In 1894, Rhodesia witnessed the inception of the Native Affairs Department. An office established under the auspices of the British South African Company to oversee the welfare of black Africans settled in tribal trust lands.
As part of its growth and function, the department would go on to publish the first issue of the Native Affairs Department Annual in 1923. This was a means to record the experiences of its Native Commissioners and shed light on historical and cultural mores noted among the various tribes within the colony. Besides European contributors, African writers also submitted to the journal. Among those who contributed were the late Gordon Lloyd Chavunduka, a sociologist and traditional healer who served as former Vice Chancellor of the University of Zimbabwe, and Aeneas Chigwedere, a former Minister of Education and noted historian.
The Annual would run continuously over the next fifty-six years until Independence in 1980, which then saw the publication and department finally close. Though not rigorously peer-reviewed, it provided keen insights into various aspects of African life, touching on such topics as dialects, totemic history, oral traditions, praise poetry, traditional religion and its hierarchies, chieftainships, and traditional praise and war songs.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeneas_Chigwedere
Source: https://www.colonialrelic.com/biographies/dr-gordon-chavunduka/
Source: https://www.rhodesianstudycircle.org.uk/department-of-native-affairs/
