Mpondo Girl

Genealogies in Africa are often lost in the mists of time, where the mists may already swirl around one's great-grandparents. Wife E. and I were discussing her genealogy last night. An elder, she said, repeatedly called her an "Mpondo girl". This seems to make good sense. I would think that she is chiefly of Mpondo descent -- with Khoisan and Dutch ancestry besides. Her father showed me the Khoisan heirlooms (see the photo). OBSERVATION: The Mpondo history goes back, I think, about a thousand years. The Mpondo Revolt was an early uprising against apartheid -- yet rather than targeting the apartheid state, the Mpondo people turned on those who compromised their traditions for apartheid's sake. Some well known Mpondos are Oliver Tambo and Winnie Mandela.