Zim totems in song

Brenda Phiri Entertainment
Local author and poet Chiremba Hwesa Masango has released an album that aims to educate the public about their totems. In an album titled “Mitupo Ye Zimbabwe”, the author-cum-musician recites 60 different totems as an African drum and the mbira instrument play in the background.

Speaking about the album, Masango said he intends to urge people, especially the young generation, to be proud of their identity.
“This is the part of our culture that is being eroded and even the adults who are supposed to pass it on are not able to recite their totems.
I feel that this kind of music is also necessary in our industry that is being polluted by obscene songs,” he said.

Masango who is also enjoying the success of his 2013 album “Commander in Chief” said he did his best to get accurate totem poems.
He said 18 months prior to recording, he carried out intensive research on totems from consultations with individuals, chiefs, the National Museum and Monuments of Zimbabwe and University of Zimbabwe.

Masango believes familiarising ourselves with various totems would go a long way in bringing awareness on the history of lineages.
He gave interesting accounts of people of the “Moyo Sinyoro” totem that are originally from Mozambique.
“The history that surrounds these totems is interesting as it gives an idea of what happened in the past.

An example is that of the Sinyoros from the Moyos who got their names because of their good hearts, Moyo Munyoro,” he said
He explained disappointment over some religious denominations’ decision to shun the practice saying the Bible had people who were associated with different creatures because of their characters.

He cited the case of Jesus Christ who is referred to as the ‘‘Lion of Judah’’ because of his nature of being a king and leader and the ‘‘lamb’’ as he was a sacrifice for the human kind.

“The concept is the same as we see that even in the Bible, Issac likened his children to different animals because of their characters.
In the end preserving our heritage in important because people that do not know their culture do not have roots,” he said.