Chauke in the sources
Junod names Tshauke first among the main clans of the Hlengwe proper, the north-eastern Thonga facing the Maluleke and the Baloyi and extending to the Sabie of the North. Wikipedia’s Tsonga people article lists the Chauke under the VaHlengwe, with the Hlungwani, Sono and Mavasa, and says the Hlengwe descend from people who called themselves Vatswa.
What the sources say
Junod records the one Hlengwe tradition he heard (about pp. 23 to 24). Tshauke, their first king, married the daughter of a chief of the Sono. The Sono knew how to cook and the Hlengwe, he says, did not, and ate their porridge raw. Tshauke’s son stole a glowing cinder and brought it home in a big shell; the Sono declared war, but the Hlengwe, strengthened by cooked food, won. The son was named Shioki, “he who brings fire in a shell”. Junod himself calls the story legendary.
He gives the Hlengwe praise-name as “Shikobela of Matsheme, Tshauke of Matsheme”, noting these are the names of old chiefs (about p. 335), and thanks a native minister, the Rev. S. Malale, for the speech forms of the Tshauke region.
Cautions
The fire story is a tradition recorded in about 1912, not a proven history. Junod wrote in 1912 in his own spelling and from a missionary’s viewpoint, so the match between his clan names and today’s surnames is by sound and is our inference. We found no confirmed totem. Page numbers for Junod are approximate, read from machine-scanned text.
Izithakazelo and totem
We are printing no Chauke totem because none has been confirmed. If you belong to the Chauke and recite your praises (miLao), we would like to record them, with your permission and credited to you.
Sources and further reading
- Henri A. Junod, The Life of a South African Tribe, vol. 1, The Social Life (Neuchatel, 1912), read in the Internet Archive scan; a missionary ethnography of the Thonga (Tsonga), using his own spellings
- Wikipedia: Tsonga people (its post-1890 community list has no inline citation)
Do you belong to the Chauke? Tell us your praises and what elders say about the history, and we will add it, credited to you. Share what you know or WhatsApp 065 138 8213.