Wood Badge for the 21st Century

Two Wood Badge beads on a leather thong are presented to leaders that have completed their Wood Badge ticket. These replica beads are similar to the ones from a necklace that once belonged to King Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo. Who was King Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo and how did Baden-Powell (and we) get to wear "his" beads? Dunuzulu kaCetshwayo was the king of the Zulu nation from 1884 until his death in 1913. His father Cetshwayo was the last king of the Zulus to be officially recognized by the British.

Zululand was experiencing a process of national disintegration. Sir Garnet Wolseley had imposed an unsavory political arrangement on the Zulu people. He divided Zululand into thirteen separate territories, each under an appointed chief. uSuthu royalists deeply resented that the royal household had been placed under the authority of Cetshwayo's greatest enemy, Chief Zibhebhu of the Mandlakazi. These events deeply divided the country, and many view it as the origins of the Zulu civil war.

In 1883 King Dunuzulu was one of several Zulus that rebelled from British authority and was one of the leaders of the Zulu wars of 1883-1884. He had first appealed to the British, but received no response. He then offered rewards of land to Boer mercenaries who would come and fight on his side– and offer that was gladly taken up by the land-hungry Boers.

In 1890 Dinuzulu was found guilty of rebellion for his activities in this war and was exiled to the island of St. Helena from 1890-1897.

In 1906 the Bhambhata rebellion broke out. After the rebellion had been put down, he was accused of giving orders to start the rebellion. Although he steadfastly protested his innocence, he was found guilty and sentenced to four years imprisonment in 1908. Two years later an old friend, General Louis Botha, became the first Prime Minister of the South Africa. Botha immediately ordered that he be released and transported to the farm Uitkyk in the Transvaal, where he died in 1913. Statues of Dinuzulu and Botha are due to be erected at the corner of Berea Road and Warwick Avenue in Durban.

The beads? Beads from Dunuzulu’s necklace were captured by British Colonel Robert Stephen Baden-Powell as a war trophy during the war of 1883-1884. (The beads may have included some of those pictured above- it is certainly quite possible.) These beads were treasured by Baden-Powell because of Dunuzulu's royalty, courage, and leadership.

The fact that Baden-Powell presented his treasured beads to Scout leaders who had dedicated themselves through Scout leader training demonstrated his respect for those who were willing to learn and apply new skills in order to help youth. Accordingly, the highest levels of Scout leader training became known as "The Wood Badge" and it remains as the one single common denominator of trained Scout leaders the world over.

Today’s beads are direct replicas.

Sources: www.wikipedia.org www.sahistory.org.za