Hi Everyone!! This article will share Nyaminyami The Zambezi River God Questions & Answers.
In my previous posts, I have shared the questions & answers of The Tyger and Where The Mind Is Without Fear so, you can check these posts as well.
Nyaminyami The Zambezi River God Questions & Answers
Question 1: Who is Nyaminyami?
Answer: Nyaminyami was the Zambezi River God. He had a body like a snake and a head like a fish.
Question 2: What happens when he tries to meet his estranged wife?
Answer: When Nyaminyami tries to meet his wife, minor earth tremors are felt.
Question 3: How did the Tonga people pledge their allegiance to Nyaminyami?
Answer: The Tonga people believed that the Zambezi River God Nyaminyami, who was their ancestral spirit or Mudzimu, protected them from harm and also provided them with flesh from his own body during the times when there was no food. They honoured and respected Nyaminyami and pledged their allegiance to him through ceremonial dances.
Question 4: Has anyone seen Nyaminyami? How did he look?
Answer: According to folklore, Nyaminyami has been seen on several occasions. Several years ago, the Tonga chief Sampakaruma saw him on two occasions. While some say he looked like the whirlwind, others claim that he is dragon-like, with a torso like a snake and a fish’s head.
Question 5: Where did Nyaminyami live?
Answer: It is believed that Nyaminyami lived under a large rock close to the present-day Kariba Dam with his wife.
Question 6: Why had Nyaminyami’s wife gone down the Kariba Gorge?
Answer: Nyaminyami’s wife had gone down the Kariba Gorge to meet other people of the valley to answer their prayers and bless them.
Question 7: How was Nyaminyami separated from his wife?
Answer: When Nyaminyami’s wife had gone down the Kariba Gorge to meet other people of the valley, the white man came to build a wall. Nyaminyami was separated from his wife because when the wall was completed, he was downstream and now, could not get back upstream.
Question 8: Why are great bodies of water considered sacred?
Answer: Great bodies of water are always considered sacred, for water is essential for the life if the village in an often arid land. Wherever there is water, the Africans find prosperity.
Question 9: Why was Nyaminyami symbol worn?
Answer: Nyaminyami was the ruler of water and his symbol was worn to ward off the forces of darkness and to attract wealth.
Question 10: Read and answer the questions:
When the wall was completed, he was downstream, and now could not get back upstream.
(a) Who was downstream?
Answer: Nyaminyami was downstream.
(b) What is the wall that is being referred to in the extract?
Answer: The wall that is being referred to is the dam which was being built on the river.
(c) How did ‘he’ react when the wall was being built?
Answer: When the wall was being built, ‘he’ (Nyaminyami) didn’t cause any disturbance for five years.
Question 11: Read and answer the questions:
Whenever there is water, the Africans find prosperity.
(a) Which river is the source of water in Zimbabwe?
Answer: Zambezi is the major source of water in Zimbabwe.
(b) Why the great water bodies are considered sacred?
Answer: Great bodies of water are always considered sacred, for water is essential for the life if the village in an often arid land. Wherever there is water, the Africans find prosperity.
Question 12: Do you think that the African people are superstitious or are there some reasons behind their beliefs.
Answer: Yes, according to me, the African people are superstitious because they believed that the Zambezi River God Nyaminyami, who was their ancestral spirit or Mudzimu, protected them from harm and also provided them with flesh from his own body during the times when there was no food.
Question 13: What do you think caused tremors?
Answer: Due to the stress in the underground rock, tremors are caused.
So, these were Nyaminyami The Zambezi River God Questions & Answers.