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Mamoko, mamoko, matlabama iye (Clouds, clouds, low clouds, iye)

Tietse Modisane and group of about 30 Hurutshe women
Audio
Mamoko, mamoko, matlabama iye (Clouds, clouds, low clouds, iye)
From ILAM catalog: The Western Transvaal has inadequate rainfall, in many places as low as 15 to 18 inches a year, gradually becoming reduced towards the West and the Kalahari Desert where recently in one region no rain at all has fallen for five years. This accounts for the numerous rain songs to be found among the Tswana tribes who have good cause for anxiety for their crops each year. No rain songs are sung in high rainfall areas. The praise lines or verses are set lines--not impromptu. The words are both archaic and poetic used only for Leboko. The clapping is ritual, but it is always correct to clap the hands when asking for something. The Moroka or rainmaker was the officiant in a rain-making ceremony.