Kwena tribe

The Bakwena or Bakoena ("those who venerate the crocodile") are a large Sotho-Tswana clan in Southern Africa of the southern Bantu group. They can be found in different parts of southern Africa such as Lesotho, Botswana, South Africa and Eswatini. "Kwena" is a Sotho/Tswana/Sepedi word meaning "crocodile", the crocodile is also their totem (seboko).^[1]

Genealogy and history

Earliest ancestor of the Kwena clan, Kwena, was a grandson of Masilo I, the King of Bahurutse clan around 1360 CE. Kwena and his followers settled at Tebang, now called Heidelberg.^[2] Around 1500 CE, Bakwena started spreading in the region, from the Lekwa River to Kalahari (Botswana) until settling at Ntsoanatsatsi (mythical origin land of the Sotho-Tswana people) with the Bafokeng around 1580 CE.

Early leaders

• Kwena (dates unknown)^[3]
• Phokotsea (dates unknown)^[3]
• Kgabo I (late 17th century)^[4]
• Tebele (late 17th or early 18th century)^[3]

Basotho line

• first leader was Kgosi Nape.
• Napo begot and was succeeded by his son Motebang
• Motebang begot and was succeeded by his son Molemo
• Molemo begot and was succeeded by his son Tsoloane le Tsolo
• Tsholoane begot and was succeeded by his son Monaheng
• Monaheng begot and was succeeded by his son Motloang
• Motloang begot and was succeeded by his son Peete
• Doc Mokoteli begot and was succeeded by his son Mokhachane
• Mokhachane begot and was succeeded by his son Moshoeshoe

and it continues to the royal line of Lesotho.

Batswana line

Kgabo II led a small group of Bakwena and crossed the Madikwe River and founded a tribe on the lands of the Bakgatla tribe (whose totem was the blue monkey) which they drove away, modern day Botswana. As the result of a split, several tribes like the Ngwato and Ngwaketse.^[5]

• Kgabo II (until c. 1740)^[6]
• Motshodi (c. 1740 – c. 1770)^[7]
• Motswasele I (c. 1770 – c. 1785)^[3]
• Seitlhamo (late 18th century)^[6]
• Legwale (late 18th century)^[6]
• Maleke (early 19th century; regent)^[6]
• Tshosa (early 19th century; regent)^[6]
• Motswasele II (c. 1807–1821)^[8]
• Sechele I (c. 1829–1892)^[9]
• Sebele I (1892–1911)^[10]
• Sechele II (1911–1918)^[11]
• Sebele II (1918–1931)^[12]
• Kgari Sechele II (1931–1962)^[13]
• Neale Sechele (1963–1970)^[14]
• Bonewamang Padi Sechele (1970–1978; appointed as the Tribal Authority)^[15][16]
• Mack Sechele (1978–1986; regent)^[16]
• Moithali Sechele II (1986–1996; regent)^[17]
• Kgosikwena Sebele (1996–2002; regent)
• Kgari Sechele III (2002–present)

Notes

1. Rosenberg, Scott; Weisfelder, Richard F. (13 June 2013). Historical Dictionary of Lesotho. p. 45. ISBN 9780810879829.
2. Eldredge, Elizabeth A. (2015). Kingdoms and Chiefdoms of Southeastern Africa: Oral Traditions and History ... p. 245. ISBN 9781580465144.
3. Stevens 1975, p. 88.
4. Morton & Ramsay 2018, Kgabo I (pre-1700).
5. Schapera 1980.
6. Schapera 1980, p. 84.
7. Schapera 1980, pp. 83–84.
8. Morton & Ramsay 2018, Motswasele II (1785?–1821).
9. Morton & Ramsay 2018, Sechele I (ca. 1810–1892).
10. Morton & Ramsay 2018, Sebele I (ca. 1838–1911).
11. Morton & Ramsay 2018, Sechele II Kealeboga Sebele (1892–1939).
12. Morton & Ramsay 2018, Sebele II, Kelebantse Sechele (1892–1939).
13. Morton & Ramsay 2018, Kgari Sechele II (1904–1962).
14. Morton & Ramsay 2018, Neale Sechele (1917–1985).
15. Morton & Ramsay 2018, Bonewamang Padi Sechele (1926–1978).
16. Ramsay 1996, p. 80.
17. Ramsay 1996, pp. 65, 80.

References

• Morton, Barry; Ramsay, Jeff (2018). Historical Dictionary of Botswana (5th ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-5381-1133-8.
• Ramsay, Jeff (1996). "The Fall and Decline of the Bakwena Monarchy". Botswana Notes and Records. 28: 65–86. ISSN 0525-5090.
• Schapera, I (1980). "Notes on the early history of the Kwena (Bakwena-bagaSechele)". Botswana Notes and Records. 12: 83–87. ISSN 0525-5090.
• Stevens, Richard P. (1975). Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Botswana. The Scarecrow Press Inc. ISBN 0-8108-0857-9.