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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Claims to History and the Politics of Memory in Southern Tanzania
Author:Monson, JamieISNI
Year:2000
Periodical:International Journal of African Historical Studies
Volume:33
Issue:3
Pages:543-565
Language:English
Geographic term:Tanzania
Subjects:Bena
Ndamba
TANU
history
ethnic groups
History and Exploration
Politics and Government
colonialism
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/3097434
Abstract:In 1947 a tailor by the name of Anton Mwilenga wrote a history of his people, the Ndamba of the Kilombero valley in southern Tanzania. He claimed that his version was the true history, implying that other versions were false or illegitimate. Mwilenga's claim to history challenged the ruling authority of Bena chiefship in the Kilombero. He claimed that because the Ndamba were the true indigenous people of the valley, they had the right to self-government. The anxiety of the chiefs as they responded to Mwilenga's history shows the centrality of memory to the legitimacy of chiefly rule in the local government structure - not only memory of population migration and settlement, but also of legitimizing events such as surveying, mapping, and signing boundary agreements. As he reconstructed Ndamba memory, Mwilenga appropriated the authority of the written word as a vehicle of political authorization. His challenge to Bena overrule was simultaneously strengthened by two new developments in the late 1940s and early 1950s: the spread of literacy into new communities, and affiliation with TANU. Mwilenga and his companion John Kwalevele emerged within this late colonial context as literate political activists who became the first local leaders of the TANU party. They used history as a weapon when they confronted the colonial government over the excesses of Bena administration in 1955. Chiefs also used memory in their efforts to retain authority and to thwart TANU mobilization. Ironically, the colonial administrators of the 1950s were no longer much interested in the subtleties of dynastic claims and counterclaims. Notes, ref.
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