THE STORY OF KING SECHELE I AND THE MISSIONARIES

Transcription

1 Nkomazana, Story of King Sechele, THE STORY OF KING SECHELE I AND THE MISSIONARIES F. Nkomazana This paper examines the relationship between Sechele I, the King of the Bakwena, of what is today present Botswana, and the missionaries of the London Missionary Society!, who were responsible for introducing Christianity to the Bakwena. 2 The paper will critically discuss the re- ( sponse ofsechele to Christianity, as it was presented t.o him by the missionaries or'as he himself understood and interpreted it within his cultural milieu. Sechele found Christianity to be problematical, in particular with respect to his position as king. He subsequently found himself to be subject to the conflicting demands of Christianity, as it was presented by the missionaries, and of the Kwena culture. Both his own people and the missionaries wanted something from him as a ruler, and he found it very difficult to please eveyone at the same time. Until his death in 1870, his life was marked by conflict and dilemma. I The London Missionary Society, popularly known as the LMS, was the second of the modem missionary organisations to be formed. It was founded in London in 1795 as the Missionary Socfety,,_but later on changed name by adding "London". The LMS -was the first society to start work among the Batswana in the early 1820's. See Robert Moffat Missionary Labours in Southern Africa. London: John Shaw, and David Livingstone Missionary Travels and Researchers in South Africa. London: John Murray. 2 The Bakwena were one of the Tswana states of what was later known as. Bechuanaland. The Bakwena and their sister states are said to have been formed when three brothers broke away from their father, Malope-a-Melora, to establish their independent states with a number of followers. See 1. Chapman Travels in the Interior of South Africa, Vol. I. London: Stanford, 35; 1. Mackenzie Ten Years North of the Orange River. Edinburgh: Hodder & Stoughton, 365; E. Lloyd Three GreatAfrican Chiefs. London: Unwin, 76~

2 Nkomazana, Story of King Sechele, , DAVID LIVINGSTONE'S MISSIONARY POLICY The coming of David Livingstone to reside with the Bakwena had a great impact on Sechele's life, seriously affecting his religious, social and political life. David Livingstone sailed from London on December 8, 1840 and landed at the Cape on March 17, 184l. 3 By 1845, Livingstone had settled among the Bakwena, who were at this time living primarily in their capital town of Kolobeng. It was here that Livingstone started to implement his plans of combining commerce, Christianity and civilisation to meet the needs of the people. His major vision was that Christian missions should become autonomous centres that provided for all the needs of the people they served Education Livingstone saw the introduction of Christianity as being inextricably linked to education. Education, like commerce, was seen as a handmaid of Christian missions, a crucial factor that facilitated the spread and growth of Christianity in any given locality. To implement his policy, he believed that it was necessary to establish a school where Bakwena children and adults would learn how to read and write. 5 Within a short time of his arrival at Kolobeng, Livingstone could happily report that Sechele's interest in education provided good prospects for the future of Christianity in the town. For example, he wrote saying: "We have far greater prospect of usefulness here than at Mabotsa. The 3 R.J. Campbell livingstone. London: The Livingstone Press, 46.,, 4 Letter from Livingstone to Tidman (Secretary of/the LMS Board) dated 17 / I March 1847 in Livingstone's Missionary Correspondence, in I. Schapera (Ed.) Livingstone 'smisslonarycorrespondence, London: Chat~o & Windus...,I S W.G. Blaikie The Life of David Livingstone. London: John Murray, 57. I

3 Nkomazana, Story of King Sechele, chief learned the large, small and mixed alphabets in two days.,,6 He also reported that Sechele was making such progress that he was already fluently reading through most of his books, the Psalms and the New Testament. 7 Sechele was a polygamist and his wives too were making very good progress in acquiring reading and writing skills. The mention of the response of women to Christianity and missionary education is quite important because both the missionary reports and modem historians have generally ignored the contribution of women in the growth of Christianity. Fred MortonS has, however, demonstrated that women made an immense contribution to the establishment of churches in Botswana. Livingstone saw reading as a very important aspect of mission work, because it facilitated the rapid acceptance of Christianity. It was for this reason that Livingstone was delighted by Sechele's keen interest and progress in learning how to read and he expected Sechele's position as king to influence and attract his subjects to follow his example. Sechele himself was so obsessed with learning how to read and write that at one point he asked Livingstone to arrange for him to go and study in England. Livingstone's aim was to encourage literary education to a point where he could produce local church leaders who would eventually take over from European missionaries. He believed that the evangelisation of Africa was far too substantial a task to be achieved tjyeuropeans alone, and that that was in any event undesirable. In a letter to the directors of 61. Schapera (Ed.) 1959.,David Livingstone 's Fal1li~y Letters, Vol. 2. London: Chatto & Windus Ibid., Ii F. Morton Queen Seingwaeng and Kgatla Zionism. Pula: Botswana Journal of African Studies 12,

4 Nkomazana, Story o/king Sechele, the London Missionary Society in London, he argued this point as follows: ''We don't need Europeans to do it. They are good but much can be done with far less expensive machinery. The whole of the tribes we visited could be placed under effective instructors, had we means to empfoy them... The native teachers are really most efficient agents in the dissemination of religious truth, if we have two in each of the interior tribes I don't hesitate to affirm that as much... "9 Impressed by Sechele' s progress, Livingstone strongly advocated the formation of self-supporting, self-governing and self-propagating churches. To facilitate such a programme, Livingstone suggested to the directors that they establish a training institution for local- teachers and church leaders.1o The directors found that such a programme was impossible because of a lack of funds. Despite this response, Livingstone insisted that due to the importance of this training institution, the directors should urgently find the money to establish the school. But his senior colleagues in southern Africa, such as Robert Moffat and William Ashton, strongly opposed the suggestion. Influenced by their superiority complex and negative attitudes to Africans, they argued that the 'natives' were not fit for schooling. Despite the opposition from LMS quarters, Livingstone did not give up. He repeated his request to the directors, who eventually succumbed and built such an institution at Kudumane Station where Moffat was based. Unfortunately, however, for a number of years no single person could be recommended from among the Batswana for training at the institution. 9 Schapera, Livingstone's Missionary Correspondence, 10. IO Ibid.,.30-45, 108.

5 Nkomazana, Story a/king Sechele, ( 1.2 Politics Livingstone's strategy of mixing Christianity and what he called "civilisation" was aimed at the goal of mission centres existing in a peaceful political environment. He found it impossible to work effectively among a people who were without political freedom. Livingstone's approach to politics differed from the apolitical stance adopted by Robert Moffat, who held the view that a missionary ought not to mix Christianity and politics. Livingstone was not only interested in the spiritual needs of. people but believed in the integration of spiritual, physical, political and social needs. Livingstone therefore found that the aggressive nature of the Transvaal Afrikaners (or Transvalers), did not permit Sechele and " his people to peacefully develop their education and other aspects of their lives. He also complained that their uncivilized attitude destabilized economic, political and religious enterprises. From the momen~ ~ of his arrival in Southern Africa, Livingstone became a hostile' critic of the Transvalers, because of their treatment of Africans. He accused \ them of wanton aggression towards Africans who had caused no offense, and claimed that they forced them to perform unpaid labour. He also condemned them for launching raids and seizing children whom they in effect treated as slaves. Livingstone maintained that they were opposed to the spread of the gospel among Africans and would therefore not let British missionaries work among these people. He said that they disliked British rule, and that since they wished to monopolise the rich ivory ~ trade, and!!1ineral resources of the north~th~y violated existing treaties. and tried to prevent any othet European from travelling in that direction: "If our missions would move onwards now to those regions I have lately visited, they would in all-probability prevent the natives settling into that state of determined hatred to all Europeans which I fear now characterises most of all caffres near the colony... The Boers hate missionaries, but through a kind and pru-

6 Nkomazana, Story of King Sechele, dent course of conduct one can easily manage them.,,11 On August 28, 1852, a commando from the Western Transvaal reached Dimawe, the Kwena capital to which Sechele and his people had moved from Kolobeng the previous year. They demanded the surrender of chief Mosilele, who had fled their harrassment to King Sechele. When Sechele refused to hand him overto them, they attacked the Bakwena, and killed about 90 men and captured women, children and several thousand head of cattle and sheep. Livingstone was angered by this attack of the Transvalers on Africans because it fragrantly violated basic human rights and Christian principles. In response to this naked aggression, Sechele went to the Cape Colony to seek the intervention of the British Government, but received no support in Cape Town and returned home fu~~~. - The Transvalers accused Livingstone of providing Africans, especially Sechele, with firearms and ammunition. They demanded that the District Committee of the LMS immediately and permanently recall Livingstone from Kolobeng or else they would themselves take the necessary steps to remove him from there. The main reason for this demand was that Sechele had acquired so many guns, including a cannon, that he now defied the Transvalers and even proposed attacking them. They accused Livingstone of not warning them of the hostility ofthe Bakwena. 12 In the Cape Colony, Livingstone was now so distrusted by the authorites that they were urtwilling to sell arms an<;i ammunition to him, because of the Transvalers' allegation that he supplied these to the II Blaikie, Life of David LiVingstone, Ibid., 65.

7 Nkomazana, Story of King Sechele, Africans.13 Simmons l4, for instance, writes: "When he set about trying to purchase the ammunition for his journey, government officials put every possible obstacle in his way, suspecting that it was really his intention to arm the African chiefs against the Boers of Transvaal." The "uncivilised" attitude of the Transvalers and the failure of the Cape Government to protect Africans against aggression forced Livingstone to leave the Bakwena in One of his reasons for doing so was that he considered it his duty to carry the gospel to the densely populated regions to the north, where there was pienty of water and where he could not be badgered by the Transvalers. Realizing that they had barred his way to the east, he felt obliged to start missionary work to the. north before they got there. He was unwilling to remain in their vicinity after they had destroyed his. station at Kolobeng. ~ It is evident that Livingstone's missionary approach to mix Christianity with politics was not only opposed by the Transvalers but was also generally resented by some of the LMS missionaries, especially his father-in-law, Robert Moffat. Some of Livingstone's critics, such as C. Northcott, interpreted his actions as colonialism. They saw his idea of combining commerce, Christianity and civilization as contributing to European imperialism. Mutero Chirenje l6 points out, however, that Africans greatly appreciated Livingstone's approach to missionary 13 Ibid., Simmons LiVingstone and Africa. London: English University Press, Livingstone, Missionary Travels, MJ. Chirenje A History of North em Botswana, London: Associated University Press, 37.

8 Nkomazana, Story of King Sechele, work. He says that they always felt a sense of security in his presence and argues that in welcoming Livingstone, Sechele was influenced more by military and political considerations, because he wanted a missionary who mixed politics with religion and in-so doing acting as a deterrent against out-side attacks. 2. SECHELE AND CHRISTIANITY As mentioned in the preceding pages, Livingstone described Sechele as a virtuous ruler, a likeable person who was frank and straightforward and who could moreover reason coherently.17 He further wrote in connection with Sechele saying: "I attached myselfto the tribe called Bakwena, or Bakwains, the chief of which, named Sechele, was then living with his people at a place called Shokuane. 1 was from the first struck by his intelligence, and by the marked manner in which we both felt drawn to each other. As this remarkable man has not only embraced Christianity, but expounds its doctrines to his people, 1 will here give a brief sketch of his career.,,18 Sechele was himself deeply impressed by the preaching of Livingstone. He subsequently became an ardent convert to Christianity but remained a polygamist for a period of time. 19 The general practice for most missionaries was to ask a man who was interested in Christianity to reject all wives except one, but Livingstone left Sechele to make his own independent decision. Bakwena were very suspicious and critical of their 171. Jea Livingstone. London: Heinemann(~ / 18 Livingstone, Missionary Travels, 12. i I 19 J.T. Macnair LiVingstone: The Liberator: A Story of a DynamiC Pe'r-, sonality. London: Collins, '

9 Nkomazana, Story of King Sechele, king becoming a Christian. Sechele, however, elected not only to continue being a Christian but also to be baptj:s'ed. His colleagues such as King Moshoeshoe of the Basotho people advised him against this and urged him not to accept Christianity. When Sechele sent his 'messengers to purchase a horse from Moeshoeshoe, he gave them a friendly welcome, but gave them a private message for Sechele that he should never believe in the new religion. He promised that if Sechele needed gun, powder, guns, horses and the like he was willing to supply them, if it could help him avoid becoming a Christian. Livingstone wrote: "Moshosh gave them about ten head of cattle and two horses, a great deal to poor people in this country, and sent a private message to the chief that whatever he ;- wished, whether guns, gunpowder, horses or cattle, he must apply to him and he would supply them; and tell him to allow his people to believe if they like, but he... must never believe. "I am a king", said Moshoeshoe, "and 1 won't put myself under the authority of another \ (viz: God); J have my kingdom as well as He, and people would laugh at me if 1 believed and put myself under the power of another.,,20 Sechele did not heed to Moshoeshoe, but went ahead with getting baptis.ed by Livingstone and then being welcomed into the Lord's Supper.. ' and the full membership of the church.pvingstone deliberately decided not tbhurry him towards this outward 'profession of conversion. He :w~l;;ted him to make his o~ independent decision for which he was to be personally answerable. What made Sechele hesitant was the fact that, according to/tswana custom, the decision of a king would in all likelihood affect tne whole community. 20 I. Schapera (Ed.) Livingstone's Private Journals, London: Chatto & Windus,}60.

10 Nkomazana, Story of King Sechele, What made the situation more-serious was the fact that the King Sechele later decided to reject all his wives except the most senior one. This was unthinkable, and was, in fact, the first incident of its kind among the Batswana. The king usually married women from influential families in order to strengthen his-political position. To abandon the daughters of people who for many years had supported and protected his political position was therefore a sensitive matter. Once he decided to take that course of action, Livingstone, advised him to continue treating all his wives gently and also to provide for their economic needs. 21 This did not deflect criticism from Livingstone. From that point onwards Sechele had to face fierce opposition from his people. On the day he got baptistd the whole tribe refused to go to their fields as an expression of_t~~irutter dismay at the actions of their king. They now believed that Livingstone had bewitched him and that he seriously rieeded attention from the elders of the tribe. The old men in particular became very skeptical of the idea of reading the Bible. Like the Bakololo, they now openly declared that the 'mysterious book' was harmful. 22 It was said to drink people's brains and render them too weak. to think normally. They blamed the reading of the Bible for the change in Sechele's views about polygamy and his abandoning of his many wives. At this point Sechele was practically deserted by all his subjects. They even refused to follow his example in spiritual matters. On the other hand, once he had accepted Christianity, Sechele became eager to see the whole community follow his example. Anxious.Jo see this happening, he challenged Livingstone thus: "Do you imagine these people will ever believe by merely talking to them? I can make them do nothing except by thrashing them; and if you like, I shall call my head men, and with our litupa (whips of rhinoceros-hide) we will soon make_them all believe together."23 21 Ibid., 298. I 22 Livingstone, Missionary Travels, Ibid., 15.

11 Nkomazana, Story of King Sechele In saying this, Sechele was actually expressing his disappointment and proposing that they should use force to convert people to Christianity. Livingstone, however, refused to resort to such methods. He saw the Afr-icans as people who were capable of making their own choices. With Sechele as his only recorded convert, there must have been a strong temptation to use force, but he carefully evaluated the issue and decided wisely to persist with entreaty and persuasion. He believed that missionaries could not exercise authority of any kind, but that their influence depended entirely on persuasion, speech and encouraging people to decide wisely. He later expressed Sechelc's concern with the following words: "In former times, said he, when a chief was fond of hunting, all his people got dogs and became fond of hunting too. Ifhe loved dancing or music, all showed a liking to these amusements too. 'If the chief loved beer, they all rejoiced in strong drink. But in this case it is different. I love the Word of God, and not one of my people will join me.,,24 On another occasion Livingstone reasoned with Sechele and failed to convince him, as he continued to pose difficult questions. Sechele said to Livingstone: "You startled me - these words make all my bones to 'shake -' I have no more strength in me: but my forefathers were living at the same time as yours were, and how is it that they did not send them a word about these terrible things sooner?,,25 Although Livingstone tried to explain the physical barriers which stood 24 Ibid. 25 Ibid., 16.

12 Nkomazana, Story of King Sechele, between Africa and Europe, Sechele saw the message of Christianity as being too important to be hindered by any barriers. Sechele remained a Christian and a king, and all his l~fe was characterised by conflict and dilemma. As a result of his position as a Christian king, he had always to try and strike a balance between his old and his new religious convictions. To do this effectively, he put one leg inside the church, while the other remained in the old way of life. He did so in order to please both the missionaries and his own Bakwena people. The Bakwena, for instance, demanded that he fully play his role as the chief officiant in the rain-making rituals and the initiation ceremonies of bogwera (initiation school for boys) and bojale (initiation school for girls), and that he remain a polygamist as required by his uncles and the elders of his town. They refused to concede that he had become a Christian and blamed him for "making himself a white man".26 On the other hand, most missionaries saw these activities as being opposed to the word of God and called on him to renounce them. Despite this conflict, Sechele remained a zealous Christian, assisting Livingstone with conducting church services and even preaching. He also continued to study the Scriptures with devotion. Despite all this effort, he failed to please either the missionaries or the Bakwena. It is true that whenever Seche,le adopted measures which promoted / literary education and other forms of European cultuje"he was praised by the missionaries as being a fine man at heart and a beloved of his people. The other marks of European "civilis!ation" in Sechele were two / European comfortable chairs, a pillow, a toilet, Sechele's wife's pair of shoes and stockings and other crinoline European clothes. Nevertheless, although Mrs Price, wife-of missionary Roger Price, praised Sechele for ad~pting a European lifestyle, she also complainejl/~fthe strange usage 26 Mackenzie, North of the Or~l1ge, 105f. I

13 Nkomazana, Story a/king Sechele, of these European materials. Sechele was, for instance, said to have dressed in the hot garments when it was quite hot during the day and whenever Sechele mixed his own Kwena customs with Christianity, a conflict with the missionaries arose. He was suddenly described as an "uncivilised heathen". Sechele's approach to life should be understood in the context of his attempt to be a Christian King in his K wena cultural environment. He was afraid that if he did not strike a compromise between Christianity and Kwena customs, his power would be totally subverted. To please his people, he tried to invite prominent rain makers in the region and paid them out of his own cattle, although he tried to keep this a secret from the missionaries. But with the Bakwena excited that they had won back their king to "normal life", the news quickly spread that "Sechele was now making rain". This eventually came to the attention of the missionary among the Bakwena at the time, Roger Price. When Sechele became aware that the whole practice had become public, he now openly assisted in the rain-making rites and other ceremonies. This constituted a drastic change because all along Sechele had been most exact in his observance of private and family prayers, and he also took the pulpit every Sunday to preach to the Bakwena. He always endeavoured, however, to graft Christian principles on the Kwena tradition and customs, so that the two might co-exist. For instance, he would go with the people in their rain-making ceremonies, but would not neglect at the same time to pray to God and ask for rain. He would use charms and incantations, washings and purifying medicine, according to the old customs, and yet profess faith in Christ. Sechele now argued that the Bible did not require him to completely abandon the customs of his people, although it did require him to believe in Jesus Christ. He held that he could be an orthodox Motswana and a good Christian at the same time. This was the position which Sechele took in order to

14 Nkomazana, Story of King Sechele, make his Christian experience relevant to his day-to-day life. In fact, he used to spend hours with Livingstone and his predecessors arguing his stance. John Mackenzie, for example wrote the following in this regard: "I have spent many of the hours of night with this clever chief in the earnest discussion of these points. When one after another his arguments failed him, he had said to me, 'You have conquered: your idea of Christian life is the right one, but was 1 not alone? What is one man against all the Bakwena?' 'How hard it is for us all, Sechele, for me as well as for you, to -. believe'that God with us is greater than all who can be against us!' 'Monare' (Sir), he replied with feeling, 'not hard for you: You are a missionary; your faith is great; but hard for me, as a chief of a heathen town. "'27 The problem was compounded by the 'fact that Sechele was the most senior man amongst the Bakwena. This was true for both religious and political matters. Christianity had introduced a struggle in his life as far as these issues were concerned. 3. CONCLUSION The missionaries were divided regarding Sechele's position. Was he a Christian or not? When he returned to Kwena observances and ceremonies, others regarded him to be very sincere. They said that Sechele had become a Christian for economic and political reasons and that he was simply interested in European goods such as guns and ammunition; Their interpretation of Christianity was basically European and they _ thus saw everything in the light of their culture, which separated the sacred from secular. They also took the view tha{sechele's "primitive I., 27 Mackenzie, North of the Orange, 107.

15 Nkomazana, Story of King Sechele, environment" badly influenced his thuughts and character, and they failed to understand his practical struggles. They simply demanded consistently high moral standards and refused to recognise him as a member of the church. In conclusion, therefore, it must be pointed outthat Sechele attempted to contextualise Christianity, so that it could respond to the needs of the people within their existing cultural heritage. His attempt to do so compelled him to place his one foot in Christianity, while the other remained in African culture. Most of the missionaries who dealt with Sechele, especially following the departure of Livingstone, seem to have argued Jor complete discontinuity between Christian faith and the cultural heritage of the Bakwena people. Rather than allowing a process_ofcontextualisation to take place, they simply imposed their western form of Christianity, which led to social,-political and religious instability.