Kraal (also spelled ''craal'' or ''kraul'') is an

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

and Dutch word, also used in

South African English South African English (SAfE, SAfEn, SAE, en-ZA) is the List of dialects of English, set of English language dialects native to South Africans. History British Empire, British settlers first arrived in the South African region in 1795, ...

, for an

enclosure Enclosure or inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land", enclosing it, and by doing so depriving commoners of their traditional rights of access and usage. Agreements to enc ...

for cattle or other livestock, located within a Southern African settlement or

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

surrounded by a fence of thorn-bush branches, a

palisade A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a row of closely placed, high vertical standing tree trunks or wooden or iron stakes used as a fence for enclosure or as a defensive wall. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymo ...

, mud wall, or other fencing, roughly circular in form. It is similar to a '' boma'' in eastern or central Africa. In

Curaçao Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela. Curaçao includ ...

, another Dutch colony, the enclosure was called "koraal" which means

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

and which in

Papiamentu Papiamento () or Papiamentu (; ) is a Portuguese-based creole language spoken in the Dutch Caribbean. It is the most widely spoken language on Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao (ABC islands (Leeward Antilles), ABC Islands). The language, spelled ...

is translated "kura", a word still in use today for any enclosed terrain, like a garden.

Etymology

In the Afrikaans language a ''kraal'' is a term derived from the Portuguese word ,

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...

with the Spanish-language , which entered into English separately. In Eastern and Central Africa, the equivalent word for a livestock enclosure is '' boma'', but this has taken on wider meanings. In some Southern African regions, the term Kraal is used in

Scouting Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

to refer to the team of Scout Leaders of a group.

Homestead

The term primarily refers to the type of dispersed homestead characteristic of the Nguni-speaking peoples of southern Africa. Although from the period of colonisation, European South Africans and historians commonly referred to the entire settlement as a ''kraal'', ethnographers have long recognised that its proper referent is the animal pen area within a homestead. Modern ethnographers call the several human dwellings within a homestead (, , , ) houses (singular ''indlu''; plural Xhosa and Zulu , Sotho , Swati ). Folds for animals and enclosures made specially for defensive purposes are also called kraals.

Zulu kraals

For the

Zulu people Zulu people (; ) are a native people of Southern Africa of the Nguni people, Nguni. The Zulu people are the largest Ethnic groups in South Africa, ethnic group and nation in South Africa, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. They o ...

, the kraal, or ''isibaya'', in the

Zulu language Zulu ( ), or isiZulu as an endonym, is a Southern Bantu languages, Southern Bantu language of the Nguni languages, Nguni branch spoken in, and indigenous to, Southern Africa. Nguni dialects are regional or social varieties of the Nguni language, ...

, acts as a homestead, a site for ritual worship, and as a defensive position. It's laid out as a circular arrangement of beehive-shaped huts called ''iQukwane'', which were traditionally constructed by women, surrounding a cattle enclosure. They are always built on one of Zululand's many hills, orientated downwards. The term "kraal" refers both to the village itself and the central cattle enclosure.

Layout

Kraals are built on a hill sloping downwards, with the entrance facing the bottom of the hill for sanitary, defensive, and ritual purposes. There is an outside wooden fence that encompasses the entire kraal, and then an interior one for the cattle enclosure. The hut opposite of the entrance was the home of either the chief's mother or the chief himself. The huts closest to the chief's were those of his wives, with the great wife closest to his own. Closer to the entrance, the huts of the sons of the village were placed on the left side and the huts of the daughters of the village on the right. In each hut would be an ''umsamo'', a special ritual area, with the most important ''umsamo'' located in the chief's hut. The huts nearest the entrance were used for guests and visitors. Additionally, there would be multiple watchtowers in the kraal.

Ritual uses

The ''umsamo'' within the chief's hut was an important site for communicating with ancestor spirits. Similarly, there would be a site on the cattle enclosure's west side for performance of rituals directed at ancestors. These rituals were usually carried out by the headman, an important ceremonial position in traditional Zulu society.

Etymology

Homestead

Zulu kraals

Layout

Ritual uses

Notes

See also

References

Further reading