Movement of 1856-7

583 Pages·1989·6.3 MB·English

by  J. B. Peires

Description
The Dead Will Arise tells the story of Nongqawuse, the young Xhosa girl
whose prophecy of the resurrection of the dead lured an entire people to
death by starvation. The Great Cattle-Killing of 1856-57, which she initiated,
is one of the most extraordinary and misunderstood events in South Africa’s
history. Jeff Peires was the first historian to draw on all available sources,
from oral tradition and obscure Xhosa texts to the private letters and secret
reports of police informers and colonial officials, and the original edition of
The Dead Will Arise won the 1989 Alan Paton Sunday Times award for non-
fiction.
Title Page
The Dead
Will Arise
Nongqawuse and the Great Xhosa Cattle-Killing
Movement of 1856-7
JEFF PEIRES
JONATHAN BALL PUBLISHERS
JOHANNESBURG & CAPE TOWN
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
Every effort has been made to credit the original source of the photographs.
As many of these were sourced from archives, this has not always been
possible. In the event of any error, please notify the publisher and the
correction will be made in the event of a reprint.
We would like to thank the MuseumAfrica for the cover image and the
following institutions for the photographs that were supplied for the original
edition and used in this reprint: The Brenthurst Press for the pictures from
The War of the Axe, Edited by B le Cordeur and C Saunders (1981) The
South African Library, Cape Town
The Black Watch Regimental Museum, Perth
Preface
Preface
Few people who hear the story of Nongqawuse – the young girl whose
fantastic promise of the resurrection lured an entire people to death by
starvation – ever forget it. Tens of thousands of Xhosa died; tens of
thousands more fled their homes; hundreds of thousands of cattle were
slaughtered, the pathetic victims of a beautiful but hopeless dream. And
while the Xhosa nation was lying prostrate and defenceless, Sir George Grey,
a self-proclaimed benefactor of the non-European peoples of the world,
trampled on this human wreckage: he exiled the starving, crushed the
survivors, and seized more than half of Xhosaland for a colony of white
settlement. The great Cattle-Killing movement remains an open sore in the
historical consciousness of most South Africans. What was it all about?
people ask. Surely the Xhosa could not have believed Nongqawuse? There
must be something more behind the incident, some secret story behind the
story that everyone knows.
But despite the widespread interest in Nongqawuse’s prophecies, the full
history of that terrible period has never been written. There has never been a
book on the Cattle-Killing, not even a bad one. Several historians have
commenced on the topic, but none has completed it. The reason for this is
that the primary sources, the evidence on which the historical account is
based, are riddled with lies, both deliberate lies and self-delusions.
Most of the official documents, including almost all the printed official
documents, are contaminated with references to the ‘Chiefs’ Plot’, the theory
that the Cattle-Killing was a conspiracy by the Xhosa chiefs to bring about a
war with the Cape Colony. If we leave the official documents to consult the
archives which are stored in the memories of the old men of Xhosaland, we
get the mirror image of the ‘Chiefs’ Plot’, namely ‘Grey’s Plot’, the theory
that the root cause of the Cattle-Killing was a trick by Sir George Grey to
deceive the Xhosa into destroying themselves. Today, there is hardly a Xhosa
alive who does not believe that Sir George Grey was in some way
responsible for Nongqawuse’s prophecies.
I started this book in 1981, feeling somewhat sceptical about both ‘Grey’s
Plot’ and the ‘Chiefs’ Plot’. Six years later, having examined all the evidence
on the Cattle-Killing that I can find, I am more than ever convinced that there
was no plot on either side. Moreover, I am convinced that we do not need a
plot or a conspiracy to explain the Cattle-Killing movement. I believe, and I
trust that this book will demonstrate, that the Cattle-Killing was a logical and
rational response, perhaps even an inevitable response, by a nation driven to
desperation by pressures that people today can barely imagine. I further
believe, and I trust that the book will demonstrate this too, that the Cattle-
Killing would not have been so fatal an error had it not been for the measures
of Governor Grey, which first encouraged and then capitalised on the
movement. In this sense, though not in the one related by the old men of
Xhosaland, Grey was the true perpetrator of the isihelegu sikaNongqawuse,
the catastrophe of Nongqawuse. That is why I nowhere use the well-known
term, ‘the National Suicide of the Xhosa’. The Nongqawuse catastrophe was
as much a murder as it was a suicide. Probably, it was a little bit of both.
The evidence for this conclusion is set out in detail in the notes and in the
bibliography. It is true that this evidence is partial, biased and incomplete,
and that many of the secrets of the Nongqawuse period will never be told.
Nevertheless, I would like to mention three crucial pieces of evidence which
underpin my interpretation and lead me to hope that what I have written is
not too far from the truth.
THE GREY-MACLEAN CORRESPONDENCE
GH 8/48 – GH 8/50 in the Cape Archives contain the private correspondence
between Sir George Grey and Colonel John Maclean, his top subordinate in
British Kaffraria. It should not be forgotten that there were no telephones in
those days, and that all long-distance communications had to go by letter.
While official communications should be read with scepticism, one may
safely assume that a private correspondence is a frank and truthful exchange
of views.
THE WORK OF WW GQOBA
Two articles by WW Gqoba entitled ‘Isizatu sokuxelwa kwe nkomo ngo
Nongqause’ (‘The reason for the killing of cattle by Nonggawuse’) are based
on interviews with believers. Though Gqoba was a Christian, he was writing
with the explicit intention of challenging the ‘Chiefs’ Plot’ theories then
prevalent in mission circles. Not only does Gqoba supply many details which
would otherwise be unavailable, but he provides us with the Xhosa
vocabulary and terminology actually used by the believers.
THE CAPE JOURNALS OF ARCHDEACON NJ MERRIMAN
These give us a fascinating insight into the personality of Mhlakaza, a key
figure in the Cattle-Killing movement. They reveal that Mhlakaza, far from
being a heathen witchdoctor, was the first Xhosa ever baptised into the
Anglican Church. Once we understand Mhlakaza’s background and the
personal motivations which inspired his religious experiences, we realise that
we have no need of the ‘Chiefs’ Plot’ or of ‘Grey’s Plot’ or of any other
hypothesis to explain his behaviour.
Many people have helped me in the writing of this book. Special thanks are
due to Professor Rodney Davenport, who organised extra study leave for me
in 1981; to Professor Shula Marks, who hosted my sabbatical at the Institute
of Commonwealth Studies in London in 1984-5; and to the Human Sciences
Research Council, which helped to finance the research without, of course,
incurring any responsibility for the results. Mike Kirkwood did much more
than merely edit the manuscript. Mrs Beryl Wood introduced me to the song
which opens the book, and Messrs N Webb, R Hulley, A Nqamrha and MVS
Balfour did much to ensure the success of my research in Transkei. Mr WO
West of Rhodes University drew the maps. The staff at the Cape Archives,
the South African Library and the other institutions mentioned in the notes
were all extremely helpful, but I should like to single out Michael Berning,
Sandy Fold, Zweliyanyikima Vena and the others at Cory Library, who bore
the brunt of my problems. I should also like to take the opportunity to extend
warmest personal greetings to Dr R Oelsner, who showed us a great deal
more of Berlin than the Mission Archives. My parents, as always, have been
a pillar of strength. The Dead Will Arise is dedicated to Mary-Louise and the
boys, who have been compelled to endure all the innumerable prophecies and
disappointments which accompanied the writing of this book.
Notes on Terminology and Pronunciation
Notes on Terminology and Pronunciation
TERMINOLOGY
During the period of the Cattle-Killing, it was considered perfectly correct,
even by liberal whites, to use the terms ‘Kaffir’ and ‘Kaffirland’ for ‘Xhosa’
and ‘Xhosaland’. Rather than make pedantic use of these insulting terms, I
have dropped them altogether, using square brackets in direct quotations.
Hence I have written ‘[Xhosa]’ instead of ‘Kaffir’ and so on.
The word ‘Xhosa’ itself, which is used today as a general term to describe
any Nguni-speaking person from what used to be called the Cape Province,
correctly refers only to one national entity, namely the subjects of Sarhili,
and excludes neighbouring black nations such as the Thembu and the
Mpondo. It is used here in this more restricted sense.
The Xhosa themselves were divided into various chiefdoms, grouped as
follows: The Gcaleka Xhosa, under the immediate leadership of King Sarhili,
lived mostly east of the Kei River beyond the bounds of British territory. The
Ngqika Xhosa, under the leadership of Sandile and his brothers, and the
Ndlambe Xhosa, under the leadership of Mhala, lived in British Kaffraria.
The most important of the minor chiefdoms was that of the Gqunukhwebe
Xhosa, led by Phatho and his junior brother Kama.
PRONUNCIATION
The letters ‘c’, ‘q’ and ‘x’ are clicks. ‘R’ is a guttural sound like the
Afrikaans ‘g’ or the Scots ‘ch’ in ‘loch’. That is why ‘Sarhili’ is sometimes
written ‘Krili’ in the European sources. The letter ‘h’ is usually an aspirate