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Bakuena Clan — History & Meaning
Sotho clan · Sesotho
Totem Crocodile (Sesotho/Setswana: kwena/koena)
History & origin
The Bakuena (Bakoena/Bakwena, 'people of the crocodile') are the largest and most senior of the Sotho-Tswana crocodile clans. Tradition traces the founder Kwena to a grandson of the Bahurutshe chief Masilo, with the clan spreading from the highveld toward the Kalahari and the Caledon valley from c.1500-1600. The Bakoena are the royal clan of Lesotho: Moshoeshoe I, founder of the Basotho kingdom (1820s), belonged to the Bamokoteli lineage, a branch of the Bakoena. Most Bakoena of Lesotho trace descent from the ancestor Monaheng (Kali). The Bakwena are also a principal tribe of Botswana.
Associated surnames
Surnames that share this clan: Mokoena, Kwena, Moshoeshoe, Mokhachane, Sekhonyana, Nkopane.
We publish the full diboko (clan praises) only once we can verify them against documented tradition — for this clan they are still being confirmed. If you can share an authoritative version, corrections are warmly welcomed.