South African Culture: The Zulu

South African Culture: The Zulu

By: Gabriella Fisher

Introduction

The culture I have chosen to study is South African culture, specifically the Zulu people, which is one of the country's many ethnic groups. I chose this culture because in my history class, I'm learning about the African diaspora and how that caused the blending of cultures in America. I wanted to get a glimpse of what that culture is like.

Elements of Culture

Material Elements:

Non-Material Elements:

1. Art

1. Kinship

2. Cattle

2. Diversity

Zulu Norms

There are many ceremonies and celebrations in Zulu culture. For example, when babies are born, they're named and introduced to ancestors in a special ceremony. There's a ceremony that declares women adults, ready for marriage. It's the norm there to use animal sacrifices in these rituals, specifically cows and goats. There's also rituals and observances for death, which is seen as a "tremendous loss" and even as "polluting". These ceremonies are believed to send that person into their afterlife.

Ceremonies

Marriage is an important part of Zulu culture. Nowadays, the norm is monogamy, however in rural areas polygamy is still popular like it was in previous times. A man will live with his wife or wives and his children. "Out-of-wedlock" births are mostly seen as taboo but are slowly becoming more popular. In that case, the single mothers live with their mother's family.

Marriage

Zulu Values

Zulu people believe in the division of labor between men and women, specifically things like household chores. Women traditionally cook, clean, and take care of the children while men protect the home, tend livestock, and provide economic needs.

Division of Labor

The Zulu also have beliefs about their food and cuisine. Surprisingly, most of their food is vegetarian, with vegetables and grains. The meat that each family eats depends on the social status of the male figures. However, they do slaughter and sacrifice animals like oxes, goats, or sheep.

Food and Cuisine

Theoretical Perspectives

The theoretical perspective I choose is Symbolic Interactionsm.

You can this perspective to analyze the importance and the symbolism of clothing or appearance in Zulu identity. For example, young and single girls have short hair and short grass skirts. As they grow older and become engaged and eventually married, they will grow out their hair and cover their bodies with longer skirts. Men also use clothing to symbolize their status. Married men will wear warrior headbands to show military expertise. The type of animal skin on their clothes also shows their importance, such as if they were royalty or a tribal chief.

Fast Facts

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Works Cited

“EHRAF World Cultures.” Yale.edu, ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/cultures/fx20/summary. Accessed 1 Oct. 2025. Pariona, Amber. “Ethnic Groups of South Africa.” WorldAtlas, 16 Aug. 2016, www.worldatlas.com/articles/ethnic-makeup-of-south-africa.html. Sithole, Jabulani. “Zulu Culture and Cattle Symbolism.” Southafrica.net, www.southafrica.net/na/en/travel/article/zulu-culture-and-cattle-symbolism. Accessed 1 Oct. 2025. “South Africa.” Everyculture.com, www.everyculture.com/Sa-Th/South-Africa.html. Accessed 1 Oct. 2025. “South Africa’s People.” Gov.Za, www.gcis.gov.za/sites/default/files/docs/resourcecentre/pocketguide/004_saspeople.pdf. Accessed 1 Oct. 2025.

Zulu Art

The Zulu are most known for their beautiful pottery, beadwork, and woven baskets. Today, some these are made and sold for industrial or commercial reasons. Women usually make and decorate pots, while men traditionally do artistic woodcarving. Zulu people even make artistic clubs and spears, historically used for hunting.

Kinship in Zulu Culture

Kinship is very significant and distinctive to Zulu people; anyone sharing the same surname will consider themselves relatives, even if they've never met! Everyone in a person's family is important to them: they usually belong to their father's lineage, their mother's family are involved in the women's ceremonies, and all of their extended family provides economic assistance. There's also traditional terms to address and show respect for each and every family member- such as UMAMA for mother, UABABEZALA for a woman's husband's father, BAB'OMKHULU for someone's father's older brother, and many many more.

South African Diversity

There are many rights outlined in the 1996 Constitution of South America, including the right to speak whatever language they want to, the freedom of religion, and the participation in any cultural life they choose. As a result, the culture is extremely diverse: there's 11 official languages (with Zulu being the most spoken) and more than 5 commonly practiced religions (with Christianity being the most popular). The population of South Africa itself is extremely diverse, hence why it's called a "rainbow nation".

• Black Africans, people that speak Bantu languages, make up about 80% of the population
• Coloured refers to people of mixed or multi ethnic descents- they make up almost 9%
• White South Africans, descended from European (mostly Dutch) colonists, make up about 8%
• Indian and Asian people, who came from indentured servitude, only make up about 2.5%

Cattle in Zulu Culture

Cattle are very symbolic in Zulu culture. For example they were traded from wealthy men to poorer men in a system called ukusisa. They're also used for bride wealth in marriages and used in ceremonial sacrifices. They're even used as gifts for royalty! The Zulu kings were often given white cows, since the color signifies purity and harmony. Cattle even influence social status! The larger a man's cattle are, when his family raises them at his home, the wealthier he is seen as.