Mapulana people

Pulana people

Mapulana
Regions with significant populations
South Africa	+/- 800,000
Languages
First language Sepulana Second language English, Sepedi
Religion
Christianity, African traditional religion.
Related ethnic groups
Tswana people, Pedi people, Lobedu people, Sotho people, and Lozi people

The Mapulana or Pulana, are a low-veld ethnic group found in Bushbuckridge near Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces. Their language is called Sepulana (SeKutswe and Pai) and is considered a dialect of the Northern Sotho language group, although it is a Northern Sotho dialect (Similar to Sepedi - Sesotho Sa Lebowa). It also hugely influenced by Xitsonga, Swati, Afrikaans, English, and Setswana.

The area where the Pulana live is called Bushbuckridge; it stretches from Crocodile River in the south to the Swazi border (Mapulana of Mashego) in the north, from the Crocodile to Olifants River (Limpopo) in the north, Lebombo Mountains in the east, and also includes the towns of Hazyview, White River, Mpumalanga (Lepunama), Sabie, Graskop, Hoedspruit, Barberton, Lydenburg and Dullstroom in the west. In the Pulana language, or Sepulana, Mapulaneng means "Place of the Mapulana people." The tribe derives its name from their founding leader, Lepulana, who later changed his name to Chiloane. Mapulana are descendants of Morolong, and their origins can be traced back to the Kgalagadi before they settled in Thaba Chueu, in what is today eastern Lesotho and Shakwaneng (Carolina) in the 1500s. Mapulana of Matshwe got their name from their leader, Pulane. They are offshoots of Amazizi and of Nguni origin.