ENGLISH ### iKaggen, Harakati Vuka and The Ingenious Young Warrior

 

### iKaggen, Harakati Vuka and The Ingenious Young Warrior

In the lush landscapes of Ndongo, near what is now known as Cuando Cubanga Province in Angola, a young girl and her friend were fishing by the river. Suddenly, an alligator named Aadan lunged from the water, aiming to devour her unsuspecting friend. But the quick-witted girl acted swiftly, grabbing her large woven grass and bamboo basket filled with fish and throwing it with remarkable accuracy into the alligator's open maw. The alligator recoiled in mid-launch, stunned by the unexpected obstacle, as the girl's friend scampered backward, shrieking and swinging her fishing spear.

Aadan, at first furious that he had missed his meal, soon became pleased as he munched on the fish from the basket. "She must not be so clever," the alligator thought, "She just gave me her whole basket of fish. Her family won't be able to eat tonight, which means they'll be back to this river to get more fish, and I'll eat them too!"

As Aadan continued munching, he suddenly noticed other alligators approaching, attracted by the bounty of nearly 100 fish. "Hey Aadan!" they called, "Share that bounty of fish with us!" "No!" Aadan greedily replied, "Go get your own fish!"

The other alligators attacked Aadan for his fish, and amidst the chaos, Aadan realized the girl's cleverness. She had anticipated that Aadan would not be grateful and would return to eat her family. By attracting the other alligators, she ensured they would all be too sore from fighting to hunt for days, granting the nearby villages safe fishing.

iKaggen, watching from a distance, saw the girl's ingenuity. iKaggen is a deity from the mythology of the San people, also known as the Bushmen, who are indigenous to southern Africa. Often depicted as a trickster and creator god, iKaggen embodies both creative and chaotic aspects and is sometimes represented as a mantis, earning the title "Mantis God." In various stories, iKaggen performs acts of creation, transformation, and trickery, often displaying a complex and multifaceted nature. His actions and stories convey important cultural and moral lessons, reflecting the San people's views on the world, nature, and human behavior.

Intrigued, he transformed himself into an old man walking with the help of a stout staff, with his large pet mantis kept in a small perforated globular charm on his wooden necklace. He approached the girl and challenged her, "You are clever, but no girl is clever enough to learn a special move from me, Harakati Vuka, in just three lessons."

The girl, confident in her abilities, replied, "If the ancestors will it, I might learn your special move in one lesson, mbomba!" (Mbomba, translating to "uncle" in her language.)

Chuckling, iKaggen taught her Harakati Vuka. To his amazement, the girl mastered the move in one lesson, just as she had predicted. Not only did she learn Harakati Vuka, but she also adapted and personalized it to fit her own style of Nsanga, integrating it seamlessly into her Capoeira.

A decade later, the Dutch and Portuguese would come to enslave the clever girl's people, but these slavers were soundly beaten. A Catholic Priest who sailed with them would write about the amazement all Europeans had upon discovering the movement prowess of the clever girl's people. The Portuguese Catholic priest described the defense technique as "Sanguar," a mispronunciation and misunderstanding of Nsanga. He wrote: "For all their defense the negroes use Sanguar, that is to jump from place to place with a thousand twists, feints, dodges, and turns in such a way as to allow them to reliably dodge fists, grapples, arrows, spears, and the like. The few of us these people trusted reported even more incredible feats like witnessing the negroes evade the ambush of alligators, and attacks by the feral animals of this land. Most astoundingly, on several occasions both our own noble troops and the armies of the untrustworthy Dutch report these negroes occasionally dodging close and mid-range rifle fire by the same means." This same maneuver was used in attacks, transitions, and negotiating obstacles, bewildering strategic minds and stymying defenses.

The clever girl developed Ngoma ya Samaki ya Udanganyifu, Ngoma ya Panzi ya Udanganyifu, na Ngoma ya Mamba ya Udanganyifu (Dance of the Deceptive Fish, Dance of the Deceptive Mantis, and Dance of the Deceptive Crocodile) and kept her people free in the face of rampaging Dutch and Portuguese colonizers by soundly defeating and repelling both. This girl is known to history as the great Ngola Nzinga Mbandi of Ndongo-Matamba. Her Ngoma ya udanganyifu became celebrated, even as they lost its proper name, history, and proper technical execution, as the Ginga in Capoeira, in international football, and Muhammad Ali's Shuffle.

Ngola Nzinga Mbandi was a remarkable leader and warrior queen of Ndongo and Matamba, who fiercely resisted Portuguese colonization in the 17th century. She employed diplomacy, military strategy, and tactical warfare to maintain her kingdom's independence. Her legacy endures as a symbol of resistance and empowerment in African history.

For further reading, explore:

1. **"Nzinga of Angola: Africa's Warrior Queen" by Linda M. Heywood (2017)** - A renowned historian, Heywood delves into Nzinga's life and legacy with comprehensive detail.

2. **"African Women: Early History to the 21st Century" by Kathleen Sheldon (2017)** - Sheldon, a respected Africanist, provides insights into the roles of women like Nzinga in African history.

3. **"Nzinga, the Warrior Queen" by D.T. Niane (1999)** - A notable Senegalese historian, Niane captures the essence of Nzinga's leadership and her fight against colonization.

Follow this blog and all my social media for more stories and insights! [Insert social media links here]