Who is our father?
Who is he?
It is Tovera, the warrior, the elephant rider, the builder, the wise Mambo king!
There was once a man named Tovera
He was born in Guruuswa, the “Place of the Tall Grass”
Tovera grew up in the Great Lakes kingdom
He was an albino and people laughed at his skin colour
But Tovera had an elephant called Samanyanga
He could control his big elephant
He rode into battle on the back of his war elephant
Tovera became a famous warrior and musician.
The king of the Great Lakes became jealous of Tovera
The king hated Tovera for his popularity
And feared Tovera would take his throne
The king plotted to kill Tovera
But Tovera escaped death.
Tovera travelled south with Samanyanga his elephant
And settled in the land between Limpopo and Zambezi,
Tovera was chosen as king by the people.
He became the first Mambo king of the Shona nation.
He called his kingdom Dzimbabwe, the houses of stone
Tovera lived in Great Zimbabwe the capital city
There was peace and prosperity throughout the land.
Who is our father?
Who is he?
It is Tovera, the warrior, the elephant rider, the builder,
the wise Mambo king!
King Tovera married 12 wives
He had many sons and daughters
He gave his children their totem names
Shumba the lion, Mambiri the Nzou elephant,
Mhofu Shava the eland
Soko the monkey, Ingwe the leopard, Hwai the sheep
Bere the hyena, Moyo the heart and many others.
Who is our father?
Who is he?
It is Tovera, the warrior, the elephant rider, the builder, the wise Mambo king!
Tovera taught the people the way of the ancestors
He showed them how to play the mbira hand piano
He taught his subjects the songs of the wild
He showed them how to tame wild animals
He told them about Mwari the creator
He gave them the tsumo proverbs and wise sayings
Tovera told them ngano fables about the wise hare and the foolish baboon.
Tovera taught the people that they were one with creation
He told them to respect all the animals, rivers, the trees and fishes.
Tovera taught his people to worship Mwari
And to pray to Mwari through their ancestors
He told them they would suffer if they ever abandoned their old traditions and worshipped foreign gods.
Who is our father?
Who is he?
It is Tovera, the warrior, the elephant rider, the builder,
the wise Mambo king!
Tovera lived for a long life
He died as an old man
And his elephant Samanyanga died the same day
And all the people mourned their deaths
They were buried under the Conical Tower in the Enclosure at Great Zimbabwe
Tovera’s spirit went to Nyikadzimu the Land of the Ancestors
The spirit flew east in the form of an eagle
Tovera became his people’s intercessor to God Mwari
Tovera heard the prayers of his descendants
And spoke on their behalf to Mwari the creator.
Who is our father?
Who is he?
It is Tovera, the warrior, the elephant rider, the builder, the wise Mambo king!
Tovera’s descendants scattered all over the land.
Some went north and east
Others went south and west
But they met once a year at the Great Zimbabwe
They visited Tovera’s grave at the Conical Tower
They gathered and had a feast to remember Tovera
They sacrificed the fattest cattle to their ancestor
His descendants brewed beer and drank
And prayed to Mwari through Tovera
They recited his tsumo proverbs
Sang their totem songs, and danced their totem dances.
Because they knew if they abandoned their customs
Tovera would punish them from the hereafter
And they would suffer the consequences.
Who is our father?
Who is he?
It is Tovera, the warrior, the elephant rider, the builder, the wise Mambo king!
