Negotiating identity and heritage through authorised vernacular history, Limpopo National Park

Abstract

In this paper, we assess vernacular history, traditional authority and the use of heritage places as mediums for negotiating ancestry, identity, territory and belonging based on conversations, interviews and visitations to heritage places together with residents in Limpopo National Park. We explore how particular vernacular histories become dominant village history through the authorisation of traditional leaders and their lineage histories and how traditional leaders use heritage places to mediate narratives. Authorised vernacular histories are narratives about mobility and identity, but they are also localised narratives about 'home' in terms of access to resources and heritage places. We discuss how lineage histories and traditional authority are mobilised or questioned in the context of the ongoing displacement of local residents throughCorresponding author: Anneli Ekblom, Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, CSD Uppsala, Uppsala University, Box 626, Uppsala 751 26, Sweden. Email: anneli.ekblom@arkeologi.uu.se resettlement programmes and make comparisons with the historical experiences of evictions in the neighbouring Kruger and Gonarezhou National Parks. We emphasise the need for residents to remain connected to and in control of heritage places; otherwise, the linkages between these places, ancestral authority, and present-day authority risk being severed.

Household Vulnerability and Transformability in Limpopo National Park

“…The erosion of traditional authority and loss of access and control over ancestral places, all issues linked to resettlement, are also seen as threats to endurability and social welfare [59,61,95]. It is therefore important to ensure access and ownership of these ancestral places [96].…”

Children of Another Land: Social Disarticulation, Access to Natural Resources and the Reconfiguration of Authority in Post Resettlement

“…This assurance was given despite the fact that all parties involved knew that Nanguene would officially become a neighborhood of Chinhangane and that they would have no ancestral authority in the new land. Indeed, customary norms imply that the resettled villages will have to give in to the traditional leadership in the resettlement location (Ekblom, Notelid and Witter 2017;Witter 2010). This promise, therefore, reflected either an overly optimistic, persuasive attitude by the resettlement implementation team-or an unwillingness to grapple with this difficult issue.…”

“…Ceremonies are the space in which authority is asserted and legitimized, reshaped and performed (Ekblom, Notelid and Witter 2017;Witter 2010). They are where authority, identity, and control over resources are performed and renewed.…”

Mapping Spatiotemporal Changes of Evergreen Forest Patches that are Heritage Sites in Southern Mozambique using Google Earth Engine

“…Early descriptions of the cultural dimensions of forests were given by ethnographers such as Henri-Alexandre Junod (Junod, 1927). More recent studies (e.g., Virtanen, 2002;Izidine et al, 2008;Ekblom et al, 2017) have suggested that there are a considerable number of forest patches that still function as Junod described them almost a century ago.…”