The Bakoena or Bakwena ("those who venerate the

crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to inclu ...

") are a large

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...

in Southern Africa. They form part of the Sotho-Tswana Bantu people and can be found in different countries such as

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...

, Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe and

Eswatini Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

. Their main languages are Sesotho and Setswana."Koena" ("Kwena") is a Sotho/Tswana word meaning "

", the crocodile is also their totem (seboko).

Genealogy and history

Earliest ancestor o the Koena tribe,koena, was a grandson of Masilo I, the king of Bahurutse branch of the koena around AD 1360. Koena and his followers settled at Tebang, now called Heidelberg. Around AD 1500, Bakoena started spreading in the region, from the Lekwa or

Vaal The Vaal River ( ; Khoemana: ) is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source near Breyten in Mpumalanga province, east of Johannesburg and about north of Ermelo and only about from the Indian Ocean. I ...

river to Kalahari (Botswana).

Sotho line

* Bokoena state under kgosikgolo (meaning paramount chief) Napo * Kgoshi (sotho word meaning chief) Motebang * Kgoshi Molemo * Kgoshi Tsholoane * Kgoshi Monaheng * Kgoshi Motloang * Kgoshi Peete * Kgoshi Mokhachane * Kgoshi Moshoeshoe and it continues to the royal line of Lesotho.

Botswana line

Kgabo II led a small group of Bakoena and crossed the Marico river and founded a tribe on the lands of the Bakgatla tribe (whose totem was the blue monkey) which they drove away, modern day Botswana. As the result of a split, several tribes like the ngwato and ngwaketse were formed and settled in a circular way, with the paramount Kwena settling at Ntsoana-Tsatsi (mythical origin land of the sotho people) with the Bafokeng around AD 1580.

References

Sotho-Tswana peoples in South Africa {{Africa-ethno-group-stub