# data[].attributes.body
One main current issue in Xhosa is that white rule was taking over places in South Africa which led to issues with areas that they lived in, poverty, and health problems. Each family is considered a clan which is causes very many conflicts with land and believes in certain topics. Crime is very a big issue is rising up a lot lately which is causing separation in families or clans as they would say. An issue is that men are the rulers of the household and are allowed to have many wives as long as he can provide for all of those families. Education is not very well kept and distributed in Xhosa areas. Many schools had restrictions or closed down after a couple of years. Most these schools were provided off of missionaries and trip as of that, so with poor funding is caused the schools to shut down. These are some major problems that Xhosa is having and they key to fix all these problems is money which would fix most to all of these problems in modern Xhosa (T.B.)

www.gettyimages.com (T.B.)

# data[].attributes.body
There is just over 7 million people who are Xhosa in South Africa. This number tells us that Xhosa tribes are pretty popular, although it still can be hard to find accurate numbers of this tribe because they are located in a lot of rural areas. Xhosa is about 18% of all of South Africa's population. The Xhosa tribe is the second largest language group in South Africa. Xhosa's population went through a  decrease during most of the apartheid because of white annexation and because of extremely bad poverty during that time. Although the populations started to increase during the end of apartheid because The South African government put aside separate regions just for the Xhosa tribe which were the Transkei and the Ciskei. The South African government then declared the two regions as independent countries but that got abolished after the change of democracy in the year of 1994. After the apartheid ended populations went up because the Xhosa tribes had more access to things and were not suffering for such bad poverty(C.H).

Picture by (C.H)
www.globalsecurity.org

# data[].attributes.body
The main religion is Christianity in the Xhosa culture. God is not commonly talked since he is needed to have rituals to be approached with God. Many rituals and feast occur in the practice of the Xhosa religion. They celebrate many holidays most coming from christian holidays, but a lot them are very similar to ones used in America today as in Worker's day is close to labor's day. A big tradition is music as in singing and basic instruments as in clapping and drums. Many of there traditions and religion come from missionaries. These traditions affect the Xhosa people because they are not like many tribes near them and that can lead to conflicts. Religion had really affected them because Christianity is getting more and more popular throughout places like Africa. Many aspects culture wise are similar to those of America which is important for growing as a tribe and becoming more popular. Music is one thing that they do similar to tribes and countries near rather than what is common in the U.S. Ancestors are very important and powerful to the Xhosa people which is a great tradition to keep. (T.B)
buzzsouthafrica.com (T.B.)

# data[].attributes.body
The Xhosa language is quite commonly referred to as isiXhosa. Xhosa is a Bantu language which is related to other tribes such as to the Zulu tribe. Xhosa is especially characterized to be respectful forms of address for elders and in-laws. The Xhosa language contains many words with click consonants that have been borrowed from Khoi or San words. English speakers who have not mastered clicks pronounce Xhosa as Ko-sa. Names in the Xhosa language often show values or opinions of the community. Two very common names in the Xhosa culture is the Thamsanqa, which means "good fortune". Another common name is Nomsa which means "Mother of Kindness". Adults are often referred to by their clan names. Women are also referred to by reference to their children. The official languages of South Africa in which the country Xhosa tribes live in are English, Venda, Zulu, and their own native language, Xhosa. Their are also many more official languages of South Africa as well. Although, there isn't just one official language because there are so many different languages that are being used in South Africa.(C.H)

Picture is by (C.H)
http://slideplayer.com/slide/4189890/

# data[].attributes.body
Both male and females have to get circumcised at sometime in their life. Circumcision for females and males in the Xhosa culture represent the passing of being a child into being an adult. The males live in specialized huts which are isolated from towns and civilizations, and they stay there for several weeks during the process of turning into an adult. The men must have their heads shaved and they are covered totally with white clay on their bodies. The men then must stay in the huts with only a blanket to warm their bodies. The males also have to watch taboos and different stages in the initiation process are marked by the sacrifice of a goat. For females it is much less complex, a shorter process. The woman, is private for about a week. During the week, the girl goes through many things such as doing dances, and watching animal sacrifices.  Girls must also learn about food restrictions. Also, girls have to deal with no surgical operations. After females and males have completed this, they have finished the rite of passage. (C.H)

Picture is by (C.H)
https://www.pinterest.com/pindysandlana/trevorthabile/

# data[].attributes.body
Ramphela, Mamphela.A Bed Called
Home: Life in the Migrant Labour Hostels of Cape Town.Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 1993.

Switzer, Les.Power and Resistance in an African Society: The Ciskei Xhosa and the Making of South Africa.Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1993.

"Xhosa." - Introduction, Location, Language, Folklore, Religion, Major Holidays, Rites of Passage. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2016.

Zenani, Nongenile.The World and the Word: Tales and Observations from the Xhosa Oral Tradition.Collected and edited by Harold Scheub. Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 1992.

# data[].attributes.body
Xhosa is located in the Eastern part of South Africa. Where they live is very plentiful of water, but there is also some dry and desert areas. Most of Xhosa-speaking people live in Cape Town. There are mountain ranges and mainly grassy plains with plateaus or thick forests. A main river in Capetown is Fish River which is a great provider for water and farming for the Xhosa people living there. Around multi-million Xhosa people live throughout East Africa which are split up into four areas or tribes: Northern and Central Nguni, Southern Nguni, and the Swazi people. These districts are separated based on the language they speak. Around 11th century these tribes moved father down South to where they are today. (T.B.)

http://www.globalsecurity.org/ (T.B.)