The power of shared identity...and imifino!
By Phumlani Cimi
People
are encouraged to celebrate their cultural traditions in the wider context of
the great diversity of cultures, beliefs, and traditions that make up the
nation of South Africa.In an address marking Heritage Day in 1996, former
President Nelson Mandela stated: "When our first democratically-elected
government decided to make Heritage Day one of our national days, we did so
because we knew that our rich and varied cultural heritage has a profound power
to help build our new nation." Heritage Month recognises aspects of South
African culture which are both tangible and intangible: creative expression
such as music and performances, our historical inheritance, language, the food
we eat as well as popular memory.
The
history tells us that before colonisation there were no shops to get food from.
Through trial and error people managed to select nutritional plants as food.
There were no hospitals and surgeons to go to when people were sick. People
depended entirely on indigenous plants that were available in their
environment. Some of this information has been documented but is still
scattered while much remains undocumented. Some information is only available
through word of mouth of the older generation, shared with their children and
grandchildren. This information should
be brought together. This heritage knowledge is an intergenerational knowledge.
I
grew up eating indigenous food (imifino) from wild plants such as Amaranthus hybridus (utyuthu), Sonchus oleraceus (ihlaba), Bidens pilosa (umhlabangubo), Solanum nigrum (umsobosobo), Urtica urens (irhawu) and Chenopodium murale
(imbhikicane). Yet, in my school days these were not mentioned during nutrition
lessons. We were instead taught about cabbage, spinach, and carrots while
imifino was often referred to as weeds. The research I have done in the Eastern
Cape shows that people still know and use wild plants as food, medicine and
cosmetics regardless of the fact that past government educational policy did not
recognise indigenous ways of knowing.
I
have developed a booklet with some recipes on how to cook indigenous food
(imifino). This booklet is also available in Braille and includes how and when
to collect these wild plants. To get this information one must come to the
herbarium department at the Albany Museum, where I work. I also provide
scientific evidence which shows that these wild plants have higher nutrition content
than other vegetables such as cabbages which we buy in the market. All this information
is free of charge.