James Mata Dwane

Cow and Calf (Imaz'enethole) James Mata Dwane

Cow and Calf is an important historical source of information, based on a document written by one of the leading figures of the Ethiopian Movement, J. M. Dwane, because, from it, one is able to gather first-hand just who this man was, and to learn from the horse's mouth about the world of ideas that characterized the movement's leaders and spokesmen. J. M. Dwane, best known as the founder of the Order of Ethiopia, an autonomous African Order under the umbrella of the Anglican Church, was a much-loved, respected, and even revered person within the Ethiopian community, because it is the community of people whose corporate memory has come down from those who appreciated his gifts and his charisma. The late Bishop Sigqibo Dwane, great-grandson of J. M. Dwane, recovered the original document, written in J. M. Dwane's own handwriting, amongst a pile of valuable papers left behind by the late Chief Burns-Ncamashe. In Bishop Sigqibo Dwane's own words: "I am particularly gratified that I have been able to read and pass on to others this document as originally written by its author, with as little editorial as possible. Much has been written by other people about J. M. Dwane, and some of it from old missionary sources has been painful to read to those who knew otherwise. Let him now speak for himself and then we can judge whether what we have learnt about him from other people can be reconciled with what comes to us as we encounter him though the pages of this book."