A Bantu-speaking agricultural group of N Mozambique and SE Tanzania. Many work as migrant labourers on the E African coast, and are famous as woodcarvers, often drawing on Makonde folklore for themes.
The Makonde developed their culture on the Mueda Plateau in Mozambique. The Makonde population in Tanzania was estimated in 2001 to be 1,140,000, and the 1997 census in Mozambique put the Makonde population in that country at 233,358, for a total estimate of 1,373,358.They speak Makonde and other languages like Swahili and English in Tanzania, and Portuguese in Mozambique. Their traditional religion is animistic form of ancestor worship and still continues although Makonde of Tanzania are nominally Catholic and those of Mozambique are Catholic or Muslim. During the 1960s the revolution which drove the Portuguese out of Mozambique was launched from the Makonde homeland of the Mueda Plateau. At one period this revolutionary movement known as Frelimo derived the majority of its financial support from the sale of Makonde carvings.
Makonde art
The art of the Makonde must be subdivided into different areas.
More information about Makonde Art see: Hamburg Mawingu Collection George Lilanga
Trivia
Chikungunya, the name of a mosquito-borne viral fever, is derived from the Makonde word meaning "that which bends up," after the disease was first identified on the Makonde plateau.
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