Pictures and Artist Impressions of Life among the Ngoni and other Ngunis in the early 19th Century

The following are pictures and artist impressions of life among the Ngoni and fellow Nguni (i.e. the Zulus, Swazis, Xhosa, Ndebeles and ngoni) that I have collected and continue to collect. This will help the study of the similarities and differences between us the Ngoni and our brothers and sisters down south.

Artist Impression of the headrings (isicoco) of the Nguni family based on Keith Montagu explorations in 1880s. Isicoco used to be a badge for married Nguni men.

From Some of the Earliest Pictures Of The Ngoni

Zulu men in the 1880s mending the isicoco (headring made with wax) of his fellow. Isicoco was a badge for a matured, married man.

From Zulu Photos

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NGONI IDEAS ABOUT THE SEX INSTINCT

By Margaret Read

It is notably difficult to get people in so-called primitive communities to discuss concepts and ideas of an abstract nature, partly I think due to our peculiar patterns of thinking and the form in which we put our questions, partly to the fact that in African society there is a wide common field of philosophy and ethics which is so much taken for granted that it is rarely referred to.¹ Generally the key to their ideas on abstract subjects is just the right word which suggests to them a train of thought, and that preciseterm one may stumble on by pure chance, especially if a great many synonyms and euphemisms are used, as among the Ngoni, in describing sexual behaviour.

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