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Battle of Marracuene

Details

Location:

Mozambique - Marracuene Agricola

Date:

From: 2014.02.02 To: 2014.02.02

Category:

• Unusual
• Food & Drink
• Celebrations

Tags:

• Other celebrations
• Religious
• Specialty food
• Meat

Official website:

Website

Description

Every February, the Mozambican town of Marracuene swells up with people who come to remember those killed while fighting against the Portuguese colonialists in the 1895 Gwaza Mutini (Battle of Marracuene). A tragic prologue to the invasion of Gaza, the battle saw António Enes’ army of 2,000 machine-gunned soldiers crush the local warriors who lacked modern firearms. The highlights of the ceremony include the ritual killing of an animal (usually a hippo) and the so-called kuphalha, which entails the invocation of the ancestors’ spirits.

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