The Lemba Clan, Are They Real Jews Essay Example for Free

The Lemba Clan, Are They Real Jews Essay demonstration Walking through the Venda Plaza shopping center in Thohoyandou, S show uph Africa, R dai ae ta a ad a tm ,T aioe f Jws bo e . Gv g i a uznw vdo m n n si o e hts n o my e i rt r i n h d h hs i m pzl ytn i e l kh ep i da a l k e . cm f m I al l gi e uz d ei r ud o ,e xln ,Im Ba Jw We a er s eao t e tg o ae c o r n m aoT e hv poe iwt gns N t nowing what to say and non having heard about this g. hy ae rvdt i ee. o k h before, I let his statement pass. My time in South Africa was devoted to working with a victim empowerment program, but I act upd to wonder about the idea of Black Jews.The Black Jew or Lemba macrocosm creates a blip on a cultural subroutine of sub-Saharan Africa. When queryers discovered and analyse them over the last fifteen older age, the Lemba also made a blip on the transmitted map of sub-Saharan Africa. Genetic outline of the Lemba has focused primarily on the Y chromosome, which is utile for st udying conversion among and distance between populations. The Lemba genetic markers resist the spontaneous tradition which says the Lemba came from the north.This paper reviews biological and cultural studies of the Lemba and the correlational statistics between genes and oral tradition to propose a biocultural tarradiddle for the Lemba tribe. Biology Genetic Variation across Populations Much of the study of genetic strain has focused on dis connaturality between groupings. Genetic variation over time is used to postulate about the place and time of the tunes of modern humans as considerably as subsequent movement and migration. Genetic variation is the greatest in Africa, and it is reasoned that the interminable a group has been around, the to a greater extent variation it will have in its gene pool.Additionally, the perennial groups argon apart, the greater their genetic distance (Cavalli-Sforza and Cavalli-Sforza, 1995). Maps of variation show migrations out of, arou nd, 1 and backwards in to Africa (Cavalli-Sforza and Cavalli-Sforza, 1995). ground on comparing of genetic landscapes, maps by Cavalli-Sforza and Cavalli-Sforza (1995) show the arrival of Neolithic cultivators in northern Africa 8,000 to 9,000 years ago. The migration of multitude continues down the eastern side of Africa, with groups mixing and paltry.According to Cavalli-Sforza and Cavalli-Sforza (1995), the Bantu arrived in South Africa three hundred to 400 years ago, and the archaeological and linguistic data support the recital of Bantu expansion. Cavalli-Sforzat e o py gnt r aosi a gnr e t og ae g sr s f hl eece t nh s r ee t h uh vr e e o i li p e ad r a linkage analysis. Synthetic maps be produced from principle-component analysis of multiple gene frequencies. MacEachern (2000), however, criticizes Cavalli-Sozsn eio gns fr s yt s f ee a h s and language for its assumptions about the nature of language and groups and its lack of cni r i o t d e i o hm n oii .A r a e n ui a ntone, os e t n fh i rt f u a sc ts fcn t i n s r obudd d ao e v sy ee i hc t e homogeneous monoliths either frozen in place since before A. D. 1492 or caroming around the continent like cultural-ba n b lr blMaE ce ,00 7) G nr sn ec as er g ii d as ( c ahr 20 0. ee lyt t m p i la l n 3 a hi provide a visual representation of variation, but they do non show how the variation came to exist nor do they herald anomalies. The Lemba ar an anomaly in the genetic patterns of Southern Africa. Variation and the Y Chromosome The primary genetic research on the Lemba has used the Y chromosome for comparison with other groups.The Y chromosome has many characteristics that refer it favorable for examine lineage. Almost all of the Y chromosome consists of non-recombining regions and the information is passed intact from generation to generation, from father to son. The variations, called political leaderymorphisms, occur so infrequently that they are commonly called unique face polym orphisms (UEPs) (Stumpf and Goldstein, 2001). UEPs occur along male lines in 2 diametric time intervals, frankincense the changes nominate be compared between and among groups to examine relatedness and age by identifying variations (Bradman and Thomas 1998). more(prenominal)(prenominal) changes on the Y indicate an older line, and more partd sequences between Ys indicate a more similar gene pool. Once thought of as mainly junk, researchers have set 20 diametric genes on the Y (Lowenstein, 1999). The function of Y is related to imparting maleness and to fertility (see figure 1). get in 1 The human Y chromosome (Quintana-Murci et al. , 2000173) Be catch most of the Y does non recombine, the Ycrm sm ise a a ui r tl ho oo es en s n a n l p e ay t nm tdi ae ru r s ie l kg gop which allows the history of the paternal line to be deduced (Poloni et a t n al., 1997 1015). The non-recombining section of the Y has the potential for a large number of unalike mutations (Stumpf and Gold stein, 2001). Because most variation in the Y is not expressed, changes are not selected for or against, which allows the record of these changes gets passed on (Bradman and Thomas, 1998). Four types of changes can occur between generations microsatellites, minisatellites, snips and indels (Bradman and Thomas, 1998). Microsatellites are a section of repeats of a short 3nucleotide sequence and minisatellites are a section of repeats of yearner sequences. Snips refers to exclusive nucleotide polymorphisms, pie-eyeding one nucleotide is changed. Indels are instaurations or deletions of DNA in a particular location (Bradman and Thomas, 1998). An example of an indel is the Y chromosome Alu polymorphism (YAP). Alu is a sequence of about ccc base pairs which is inserted into a particular region of the DNA. There have been about half a meg Alu insertions in human DNA and YAP is one of the more recent (Bradman and Thomas, 1998).Because they are unique event polymorphisms, YAP inserts and snips are unlikely to have arisen more than once in evolution (Thomas et al. 2000). An Alu can be copied, but it is not removed from a locus. After an Alu change, the YAP will accumulate rude(a) mutations at the same rate as surrounding DNA loci. One can think of an Alu insertion as a fossil, and patterns of new mutation allow the fossils to be sorted into lineages. (Dolan DNA Learning warmness 2002). Different combinations of polymorphisms are known as haplotypes (Bradman and Thomas 1998).The more similar the haplotype frequencies of two populations, the more similar their biological history is likely to be (Bradman and Thomas 1998). Quintana-Murci, Krausz, and McElreavey caution that genetic drift, founder effects, and male-specific migration processes may behave to over-representation of specific haplotypes (2001). Genetic drift refers to random change in gene frequencies between generations which will cause frequencies to fluctuate up or down (Releford, 2003). After enough t ime and if no other forces are acting on a population, variation within a population will be trim (Releford, 2003).The founder effect is a type of genetic drift where a small number of people form a new population, causing allele frequencies to deviate from the parent population (Releford, 2003). The Lemba Y 4 If Lemba migrated from Judea and Yemen and maintained the tradition of marrying only within the group, the Lemba Y haplotypes may be over-represented when compared to the neighboring populations. Thus, the Lemba Y is useful for comparison with African and Semitic populations their contribution to the Lemba. More genetic evidence of a non-Bantu origin for the Lemba is judge and found (Bradman and Thomas 1998).The Lemba Y has an additional genetic marker that indicates links to the Jewish priest club Cohen. Members cannot be appointed to this class and priesthood can only be contractable, thus a possible Jewish marker will be preserved down the line (Bradman and Thomas 1998 Cavalli-Sforza and Cavalli-Sforza 1995). Judaism began in Semitic tribes vivacious about 4,000 years ago in the Middle East. In 586 B. C. , the Babylonian exile spread Jewish populations out of present-day Israel (Hammer et al. 2000). Hammer et al. (2000) used Y chromosome haplotypes to trace the parental origins of the Jewish Diaspora.Multi-dimensional scaling (figure 1 ) of frequencies of 18 Y-chromosome haplotypes in 29 populations produced three main clusters sub-Saharan African, North African, and European. 5 Figure 2 Multi-dimensional scaling from Hammer et al. (20006772) The Jewish cluster appears in between the European and North African population clusters. The Lemba population is set halfway between sub-Saharan African and Jewish clusters (Hammer et al. 2000). Genetic and geographical distances were not correlated for other Jewish populations, which supports a recent dispersal and subsequent isolation model.Hammer et al. bring to an end that m j pro o N Yb ll d e i .. ae to a common Middle Eastern source a a r ot n f R ili i rt . t cs o i aec v sy r ppli svr t uad erao (00 74. h iue lo ea an c i s f ou t n ee lh sn ya g20 7) T i s sf frvl t g lm o ao a o s 6 s u ui a Jewish origins as well as for supporting old ties to the Middle East. Once populations dispersed from the Middle East, gene flow with surrounding populations was likely. The Lemba present genetic markers identified with Bantu and Semitic populations (Spurdle and Jenkins, 1996 Wilson and Goldstein, 2000).Wilson and Goldstein (2000) examined 66 markers on the X chromosome to study the effect of admixture of Bantu and Semitic populations on linkage disequilibrium. Recent mutations will tend to have more linkage d eu i i (D t n i o eoe ( l n n G l tn20) h s n i n i qib u L )h wl l r nsWio ad o s i 00. T e i ic t s lr m a ld s de, g fa difference between partially linked and unlinked loci masters out substructure as the sole source of the LD in the Lemba . . . Ethiopian-Bantu differentia tion is not sufficient to produce the d eu i i osre it L m a ( l n n G l tn20 2.T e oc s ns i qib u be dn h e bWio ad o s i 00 3) h cnl i i s lr m v e s de, 9 uo that the Lemba LD has two sources parental population and admixture.Another examination on the worldwide distribution of Y haplotypes (Poloni et al. , 1997) found a significant correlation between genetic and linguistic distances. The picture of genetic affinities places the Lemba not with other sub-Saharan African populations but with Afro-Asiatic populations (figure 2 ) indicating admixture or a different parent population from other subSaharan groups. 6 Figure 3 Multi-dimensional scaling from Poloni et al.(19971019) Spurdle and Jenkins (1996) also looked at Bantu-Semitic variations to name genetic affinities and offer a model for the origin of the Lemba. Their study study allele frequencies of Y-linked Restriction continuance Fragment Polymorphisms (RLFPs). Ht4 is a typical lightlessness haplotype and it is found in the Lemba sample at a frequence of . 20, which indicates significant Negroid male gene flow into the Lemba (Spurdle and Jenkins, 1996). Ht7, Ht8, and Ht11 are Caucasoid markers and the Lemba show high frequencies of these markers as well.These haplotypes seem to be typical of Jewish populations but also occur in Asiatic Indians, thus it is not possible to distinguish between Semitic and Asiatic Indian sources with these markers (Spurdle and Jenkins, 1996). The allele frequencies of the Lemba are importantly different from those of the Bantu-speaking Negroid population and the European population but not from those of the Jewish group. Spurdle and Jenkins (1996) cogitate that 50% of the Lemba Y chromosomes analyzed appear to be of Caucasoid origin, and 36% appear to be of Negroid origin. 7.One possible method for distinguishing a Semitic origin, versus a popular Middle Eastern origin, of the Lemba is to make comparisons with the Cohen modal haplotype, which is dominant in the Jew ish priesthood (Thomas et al. , 1998). There are three castes of Jewish males Cohanim, the paternally inherited priesthood Leviim, non-Cohen members of the paternally defined priestly tribe of Levi Israelites, all non-Cohen and non-Levite Jews (Thomas et al. , 1998). If the Lemba Y has Jewish origins, the Cohen modal haplotype is expected to be present. Thomas et al.(2000) continue the study of Bantu and Semitic markers in the Lemba adding the investigation of the Cohen modal haplotypes. Y chromosomes were analyzed for six microsatellites and six biallelic markers in the Lemba, Bantu, Yemini-Handramaut, YemeniSena, Sephardic Jews, and Ashkenazic Jews. The twelve polymorphic markers were characterized in multiple Jewish populations and identified single haplotypes (Thomas et al. , 2000). Genealogical trees were drawn based on microsatellite variation to explore possible origins of the Lemba Y chromosomes (Thomas et al., 2000).The trees can be used to assess whether each Lemba haploty pe has a close genealogical relationship with one or more haplotypes in the other five populations. Trees for the individual haplotypes were drawn for each UEP group by measures of average square up distance and proportion of shared alleles (Thomas et al. , 2000). Thomas et al. (2000) designate 67. 6% of Lemba chromosomes as having a Semitic origin and the other 32. 4% to have a Bantu origin.The high absolute frequency of the Cohen modal haplotype in the general Lemba population supports a Jewish contribution to Lemba gene pool found. The Cohen modal haplotype is observed only fair in Ashkenazic and Sephardic Israelites, in a single Yemeni, and is present in a very low frequency in Palestinian Arabs (Thomas et al. , 2000). The genetic evidence is consistent with the Lemba oral history of Jewish origins in a population orthogonal of Africa followed by admixture with Bantu neighbors. 8 Culture Oral tradition and Origins of Lemba The Lemba people claim ancient Jewish origins. Accor ding to oral history, they come from Judea, from whence they traveled to Sena.From Sena they crossed into Africa, moving down the coast, building great cities in Zimbabwe, and finally settling the northern part of South Africa. Additionally, the Lemba plead Jewish identity through their customs of food prohibitions, ritual slaughter of animals, and circumcision (Buijs, 1998 NOVA 1999 Parfitt 1992). These are not threatening people who have been recently converted to Judaism. Judaism is not a proselytizing faith thus conversion and endogamy as an explanation for Jewish genes is unlikely (Cavalli-Sforza and Cavalli-Sforza, 1995).However, many groups across the world claim connections to lost tribes of Israel (Parfitt, 1992). Furthermore, the whizz along in Lemba Jewish identity is connected to political economy and other social circumstances in South Africa in the last fifty years (Buijs, 1998). The Lemba say they came from the North, possibly from Judea. Then they went to Sena, t hey crossed Pusela and came to Africa, where they skint the law of God and were scattered across African nations (NOVA, 1999). Parfitt (1992) located Sena in a remote vale of Southern Yemen.Parfitt reasons that Pusela is similar to the Masilah River, which they would have had to cross to get from Sena to the sea. The port town of Sayhut was used for Arab exploration of Africa. In Hadramaut, the valley where Sena is located, tribes have the same names as Lemba tribe names (NOVA, 1999 Parfitt, 1992). Genetic samples of Lemba and of people in the Hadramaut showed similar features as well as the Cohen modal haplotype (NOVA, 1999). Lemba Identity in South Africa 9 The Lemba go bad in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, but according to Buijs it is only in South Africa where one finds the belief of Jewish origins (1998).The Semitic identity was propagated by early white missionaries and colonial officials their writings emphasized differences of the Lemba by comparison with European Jewish communities (Buijs, 1998). T ee ri supr d a e o o a ii tdn t (u s19 1. u s19) o s hs w in spot n t s f d t ci ty B i,98 6) B i (98 nt tg e h sn e i j 6 j e that the Lemba were aware of their distinct cultural heritage prior to colonization, but when ethnic identity became important in Apartheid, the Lemba Cultural Association (LCA) became a m d mfrosut g peet a Jws H rae B i asr,T eniec ..n ei o cnt cn a r n dy e i e t . u s s t h i s ne .O u r i s h ig j es st their Jewish heritage is a direct result of the struggle for resources, ab initio land and later civil sri j sit N r e Tasaln V na (98 6) Ietyi l i r i ad e c o , h ot r r vaad ed19 2. dn t n u n a a n ve b n e hn n 6 i, c d g c l ethnic identities, is not a static concept. Identity, especially during Apartheid, was tied to power.The Lemba Cultural Association was founded in the 1940s when Europeans were encroaching o r or s T e C polm d spr e u uai n tadh L m a i pr ne n e uc .h L A rc i e a ea tcl r d ty n t e b m ot c s e a a t l ei e s a identified the Lemba with a non-African community (Buijs, 1998). During Apartheid, literally meaning separation, people were classified by race white, cl e,n b c. nsc laaits e df e acri tt s cnet( e o r ad l k O e oi cpb ie w r e nd cod go h e ocp s od a s a li e i n e se Mandela 1994 for a frontmost hand description of the Apartheid system). The Apartheid government, the white minority, knew that if black people were united, the white autonomy would be threatened.They instituted a Bantu education system that further classified blacks according to tribe and encouraged local identity and rule in hopes of keeping blacks divided (Mandela 1994). In the 1980s, as the white hold on power was comely more and more challenged, the gvrm nc a d i eednhm l d h h e stp uhhthy e sl oe etr t dpneto e ns w i w r eu sc t t w r tl n ee n a c e a e ei 10 overseen by South Africa but the government no longer provided money or services to these areas. Lemba in Venda Vendal and was created and within these bounds were the Lemba.Before the independent hm l diw saoalfrBak e s ti n f t m e e ad e e o e n, a f r eo l Jw o d tyh sl s n b r a t v b c ei e v cognized as Lemba, because they were associated with whites and considered superior to other Blacks. However, in t l k o e n,w e b cseu t io n oe m n ibcm m rf oalt h Ba hm l d hr l k stph r w gvr et tea e oe a r eo e c a e a e n , v b be Black and not associated with whites. A highly placed civil servant in Venda government cm et i t V na e e a etgop I t s dy w w rl h o m n d t h ed w w r n le ru. nh e as e e i t e wh e e i o e g -skinned .. .V nar t u l e sro uprl s . t C oe pol (a i,92 8. h h ed t a d si a otf pec s.. e hsn ep Prt 19 ) T i e ee k a h e ft 7 s refers to the days of their arrival in southern Africa. At the beginning of the century, in spite of the distressing skin, the Lemba were commonly called valungu white men (Parfitt, 1992). The civil srate a e, sog s vrt n ge j ti , y e g L m a osmatter . . . e nr r d l a ee h g osu f em bi a e b dent v m k A n yi s n n B tson sh g s rgi w ogiiar u do y e b oi n19 ) T e ua so a t nst to g rn, s ti t tm L m a r i (92 7.h i a n t tb e g 7 status and identity of the Lemba has not been fixed and it has not always been Jewish.Proclaiming a form of Judaism is an event of the 19th century, but it does come from an o e cm la d eg u i n f ao (a i 19) h L m a e e a a i l my l r o p ct r i osd ti t n Prt 92. T e e b si d prc a t d, i e li e ic i ft z tu r h and used it as a federal agency of ridding themselves of a rather ancient ambiguity at a time when new ambiguities were being created any dy (a i,9225. T e e b igop i aPrt 195) h L m as ru wt ft h particular traditional practices, and some say they are not a religious group but a cultural one (Sand, 2002).The Lemba agriculture at once points to ancient Hebrew origins but some Lemba practice Christianity and Islam (Sand, 2002). The practices they do ascribe to ancient Jews w ould 11 not be identified as Judaism in the West, however they have adopted more Jewish traditions in recent years (Sand, 2002). Lemba today In post-Apartheid times, the Lemba identity is flourishing. They continue to have LCA meetings (Buijs 1998). Websites about their heritage and culture are published on the Internet. People in South Africa can identify themselves with whatever group or groups they please.About 80,000 Lemba live in the Venda area of the Limpopo Province in South Africa as well as the Johannesburg township of Soweto (Buijs, 1998 Sand, 2002). Lemba are also found in villages in the southwestern region of Zimbabwe (Buijs, 1998 Sand, 2002). In the Venda region, people speak TshiVenda. Another day when Rudzani and I were walking through the shopping center, he called up to a man with a phrase I did not understand. With a twinkle in his eyes, he told me that was the traditional greeting for a Jewish brother.Again, I let that pass, thinking he could translate it to mean whatever he wanted since I did not know TshiVenda (a favorite joke of my friends there). In disapproval and after research, I do not doubt the old Jewish ties and if I go back to South Africa, I will be sure to find out more. Conclusion The problem with constructing the history of the Lemba identity is that it has been passed down through oral tradition. When it was recorded at the turn of the twentieth century, it is possible the outside visitors were biased or projecting a Jewish identity on the Lemba.Genetic data support the oral tradition, and genetic research has identified anomalies in the Lemba population. Across the articles, the same information about the oral tradition and culture of the Lemba was offered. Ethnographic study of the Lemba traditions, not in contrast to Jews or other Africans, is mandatory to understand what being Lemba means today. Further research considering political 12 economy, as Buijs did, will continue to fill out the picture of constructions and p rojections of identity for the Black Jews of South Africa. 13 Works Cited Bradman N, and Thomas M. 1998. wherefore Y?The Y chromosome in the study of human evolution, migration, and prehistory. Science Spectra, 14. 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