The Struggle of African Indigenous Knowledge Systems in an Age of Globalization: A Case for Children�s Traditional Games in S

Chapter Eleven: Counting games

119 Chapter Eleven Counting games While traditionally the Shona people had no culture of writing, they were highly mathematical and philosophical. They had their own methods of counting that were unique or rather in a way different from the western way of counting. Had that the Shona people’s counting system and by extension African counting system was recorded, developed and/or left undisturbed by colonialism, possibly a different genre of mathematics could have been developed. It is therefore unfortunate that with the advent of colonialism, the Shona counting system was despised, looked down upon and discarded as qualitatively inferior. Some of the counting systems I recorded among the Shona people in southeastern Zimbabwe are these below: K Kuverenga Nokutsinhira (Counting With Emphasis) This game teaches correct counting of numbers and memory. The game is played by either or both boys and girls together. To play ‘Kuverenga nokutsinhira’ (Counting with emphasis), children sit on the ground in a big circle. Participants take turns to actively do the counting. While one participant do the counting (kuverenga), other participants respond emphatically (kutsinhira) as a way of agreeing with the counter. The game is meant to see if all the children would be able to correctly follow the counting (kuverenga). Those who fail to correctly do the counting are disqualified (vanenge vatodzva). The counting is done as follows: 120 Leader: Poshi Respondent: Kuposha mumera L: Piri R: Kupira midzimu L: Tatu R: Kutatura mambure L: China R: Kuchinidza mombe L: Shanu R: Kushanyura munda L: Tanhatu R: Kutanha muriwo L: Chinomwe R: Kunomwa biti L: Sere R: Kusera mamera L: Pfumbamwe R: Kupfumba kwenzira L: Gumi R: Kuguma kwengano L: Zana R: Mazana enyuchi L: Churu R: Churu chavanhu The children continue taking turns in leading the game which will only end when children are now tired or no longer want to play the game. M Motsiro (One) This is a counting song, played in turns. The song can be sung by both boys and girls. To play the game, children come together. Normally, there is a leader (an older child) who 121 knows the counting very well. Children would sit around the leader. They then take turns to stand up and do the counting. The counting goes as follows: Motsiro- Dhendere (One-two) Agara- Masango (Three-four) Pirimbizha-Pamuromo (Five-six) Wegari-Garira (Seven-eight) Chindori-Gumirawa (Nine-ten) K Kapotsa (The first) This is a song that teaches children how to count from one to ten in Shona. In order to play the game, children come together. Normally, there is a leader (an older child) who knows the counting very well. Children would sit around the leader. They then take turns to stand up and do the counting as follows: Kapotsa-Katenge (One-two) Tengende-Nechiro (Three-four) Chokuda-Makuni (Five-six) Kunika-Doriro (Seven-eight) Kubhanga-Kun’e-e! (Nine-ten) Mutsepete/Mugodobo (Tumbleweed) This is a counting game that trains children endurance and resilience as they would have to repeat the same thing for longer periods. A group of children will take a small branch of weed called mutsepete/mugodobo (tumbleweed). The weed has numerous leaves. In some cases a branch of a tree called Muzeze (a tree with very small leaves) is used. Children 122 would then take turns to do the counting which is repeated, without stopping, until all the leaves have been counted. The counting goes: Mutsepete! (Tumbleweed) Mutsepete! (Tumbleweed) Mutsepete! (Tumbleweed) Mutsepete! (Tumbleweed) Mutsepete! (Tumbleweed) Mutsepete! (Tumbleweed) Mutsepete! (Tumbleweed) Mutsepete! (Tumbleweed) Mutsepete! (Tumbleweed) Mutsepete! (Tumbleweed) Pete! Or Mugodobo! (Tumbleweed) Mugodobo! (Tumbleweed) Mugodobo! (Tumbleweed) Mugodobo! (Tumbleweed) Mugodobo! (Tumbleweed) Mugodobo! (Tumbleweed) Mugodobo! (Tumbleweed) Mugodobo! (Tumbleweed) Mugodobo! (Tumbleweed) Mugodobo! (Tumbleweed) Kobo! The participant says ‘Pete’ or ‘Kobo’ when counting the last leaf in the branch. If you stop or stammer before finishing the counting you will be disqualified. You will have failed (wadzva). ...