Marwaale, Tabitha Maria Magdalena

Xaawo Marwaale was born around 1915 in the village of Moofi, Jamaame District of Lower Jubba Region. Moofi was a village inhabited by the WaZigua people [also called Mushunguli. Their ancestors came from northeast Tanzania and had been enslaved by Arabs (Omar A. Eno and Mohamed A. Eno 2014, Cabdisaciid Cabdi Ismaaciil 2015) in the early 19th century and sold to Somali plantation owners in the Middle Shabeelle Region. A large number escaped and moved to the lower Jubba valley in the middle of the 19th century where they maintained not only their culture, but also their Bantu language (Omar Eno and Van Lehman, 2003). Compared to the neighboring Shambaara/Gosha/Reer Goleed ethnic group, the WaZigua preserved more of their indigenous Bantu language and culture (Menkhaus 2003). Even in the 1980s, some inhabitants of Moofi were not fluent in Somali.]