Koena tribe

This article does not cite any sources. Please help by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources:  –  ·  ·  · scholar · JSTOR (December 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

The Bakoena or Bakwena ("those who venerate the crocodile") are a large clan in Southern Africa. They form part of the Sotho-Tswana Bantu peopleand can be found in different countries such as Lesotho, Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Eswatini. Their main languages are Sesotho and Setswana.

Their earliest known history is that Koena was a grandson of Masilo I, the king of Bakoena around AD 1360. Koena and his followers settled at Tebang, now called Heidelberg. Around AD 1500, Bakoena started spreading in the region, from the or Vaal river to Kalahari (Botswana). Kgabo II led a small group of Bakoena to found a tribe on the lands of the Bakgatla tribe which they drove away. As the result of a split, several tribes were formed and settled in a circular way, with the paramount Kwena settling at Ntsoana-Tsatsi with the Bafokeng around AD 1580.

"Koena" ("Kwena") is a Sotho/Tswana word meaning "crocodile", the crocodile is also their totem.

This article about an ethnic group in Africa is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

• v
• t