Customer Reviews

Indaba My Children: African Folktales

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This book contains beautifully told traditional legends and history of the Bantu people that goes back to the dawn of human life on Earth. It is an epoch that hints in places of biblical legends but is not derived from the bible by any means at all. In addition to the legends there is some illuminating material about the most sacred places in Africa and about the ancient Ba'ntu language and grand civilization that once covered most of Africa. There is also something about the magical language that is used in Cameroon to communicate with the ancestral spirits which the author believes to have come down from paleolithic times. The last section reveals some of the secret core traditions of African spirituality. Anyone interested in African tradition owes it to themself to read this book. It is deeply moving.

There is no other book like this one. Any African-America studies student cannot consider his or her training complete without reading this book. It offers profound insight into Sub-Saharan culture, rules, mindset and motivation. Tales are varied, interesting and the book is well written. Thank you Sanusi

Without the infromation in this classic one has no claim to knowledge about Africa and her people.
Credo Mutwa is 'the real deal', and his outpouring of African history flows in the oral tradition to take the reader on a journey of discovery. The book contains incredible facts and insights, sure to alter old perceptions. This book has value for those interested in history, anthropology and archeology, shamanism, sociology, psychology, language, politics and mythology -If you feel any doubt about reading this book -Simply get it and read it.

if you have an interest in african history and mythology you will adore this book.even if you don't within is a magnificent new view of life and religion and human beings.one of my favourite books.

I have lived in South Africa and when this book was released for publication, I bought and enjoyed it as many did. Later, I lost the book during one of my many house moves and was not able to replace it since it was out of print. To my amazement, it is now available on Amazon!

An incredibly vivid and detailed telling of the Zulu oral history tradition. Fascinating and poetic, full of great stories about heros of the Zulu people. Interesting creation myth too!

I'm in the process of re-reading this book in spite of my oppressive reading schedule. When this definitive resource work is discovered, it will be judged by common consensus to have considerably eclipsed the Greek epics of the Iliad and Odyssey.

The story begins with the creation of the universe and the First People, and progresses right up to the 20th century.

Greek mythology is a patchwork of anecdotal stories. The epics are mytho-historical accounts. Like the Greek, this African epic proceeds on the interplay of gods demigods and man; but here the similarity ends. Vusumazulu weaves together epic, myth and history seamlessly and in the process juggles with exquisite detail and superlative skill several, other ambitious undertakings:

Tribal laws and the formalities of punishment; rituals, the required ceremonies for different occasions, and the belief systems that support all these activities, stud the narrative and are presented with pathos, humour, and attention to literary style, while nature's involvement is all the while tellingly highlighted.

Vusamazulu dares to reveal the secrets of the sangomas and disgorges a deluge of African mytho-historic information which comes into true appreciation when one connects these to their resonances in other traditions.

The African story of man for example, begins by identifying the First People not as the Black but as the Red race - the Amarire. The consonance between that and Amaru of the Popol Vuh is seductive and lends credence to the Edgar Cayce accounts of the Red Race coming to Africa after Atlantis.

The effort suffers three disadvantages: the lack of an index, the dearth of a map to assist in the location and movement of the tribes and the difficulty in assimilating and keeping in focus the great volume of African names and characters.

Many of these characters emerge and disappear, or change from hero to villain or verso; for, the one thrust of the griot - the African storyteller - is to keep the listener's attention: to amaze, delight, awe, frighten, surprise, or tickle - to the sacrifice of all else.

Metaphorically, the text is a towering baobab tree droopingly laden with themes, and ideas for writers, artists, poets and dramatists - a true bonanza - and one destined to endure.

The tradition of the griot finds its flowering in Vusamuzulu.

He does not spare the reader the exotic brutalities or superstitions of his people; but what emerges, is the high morality, the rigorous discipline, the reverence and staunch loyalties to kings and leaders, and the unforgiving nature of Tribal Law when rules are broken.

Those who think that Africans have no civilization are swiftly disabused of that notion.

We may some time, come to discover that cetaceans are just as or more intelligent than we are and that their choice of lifestyle is a factor of that intelligence. We may then come to appreciate the choice that ancient Africans made of going back to nature - and the consequent deterioration. Reality Shows perhaps point the way to that realization.

To date, this effort provides the most excellent adventure into the mind and soul of the African.

Indaba My Children: African Folktales is a comprehensive and brilliant creation story of South Africa. It is full of gods and goddesses, immortals and extraterrestrial beings - Like all of creation the world over. A must read for anyone seeking information from an African Elder about the origins of human-kind.

It's sad that legitimate bits of Zulu folklore are mixed up with von Daniken-esque rubbish. It's also sad that foreigners, especially in the African diaspora, have been taken in by the fraud. Mutwa is a skilled storyteller, such a pity he felt the need to cover his imagination with a veneer of fake authenticity.