According to TO Ranger in "Revolt in Southern Rhodeisa", the first Chimurenga, which occurred from 1896 to 1897, was an uprising in response to the imposition of colonial rule in Southern Rhodesia, present-day Zimbabwe (ix). The Nbele and Shona people resisted colonial rule and in return endured a complex set of struggles over land, livestock, and taxes. The inability and unwillingness of Europeans to understand the culture and religion of the Nbele and Shona people distorts perceptions of events and opinions about their behavior and actions (2). Terrance mentions that during colonial rule, many Europeans believed that the people of Africa were happy with the new administration and misunderstood the reaction of the "African people of Southern Rhodesia to colonial rule..., this misunderstanding arose... in part of white ignorance of the history of the Shona and the Ndebele… Edwards [confessed], we knew nothing of their past history, who they were or where they came from, and although many native commissioners had…knowledge of their language, none of us really understood the people or could follow their line of thinking, we…considered them an oppressed race who were grateful to the white man for his protection” (2). Europeans did not treat them as equals because they considered them dependent and considered their lives to have no meaning. They believed that the Shona and Ndebele people had no roots or culture and therefore had no history. Terrance Ranger mentions that “the whites believed that the Shona people would not rebel because they believed that the Shona had no roots, no sense of history; no sense of religion,… no way of life worth fighting and dying for” (2). Africans of these cultures were considered inferior by the Europeans... middle of paper ... the victims of the victims they murdered were secretly placed and kept in Nyanda Cave. The settlers were determined to destroy the cave in order to show the natives that the white man had little respect for Nyanda's power since she was the inspiration for the people's resistance (108). The abolition of his cave was a way of violating and damaging African sacred places, a strategy that forced more Africans into Christianity. “Nehanda-charwe was powerful because of her mind” and the women before and after her who held this position were also influenced by great power (109). Nehanda-Charwe was accused of ordering and participating in Pollard's murder, but she remained at large. The settlers wanted and paid more attention to the capture of Nehanda-Charwe rather than other mediums because they believed it prevented many natives from surrendering. (111).