Colonial powers tried to stifle traditional healing in Zimbabwe. They failed and today it’s a powerful force for treating mental illness

By Maja Jakarasi, PhD student, Department of Cultural Anthropology, University of the Western Cape

In Zimbabwe’s Shona language, mental illness is known as chirwere chepfungwa or kupenga. Before British colonial settlers arrived in 1890, traditional healers (n’anga) played an important role in helping people to manage their mental as well as their physical health.

But, from the late 19th to the mid 20th century, the British colonisers, particularly Christian missionaries, cracked down on the work of the n’anga.…

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