00:00Nduna Nkomanile was a freedom fighter from Kitanda in southwest Tanzania.
00:05After 1885, Germany ruled their so-called German East Africa colony with tremendous violence.
00:11The colonizers forced locals to grow cash crops and pay harsh taxes.
00:16Resistance grew in all parts of the colony.
00:20Finally, 20 ethnic groups united against the Germans in 1905.
00:25They were armed with maji, a magical potion served to turn the bullets of the colonizers into water.
00:31It gave them the courage to face the well-armed Germans.
00:35Among them were also women.
00:37Nduna Nkomanile unified the Ngoni group to resist.
00:40The name Nkomanile means the one who was fought for.
00:43Between 1905 and 1907, an estimated 300,000 Tanzanians died during the conflict.
00:49Aside from military action, thousands died of starvation
00:53since German forces burned villages and crops as part of their so-called Scorched Earth Strategy.
00:59This action destroyed livelihoods for generations beyond the Maji-Maji War.
01:04Nduna Nkomanile was hanged in Zongeia by German authorities along with other leaders.
01:09She was the only female leader on record to be publicly hanged.
01:13The executions aimed to spread fear among the remaining families and discourage resistance to colonialism.
01:19Today, Nduna Nkomanile is recognized as a Tanzanian freedom fighter and an icon of female resistance.
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