Luchazi people and their heritage.
Luchazi people
The Luchazi (Lucazi) are a Bantu ethnic people of the southern central Africa who are found in Angola, Congo (DRC), Namibia and Zambia. KaLuchazi (the plural being VaLuchazi) is a term used to indicate member of a Luchazi people. Luchazi is a name of a river, and it was used to refer to early communities that settled along the Luchazi River in eastern Angola. The Luchazi River is a tributary of Luena River. In eastern Angola, names of ethnic groups are based on the names of the rivers or some other characteristic feature of the ecology.
Sometimes the name
of an ethnic or sub-ethnic group is derived from the clan's name or personality
of a famous chief. In 1923, Emil Pearson collected an oral tradition among the
Lwimbi in the Kwanza valley that claimed that the Lwimbi are part of the
Luchazi people. It is reported that their chief called Lwimbi had a quarrel
with a Luchazi Chief called Muangana Mueni Ngongola. After that bitter quarrel, Chief Lwimbi with his followers left the Luchazi territory and settled in the Kwanza valley. According to Luchazi elders, there is no tribe called Lwimbi. They say that the so called Lwimbi people are Luchazi people. The first known chief of the Lwimbi people was Muangana Mueni Chikungulu who was a cousin to Muangana Mueni Chivueka Mukuma. Muangana Mueni Chikungulu established his palace at Mbanjela. At that time, there was a Ovimbundu chief by the name of Ndumba ya Chilombo at Kuandulu who used to send his subjects into Muangana Mueni Chikungulu's area to capture slaves. Another Ovimbundu chief by the name of Ndunduma from Bailundu also used to carry out raids to capture slaves in Luchazi territories. When Muangana Mueni Chikungulu died, he was succeeded by Muangana Mueni Lwimbi. In the same year, Emil Pearson also got an oral report that the Ngondzelo people
considered themselves to be a split-off from the Luchazi group.
Emil Pearson wrote that the Luchazi are further sub-divided according to their settlement areas in Angola. These are VaLuchazi lua ntunda (referring to the group settled up on high ground) and VaLuchazi lua ndonga (referring to the group settled in areas along the banks of the rivers).
Ngangela people.
The Luchazi belong to a cluster of Bantu people called the Ngangela. Geographically, the Ngangela are found in the following provinces of Angola: Bie, Moxico, Cuando-Cubango and Cunene. Ngangela simply means the source of the sun or place of the rising sun; there is an old traditional song, "Mu Ngangela mu na tili mu na ca" meaning when the place of the rising sun is red, it is dawn. The word Ngangela is also used to refer to a cluster of ethnic groups of the south-eastern and central Angola, and these are people who have common words such as 'Nga', 'Ange', 'Nguange' in their languages. Ngangela is a descriptor acceptable and often used interchangeably by some ethnic groups, however, many ethnic groups have individual preferences on how they would like to be described.
The word Ngangela was commonly used by the European merchants and their commercial agents (Kimbundu and Ovimbundu people commonly referred to as Vimbali) in the 18th century to describe the ethnic groups of people occupying the areas of south-eastern and central territories of the Portuguese colony of Angola. When the Portuguese military colonialists arrived in Angola, the word was massively used in a derogatory way to imply primitiveness or uncivilized people of the east. The word Ngangela has been portrayed as derogatory by some people because it is associated with past racist attitude of Portuguese colonialists, while many other people have embraced it as a descriptor of their historic groups.
In his book entitled ‘People of the Aurora and Tales of the Aurora’ (1977), Emil Pearson identified the following ethnic groups of people as the VaNgangela: Luchazi, Nyemba, Lwimbi, Nkangala, Ngondzelo, Yauma, Mbunda, Chimbandi and Mbwela (Nkoya of Angola). Other tribes also identified as VaNgangela include the Ndundu, Mbalundu and Songo.
Emil Pearson in his book entitled Luchazi Grammar states, “Luchazi is the principal language of the Ngangela group. The language spoken by Ngangela group are remarkably similar to each other. Some eighteen different tribal names may be found among them, but the linguistic differences are not that great. Linguistic divergences must have been at work during the centuries of movement, and it is rather remarkable that the differences between the dialects are not greater. The intermarriage, colonialism and modern civilisation have had a leavening influence”.
Emil Pearson further stated, “If you speak Luchazi you can travel from the Kunene River (the last big river before you reach the Atlantic Ocean) and go east for nearly a thousand miles before you exhaust the area where you will be understood”.
Geographical location of Luchazi people.
The Luchazi people use the names of rivers to refer to geographical locations. The original homeland of the Luchazi is the watershed land between the rivers and tributaries which pour their waters into the Zambezi River to the east (Zambezi River Basin) and Cuanza (Kwanza), Cunene (Kunene) and Kukema rivers which flow towards the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The rivers are central markers in geographical space, and the rivers occupied by the Luchazi in Angola before the Portuguese are the main tributaries of the Zambezi River on its west bank namely, Luena, Lunguè-bungo (Lungwebungu), Lwanjinga, and Cuando (Kuando) including Cubango (Kuvangu) and Cuito which pour their waters into the Okavango River and swamps. Other rivers include Ndakavala, Musimoyi, Ntoyecha, Luantamba, Luchazi, Kanazi, Luyo, Lukuse, Chipandakano, Luzilakuti, Lukonya, Luvueyi Luondze, Lukula, Kueve and Cuanavale (Kuanavale).
In Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), the Luchazi people settled in areas like Kanyange, Chivombo, Lunkuni, Lunyiwe, Lutali, Chozo, Kalombo, Makondo, Kambanda, Chiwezi, Musekelembwa, Lwampungu, Lwatembwe and other rivers in the Balovale district. Other Luchazi settlements include the Chikonkwelo, Kantsalya, Katuva, Mumbezi, Nyakuyuwa, Kalwilo, Mbulundu, and Maninga (now Manyinga). Today, the regions inhabited by Luchazi people are:
- Cuando-Cubango Province of Angola: Cuito Cuanavale to Mavinga.
- Southwest Moxico Province of Angola: Luchazi municipality and adjacent areas. Before the arrival of the Portuguese, the Luchazi people were centrally settled in what is now Moxico province by 14th century. In Moxico province, they occupied the territory from Kassai River in the north, Tembe, a commune of Luchazi municipality bordering Bie province in the west, up to Luanginga River in Bundas municipality in the south and in the Luzo, now Luena provincial capital east bordering with Leua municipality.
- North-western Province of Zambia: Kabompo district, Mufumbwe district and Zambezi district.
- Western Province of Zambia: Kaoma district, Lukulu district and Kalabo district.
- Namibia: They are great in number in Kavango province; Caprivi Strip region and the Okavangu region.
- A sizable population is also found in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The Luchazi
people in Namibia and Zambia consider Angola as their ancestral homeland.
Luchazi ethnic identity.
Luchazi language.
Luchazi (Lucazi, antonym: Chiluchazi) is an indigenous Bantu language of Angola. It is also spoken in Namibia and Zambia. The language belongs to Ciokwe-Luchazi (K.13) class of the Niger-Congo language family (Language code: ISO 639-3 lch and Glottocode: lch 1239). The Language can also be referred to as Lujash, Lujazi, Lutchaz, Lutshase, Luxage, Ponda, and Chiluchazi depending on area. Luchazi is written using the Latin alphabet, with most characters representing the same sound as in English, with some exceptions. The letters Q, W, X and Y are not part of the proper alphabet and appear only in names or in a few native words and in borrowed words from Portuguese and other languages. From the viewpoint of pure phonetics, the ordinary alphabet is inadequate, but by observing the general rules that follow, a person should have no difficulty. The vowels have the so-called Continental or Italian values.
According to 17th edition of Ethnologue, Luchazi is a prestige form of the Ngangela language cluster. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, in the 1920s, Portuguese colonial masters attempted to make Portuguese the only language spoken in the Portuguese colony of Angola; these attempts proved to be futile. The Luchazi people maintained the use of their language in daily life. However, Portuguese become the language of the present political leadership, so much that those who did not speak Portuguese were effectively excluded from the political process; a heavy price that the Ngangela people paid which pushed them bottom of the political process.
Axel Fleisch in his book entitled: Lucazi Grammar: A
Morphosemantic Analysis, writes, “Although the number of Lucazi speakers is
difficult to estimate, the language must be considered one of the major
languages of southern central Africa. Several hundred thousand individuals use
one of the intelligible Ngangela varieties. How many of them consider
themselves Lucazi speakers is unknown. So far little has been published on the
languages of south-eastern Angola.”
Traditions of Luchazi people.
Pattern of shared and non-shared behaviour.
The Luchazi have the mukanda and the mungonge for the boy’s rites of passage while other tribes practice only the mukanda rites. The mukanda custom although shared with neighbouring tribes has some differences in the way it is conducted, and in the way the mukanda camp is constructed. For example, cizika mukanda is the term for the father of the head initiate, and the same term is used to refer to the head initiate during the circumcision, and because of intermarriage with other Ngangela ethnic groups, other Luchazi communities call the head initiate as Ntumba-kambongo. According to tribal elders, Ntumba-kambongo is a song which is sung during the mukanda. On the day of cessation of mukanda rites, the Luchazi initiates perform kutanga ritual and dance (kuhunga) during the day while other related tribes they do not dance or dance in the night; and the Luchazi mukanda camp is burned down during the day while other related tribes do it in the night. These seem to be small details, but they are extremely important as identity markers for a group and also their recognition as such by outsiders.
Population of Luchazi people.
According to the 17th edition of Ethnologue, large populations of 400, 000 live in Angola. But according to Encyclopaedia Britannica (Ethnic composition -2000), the Luchazi account for about 2.3% of the population of Angola (which translates into about 600,000). Although estimates of population in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Namibia and Zambia are speculative, the exact numbers are not known. Many during population census in these countries, registered themselves as Nyemba or Luena (Luvale) or members of other related tribes in their locality. The total population is estimated at 900, 000.
Population losses were considerable due to slave trade, famine and the civil war that followed after independence in Angola. Jill R. Dias writes (Famine and Disease in the history of Angola 1830 to 1930 - The Journal of African History, Cambridge University press, 1981), "periods of exceptionally irregular rainfall, lasting several years, were preceded or accompanied by plagues of locusts which caused famines at least once every decade... A series of drought and smallpox can be discerned in Angola, at least since the 17th century." During the Angolan civil war (1975–2002), it is estimated that the warfare killed about a half million people; famine and disease are estimated to have killed an additional half million people as well.
Origins of Luchazi people.
The origins of the Luchazi are largely unknown but can be traced from the Congo Basin region which spans across the following countries namely Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo and Democratic Republic of Congo including East African valley with input from the rivers in the upper reaches and the Lualaba River draining wetlands in the middle reaches. According to oral narrations, the tribal elders say that the name of original home of the Luchazi people, as given to them by their forefathers, is called Kalundi. By 500 BCE, the Luchazi people who may have been part of Bantu migration, had settled at a place known as Tusole in Lualaba River region and other areas west of what came to be later known as the Lunda Empire in the Congo basin (now Democratic Republic of Congo in Katanga region).
However, attempts to trace the exact route of movement into the Congo basin have been speculative and have not been conclusive. According to Britannica encyclopedia, archaeologists disagree about the route and modes of dispersal of Bantu people as well as its timing. Archaeologists are divided over whether all the cultural and economic attributes arrived with a single group of new people from West Africa or Sudan. Moreover, the Bantu migration or expansion is a hypothesis about the history of migration. A hypothesis is an assumption that is proposed for the sake of argument so that it can be tested to see if it might be true. The primary evidence for this Bantu migration has been linguistic, and it was 19th century European linguists who theorized that the Bantu languages descended from a common Proto-Bantu ancestry in West Africa several millennia ago. There are different theories on Bantu movements and expansion. The question is: "Which one do you think the author wants you to believe?" Or "do you believe in human evolution theories which states that people originated from apelike ancestors (homo habilis) in present day Tanzania?"
Manfred K. H. Eggert (Genetizing Bantu: Historical insight or Historical Trilemma? - 2016) stated that "the current archaeological record in central African rainforest is extremely spotty and consequently far from convincing so as to be taken as a reflection of a steady influx of Bantu speakers into the forest, let alone movement on a larger scale."
The Bantu migration or expansion hypothesis is now open to debate. Did it happen? Dr. Chapirukha Kusimba (Field Museum, Chicago) said, "The question concerning whether or not the Bantu migration actually occurred will await further research. It's very easy to assume that we know so much. Actually we know so little because very little research has been done. So far there is a huge area in DR Congo, Rwanda and Uganda where no field work has been done and these are areas that the Bantu people would have passed through."
For the purpose of this blog, we shall restrict ourselves to the accounts collected by early European missionaries and the oral accounts given by Luchazi tribal elders. According to an oral account obtained in 1920s by the
missionary Emil Pearson, the Luchazi in Angola said that their forebears had
originated from the east through the Congo, a long time before. When they had
reached the sources of the Zambezi River, some of them turned south and settled
in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). The Bulk of the people went southwest into what is now called Angola, while a small group stayed in the Congo. In Angola, they settled in
what is now called Moxico province and expanded to areas of Bie province, and from
Mavinga to Cuito Cuanavale establishing their communities around Cuando-Cubango
area. Other groups in Angola settled closer to the Atlantic coast.
The reasons for Luchazi migration or movements
1. According to popular myths, movements from the Congo began when Queen Lueji (others say it was Niakapamba Musompa) fell in love with a mythical Luba hunter named Chibinda Ilunga whom she later married and surrendered her royal authority and functions to him. This infuriated the chiefs and their subjects because there were clearly laid down procedures of selecting a consort or a husband for a royal woman. As a protest against the Queen's love affair with the Luba hunter and his subsequent usurpation of her sovereignty, various chiefs and their respective subjects departed from Lueji's (or Niakapamba's) territory and went to establish their own chiefdoms in other lands. This in-fighting and upheavals within the Lunda Empire, led the Luchazi people and other tribes to leave the Congo (now DRC). It is believed that from the marriage of Lueji and Chibinda Ilunga, if rather indirectly, came the Mwata Yamvo rulers of the Lunda, to whom the surrounding chiefdoms paid tributes.
Although the story of Lueji (or Niakapamba's) love affair with Chibinda is generally accepted as the cause of exodus from the Congo, one school of thought says that many aspects of this story remain in doubt and are highly questionable or contested due to lack of quality evidence. Some Luchazi elders say the story of Lueji (or Niakapamba) is a lie that has been told over a long period of time by the early Luba merchants and European pioneers, and the story is now accepted as true by those who seek to be associated with the Luba-Lunda states of the Congo. This notion is misleading to the present and future generations of all ethnic groups concerned. Lueji, who was the daughter of Mwata Iyala Mwaku, ruled the Lunda federation of Tubungo in the 1650s. They have further pointed out that the timeline or the chronological sequence of events does not match other events because the time Chibinda, the Luba hunter, was establishing his authority over the Lunda in 1664 CE, the Luchazi people were already well established in eastern, central, and southern territories of the present day Angola where they were already trading with the Dutch and Portuguese through the Mbundu people commonly known as "Vimbali" meaning the lackeys or commercial agents of the Portuguese. It is also a fact that the Luchazi people never passed through the so called Kola (Luba) and were not part of the Luba-Lunda states or empire.
Daniel Musole (a Luchazi elder speaking at a symposium on Luchazi history convened by Muangana Mueni Kalunga II on August 28, 1971) said, "From time immemorial, the Luchazi people have never been ruled in their own land by any other chief of any other tribe. Never at any time in their history did the Luchazi people become subjects to any tribal chief other than their own". When the Portuguese were founding administrative posts and settlement towns such as Luanda (formerly São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda in 1576) the Luchazi were well established in Angola.
According to Britannica, the Lunda Empire was founded in 16th century as a merchant empire by Luba invaders, and the Lunda kingdom was founded in 16th century under Mwata Yamvo (or the so called Mwa Chiyavwa). The term 'Lunda Empire' was loosely used and is slowly being discredited. Many people are now asking, "What is an empire?" Moreover, many kingdoms
and chiefdoms in the Congo basin were autonomous and fairly independent of the
Lunda authority. The supporters of the Lunda empire are now using the term 'Lunda federation or states'. Most of these so-called empires were created by the early European merchants. It is also believed that to ensure effective control of this empire, Luba invaders and European merchants assigned a representative to each chiefdoms surrounding the empire to administer or carry out trade (just like the Barotse leadership sent representatives in its vast territory of the so called Barotse Protectorate), and some of these male representatives married the local women of that particular tribe and become rulers. This explains why some royal houses trace their chieftainship to Luba-Lunda states.
2. Luchazi people migrated to and settled in places where the climate was well-suited to Luchazi agricultural practices. The introduction and adoption of new crops such as maize (mundele), cassava (muandza) etc. influenced decisions to migrate. The crops grown by the Luchazi such as finger millet (valuku), bulrush millet (masangu), sorghum (masa), and African Multi-coloured corn (lipungu or pungu; this heirloom variety was common among the Nyemba people, and a song is usually sung, "Hali na tili yaye... ntsekentseke ku cipoke ndala... Hali na tili lipungu lia mu Nyemba", which shows its association with Nyemba people), grew best in the tropical savannah. Cassava and sweet potatoes (musambe) were a game changer because the tubers could be stored in the soil much longer than the grains and this enabled them achieve food security relatively easy. The cultivation of tuber plants required bigger plots of land.
3. Population growth influenced decisions to migrate to new settlements. Population growth occurred with the spread of agricultural activity due to iron-smelting activity which allowed them to create effective farming tools. Their devotion to agriculture, construction of good, thatched houses and maintenance of clean environment in village communities, lifted the living standards which led to population growth.
4. The adoption of livestock such as goats (vampembe), pigs (vangulu), cattle (vangombe) created the need for grazing land and conflicts over grazing land become frequent.
5. Trade: During the long period of commercial interaction with the Portuguese and Dutch traders at the Atlantic coast, the Luchazi trade caravan leaders noted such lands as might be suitable for Luchazi settlement if need arose. So as and when trade contact continued between the two groups, some Luchazi people came to settle near the trade caravan routes.
6. The outbreak of diseases such as smallpox in the Congo basin forced many Luchazi people to leave for the tropical savannah.
Prehistoric period.
According to Britannica encyclopedia (history of Angola), "most of the modern population of Angola developed from the agricultural cultures that appeared there from about 1000 to 500BCE, which by CE were working iron. These people probably spoke the ancestral versions of Angola's present languages. Complex societies also may have been established at that time, and by 1500 several large kingdoms occupied the territory of the present day Angola.
Archaeological and historical inquiry has been problematic because of the prolonged independence and civil wars. Today, divided tribes and societies produce divided histories, and there is hardly an episode in the region's history that is not now open to debate. This is as true of prehistory as of more recent past. There has been a conscious struggle to control the past in order to legitimate the present and lay claim to the future. Who is telling what history for which tribe or society is a question that needs constantly to be addressed." Most of these oral histories have no dates or timings or archaeological discoveries to support them.
And it is wrong to assume that the Luchazi people were a break away segment from a parent tribe in the Lunda empire or Luba-Lunda states, and the existence of Luchazi people as a tribe or ethnic group in Angola did not begin in 16th or 17th century. Luchazi (Lucazi) is a big tribe, and it must be considered as one of the major tribes of southern central Africa.
Precolonial times.
Before the arrival of the Portuguese, the Luchazi people were centrally settled in what is now Moxico province by 14th century. In Moxico province, they occupied the territory from Cassai (Kassai)
River in the north, Tembe, a commune of Luchazi municipality bordering Bie
province in the west, up to Luanginga River in Bunda municipality in the south
and in the Luzo, now Luena provincial capital east bordering with Leua
municipality.
Creation myth.
The Luchazi people believe in a highly revered supreme deity called Kalunga who is the creator of all things and all Luchazi clans. They believe that all things are linked to the spiritual world, and they believe in a high and divine force which is manifested in everything that has been created. This is evident in the way they call or name certain things such as the sea (mema a kalunga), thunder (ku-zima ca kalunga), twins (vana va kalunga), tuhia va kalunga etc. They trace their lineages to the mythical female-figure named Nama who is thought to have been created by the sky being Kalunga. Nama gave birth to Musompa Nama which is the Luchazi royal clan. The Luchazi Kings, Queens, Chiefs and all people trace their origins back to Nama and other Luchazi clans.
The Luchazi people also believe that the spirits and souls of the dead have some kind of afterlife; they believe the souls of the dead go back to Kalunga who is the supreme sky-being and creator of all nature. When a person dies, they say the soul goes back "ku cikuni ca Kalunga". According to tradition, when a person dies, it is the beginning of a longer life. This is why death rituals are conducted to guide the spirit and soul of the deceased to the next world or wherever it is going. They have a saying, "Kua zimina kalunga ka ve kutukako, vakuenu vantu ku va kala (You do not insult where the clash of thunder/thunderbolt goes because your fellow human beings are there)." The belief is also expressed in the following funeral song:
Kukuenu nai muilu,
Nai muilu na kacata kasendo.
Group: "oh ye masiua-e."
Lead vocalist: "vana vange kati mu lila."
Lead vocalist: "Nguange vakuendze kati mu lila."
Lead vocalist: "vana vange kati mu lila."
All cultural rites of passage are attributed to the grace and guidance of Kalunga and their ancestors. During these special traditional ceremonies, the Luchazi people invite the departed spirits called vakulu (ancestors) to come and watch over its progeny. Therefore, this spiritual truth is passed on orally from one generation to another.
Today, the creation myth of the Luchazi people is not much accepted because when the 19th century European missionaries came into Luchazi communities, they classified all forms of traditional beliefs as pagan, and preached the biblical creation of Adam and Eve. As a result of conversion to Christianity, traditional practices and beliefs have died out. Care is needed as Luchazi and other Ngangela languages disagree at times. For example, other Ngangela tribes use the word ‘kalunga’ to refer to the ‘Christian God’ while the Luchazi use the word ‘Njambi’ to refer to the Christian God. In Luchazi language, the word ‘kalunga’ also means rain.
Ancestry.
The Luchazi people trace their ancestry through their mother's side or the matrilineal system, and some of the Luchazi clans are referred to by the names of female ancestors such as Kaposi ka Mununga or Cisehua ca Mununga. A Luchazi person is traditionally identified by his or her mother’s name (for example Chipipa ca Vuime), though some sections of Luchazi communities use the father's name. When a Luchazi man marries, his children trace their ancestry through their mother and are counted in their mother's village. The maternal uncle has authority in the matters of his sister’s children, and his sister’s children are regarded as his true blood relatives. At the death of one of the spouses or after divorce, the children of the marriage went, by custom, to the brother or uncle of the wife. There is a saying, “kusema ca ndemba, cali uaya na vana vene (the cockerel sires, the hen goes with her chicks)”. If the children are not claimed by their maternal uncles, the paternal uncles reserved the right to hand them over into indentured servitude. If it was the husband who died, it was his nephew (muihua) or grandnephew who succeeded him or inherited his estate. In Luchazi society, it is a tragedy for a man not to have nephews and grandnephews; a man without nephews and grandnephews is regarded as the most unfortunate man.
In ancient Luchazi society, life revolved around the woman and they believed that human life begins with a woman. It was the responsibility of a woman to keep the family together and to raise the children in accordance with Luchazi traditions or way of life. They have a saying, "Viali va ku tambeka, vandemba va ku keketa (the hens crow and the roosters cackle); vampuevo vakevo va suana limbo muomu vamala ka va kele na ngolo ya ku tuamenena (the women are the heirs of the village because men have no power or skills to lead properly). And in old days, women were the main food providers because each wife of the village owned a farming field where she grew cassava and grains to feed her family. These farming fields where prepared by the husbands and given to their wives who took over ownership. Husbands also had their own farming fields called mehia a ndemba (singular lihia lia ndemba) where they grew crops to feed their extended family. Today, men are the main providers for they have taken over functions once carried on by women and women have been relegated to the kitchen. Although the Luchazi people are matrilineal, they are patrilocal (families live at the husband’s village). The matrilineal system is slowing passing, but modern women have come back or slowly coming back as providers as well.
Luchazi traditional society.
Prior to the advent of the white man, the Luchazi society was a closely-knit entity from the king through the subordinate chiefs to the ordinary citizen of the kingdom. Practically everyone knew everyone else in their group of villages. Luchazi society was held together by the general principle of good behaviour. Their cultural values such as traditions, beliefs and rituals shape the behaviour of the Luchazi people. In 1920s Emil Pearson observed that the Luchazi people lived together in groups of villages usually surrounded by milemba trees, planted by the inhabitants.
The Luchazi live in circuitous settlements and each village (limbo) is governed and administered by a noble tribal elder called ntunga limbo (village headman). The ntunga limbo is responsible for day-to-day activities of the village and represent the village on all matters to the chief. In the Luchazi village, the ntunga limbo's house is located on the west; the house of his designated successor called Suana faces his house on the east. In the middle of the limbo (village) is a thatched structure called Ndzango, a place where men of the village meet to discuss the affairs of the village, and this also is the place where meals are served. The villages are further divided into manageable homesteads, which are governed by family elders known as vamiata.
Every limbo has an ancestral shrine called Miyombo where the village elders perform the ritual of prayers. In old days, village elders performed supernatural activities called kukoteka limbo in order to protect their homesteads from witches, evil spirits and wild animals. Each village elder laid down taboos such as a woman carrying a load on her head has to lift her load and drop the twisted cloth cushion (nkata) on the ground before entering the village compound, women were not allowed to go and draw water from the stream or river after 14 or 15 hours in the afternoon, women were not allowed to pound meal flour after 15 hours in the afternoon, no pounding or cooking or consumption of cassava leaves (ntsompo) within the village compound, no carrying of a fishing basket (litambi) on the head when you are in the village compound yard meaning the fishing basket must be trailed or carried with hands parallel to the ground when you are in the village yard, etc.
Allocation of duties and tasks in Luchazi society.
Cultural values has great influence on the Luchazi way of life, including allocation of duties, daily chores, life rituals, parenting and disciplinary techniques for children. Traditionally, Luchazi people distinguish between men’s work and women’s work. The assigning of work or tasks is done within the village and family setup. Cooking of meals is exclusively done by women, and other Women’s work includes bearing children, housekeeping, feeding and protecting their families. They plough and plant the fields, involved in pottery, weaving and other arts. The processing of agricultural products is done almost exclusively by women, and they are also master brewers of beverages of all kinds.
In ancient Luchazi society, they were no 'housewives';
women’s occupation was farming. They were taught that a Luchazi women's place
is first and foremost in the field and then in the kitchen; respect is given to women who are hard-working and
self-sufficient in terms of food. Women of the village participate in communal
activities and work as a team in tasks such as pounding meal flour which is
coupled with joking and singing, care of children of the village, fetching
water/firewood, collecting edible mushrooms and caterpillars, and fishing (kusuinga) using
their fishing baskets (matambi). The picture below was photographed by early European pioneers in Angola which shows the Luchazi women fishing using their fishing baskets.
The traditional role of men in Luchazi society has been deeply tied to protection of the family, tribe and clan. Traditionally, a man is required to move with his fighting axe and dagger in a scabbard at all times; a bow and arrow including a muhotolo in his mukopio (bag) where necessary. Hence the warning, “KaLuchazi kati ua ku vundukila, a ku-kuvulumuna”, meaning care must be taken when grabbing a Luchazi person otherwise he will injure you, See the picture below which was photographed by early European pioneers in Angola showing a hunter.
The men form
the working or fighting group for the village and engage in the main activity
of preparation of virgin land for new fields by cutting down trees and shrubs.
Other activities include building and thatching of huts, hunting, fishing,
beekeeping, participating in traditional ceremonies, forging farming implements
and fighting tools. Traditionally, a Luchazi man will refuse to perform household chores such as cooking, washing dishes, washing clothes for his children, sweeping because these are women’s chores. If he
does so, he will be a laughingstock. A Luchazi man is not suppose to spend most of his time in the kitchen. In old days, it was believed that if a woman hits a man with a cooking stick, he will become impotent. And if a woman is sweeping, a man is suppose to be out of reach. If the broom touches the man while sweeping, she must tell him to step on the broom immediately.
The extended family members such as uncles, aunts,
cousins and grandparents have special duties of providing traditional teachings
to the children and ensuring that the children grow up with the very same
ideas, habits that are practiced by the Luchazi people. Boys and girls are
brought up differently in many aspects, but the central criterion is the same,
that is, to train them to fit normally in Luchazi society.
Children run errands, fetch firewood and water, and
help in weeding the fields and cleaning the surroundings of the village. They are expected to also fetch firewood and water for the elderly members of the
village. In every village
the task of herding is assigned to boys. The duties of the boys included being sent on simple errands by the older persons of the village and fetching firewood for the ndzango fires; hence the song, "Kanike ua tiavele vikuni ua lia ha ndzango". The other duties, particularly those who had already passed through the circumcision process included making traps to catch birds and rodents which they gave to their mothers and other relatives.
Women past childbearing age have privileges never allowed to them in their youth. They can share alcoholic drinks with men around the Ndzango. They can dance close to the masked dancers (Makisi). Very old people who are past their useful years receive consideration in the whole village. This care of duty is a kind of pension, a reward for the past services to the family and clan.
Luchazi traditional greetings and etiquettes
The Luchazi people have elaborate traditional greeting and welcome rituals that show their cultural values and social structure. These rituals are highly treasured and valued as they show courtesy, goodwill, and respect to the person being greeted, and the elegant welcoming rituals gives the visitor good impressions of the people welcoming him or her. These traditional rituals are deep rooted in the cultural values, and defines how each individual should treat another within the social structure when it comes to greetings and welcoming etiquettes.
Luchazi traditional greetings have aspects of physical contact and non contact, verbal and nonverbal. Basically, a Luchazi traditional greeting is a touch-and-clap which involves touching someone’s open palm once or twice, accompanied by two rounds of handclaps. Traditionally, there is no clasping of hands and no handshake. In this physical contact greeting, the individual initiating a greeting extends his or her right hand first to the other individual who in response extends his or her right hand, touching the extended palm, and then they together do a two rounds of handclaps simultaneously. This is followed by inquiries about the health and well-being of each other including their families. This traditional greeting is typically used between friends of the same age and grandparents.
In non-contact, the traditional greeting is done by two or three rounds of handclaps. This type of greeting maybe verbal or nonverbal. Handclapping is considered to be a sign of respect and humility. It is done out of respect for the personal boundaries and cultural values of the individual that is being greeted and is the best way to maintain appropriate boundaries. Traditionally, greeting an older person differs from greeting friends or peers. Non contact traditional greetings are confined to nobles such as chiefs, and when greeting parents, elders, father/mother-in-laws and strangers. Traditionally, a young person is not supposed to extend his or her hand to greet his or her parents or an older person.
When greeting a mother-in-law or father-in-law, the person maintains some distance and greets by three rounds of handclaps. The in-laws also respond with three rounds of handclaps and then followed by verbal greeting. A Luchazi man avoid contact with his wife's mother. He is even expected to be distant and careful in his speech with her father. The avoidance between the mother-in-law and the son-in-law is still practiced even today. Strict customs usually forbid their speaking to each other or looking at each other or shaking hands. If a young man sees his mother-in-law coming along a footpath, he will plunge into the bush.
The Luchazi have cultural rules and norms on greetings. The traditional greeting norms state that a young person, especially those who have passed through the coming-of-age ceremonies, should always greet elders. When a young person meets an older person on the way, the young person is expected to greet the older person. If the young person bypasses without greeting, it will be considered a disrespectful act, and the behaviour will be attributed to bad tutoring at the mukanda or vuso. And this bad behaviour, in old days was curtailed or corrected at the coming-of-age ceremonies such as mungonge and ciuila rites. Traditions demand that a young person should always kneel down or squat when greeting a seated person who is older than him or her. Kneeling or squatting convey reverence to others. In the morning, young people are expected to go and inquire about the health and well-being of their parents, grandparents, elders and the sick before embarking on their morning activities such as going to the farming fields, fishing, etc. This morning visitation is known as ku menekela. Hence the saying, Kamenemene ka ntumba, menekela a li na mana; kesi na mana ngueni, "tuhia nezila" (the first born girl arises early in the morning for she knows it is wise to see how the others are doing; a foolish person, on seeing her, will say, "she has come for charcoal to start her fire").
Luchazi people have elegant traditional reception or welcoming (ku-sambelela) rituals. A visiting person is received with jubilant sayings of “hengo, hengo”, especially if the visitor is a distant relative. When a visiting distant relative is seen entering the village compound, children or young person rush to meet him or her while saying “hengo nana or hengo tata or hengo yaya, etc.”, depending on the relationship with the visitor. After getting the luggage from the visitor, the welcoming party escorts the visitor (if male) to the ndzango and to the ntsenge (kitchen) if the visitor is female. The male visitor is usually offered a stool and the female visitor is offered a reed mat. Then follows the traditional expressive greeting saying, “nana-mo or tata-mo or yaya-mo, etc.” Smiling and clasping the hand of the visitor if the visitor is a brother, sister or cousin, and in certain cases women shed tears of joy especially grandmothers or mothers. After completing these traditional greeting formalities, then follows the ritual of kuta muzimbu.
Kuta muzimbu is a traditional verbal narrative or chronicle or an account of events given eloquently by the visitor or by the head of the visiting party to the welcoming party and the village members. Often the muzimbu is spiced with Luchazi proverbial sayings. After the welcoming greeting, the head of the family or head of the welcoming party asks the visitor, “vati cihindu?” meaning “how are you?” The visitor or head of the visiting party acknowledges by giving a detailed account of their well-being including the family members of the village they are from, mentioning births, sicknesses and deaths. Secondly, the visitor or head of the visiting party gives an eloquent detailed account of the journey mentioning the rivers crossed, the villages they have passed through, and explaining the challenges encountered or experienced along the way. Thirdly, the visitor or head of the visiting party states the purpose or reasons for the visit. After finishing kuta muzimbu, the visitor or the head of the visiting party concludes the muzimbu by a round of handclaps. In response, the head of the family or welcoming party acknowledges the muzimbu and gives a traditional vote of thanks by reciting a summarized account of the narrative given by the visitor. Then the head of the family or welcoming party also gives an account of the state of situation in the village by articulating issues ranging from health, challenges experienced and deaths that occurred from the time the visitor or group last visited the village. The head of the welcoming party concludes by a round of handclaps. Then the visitor or head of the visiting party and the head of the family or welcoming party simultaneously kneel on one bended knee, touching the ground and then touching the chest, accompanied by a round of handclaps. Touching the ground symbolize the respect for the distance travelled by the visitors and acknowledging that the soil is the mother of nature that sustains humanity. The head of the family or welcoming party says, “tu suekenu muzimbu or tu mbilenu muzimbu.” Then the visitors, the head of the family or welcoming party and the village audience give a round of handclaps simultaneously.
Afterwards, the head of the welcoming party goes to inform the ntunga limbo and village elders about the visitors. If the visitor is a relative, the ntunga limbo or village elders promptly take the visitor to the village shrine, inviting the departed ancestors to watch over the visitor during the visit or stay. After performing the rituals at the miyombo, a chicken is slaughtered by cutting off the head and the visitor is made to jump over the spilled chicken blood, and this is called ku sindika. This is done so that the visitor can have a peaceful stay.
In Luchazi society, public hugging and kissing are forbidden. Hugging of parents and the opposite gender is not allowed. Only the grandparents are allowed to kiss the palm of their grandchildren as a sign of blessings. Traditionally, young adults are not allowed to enter their parent's bedroom.
Travel and transport.
In old days Luchazi people used to travel by foot from one village to another. On long journeys, they travelled in groups for security reasons; these journeys would take days or months. The duration of the journey would depend on the size, the composition and the health of individual members of the group. Young men who carried the bulk of the cargo, travelled ahead of the group. The elderly men were stationed at the rear to supervise the movement of the group, especially those who become tired or sick. According to oral narrations, Luchazi men used to travel on foot to the Atlantic coast to barter their goods or to South Africa and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) to work in mines.
In the old days, women and youths were not allowed to
travel long distances unaccompanied by men. Those who did so, travelled at their
own risk. If such women and youths were met by a group of men from a rival
village, they would be captured and declared as deserting slaves. Their captors
would take and eventually sell them in exchange for cattle or manufactured
goods.
Canoeing is still widely used as a mode of water
transport for the settlements along the riverbanks. Canoes are used for ferrying
people and goods across the rivers. They are also used for fishing activities.
Canoes are carved from the trunks of big trees which are skillfully streamlined
with pointed ends. The canoe (Vuato) is propelled with a paddle (cilapo) by a
person either standing or seated.
Herbalism.
Traditional herbal medicine was (and still is) an important part of the Luchazi traditional society. Whenever Luchazi people are sick, they use herbal medicines that their ancestors have used down the centuries. Herbal medicines are linked to Luchazi spiritual beliefs or ancestral spirits, and sometimes herbal healing is mixed with the practice of incantations or spells. In cases of epilepsy, impotence (erectile dysfunction) or infertility the remedy include purification rituals which involve mixing some herbs with the blood of a slaughtered animal and then spraying or sprinkling (kuzima) and smearing (kukosa) the patient with the herbal mixture. After these cleansing rites, the patient is given strict orders to observe certain taboos and not to eat certain foods. Herbs are also used in the treatment of diseases such as common colds, fever, coughs, rashes and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STIs). Village elders have knowledge of the medicinal and therapeutic use of plants which have been passed down orally from one generation to another. In cases of complicated sickness or prolonged illness, many would seek the help of the herbalist known as cimbanda who is a specialist in the use of herbs and herbal preparations to cure diseases or alleviate health problems. Administrations of these herbs would range from steaming to infusion. The traditional method of administration called Kuntsuka was widely used to treat rectum problems; a small specially made gourd was used to pump a herbal mixture through the anus onto large intestine.
Indentured servitude.
kings, chiefs and well-to-do Luchazi owned indentured workers as property and treated them well and tried by all means to integrate them into their community. They acquired indentured workers for the purpose of taking care of their cassava fields, livestock and other estates, and to protect them whenever need arose. They were well treated in order to make them feel that they were part of the family or clan and so they would not harbour any grudge against their masters which might make them desert or in any way harm any member of the village. Before the transatlantic slave trade, indentured workers were sent by their owners on trading expeditions. In due course hard working workers would become more prosperous. Once integrated, indentured workers would participate in armed conflict against the enemy of his adopted village.
Ideograms.
The Luchazi used an ideographic set of symbols called tusona which was used as a traditional script by the kings or Luchazi elders or secret societies. This form of writing was intended for or understood by only members of the tribe. The ideograms were usually drawn in sand or ground to represent a thing or idea that the symbol drawn is supposed to suggest. During his fifty years stay with the tribe, Emil Pearson learned how they exquisitely used sandgraphs to pass on their history and oral traditions (He has explained in detail in his book entitled, “People of the Aurora” about his experiences with the Ngangela people of Angola). The Luchazi people also used special sign language to communicate with each other in special circumstances.
Luchazi lunar calendar and counting
Some Luchazi people tend to mix the names of the seasons with the names of the months, hence creating confusion. Seasons are periods of the year marked by distinct weather conditions and length of the day. The seasons in Luchazi include Lusiho or Cisika (winter), Ntondue (summer), Lihungulantsoke (spring), Musanda (autumn). Here are some months in other Ngangela languages that differ from Luchazi:
The Luchazi people, as a rule, count cardinal numbers from one to five and then add the lower digits to the five until ten is reached. Then the multiples of ten are used until one hundred, and then the multiples of a hundred until a thousand is reached. They count on their fingers using a multitude of ways, but the most common usual is to start with the little finger of the left hand. The thumb of the hand then is five. For six the little finger of the right hand is placed on the inside of the left thumb, and so on until nine is reached (all four fingers of the right hand are then on the inside of the left thumb). When ten is reached, the hands are usually struck together. The operation is then repeated for succeeding tens.
The ordinal numbers are not much used beyond five, and beyond five consist of the cardinal numbers added to five or ten and its multiples. Examples: First (a mu cimo, or a katete or a ku livanga), second (a mu civali), third (a mu citatu), fourth (a mu ciuana), fifth (a mu citanu).
Law and order.
The Luchazi society has its own arrangement for maintaining law and order. For the Luchazi people, a good person is one who respects others, is willing to resolve problems, is a friend to all others in the tribe, and who doesn't cause confusion or problems. A village has a council of elders headed by a headman who have the responsibility of maintaining law and order. When a person commits an offence against a member of the village, the offender is summoned to appear before elders in the ndzango. The Luchazi use the following methods of correction:
1. Indentured servitude: In ancient Luchazi society, prisons did not exist and when a member of the tribe was found guilty of a crime he was made to serve as an indentured worker called ntompo for a stated period. Others gained back their freedom at the death of their master. Indentured servitude was imposed as judicial punishment, debt repayment and compensation during disputes, or as a measure of appeasement to the aggrieved party. Nephews and nieces were given out as payment in certain cases if the offender could not afford an indentured worker. Sometimes the aggrieved party could snatch the offender in lieu and later be sold as a slave.
2. Vikuka (compensatory damages): These are damages granted to the aggrieved family for the actual losses especially the death of the wife or child. Traditionally, it is considered an offence for a man to lose a wife or child, and the entire family or village contributes to the payment of vikuka.
3. Ntsoni (Shaming): People who are disturbers of peace
or who disgrace the family are shamed into reforming. Back in old days, those
who failed to reform were sold into slavery. A man and woman caught committing
adultery are usually summoned by elders of the village in the ndzango, that is, if the
offended man demands redress from the offender. Once the matter is resolved,
the offender is told to provide a chicken which is cooked for the two men to eat
together as a sign of reconciliation. After eating the chicken, the two are
taken to the miyombo, the village shrine, to perform the purification rituals.
If the offended man does not want reconciliation, the offending man is made to
pay compensation and where possible divorce is granted. And traditionally it is considered an insult to divorce a wife over adultery, the man must find other reasons for divorce other than adultery.
4. Corporal punishment: such as whipping, slapping and spanking is used for disciplining children of certain age especially those who have not yet attended mukanda or vuso. They also use fear of spirit beings in correcting bad behaviour.
5. Cinguali (crushing the head): This was a punitive measure meant to penalize murderers by using this type of execution. In old days if the offence was murder, the matter was referred to the king/chief. The king/chief and his advisers would hear the matter. If the offender proved that he acted out of self-defence, then the king/chief ordered the offender's family to pay compensatory damages to the injured family which included payment of a temporary slave called ntompo. If the offender was found guilty of murder, he was sentenced to death. The method of execution was called cinguali (crushing of the head) which involved the placement of the head of the murderer or criminal between two wooden poles which were then pressed until he was pronounced dead. Usually, the murderer was dragged to the place of execution where his arms and legs were tied with cords and stretched. This done, his head was then placed between the wooden poles and crushed to death. It was forbidden or not allowed to hang the murderer or to cut the throat of the murderer for fear that the spirit of the dead criminal will come back to punish them.
6. Decapitation: This was the cutting off the heads of the defeated rival warriors or chiefs. The chopped off heads of the defeated invaders or warriors were stuck on to the sharpened poles. The fighting axe was used to chop off the head of the captured warrior or offender, and Muangana Mueni Ngonga used this punitive action during his reign effectively to deter would be offenders. This was also the punishment for those who deliberately refused to pay traditional homage or tributes to the monarch.
7. Zinkuli (stocks): these were wooden structures with
holes which were used to secure a violent person’s hands and feet.
The decline of clan power has led to a great reduction of authority in the traditional administration of justice. Nowadays, no King or Chief or headman is allowed to decide any criminal case, and in civil cases their roles is merely one of arbitration. They have no power to enforce their decisions, and if a person is not satisfied with their decision, he or she can bring his or her case to the courts of law.
Lutengo.
The Lutengo is a furnace in which iron ore is heated to produce iron. It is built in the bush just outside the village under the supervision of an experienced blacksmith called Ngangula; it is fenced off in a wooden pole and grass palisade. It is an enclosure built of big stones with the intervening spaces filled with wet clay, leaving a few holes around the base of the structure. A pair of bellows is connected to each hole at the base of the Lutengo. In Luchazi society, highest among the traditional occupations are the blacksmiths. Women are prohibited from entering the site where the Lutengo is situated; particularly those having their menstrual periods.
In the evening, charcoal obtained from logs of
hardwood called mukoso and iron ore are laid on top of each other in layers.
The following morning, a team of selected able-bodied young men go to work at
the Lutengo; they work the bellows in turns, some of them feeding more charcoal
into the furnace as and when the fire subsides. This goes on until an
experienced blacksmith is satisfied that the melting process is over.
Once the melting process is over, a long stick is used
to pull out the lumps of iron from the dead fire through the main opening. The
lumps of iron are then placed on a huge flat rock while hot and cut up into
various required sizes and shapes using an axe and a large steel hammer called
muveto. These pieces of iron are then taken to the village at a place called luandzo where they are
forged into various implements.
Barter system.
The Luchazi people practiced the system of bartering and conducted trade by exchanging one commodity for another. They bartered goods with other tribes, the Portuguese and Dutch traders at the Atlantic coast through the Kimbundu and the Ovimbundu people called "Vimbali" who were business agents for the Portuguese. The Luchazi people engaged themselves in the trade of the following:
1. Beeswax. From enormous quantities of honey which
they collected from their beehives and hollow trunks of trees, the Luchazi
people made beeswax which they sold to the Portuguese in exchange for clothing,
beddings, bracelets, beads, earrings, bangles, cowries, salt, sugar, wine, kitchen
utensils, including muzzle-loading guns and ammunition. Beeswax was moulded in
following measures agreed upon by producers and traders: mbunge (a spherical
mass about one foot in diameter) and lipaua (a rectangular block average two
feet in length, a foot and a foot thick).
2. The advent of rubber in Luchazi society, opened
even more trade in Luchazi settlements. By 1890s there was a worldwide rubber
boom, and the demand for rubber increased the volume and tempo of trade between
the Luchazi and the Portuguese who had settled in the Atlantic coastal area of
Angola. The Luchazi produced rubber from landolphia vines which grew among
thick clusters of trees by the riverside. This type of rubber was known as
kenya. The second type of rubber was made from the roots of a small, short plant
known as kalyau which grew profusely on the loamy plains. The third type of
rubber was tapped from the mumbungo plant, which produces sweet fruits known as
zimbungo. Rubber was moulded in a variety of shapes and sizes as follows:
mutali (cylindrical piece about the size of a man's forearm), cisama
(rectangular piece about an inch thick; two feet long and a foot wide), citota
(a pile of ten mitali or ten visama), and cipale (a pile of ten vitota).
3. Ivory. According to Britannica, the Dutch traders at the Atlantic coast were more interested in commodities than slaves and so they opened the market for ivory. The traditional hunting skills gained a new value as the market for elephant tusks blossomed in the Portuguese colony of Angola. The Luchazi people trapped the elephants for
their tusks. They bartered their ivory for arms and ammunition including
textile goods. Through this trade, they amassed a lot of wealth for themselves.
4. Ironware. The Luchazi were (still are) skilled
blacksmiths who forged household utensils, farming implements, hunting and war
implements which were bartered for livestock and slaves from neighbouring
tribes.
5. Oil. They extracted cooking oil from fruits called
zimpuko which the women bartered for dry fish, clay pots and other earthenware.
They also bartered castor oil that was extracted from castor beans and was
popular with young women for skin care.
6. Slaves. When the Portuguese traders ushered in trade in the interior and Luchazi territories that where away from the Atlantic Coast, a new commodity in the form of slaves was added to the merchandise asked for. The area of eastern-central Angola, especially Bie (Viye), become a preferential trade area and the Kimbundu and Ovimbundu travelled across the Cuando-Cubango-Bie Plateau of Angola between the Atlantic coast and Luchaziland on behalf of their masters, the Portuguese. Most of the female slaves would be given to some of the men of the palace of the king/chief, or the men of the village to marry and while most of the good-mannered male slaves would be incorporated into the village communities. The rest of slaves would be sold to Portuguese traders or white settlers at the Atlantic Coast Administrative trading centres. As trade grew, the Luchazi conducted trade direct with the Europeans themselves at the established seaports of Lobito, Benguela and Sao Tome on the Atlantic coast. In the Second half of the 19th Century, considerable development of the trade routes between the Luchaziland (Cuando-Cubango-Bie) and the Portuguese on the Angolan coast led to an increased participation in trade.
The chief usually appointed a headman to lead a trade
expedition to the Atlantic Coast trading centres to barter these goods for
Portuguese manufactured goods. Upon return from such trade expeditions, the
goods brought from the Atlantic Coast trading posts were stored up in specially
constructed warehouses of the Palace or village called ndzivo ya vipako. In
turn, some of these goods were taken to other tribal lands to the north-east,
east, and south-east of Luchaziland in exchange for cattle, ivory, and slaves. Wealth
acquired from this trade allowed the Ngangela States to expand, eventually
overtaking Lunda States of Lunda Kingdom.
Family structure and organisation of Luchazi people.
Family has an important role in Luchazi traditional society. The family perform the role of providing social life, security, economic aid and traditional teachings to the young ones. Luchazi people live in families and the fathers are the head of family groups in the village communities. There are two main groups of women in a typical Luchazi village. These are vampuevo va matemo and vavene limbo. Vampuevo va matemo are the bride-price women or the wives of the men of that village, and vavene limbo refers to female relatives of the men of that particular village.
A Luchazi family begins with the core family consisting
of the father (tata), mother (nana) and children (vana). In the past, there
were two classes of children namely: Vana va cisemua (children of the
bride-price women or those who are descended from the founding matrilineal lines) and Vana va hembo (a polite term for children or those who are descended from former indentured workers or slaves).
From it, relatives of several generations cluster it namely: great grandparents
(vakukuluila), grandparents (vakuku), uncles, aunties, cousins and nephews or
nieces (vehua), grandchildren (vazukulu), great grandchildren (vazukuluila).
Other extended family member includes father-in-law (tolomueno), mother-in-law
(niotomueno) and brother-in-law or sister-in-law (niali or nialivuko),
son-in-law (tolomueno) and daughter-in-law (niotomueno).
A paternal uncle is called father (tata) but may at times be distinguished by the term tata ua
ntsongo or ntsongo ya tata (if younger) or tata ua mukuluntu or mukuluntu ua
tata (if older), and a maternal aunt is called mother (nana). A child of
maternal uncle (nanantu) or paternal aunt (cinavala) is called cousin (mpanji).
A child of maternal aunt or paternal uncle is referred to as brother or sister
and called muanetu. Great grandparents may also be referred to as father (tata)
or mother (nana). In the core family, family values of high moral standards and
discipline are observed. These family members are connected by common
characteristics and may live together in villages or settlements headed by family elders.
After the core family comes the stem family (or
lineage) which is an ancestral line of descent that can be traced through
several generations. The demarcation of relationships is done by separating the
relatives of the father's side from the mother's side. Relatives on both sides
of the family, up to one's first cousins, are considered close relatives.
The stem families are then grouped into a close-knit group of interrelated families called muyati (clan) who trace their descent from the same ancestor. In the stem family or lineage, the ancestor is known, a real person, who lived not long ago. Traditionally, the Luchazi people avoid generalization when describing themselves or their communities. Many Luchazi villages or communities are known by names of their lineage ancestors. Every village or community has a distinct viewpoint on how they describe themselves. The members of a particular village or community use the lineage name to describe themselves collectively, for example, vaka Ciuano, vaka Sachisunga (vaka Sangombe ya Kalenga), vaka Samusompa (vaka Ndakasiva or Kaposi), vaka Sacivanda (vaka Cikupete), vaka Sakuuema, vaka Sayamba, etc.
Luchazi clans.
The Luchazi clan's ancestor may be a deity or mythical hero or a person who lived so long ago. Sometimes the name refers to an animal believed to have helped the ancestor of the clan. Nama clans are the royal clans of the Luchazi people. Mpande ya fuila ka Nama, tepa lia fuila ka Chungu (The cowrie befits her of the Nama, the hat befits him of the Chungu); this piece of poetic art is sung in joyful adoration of the regal beauty of the Queen spotting a cowrie on her royal breasts and the matching elegance of her consort donning a hat. There are many Luchazi clans, but the notable ones are:
1. Nama-Nkungu clan. The totem is the lion (ndumba), the fearless king of the beasts. He was the elder of two brothers. He was so daring and fierce that he was feared by many.
2. Nama-Kuandu clan. The totem is also the lion (ndumba).
This was the kind and generous brother.
3. Kalombo clan. The totem is the snake (Kalombo). The
name Kalombo is derived from the silver-grey blunt-tailed snake of rare
appearance which is often mistaken to have two heads, one at each end, because
of its rounded blunt tail. This clan is also known as chungu ca kalombo.
4. Chungu clan. The totem is also a snake. This is also
known as chungu ca mutovo. It is believed among Luchazi people that the mothers
of kalombo and mutovo were sisters who were the founders of the two clans of
chungu ca kalombo and chungu ca mutovo.
5. Kaposi clan. The totem is the tower (Kaposi). This
clan is also known as Kaposi ka Mununga.
6. Mbuze clan. The totem is a kite bird (cisele). This is
also known as cisehua ca Mununga.
7. Cimona clan. The totem is a dog, and this is a clairvoyant or seer clan. The name is derived from kumona which means to see. The ancestor was a clairvoyant or seer (Prophet), who had the ability to see visions of the future and warn the
people of the impeding danger, just like a dog would be able to see what was
coming at a distance especially at night.
8. Cihombo clan. The totem is a scotch bonnet chili
pepper known as Kahombo which is mild and aromatic than the African bird eye
chili pepper known as kanike uasina.
9. Kavili clan. The totem is the fish eagle.
10. Nkuasa clan. The totem is also fish eagle.
11. Kamba clan. The totem is the elephant (njamba). According to folklore, a curse was placed on the people of the Kamba clan and this
made life become unbearable. Therefore, they went to consult a cimbanda
(traditional healer) to help them. The cimbanda agreed to help and ordered that
all members of the clan, including those women who were married away into
various distant village, should gather in his palisade on the appointed day for
cleansing rituals. The people having thus gathered, the cimbanda had them
seated within the palisade that night and covered each one of them completely
with a bark cloth (cilondo) and instructed that no one was to cough, or talk, or walk or
go out until the next day. One of them, however, was hard pressed so he took
the bark cloth off in order to go and answer the call of nature. Then at once
the curse materialized and all the people of Kamba clan turned into elephants!
The charms used by the cimbanda had turned the people of the Kamba clan into
real elephants. The elephants crushed the wall of the palisade and trooped out
of the village into the forest.
12. Cihuka clan. The totem is the honeybee (mpuka).
These clans gave birth to dynasties which are lines of
hereditary rulers or succession of queens or kings from the same family (who
have since been relegated to the status of traditional chiefs).
Luchazi Kingdom.
Before the period of colonial rule, clans were powerful and often functioned as Kingdoms because of their deep loyalties and tight organisation; the Luchazi territories were marked as kingdoms and chiefdoms. The Muangana was the ruler of the tribal grouping and lived at a palace called Nganda in which his/her house is fenced off in a well-trimmed pole and grass palisade called Citungu ca Muangana.
Muangana means royal ruler (male or female) or king in Luchazi language and Mueni is the title used before the name of a Luchazi king, Queen, Prince or Princess.
In 1600s, when the Luchazi royal family grew bigger,
several princes and princesses left the nucleus of the royal establishment and
moved out to other territories to establish their own kingdoms. After leaving the Congo basin region, the Luchazi kingdom was founded at Ndakavala-Nakato which is a tributary
of the Luena River in the present day Angola. From there, the palace was shifted to
Ndakavala-Musimoyi south of Luena River. It is here that the largest capital of
the Luchazi Kingdom was founded. It is from this centre that other royal family members were given
authority to go and establish their own palaces in various areas of Lungevungu
River.
One of the major reasons for leaving the capital was the mode of succession. The Luchazi monarchical system is derived from the progeny of the King's sister which means that only the King's nephews and nieces or grandnephews or grandnieces can succeed the throne. The main reason for this mode of succession is, in olden times they believed that one cannot be sure if the King's children were sired by the king himself, and to ensure that the monarch does not shift to the relatives of the King's wife. This mode of succession forced many princes and princesses to ask for permission to go and establish their own chiefdoms. As the royal family grew bigger, more and more members of the royal family become eligible for allocation of areas to rule but could not be appointed because of the limitations of the territory. As it was in the past, these royalty had to wait for their turns.
Political system and organisation of Luchazi people.
The Luchazi political system is based on traditional monarchical government and the system of chieftainship. The monarch is considered divine put in place by Kalunga the Creator. The function of the king/queen include administration of all matters pertaining to land in his or her kingdom, providing security, and safeguarding tribal sovereignty. He or she is the custodian of traditions, customs, cultural practices, customary rules, and provides spiritual guidance. He or she dispenses justice, resolves disputes and decides the penalty for the offence. The kingdom has chiefs or sub-chiefs who are subordinate to the monarch and administer the affairs of their chiefdoms in the Luchazi Kingdom. These chiefs or sub-chiefs are from the Luchazi clans, and then there are headmen who are the leaders of the villages that are answerable to their chiefs.
In precolonial times, a reigning king or queen or chief often did delegate his/her authority to his/her son or daughter to rule a certain area on behalf of the king. This practice no longer applies today as the position of the prince or princess does not carry with it any administrative authority in the light of the constitutionally defined status of a king/chief recognised by the State.
The king or queen has an advisory council called mpunga
which is headed by a senior advisor called Kasongo who can make important
decisions on behalf of the king/queen but always verifies his decisions with
the king/queen. The monarch also has councillors selected to manage the affairs
of the kingdom.
The Luchazi tradition demands that for a royal person
to function as a king or a queen or a chief, the person should be in possession of all
the symbols of authority; then that person is known as Muangana ua ngoma. And the following are the symbols of authority:
1. Cilongo is the royal crown.
In the past, the crown was made of leather covered with cowries (Zimpande) and
painted in traditional colours. Some say that even human sinews were used in
its construction. Today these crowns are very elaborate, covered with beads
(Vusanga) and are very colourful.
2. Mikupele (royal drums).
Every reigning chief is required to be in authorized possession of the
mikupele. Wherever the king or chief goes on a trip or on a tour of part of his
territory, his entourage includes the vangomba (drummers) so that the king or
chief is always accompanied by the sounds of royal drums.
3. Cimbuya (royal axe which
symbolizes his power of life and death) is a guarantor of peace and stability.
In the past a chief led his warriors in battles with other chiefs, and it was
everyone's responsibility to defend the tribe by one's strength and blood. When
he won the battle, it was the custom to behead the captured or losing chief and
this was done with Cimbuya (royal axe).
4. Mufuka (royal fly whisk). It is the tail of an eland fixed in an elaborate handle of ivory or bone and it is a symbol of royalty.
5. Mbueti (royal sceptre). It is a walking stick carried as a symbol of authority by the King/Chief.
6. Mukuale (royal sword)
symbolizes the destructive tool with which the enemies can be crushed and the
tribe's security guaranteed.
7. Lunkano (royal bracelet) it is worn as a symbol of
authority. It is strictly a taboo for a reigning Queen/Chieftainess to wear the
lunkano during her monthly period.
King's Aides.
The king’s aides are men and these are:
1. Matapa: these are people who perform supernatural
activities for the king/chief such as making charms and medicines. There are
responsible for the burial of the king, and their employment is automatically
terminated after the burial rites.
2. Niambaza: this is the king’s emissary who the king
occasionally sends to represent him on special missions. He is usually the
husband of the king’s daughter.
3. Kandeyi: this is a valet, usually a male youth, who
cleans the chair, clothes and fetching drinks. He sits by the king’s side and
accompanies the king or chief on his tours.
4. Katumua: this is special personal messenger who
delivers the king’s messages to and fro to his subordinate chiefs.
5. Vakuamanda: these are skilled archers who perform duties as bodyguards and have worked for
the royal family for a long time and are trusted. A few selected ones live within the
king’s palisade and others live in houses around the royal palisade.
6. Vangomba: these are skilled musicians who play the
royal drums. During royal dances, together with the royal retainers, they also play
melodious music within the palisade.
Tours by the monarch.
The king or queen occasionally conducts tours of the chiefdoms in his/her territory. Mostly, these tours are conducted by his subordinate chiefs who visit the villages and communities in their territories. With the help of the king's or Chief’s advisors, some villages are chosen as stations where the chief meets his subjects, and where he will night-stop if possible. The village headmen are warned in advance of the king's or chief's visit by katumua.
A welcoming party is put in place to welcome the monarch
and the entourage, and a place of lodging is prepared. The Chief is welcomed
with songs and dance in a traditional manner and respect. The headmen come to
greet the Chief at his lodging, they recite the royal greeting known as
kulamba; they smear their inner palms with powdered white ochre as a sign of
goodwill and peace, kneel down and clap their hands, reciting the poetic
kulamba ritual.
These tours give the subjects the opportunity to see their chief and bring tributes to him/her. In the evening, the village headmen gather near the Chief and exchange information and ideas of mutual interest. If any headman has any problems, it is brought to the Chief's attention. The Chief with his retinue stays at each chosen station as long as his discretion dictates.
Paying traditional homage to the monarch.
In the evening, the groups sing and dance to the accompaniment of the royal drums. The dances continue through the night and these dances can last for two to three days and nights without stopping. At the end of the function, the Chief gives them a bull to slaughter, foodstuffs and beer to drink. To refuse to pay traditional homage to a monarch is a serious offence, in precolonial times it carried the sentence of decapitation or enslavement.
The advent of the Portuguese in Angola.
The coming of the Portuguese colonialists and the gradual establishment of their presence in Angola brought about changes in various aspects of Luchazi people’s life, particularly in the aspect of traditional governance, administration, commerce, and social structure of Luchazi society. The Portuguese influences have been felt for some 500 years. According to historical records and Encyclopaedias, the colony of Angola was established in 1575 but acquired its present boundaries in 1891.
In 1560, a Portuguese by the name of Paulo Dias de Novais and his team arrived in the Ndongo kingdom of the Mbundu (Kimbundu) people but the then new ruler Ngola Kiluanji kia Ndambi suspected them to be agents of the rival Kongo kingdom and had them imprisoned. After negotiations, Ngola Kiluanji allowed Dias and his group to return to Portugal. The Mbundu are distinct from the Ovimbundu (Umbundu) but are linguistically related to each other. Culturally, the Mbundu are related to the Kongo. The Mbundu are remembered by the Luchazi as lackeys of the Portuguese and were commonly known as Vimbali by the Luchazi. In 1575, Paulo Dias de Novis returned to Angola with expedition of seven ships, 700 settlers and 350 soldiers. That same year, the colony of Angola was established.
In 1576 they established a new settlement at Luanda with the consent of the kings of Ndongo kingdom of the Mbundu (Kimundu) people and the Kongo kingdom. A few years after the arrival of Dias and his group, a period of constant warfare was initiated between Portuguese forces and the local tribes.
Slave trade in Angola.
In 1570s the Portuguese conquistadores launched slave raids in Angola after the Kongo wars had been quelled. The Portuguese expected conquered tribes and their kingdoms to pay them a tribute in form of slaves. In 1580 the port of Luanda was taken over by the Spanish habsburgs who launched a series of armed assaults on the Mbundu and other interior tribes. The slavery tribute was officially set up by a Portuguese official, Bento Cardoso, in 1608, which required the supply of slaves to the Portuguese through the Mbundu people. Around 1615, the Portuguese established a trading post at Benguela which was known locally as Mbaka, and later in 1617 it become a town.
In 1624, Queen Nzinga (Njinga) Mbande of the Mbundu (Kimundu) people took over power after the death of Ngola Mbande. She ruled during a period of the transatlantic slave trade. When the Portuguese detained her sister, they demanded the delivery of about 125 slaves before she could be set free. Later she went into an alliance with the military governors of Luanda who launched armed incursions against the tribes of the interior, as they demanded slaves rather than tropical products such as beeswax and rubber in exchange for their manufactured goods.
Because of diseases such as smallpox and leprosy including climate, the Portuguese were reluctant to move inland of Angola until 17th century and the driving force behind Portuguese colonial expansion in Angola was slaves. During this period there was protracted warfare between the Portuguese colonial forces and the tribes inland of Angola. By mid-17th century, the Dutch joined in the scramble for slaves. They began to sell guns to their trading partners to facilitate the destruction of old powerful communities and the capture of slaves. This was devastating to the inland tribes.
When the Portuguese administrators came in the Luchazi hinterland, they introduced a system of rule which was not only completely alien to the Luchazi people but also repressive and degrading. To assist them in their system of government, they employed African soldiers recruited from the Atlantic coastal tribes whom they had trained in the use of guns to subdue the inland local people. They used them to terrorise the interior tribes into submission.
The conflict between the interior tribes and the Portuguese soon turned into slave-raiding wars. Slave raids by the Portuguese and their African soldiers tore apart the Ngangela and Luchazi families and villages. Genealogies or some family trees were lost. The slave raids destroyed communities, and many left their settlements, but the Portuguese recruited the Ovimbundu and Kimbundu people as spies (vandondzi) and used them to trace where the Ngangela and Luchazi had moved. To warn each other, the Luchazi coined the saying, "Kua ambulula Cimbali, muongua", meaning to identify a Mbundu person, it is salt. These Mbundu spies used to disguise themselves as salt traders.
Between 1830 and 1840 the Portuguese curved out plantations for coffee, cotton, and sugar. And other coastal towns were established such as Catumbela das Ostras (now Lobito) in 1843. In 1880s Portuguese small farmers were settled in the highlands of Kunene. The Portuguese traders and government officials, began to recruit local males supposedly to take them and work on the Portuguese settler’s farms which produced coffee, tea, fruits, wheat, and rice. It was later discovered, however, that the local people so recruited under the guise of hired labour were eventually sold as slaves (vandungo) and shipped to Brazil and other Latin American colonies such as Cuba.
The population diminished and the demography was badly distorted because of slave trade. According to censuses carried out from the late 18th century show that there were more females than males in the Portuguese colony of Angola. Although slavery was outlawed in Angola in 1836, but the export of slaves did not end until the market in Brazil was closed in the early 1850s. In 1875 slavery was abolished in the Portuguese empire, but slaves continued to be smuggled until 1911 and in many cases into the 1960s. It is estimated that about five million slaves from Angola were export to Brazil and other Latin American colonies.
Luchazi people's resistance to Portuguese colonial rule.
History records at the National Historical Archive of Angola states that since 1880s the Portuguese
colonial officials found it very difficult to move into Ngangela speaking people territories and take control. According to oral accounts, the
Luchazi resistance challenged the Portuguese rule from the beginning, and resisted the occupation of their territories, the Luchazi warriors used traditional tactics
of wearing terrifying masks to scare off white settlers and their black
servants (especially their black servants who believed in ghosts). This
involved the covering of the masked warrior’s manhood with a gourd locally
known as mulingi which made the warrior’s penis appear to be abnormally big and
long. This psychological war was locally known as Ndzita ya kamulingi.
The Portuguese officers and a band of African soldiers
launched the first attack on Luchazi municipality in 1882 and terribly failed. The
following year, in 1883, they carried out an attack on Luzo and the Luchazi
warriors repelled the attack too. The Luchazi warrior’s strategy was complex
that the Portuguese could not understand. Unfortunately, some of the locals
betrayed the Luchazi warriors and disclosed the strategy that the Luchazi warriors were using
"Vambongo" (high stilt warriors) to confuse the Portuguese military.
Later in 1883, the Portuguese officers and their
African soldiers launched another massive offensive and attacked Luchazi municipality
which resulted in huge Luchazi military losses. Eventually, they took over control
of the Luchazi municipality. Some Luchazi people left and sought refuge into
what is now Zambia. The following year, 1884, they carried out another attack
on Luzo. This was the heaviest loss that Luchazi people suffered. This was a
destructive war which resulted in massive refugee movement in Luchazi history.
The ruins of the chiefdom’s palace still stands in Luzo, Luena about 10
kilometres from the provincial capital city.
To those who know Moxico province in Angola, they can verify this by the names of the rivers and streams including community names from Kampemba (now Luena city) to Luanginga River along Luena - Lumbala Nguimbo road, and from Luzi stream junction to Kangamba, Luchazi municipality.
According to historical records at National Historical Archive of Angola, in the period from 1890 to 1918, the Portuguese military authorities took over trade and the control of commercial routes including the trade routes in the interior. The Ovimbundu, who were the agents of the Portuguese and masters of the commercial routes between the rubber lands in the east and the Atlantic coast, found themselves also cut off from trade.
The Luchazi territories
came under the authority of the Portuguese in the 1900s, resulting in
widespread upheavals. The Luchazi rulers were deposed and replaced by their
loyal regents of rival tribes. Being a Luchazi royal ruler during this Portuguese colonial occupation was precarious. Those who collaborated with the Portuguese were elevated to higher position and those who resisted were deposed. The Portuguese went on to establish administrative posts at the following
trading centres; one at Kampemba (later named Villa Luso and now Luena), at Viye
and Kangamba (named after Chief Kangamba of the Mbunda).
Luchazi revolt and Nkuambi war.
As the years went by, the Portuguese colonial
officials subjected the Ngangela and Luchazi people to racial humiliation,
physical and mental torment. In 1906 the Portuguese introduced a systematic taxation
of Africans and the forced labour system which they had copied from Congo Free
State colony of King Louis P. Leopold II; males from the age of ten to
seventy were forced to work on roads, rails (work on the rail from Luanda to Malanje commenced in 1885 and in 1902 the Benguela rail construction began, which was intended to serve the Katanga mines in the Belgian Congo) and bridge construction, on the settlers'
farms, in mining and industrial undertakings, at various establishments along
the Atlantic coastal towns and posts, under conditions so terrible and
dehumanising that they defy description. Females also were forced to work on
the estates of the white settlers, and many were raped and sexually abused.
The Luchazi people failed to understand why the
colonial officials were ill-treating them. Some Luchazi people believed that
the spirits of their departed forefathers had been angered and were thus
visiting their offspring with vengeance by the agency of these self-appointed
white overlords. The situation grew worse and worse each year, the land
alienation and forced labour led the Luchazi and other tribes to revolt.
According to historical records at the National Historical Archive of Angola, there were many revolts against Portuguese colonial rule. The Alem Quanza revolt, which began in Alto Cuito, spreading to the Luchazes, Lungue-Bungo, Moxico, Huambo (Citembo) and Bie (Viye). The tribes of the interior revolted against the monopolization of trade and the control of trade routes by the Portuguese military authorities. From 1896 to 1904, the situation in the regions of Viye, Ombalundu, Wambu, Ngalangi, Moxiku and Lucazi went from bad to worse. (Source: Alamada 1951).
Between 1911 and 1912, they were anti-Portuguese rule sentiments and revolt against Portuguese traders in the South-eastern Angola especially in the municipalities of Wambu, Ombalundu, Sambu, Viye and Moxiku. The paths between Viye and Moxiku were cut off and insecurity and crime reigned.
In 1916, rebellions broke out in
several Ngangela areas. The locals ransacked the Portuguese trading centres and
administrative posts and killed their white occupants. According to one oral
account, one local tribe ransacked a Christian mission and burnt the Bibles,
and accused the missionaries of promoting Luchazi language. In retaliation, the
colonial officials sent African soldiers led by Portuguese officers to these
territories, who rain havoc, plunder and death on the communities and territories,
burning and destroying many villages and thousands fled their villages towards
the Zambezi valley.
Mauricio Marques da Paixao said that the true causes of the bloody revolt were taxation, the extortion of the indigenous people by Portuguese soldiers and their black accomplices, including stealing, breeding of all kinds, the arrest of children, women and old people; the demanding of beautiful women, regardless of whether they are married or single. (Source: Passion 1917).
The creation of the Kapwi military post in 1919 forced many Luchazi people to abandon their villages. The attempt by Portuguese military authorities to stop the escape of the villagers led to heavy fighting. (Source: Military District of Moxico, Report of Luchazes revolt in February 1919, in cx. 305, miscellaneous correspondence, National Historical Archive of Angola Luanda (AHA), Moxico Military District).
According to oral accounts, there was targeted killing of the perceived perpetrators, maiming, disfiguring by way of slashing off ears and chopping off hands
or legs. This rebellion which was followed by violent fight between Portuguese
forces and the Ngangela people is known as Ndzita ya Nkuambi (Nkuambi War). By
1920 all the remote areas Southeast of the colony was firmly under Portuguese
control. After the Nkuambi war, the Portuguese colonial officials tightened
their grip on the Luchazi and Ngangela areas in central, eastern and southern
Angola by way of indiscriminately meting out unjustifiable punishment on anyone
who opposed their rule.
Following the upheavals, some Luchazi chiefs and their subjects left Angola and went to live in the present day Zambia; and these chiefs are:
1. Mueni Chisengo who had his palace at Malenga, a tributary of Kwitu River. He abandoned his palace following attacks by the Portuguese colonial forces during there fights with Mbunda people in the area. He went to live at Kambule in Mongu.
2. Mueni Kanunga who left Mueni Vuime’s palace and went to live in Kabompo district.
3. Mueni Mununga who left Angola and went to live in the Lukwakwa area where she passed away.
4. Mueni Kavalata Matindi, who had his palace at Kunjovue, left Angola and went to live with Muangana Mueni Kalunga in Kabompo district.
5. Mueni Kakupa, who had his palace at Mutima and later moved to Viye, went to live in Mongu district in the present day Zambia where he passed away.
6. Mueni Chizimo, who had his palace at Katete, a tributary of Kuvanguiyi River, left Angola and went to live in Kabompo district where died. He was from the royal house of Mueni Chitimba.
7. Mueni Njimbu, who had his palace at Savezi, a tributary of Kwandu River, left Angola and went to live in Lukulu district where he died.
8. Mueni Machalo, who had his palace at Kuvanguiyi, went to live with Muangana Mueni Mutunda in Kabompo district.
9. Mueni Kanduli left Angola and went to live in Lukwakwa area in Kabompo district where he established his palace.
Angolan independence war.
After years of acceptance of Portuguese colonial rule, the Portuguese colony of Angola lurched into a period of independence warfare. Tribal loyalties were
(and still are) dominant in determination of which political group to support.
The fight for independence by various political movements especially UNITA and
MPLA brought hardship on Luchazi and Ngangela communities in southeast, central
and southern Angola.
UNITA was founded in 1966 by Jonas Savimbi and its support base lay largely with the Ovimbundu, the Chokwe, and the Ngangela speaking people. According to Britannica, it is estimated that half a million people fled abroad during the anti-colonial war (1961 to 1975); the Ngangela people, Chokwe and Lunda fleeing to Zambia. A coup of April 25, 1974 in Portugal compelled the colonial masters to abruptly end their rule in Angola. The move by the colonial officials led to MPLA (which had its support base with the Kimbundu people and other coastal tribes) taking over power and declare the independent People’s Republic of Angola in November 1975.
Angolan civil war - 1975 to 2002.
Of all the wars, the Angolan Civil War have had a leavening impact on the way of life of the Luchazi people and other Ngangela speaking people in Bie, Moxico, Cuando-Cubango and Cunene provinces. The decades of warfare severely affected settlements patterns, destroyed villages and made habitable areas unsuitable for habitation. It displaced many more, and shattered health care systems, leaving them to run the gauntlet of disease and malnutrition. It also disrupted education of the young people and left a wide learning gap in children. Even today, Luchazi and other Ngangela communities are still suffering the consequences of the dreadful civil war. This is part of our history and below is the account of how the war started and how it was conducted.
The declaration of independence in 1975 and the taking over of power by MPLA was not accepted and recognised by other political movements which vowed to fight on. The following year, the Cuban government launched a large-scale military intervention in support of the MPLA, and this was code named Operation Carlota (named after the famous African slave woman who led the Triumvirato slave revolt in 1843 in Matanzas, Cuba). Between 1975 and 1988, Angolan Army (FAPLA) and UNITA Forces engaged in a series of battles for the control of Angola. Because of the UNITA insurgency, the Angolan central government never managed to gain control of the whole country; UNITA had control of much of south eastern Angola.
In the 1980s, fighting spread outward from South-eastern Angola and engulfed Luchazi and other Ngangela communities. The Soviet Union and Cuban intervention had a substantial impact on south eastern Angola, especially in defending the MPLA's control over large parts of Angola as well as helping secure Namibia's independence. On 2nd to 12th August 1983, South African and UNITA forces launched a full scale assault on Angolan Army and Cuban forces stationed in Kangamba Town in Moxico province Angola. The area around the town was the scene of heavy fighting during various armed campaigns.
Mi-24 Hind helicopter gunships were deployed and used extensively in the fight for control of south-eastern Angola. Villages were targeted indiscriminately by helicopter gunships because of the guerrilla tactics used by UNITA. Dr Peter Hammond, a South African missionary of Frontline Fellowship pointed out: "There were over 50,000 Cuban troops in the country. The communists had attacked and destroyed many churches. MiG-23s and Mi-24 Hind helicopter gunships were terrorising villagers in Angola. I documented numerous atrocities, including the strafing of villages, schools and churches."
Through 1980 and 1983 South Africa participated in operations by UNITA, which gained more and more control of south-eastern Angola. The South African mission was to prevent SWAPO from using southern Angola to launch attacks into South West Africa (now Namibia). To achieve this, South Africa supported UNITA in southern Angola, and when Angolan Army advanced from Cuito Cuanavale to attack UNITA at Mavinga, the South Africans intervened to protect UNITA by stopping that advance. Villagers were caught in cross fire and trapped in the besieged territories.
In September 1985, the Angolan Army and Soviets launched another offensive on UNITA positions in the south-eastern Angola. The South African Air Force came to the aid of UNITA again and prevented the fall of Mavinga. After a heavy exchange of fire, the Angolan army-offensive ended at the Lomba River. Another offensive started in May 1986 and again with the help of the South Africa, UNITA managed to stop the advance by late August.
Of the 18 provinces of Angola, Luchazi and Ngangela settlements in Southwest Moxico Province (Luchazes municipality and adjacent areas) and Cuando-Cubango Province (Cuito Cuanavale to Mavinga) were the scene of heavy fighting during various campaigns. Cuito Cuanavale was the major battle site between UNITA (supported by South Africa) and Angolan Army (supported by Cuba). It was the biggest and bloodiest battle on African soil since World War II (The battle of Cuito Cuanavale).
The battle of Cuito Cuanavale and Operação Saludando Octubre
In August 1987, the Angolan government, with the help of its closest military ally the Soviet Union, launched a campaign against UNITA for the control of south-eastern Angola. The operation was code named Operação Saludando Octubre (Operation Greeting October) to drive out UNITA forces from Cuando-Cubango Province, especially their stronghold territories of Mavinga (a territory home to Luchazi and other Ngangela people) and Jamba in the southeast of the country, north of the Caprivi Strip.
The Soviet Union supplied the Angolan Army with over a billion dollars' worth of new military hardware for the purpose of this operation. It also upgraded Angolan Army’s equipment including T-55 tanks, T-54B Tanks, Mi-8/Mi-17 helicopters and Mi-24 helicopter gunships. It was decided to commence the attack from Cuito Cuanavale (another territory home to Luchazi people and other Ngangela speaking people) which had an Airfield. Cuito Cuanavale was important to the Angolan Army (FAPLA) as a forward air base to patrol and defend southern Angola and considered an important gateway to UNITA's headquarters in the southeast.
There was massive military build-up around Cuito-Cuanavale, and South Africa warned UNITA of this massive military build-up. The Angolan Army advanced south-east from Cuito Cuanavale to cross the Lomba River to attack UNITA Forces at Mavinga. Once Mavinga was in its control, the Angolan Army planned to drive out the insurgents and pave way for a final assault on the UNITA headquarters at Jamba, with the help of air support from the airbase at Menongue, including MiG 23s and Mi 24 Hind Helicopter gunships deployed in ground attacks. Four more brigades were kept to defend Cuito Cuanavale and its approaches.
The Angolan Army offensive was initially successful and made considerable gains into south-eastern Angola. Leaving innocent villagers scampering for their lives. It was clear to South African government that UNITA Forces could not withstand the onslaught. On 4th August 1987 the South Africans launched operation “Moduler” to stop the Angolan Army advance on Mavinga and to prevent a rout of UNITA Forces. The South African Defence Force 61 Mechanized Battalion crossed into Angola from their base at the border town of Rundu (in present Namibia).
On 28th August 1987 the Angolan Army reached the northern banks of the Lomba River on the way to Mavinga, where they were engaged by the UNITA Forces supported by South African troops with armoured vehicles and artillery. In a series of violent fights between 9th September and 7th October 1987, the UNITA Forces and South African Forces prevented the Angolan Army from crossing the Lomba River. The Soviets withdrew their advisors and left the Angolan Army without senior leadership, and Angolan forces crumbled and retreated. The Angolan Forces suffered heavy losses. Martin and Broadhead (Historical Dictionary of Angola) wrote that UNITA Forces and South African Defence Forces also captured a highly sophisticated SA-8 anti-aircraft missile system – the first time the weapon had fallen into western hands.
On 29th September 1987 the UNITA Forces and South African Forces launched an offensive aiming to destroy all Angolan Army Forces east of the Cuito River. According to Library of Congress Country Data (Angola, Foreign influences), on 3rd October 1987 UNITA and South African Forces attacked an Angolan Army battalion on the southern banks of the Lomba River and two days later Angolan Army started its retreat over 190 km back to Cuito Cuanavale. The UNITA Forces and South African Forces pursued the retreating Angolan Army units and started the siege of Cuito Cuanavale on 14th October 1987 with long-range shelling by 155-mm artillery from a distance of 30 to 40 km. During this offensive the UNITA Forces and South Africa Defence Force units were supported by heavy artillery and air strikes. Crocker, Chester A (High Noon in Southern Africa: Making Peace in a Rough Neighbourhood) wrote that the airstrip at Cuito Cuanavale was extensively bombarded, causing the Cubans to withdraw their aircraft to Menongue and to abandon the Cuanavale airstrip.
On 9th November 1987 the UNITA Forces and South African Forces attacked the Angolan 16th brigade. The 16th brigade withdrew in disarray back across the river. The battle ended after half a day, when the South African Force vehicles ran low on ammunition and broke off the attack. In the book, The SADF in the Border War 1966-1989, Leopold Scholtz wrote that the second attack took place on 11th November, targeting the 16th brigade and the 16th brigade retreated across the river.
On 15th November 1987 the Angolan government requested urgent military assistance from Cuba. Fidel Castro approved the Cuban intervention, the operation was code named Operation “Maniobra XXXI Anniversario de las FAR” on the same day, retaking the initiative from the Soviets. The strategic objective was to destroy UNITA, drive South African Forces from Cunene and Cuando-Cubango Provinces, win the civil war and thus take sole control of the entire country.
Nortje Piet (32 Battalion) wrote that, on 17th November 1987 there were clashes again, and The Angolan Army 21st brigade retreated across the river. A final attack on 25th November 1987 bogged down in heavy bush, and was eventually abandoned. By November, the 59th Angolan Army motorised infantry brigade, 21st and 25th light infantry brigades, in positions near Tumpo and east of the Cuito River, were effectively cut off due to SADF artillery control of both the bridge and airstrip and due to UNITA control of the road from Menongue, which they had mined and were prepared to ambush. On 25th November the UN Security Council demanded the SADF's unconditional withdrawal from Angola by 10th December. Through December the situation for the besieged Angolan Army became critical as the South African Forces and UNITA tightened the noose around Cuito Cuanavale.
In January 1988, Cuba dispatched a large contingent of about 15, 000 troops and arms across the Atlantic Ocean to Angola. The bombardment started on 2nd January 1988, with a mix of artillery and air strikes, and a UNITA infantry attack failed. On 3rd January the South African Forces destroyed the important bridge across the Cuito River using a Raptor glide bomb (a guided flying bomb). The Cubans managed to construct a wooden footbridge in its place which they baptised Patria o Muerte (fatherland or death).
Other battles followed on 13 January, 14 and 15 February 1988. On 23 March 1988 UNITA and South Africa launched its last major attack on Cuito Cuanavale, and this battle has been recorded as the second largest and deadliest battle in the history of Africa. UNITA and South Africa disengaged in March 1988, after laying a series of minefields southeast of Cuito Cuanavale to dissuade a renewed Angolan Army-offensive.
On 31 May 1991, peace accords were signed in Lisbon between the MPLA and UNITA leaders as famine stalked the South eastern Angola. Between 29 and 30 September 1992, national elections were held under UN supervision. UNITA refused to concede defeat to the MPLA. The peace process was scuttled and war resumed. Both sides committed many crimes of war and neither side would budge.
Over the next two years, much of south-eastern Angola was ruined. Over 3 million people were left dependent on food aid or humanitarian assistance. Most of the Luchazi and Ngangela settlements became quagmires of poverty, disease, illiteracy and despair. Families faced starvation or were forced to flee their homes. People trapped in ruined villages were forced to venture into mine infested areas to get food. The suffering of the population was immeasurable, previously inhabited villages were depopulated, and its legacy is still visible.
In March 1993 the Security Council authorized the creation of the Humanitarian Assistance Cooperation Unit (UCAH) to coordinate aid relief. On 20 November 1994 the Lusaka Protocol was signed, allowing for a ceasefire. UNITA accepted the election results and the United Nations Angola Verification Mission (UNIVEM III) began one of the most ambitious humanitarian intervention operations in history.
In 2002, Savimbi was killed during a military operation of the MPLA, this forced UNITA to participate in peace talks and allowed itself to be disarmed – 27 years of civil war were enough. Tribal feuds and conflicting tribal loyalties, especially between the Ngangela group of tribes and the north-western coastal tribes, contributed more to the Angola civil war than the differences in ideology.
I urge all well meaning Luchazi people and other related tribes to go out and document every village by name that was affected and destroyed during the war, where possible the names of individuals killed. To all those who died during the war, we say: "Your graves are unmarked but they are marked on our hearts forever". The events and battles that took place will forever remain part of our history. Therefore, let every Luchazi and every Ngangela learn as much as possible all what transpired.
Landmines and unexploded explosives
Landmines have been used during the Angolan independence war in 1960’s and the civil war. After the civil war, landmines and unexploded munitions littered vast territories of south eastern Angola, killing and injuring thousands. For three decades land mines were used by UNITA and the Angolan Army to deny each other easy movements, immobilise military vehicles and to kill. Buildings, railroads, roads, bridges and airfields were mined. Soldiers in retreat on both sides during the 1992 strife are reported to have mined schools, hospitals and markets.
Roberts and Williams in After the Guns Fall Silent: The Enduring Legacy of Landmines, "While Portuguese, Cuban and South African forces are known to have deployed landmines during operations in Angola, the overwhelming responsibility for landmines use lies with UNITA and the Angolan Army (FAPLA)."
According to Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF) data, the following provinces of Angola were found to be severely mined:
- Bie Province is severely mined, and movement is restricted. Kuito town was mined and remined, often with booby-traps.
- Cuando-Cubango Province is severely mined. The Mavingo Valley is abandon because of mines. In Cuito Cuanavale only 8,000 out of 33,000 planted mines have been identified.
- Moxico Province is severely mined. Luena town is ringed by defensive minefields and most roads are mined.
It is estimated between 9 to 15 million mines were sowed during various operations in Angola. Organisations, like HaloTrust, clearing mines have identified 34 types of landmines in Angola. There are many Russian-made mines, including the TMN-46, PMD-7-TS, M-19, PP-MI-SP, and the POMZ-2 anti-personnel mine. Activated by a tripwire, the POMZ-2 is stake mounted; rotting stakes pose a special hazard for deminers. The American M-18A1 mine has been found in Angola; with a kill radius of 50 meters, it releases 700 steel balls to cause maximum damage. The TMA-3, made in Yugoslavia, is an anti-tank mine that is non-detectable with hand-held metallic detectors (there is no metallic content in the mine fuse or body).
Even today, Luchazi and other Ngangela speaking people communities are still suffering the consequences of the dreadful civil war. Many traumatised people, including former child warriors and rape victims have to find a way into modern life. The landmine contamination in eastern Angola has a significant impact on Luchazi and other local communities. Landmines still contaminate large swathes of Angola, hindering development and causing injury and death. Angola has the highest number of amputees in the world, estimated over 88,000 people were registered as living with disabilities from landmines and unexploded bombs in 2014. The UN estimates that 1.5% of the population has been injured in mine or unexploded ordinances incidents.
32 Battalion and its Ngangela fighters.
32 Battalion was the most controversial Battalion in the white South African Army because of the secrecy surrounding its formation and its black troops who were recruited from the group of Ngangela refugees in South West Africa (now Namibia). When the MPLA ascended to power on 11th November 1975, the South African government believed that it would support liberation movements such as PLAN, SWAPO and ANC which had bases in Angola. This led South African government to embark on a major covert action programme to pursue and attack the liberation movements bases in Angola.
Colonel Jan Breytenbach together with Commandant Sybie Van Der Spuy were tasked to oversee the formation of a group namely the Bravo Group as a specialist counter-insurgency unit. Its main role was to carry out reconnaissance and track down movements of liberation factions inside Angola. Later the group was renamed 32 Battalion (nicknamed Buffalo Battalion) and its assets were upgraded to include a squadron of Ratel ZT-3, Tank destroyers, Anti-aircraft guns mounted on Buffel infantry vehicles. The 32 Battalion command headquarters was in Rundu (present Namibia).
To achieve its objectives effectively, the 32 Battalion command recruited some of the Ngangela speaking people (such as L-Cpl Sachilombo. J. A, L-Cpl Tchipango. W, Rfn Chipoya. Z, Rfn Chihamba. J. C, Rfn Kahete. P. K, Rfn Mbambi. M, to name just a few) and other Angolan refugees who were driven out of their homeland by the civil war and found refuge in the South African controlled Southwest Africa (now Namibia). It also recruited former fighters from the defeated nationalist factions such as FNLA. Apartheid or any form of discrimination was never considered during the recruitment process. The battalion primarily consisted of black troops originating from Angola. They were led by white South African officers and NCOs.
The 32 Battalion was deployed in southern Angola in Cuando Cubango province. It did most of the fighting and dying during the Angolan civil war. It acted as a buffer between the white South African Defence Forces and the Angolan Forces because it operated behind enemy lines. It was also employed as a semi-conventional force especially during the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale. The battalion's aggressiveness and the success it achieved on the battlefield lay in its spirit, courage, energy and its Esprit de corp. The troops were nicknamed the Terrible ones.
After the 1989 Namibia independence settlement, the Battalion was withdrawn to South Africa where it continued in a counter-insurgency role on South African borders. It was further deployed in South African black townships to deal with political upheavals between the armed ANC sections and the armed IFP units. These black foreign troops dealt with upheavals robustly and without fear or favour because they held no local tribal allegiances and loyalties. On 8th April 1992, some troops were involved in a shooting incident in Phola Park, Gauteng where members of the public were shot and killed. This incident drew widespread criticism.
In March 1993, the 32 Battalion was disbanded and these Ngangela military refugees were left in a difficult situation without assistance or support. By 2008 there still remained about a quarter of the 1000 families at Pomfret, surviving on hand to mouth existence.
This is the history of the 32 Battalion and how some Luchazi and Ngangela speaking people have ended up in South Africa. When the 32 Battalion was withdrawn from Southwest Africa (Namibia) after its independence, the Luchazi and Ngangela speaking people in Namibia underwent suffering from the SWAPO led government who denied them citizenship documents, and conducted targeted searches to arrest those who it suspected to have been members of the 32 Battalion and all those who did not have documentation to stay in Namibia. It took the President of Angola and the United Nations to settle the matter with the Namibian government.
Luchazi traditional economy.
Long before the arrival of Europeans, the Luchazi had
a well-developed home industry of iron ore smelting, basketry, pottery,
extraction of cooking oil, and production of rubber.
Agriculture.
The traditional Luchazi economy relies heavily on subsistence farming. They practice slash and burn method of crop cultivation, and crop rotation are practiced to naturally conserve the land. In the past, if rain had delayed or when a drought was expected, the elders of the village would appeal to the ancestral spirits for help. They grow cassava, yams, maize, finger millet (valuku), sorghum (masa), cow peas and bulrush millet (masangu). They grow also tubers like sweet potatoes (musambe) or potatoes (tuvanja), local tubers known as vukola vua nstoni and vukola vua ntamba. Tobacco and hemp are also grown for smoking and snuff.
All crops cultivated as food are planted in fields far
away from the village so as to leave space for village extensions and
expansion. Luchazi people spend the year engaged in farming activities, and
divide the year into three farming cycles:
Ntsimbu ya kusaseya na kusendeka.
These agricultural activities run from May to August,
and the activities involved are harvesting of crops and preparation of fields.
The first activity of this cycle is the harvesting of crops such as bulrush
millet, finger millet, sorghum, maize, beans, ground-beans, groundnuts and then
transporting them from the temporary storage structures at the fields called
vipundo to the permanent storage structures in the villages called visete and
zikoloyi. After harvesting, then follows preparation of virgin land for new
fields called mihanda.
The men prepare the virgin land by cutting down small
trees and shrubs. This stage is known kusaseya. The big trees are cut into
pieces and laid onto the smaller trees and shrubs. This process is known as
kupakula or kuvuka. The stumps of big trees have their bark removed about a
foot from the top so that small branches don't sprout from there. While the
fields are being prepared, cassava stems from 2 to 3 year old fields are cut in
preparation for planting in the new fields in October and November. These are
stored in the adjacent thick forest so that they are not destroyed by cold
weather.
Ntsimbu ya kulima.
The cycle runs from September to December. This is the
period of cultivation of both new and old fields. The women weed out and
cultivate the one year fields called ciseve and the two year fields called
cimbete. In September, the pile of cut trees and shrubs are burnt in the newly
prepared mihanda. Then follows the activity of cultivating the fields. In areas
of laterite (red) soils, they make large mounds called matumbo on which to
plant the cassava stems stored in the forest. In areas of sandy loam soils,
there is no need to make mounds and cassava stems are planted directed into the
soils after cultivating. Between the cassava mounds or cassava plants bulrush
millet or finger millet or sorghum seeds are planted. The other crops such as
sweet potatoes, indigenous potatoes, ground beans, cow peas, yams, gourds,
pumpkins, cucumbers and others are planted during November and early December.
Nstimbu ya luindza na kuyauela.
This cycle runs from mid-December to April. The
growing crops have to be weeded regularly during the rainy season. The cassava
and potatoes have to be protected against monkeys and other animals, while the
millet crops have to be protected against birds. This is called kuvingila and
this has to done until the harvest period in March and April.
Agricultural produce such as maize, millet, sorghum,
groundnuts, cow peas, beans etc., are harvested and taken home where they are
stored in barns called visete. Millet beer is brewed to celebrate the harvest. The
surplus grain is packed in sacks and sold.
They also engage in activities such as raising and breeding of livestock: cattle, goats, sheep, pigs including poultry chickens (tusumbi), ducks (mapato) etc. They also raised dogs for meat. Agricultural activity increased simultaneously with the steady growth in commercial ventures.
Bee-keeping.
Bee-keeping is still a major occupation of the Luchazi people wherever they are found. Bee-hives are made from the fibrous barks of trees which are wedged off the trunks with an axe according to the required measurements. The wedged off barks are then bound together, forming a tube, and reinforced by sticking small wooden pegs or pikes through. The open ends are covered with discs of bark from a tree called mutsindi. Once done, the hives are hung in the forks of branches of trees.
Different types of honey bees that forage in the vast array of the local wildflowers produce honey from the nectar of undefined flower sources around the forest. The honey collected from their beehives and hollow trunks of trees are taken home for processing and consumption. The types of honey (as produced by different types of bees) consumed by Luchazi people are: vuci vua mase, vuci vua mala, vuci vua mbulumbulu, vuci vua mpuka and vuci vua malianda. Honey beer called ndoka is brewed and sold. The surplus honey is packed in containers or buckets and sold, including the extracted beeswax.
Luchazi Cultural practices.
The Luchazi people have a system of customary practices,
social customs and behaviour which every person is under obligation to observe,
and these have been handed over from one generation to another. These originate
from the life conditions of the tribe and this include rituals associated with
birth, death and adulthood in their communities.
Traditional training.
Books and schooling are new things in Luchazi history.
Traditionally children get considerable training in many aspects of life, and
learn from their core family, close relatives or the clan. Training of children by strangers is not allowed. The Luchazi have a proverbial saying, “kamenemene katumba, menekela a li mana; kesi na mana ngueni tuhia neza mu kuota” meaning visit those who are wise and able to impart knowledge into you, not those who are unwise who think you have visited because of the things they have. The
children learn the arts and crafts by seeing and then by doing the same
themselves. At fieldwork, too, the boys follow the men and the girls the women,
learning by imitation rather than by hearing the job analysed and explained
beforehand. Usually there are few crafts that have to be taught. They master
the art of crafts by watching their parents, close relatives and tribal members
and doing the same tasks themselves.
Every child attends the coming-of-age rites such as
mukanda (circumcision school) for the boys and vuso (initiation school) for the
girls. Sometimes children might be sent to their uncles, aunties and
grandparents to be trained. They also learn from other adults within the tribe.
Folktales and maxims.
The Luchazi people have a strong story telling
tradition and proverbial sayings. They have folktales and proverbial sayings
pertaining to all situations of life. They are used to teach how to behave and
live in harmony with the world. As for moral instruction, storytelling is done
around the evening fire. The tales of monster-like figure (cikisikisi), lion,
monkey, hyena, rabbit or fox, who got into trouble through wrong doing, are
told. Sometimes tales of frightening monsters or animals were used.
They have maxims or proverbial sayings (such as vikuizi and zinguli: "handekela cana, musenge ua zika - speak on the plain, the woods are thick") that have been
handed to them from their forefathers, and are generally used to give advice,
or state a fundamental principle, general truth, or state a rule of conduct and
mode of good living. Another example, the Luchazi proverb, “New shoots sprouts
where a dead tree decomposed.” This means that the youngsters are trained to
take over the responsibility of custodianship of the tribal heritage when the
adults are called to join their ancestors. Other examples of proverbial sayings are:
2. Kania citsu ve ku mu tsiha, kutina a kania naua.
3. Kuteketela mulumbi, kaha mulumbi ceni ku lia.
4. Mbila kuti citsiha linga mungungula u ku fume.
5. Kandondolo ka ve ku mu kovelesa mu mulingi na zindzili, ngue u ku mu kovelesa na zindzili a ku puesuka.
Fire.
Fire plays an important role in most of the
traditional rituals especially during the funerals and the mungonge rituals. Fire
symbolise the inextinguishable spirit and energy of the Luchazi people. They
have a saying, "VaLuchazi vavuekele tuhia mungongo"; they say the
fire energizes them during the difficult times, flashes the light during the
times of darkness, gives meaning to the tribe when it is threatened and
challenged. It is fire that delivered extraordinary performance and
achievements through their Lutengo (smelter).
There were two traditional ways of lighting up fire;
they ignited fire out of dried wood called muntelenge in which they drilled a
hole in the middle. Then they placed a smaller dried piece of the same wood in
the drilled hole and rubbed vigorously so that the friction caused sparks which
fell on the soft materials around the hole, thus igniting fire. This method is
still used in some villages especially in the ritual of funerals when the fire
in each household is put out and a new fire is ignited and distributed to all
the households. Another method of lighting fire, is the use of a piece of iron
ore called muhotolo and a stone which involves the striking the side of the
stone with the muhotolo, sparks fly out and ignite the soft materials.
Clothing.
Before the introduction of cotton in Luchazi society, they
used to treat the soft skins of duikers or animal hides into leather for
clothing which was used merely to cover the private parts; for the women the covering included a bark blanket (cilondo) and for the men the covering was known mukotola. For babies'
clothing, they used the softened skin of the grey coated squirrel called ngele
which was specially treated with castor oil. The skins of feline animals are
used as symbols of royal majesty; the skins of lions, leopards and pythons are
highly valued.
After the introduction of cotton, they made thread which they wove into coarse cloth called cindambua or cikeleya that was used for clothing and beddings. Western clothing was adopted many years ago, through missionaries and Dutch or Portuguese influences. Today, cloth wrapper is now the textile of choice for women. Every adult woman is required to wear a cloth wrapper around her waist as a sign of maturity and respect. Men used to wear cloth wrappers around their waist (which included putting on black felt hats, shirts and jackets) when attending important traditional events or ceremonies and when relaxing at home, but this has since been relegated to traditional ceremonies only. Women strap their babies on their backs with a strip of clothing called likambu which is bound at the two ends with a knot at her chest, one end passing over her shoulder while the other passing under the armpit of the other arm.
For
bedding, they made tree bark blanket known as cilondo from the barks of certain trees. Tree bark blanket was obtained by marking out with an axe into the required length and a narrow strip of the the tree bark was ripped off lengthwise between the marking on the tree. Finally the tree bark came off by wedging it off the tree with an axe. Then it was placed on a dried log called musiko and beaten repeatedly with a wooden mallet called cisano until it was smooth and supple. The tree bark blanket was then soaked in castor oil and afterwards dried. The picture below photographed by early European pioneers in Angola which shows a Luchazi man preparing a bark blanket.
Body adornment.
The common hairstyles of braiding or plaiting among Luchazi women are matombi, minkuni or vikuti or mafutika, mihanga, mankundi and mambonge or mukule. Njombi, citenga ca ndulo or katenga ka ndulo, kakongo are the common traditional haircuts for males. Plaiting, cutting of hair and nails are done by a
family member. The cut hairs and nails are collected and disposed or buried
secretly. It is believed that they could be used for magic since they came from
a person’s body, and must not be allowed to fall into the stranger's hands.
Zincato (shallow incisions in the skin) are practised as an identification mark by Luchazi women, and as a ritual of protection or for physical strength enhancement and as a way of traditional medical practice. The procedure usually involve the rubbing of a mixture made up of herbs and certain animal parts into the incisions. Python oil was also rubbed into the incisions because of its curative values. For griping strength or power enhancement, usually talons from the martial eagle or crown eagle (ngonga) are processed, mixed with certain herbs and then rubbed into the incisions. For punching power enhancement, the aggressive dark brown paper wasps or scorpions are processed, mixed with certain herbs and then rubbed into the incisions. These enhancements have strict food taboos to observe and consumption of certain types of animal foods, vegetable and fish are prohibited; it is believed that the consumption of certain types of foods such as okra may weaken a man's strength.
In the past, traditional scarification was practised by the Luchazi people, and was mainly practiced by the women during the coming-of-age rites to prepare girls for adulthood. The procedure involved cutting into the skin to create raised scars or grooves in a specific pattern called mikaka from the navel area down up to the waistline including the back up to the waistline too. These markings often had symbolic meaning and were considered to give sexual pleasure to her partner physical sense in bed. These procedures and rituals are no longer practiced because of conversion to Christianity. Today, waist beads have replaced the scarification ritual. Waist beads are worn and are not suppose to be seen by anyone except her husband or partner.
Teeth filing or shaving called kusentsa mazo was practised by some Luchazi communities as a mark of identity. According to some Luchazi elders not all Luchazi communities used to practice teeth filing, and only those communities who were neighbours with other related ethnic groups such as the Chokwe and Luena (Luvale) people. The teeth filing or shaving involved filing down the upper and lower canines which differentiated them from the other ethnic groups who used to file only the upper canines. To encourage young ones to have their teeth filed, the elders used to tell them that while asleep their teeth moved out to go into the faeces if they have unfiled teeth hence the bad breath, but in real sense the bad breath was the result of poor dental health habits.
During traditional ceremonies, the Luchazi decorate and paint their bodies in patterns with red ochre (nkula/mukundu) and white ochre (mpemba). Red ochre signifies blood and boldness while white ochre signifies purity. The colour purple stands for royalty. They also wear bead-work and bracelets (makayi). During coming-of-age ceremonies, the initiates have their bodies painted in a pattern with red and white ochre (mukundu na mpemba). The hair of female initiates are daubed with a thick paste of red ochre and castor oil (see the picture below).
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Castor oil plays a significant role in the traditional cosmetic practices of Luchazi women.
Luchazi traditional foods.
The main staple dish of the Luchazi is the thick meal porridge called civundu cooked from cassava meal or millet meal or maize meal which is served with relish such as meat, fish, chicken, mongu (caterpillars), beans, vuihua (mushrooms), including vegetables like cassava leaves, mutete, and zindzilo (eggplants). Traditionally , cooking of meals is mainly done by women, and men only cook when the food involved is for rituals. A menstruating woman is not allowed to add salt to the food she is cooking because it is believed that if she does so those who will eat the food will become sick with cough. The Luchazi people cook their food by boiling, stewing, braising and roasting on fire. The utensils used to cook include cooking sticks, clay pots, cast iron pots or three legged cast iron pots and modern steel pots and pans. Typical Luchazi foods includes:
The sequence of serving food.
The Luchazi people have strict timings for eating main meals; traditionally supper is served between 17 and 18 hours. After sunset, no meals are consumed in the ndzango. In the past, the Luchazi believed that eating main meals after sunset attracted evil spirits and witches to eat with them. The duties of the boys of a
Luchazi village, especially those who have already passed through the
circumcision camp (Mukanda), are many and include the picking up of food from
their mother's kitchens and bringing it to the ndzango. It is in the ndzango
that a Luchazi man is, by custom, obligated to bring his meals and share it
with other men. Then there is the errand of fetching civundu (thick porridge)
from the households and there is a sequence that has to be strictly followed by
the boy bringing food to the ndzango. The sequence of picking up food and
serving is as follows:
- Water for washing hands,
- Bring or serve the plate or pot of relish and put it in the middle of the eating place,
- Bring or serve the plate of Civundu (thick porridge) which is the main dish and place it in the middle too. In old days, it was considered an insult to serve civundu in lumps because lumps of civundu were served to initiates at the mukanda. Civundu was served in one compact mass, and there were no side plates.
In old days, if this step or order was not followed
the meal might be rejected and returned. The order of washing hands is as
follows: Start with an older gentleman present and lastly the youngest in the
ndzango. After washing hands, one of the men tastes the relish, and if he
approves the men start eating. If the relish is disapproved, the men move away
from the eating spot and the meal might be returned. Before they begin eating,
it is traditionally appropriate to serve first the boys who are not allowed by
custom to eat with adults from the same plates at their age.
Today, food is served in the comfort of dining rooms,
and so the same sequence of serving must be followed: water for washing hands,
serve plates of relish and Civundu in the middle of the table. Then place the
side plates on the table, and serve first the young ones. Serving food properly
is a very important task for each and every Luchazi family. It is a requirement
for Luchazi women to learn how to serve food in an elegant and traditional way
but in a manner in accordance with the modern set standards.
5 beverages of Luchazi people.
The Luchazi have traditional non-alcoholic and
alcoholic drinks which are made from grains and tubers. They are brewed by
women, and are used as refreshments for various occasions.
Non-alcoholic drinks are mainly made from cooked meal
porridge called visangua (prepared by adding small amount of pounded soaked and
about to germinate maize) and milava (prepared by adding washed, peeled shreds of
milava roots). Alcoholic drinks are made by distillation or fermentation, and
the drinks consumed are:
- Kacipembe: this is a traditional liquor distilled from fermented cooked cassava mash called vimbuende which is fermented for about five days. The distillation process uses a traditional retort which consists of a large pot for heating the fermented vimbuende; a removable cover/lid called kaliangu for covering the top of the large pot; a condenser called cingolengole or lingolengole consisting of a metal pipe (which one of the end is connected to the kaliangu) and a hollow vessel (containing the cooling water); a receiver which is placed at the end of cingolengole pipe for collecting the distilled beverage (kacipembe). Kacipembe ka zintsole is a type of distilled beverage made from fermented wild fruits called zintsole, and the liquor has distinctive flavouring of zintsole.
- Ndoka: this is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented honey brewed in a calabash or njava (clay jar).
- Vualua vua masangu: this is an alcoholic beverage made from yeast-fermented millet flour.
Only adults are allowed by custom to drink alcoholic
beverages. In Luchazi society, it is considered inappropriate to give a minor
any intoxicating drinks. If an adult goes against this social rule, the adult
is summoned to appear before the village elders in the ndzango, the adult is
severely castigated for the bad behaviour. He or she is further ordered to
compensate the parents of the child, depending on the degree of drunkenness.
Performing arts of Luchazi people.
Luchazi music.
The Luchazi traditional music is produced by a vocal group of men and women, goblets or conical hand-beaten drums, wooden clippers and rattles. The call-and-response singing is mostly accompanied by three to four conical drums and other traditional instruments. The music is punctuated by ululation. The musical drums are made from the mukula trees; this is done by hollowing of trunks into the mono-membrane conical drum called ngoma and the bi-membrane drum called Mukupele. They use animal horns as trumpets. The animal horn is called litua ngunda which is used as call for war or likandzo. The other musical instrument is called Cinkuvu (chinkuvu) which is made entirely of wood and is beaten on the sides with small size knobkerries called Misimpo. The Cinkuvu produces a sonorous sounds more powerful than the ngoma and mukupele.
The Luchazi are excellent composers, and their songs are
harmonious to the ear of the Ngangela speaking people. They say that songs are
their traditional books and historical books. It is through songs that they
remember persons and events of the past. The songs pertaining to royalty are
sung to the accompaniment of the royal drums and royal instruments such as the
Lungandu (a wooden hollowed instrument).
They have traditional songs relevant to appropriate
ceremonies and occasions such as: marriages, funerals, burials, boy's
circumcision (mukanda and mungonge) ceremonies, girl's initiation (vuso and
ciwila) ceremonies and when celebrating some outstanding achievements. There are also songs pertaining to royal ceremonies
such as coronation of a king or queen or chief. Most of the songs that are sung
during the induction lessons at the mukanda circumcision camp by the Ngangela speaking
people are Luchazi songs.
Luchazi traditional dances.
And their cultural dances includes nteta, niakasanga, makopo, cilunga, etc. The dances performed by the kings or chiefs are Mbanda and Lungandu which are held within their respective palisades. The Sepa dance is performed outside the king's or chief’s palisade but within his Capital.
Luchazi traditional ceremonies.
In Angola and Zambia, traditional ceremonies are held
annually at traditional capitals of the Luchazi chiefs to celebrate the tribes' achievements and to commemorate the ceremonial life of the tribe as handed over
to them by their forefathers. They are held to preserve their cultural heritage
and traditions, and to trace the historical background of the Luchazi people.
The arenas of these traditional ceremonies are usually
fenced off by wooden poles and grass pavilions. Before the celebrations can
begin, the Luchazi people first go to their ancestral shrine (miyombo) to perform
the ritual of kukombela to venerate their ancestral spirits and to remember
those who have been called to join their ancestors or forefathers (vakulu). There is singing, clapping (a show of reverence) and mentioning the names of the ancestors. This is also an important time to invite the departed spirits to come home and watch over them. They also thank the ancestors for the good health, good life and abundant food. There
is always plenty of singing and dancing during these traditional ceremonies.
Other related tribes such as Luvale and Chokwe are invited to attend the
ceremonies.
The groups sing and dance to the accompaniment of the
drums. The dances can last for two to three days. Various dance groups showcase
their dancing skills and different types of masked dancers appear at various
stages of the ceremony.
The Ndzolela ya Mbunga traditional ceremony is held annually in August at the capital of Muangana Mueni Chivueka at Musimoyi in Angola including other traditional ceremonies such the ceremony held annually at Muangana Mueni NiaChinyundu.
The traditional ceremonies in Zambia are Chivueka and
Mbanda ya Muangana. Chivueka ceremony is held annually in July at the
traditional capital of Muangana Mueni Kalunga of Chikenge in
Kabompo district of North Western province of Zambia. It is a ceremony that
commemorates the lighting of fire by Muangana Chivueka.
Mbanda ya Muangana traditional ceremony is held every
year in September at Mizeze the traditional capital of Muangana Mueni Samuzimu in Mufumbwe district, North Western province of Zambia.
The Luchazi come together to celebrate the season’s harvest and to express
gratitude for the abundant blessings.
Handcrafts of Luchazi people.
The Luchazi are exceptional craftsmen and are highly
artistic, especially in the art of carving masks, musical instruments, walking sticks and sceptres from the mukula trees, and household utensils such as open gourds called citaya (used for serving relish or civundu) and ngandza ya ntavula (used for drinking), wooden plates, spoons,
cooking sticks, mortars and pestles. Wood carvers have always been valued among the Luchazi people. They are also highly skilled in
manufacture of clayware such as earthen jars, pots, bowls etc. They also make
ironware such as knifes, arrowheads, spearheads, metal blades for axes and hoes.
The craft of basket making.
Luchazi people are principally
skilled in the handicraft of weaving reed mats and baskets of different shapes
and sizes. The interwoven strips or strands are dyed to produce beautiful
patterns. The types of baskets are:
- Cihele: a basket made of
interwoven strips of cane from the roots of a tree locally called Munkenge. It
is used to hold or carry supplies/foodstuffs.
- Cendeko: a large, wide bowl-like basket used as a winnowing receptacle or for holding grain during the beer-brewing process.
- Lisehua: a shallow concave
shaped basket used for winnowing.
- Mutonga: an oval shaped basket with a rectangular base used to carry foodstuffs or supplies.
- Civuvi: a backpack basket
strapped on the back supported with a strong strap round the brow (a person's
forehead). It is used for carrying supplies. The drawing illustration below shows a Luchazi woman carrying a backpack basket in 1842.
- Musalo ua kandanda: a cylindrical sieve
basket with a fan-shaped open end interwoven out of palm/reed fronds and small
strings of bark fibre. It is used for sieving meal flour.
- Ngululu: a cylindrical container made from whole inner bark fibre with the scaly surface peeled off, open at both ends and used for protecting meal flour from being blown away while sieving it into a receptacle.
Traditional architecture.
In traditional society, most of the Luchazi houses and huts are built using clay bricks, mud mortar, grass, beams, trimmed wooden poles, rafters and fibre gins. The method and style of construction are important identity markers; the roof structure is sometimes supported by evenly spaced wooden poles; thatching of houses and grass palisade are easily identified as Luchazi by style of construction.
Luchazi religious and spiritual beliefs.
Native religion.
The Luchazi people were and still are highly spiritual, and are monotheists who
worship and believe in a supreme deity called kalunga who is believed to be the
giver of life, protector and creator of all things. When faced with serious
challenges of life such as severe drought, mysterious diseases, or threats of
attack from a rival tribe, they called on Kalunga by incantation to solve these
problems.
There were tribal seers (Prophets) and seeress
(Prophetess) who had supernatural or spiritual insight who could predict the
future or events and warn the family or tribe or clan of the impeding danger or disasters. Most
of these seers and seeress were from the Cimona clan and were highly respected. It must be noted that the traditional religious practices are different from the Luchazi spirituality, although these beliefs are intertwined
Christianity introduced by European missionaries
mainly in the 18th century led to the demise of the traditional religious
beliefs which were viewed as pagan and evil. Traditional religion is not
practiced much anymore. Some attribute this change to the reception of the
Christian gospel; others link it to Portuguese persecution of traditional
religion. If the Portuguese heard that witchcraft was being practiced in a
village, many times they would enter to kill everyone in the village. As a
result, traditional religion began to wane and finally to die in many areas.
Luchazi spirituality
The Luchazi people believe that the ancestors exist in the next world or spiritual world, and they can be invoked to intervene in their affairs. So when a person dies, it is believed that the person will come back as a spirit to watch over his or her own children, grandchildren and other family members to ensure that they have good life and good health. Prayers and sacrifices are offered to these intercessors so that a person's life on earth can be good and successful. They believe divine power resides in nature, and that ancestral power was present in trees and plants. This spirituality ensures sustenance of the family and tribe.
Each village has an ancestral shrine (Miyombo) where the village headman or the head of the family perform rituals of prayer known as Kukombeleya by venerating ancestors through recitation of the names of long departed forefathers known as Vakulu. All sacrifices to ancestors or rituals are performed at the miyombo. After harvesting, grains and millet beer are presented to the ancestors and thanking them for the good yield. During ceremonies, they gather at the miyombo to offer their prayers before commencing their celebration. During the Chief’s funeral, the liver and heart from the animal killed during the communal hunt are offered to the ancestors at the miyombo. After a successful hunt, hunters perform rituals of prayers at the miyombo; the hunter with his sons offer the liver to the ancestors and the hunter says, “Enu vose viyambi mu vusoko vuetu, mua tsihile va mpakasa, mua tsihile va mbambi; lelo mua tsihi vifo vienu, lelo evi tu na mi nehela (you hunters, our relatives, you killed buffalos and deers, today you have killed relish; today we have brought you the relish)”. After saying this, the hunter and his sons offer the liver pieces as a sacrifice. The hunter then tells his sons to pick a piece of charcoal each in their right hands, and the hunter says, “Enu tu nkulundundu mu vusoko vuetu, ka mua puile viyambi, ka mua tsihileho kasitu ua ku musenge, enu vifo vienu via kulila ku nima (You nonhunters, my relatives; you were not hunters, you never killed game; you eat your relish from the back)”. After saying this, he tells his sons to throw the pieces of charcoal behind them.
If, in a typical Luchazi village, a relative or a
clansman visits the village for the first time, he is promptly presented at the
miyombo where the headman performs the ritual of Kukombela, and rubbing his
forehead with white bulrush millet flour known as seke. Then a chicken is slaughtered and the visiting relative or clansman is made to jump over the spilled chicken blood. This ritual makes the
visiting relative or clansman accepted by the ancestral spirits and the people
in the village respectively.
The ritual of kukombeleya is also used to identify imposters; at the miyombo, the visiting relative or clansman mentions names of the ancestors to prove that he is a genuine relative; for example: “Yange Kalenga nja fumu ku Longe, yenu va SaChindamba, yenu va NiaChindamba, yenu va SaNgelenge Kwikwi, yenu va Mutonga na vose; nji na heta hembo lietu hano, nji nue mema aze acili.” The visitor may also mention the family lineage, for example: yenu va ka Sachisunga, yenu va Sangombe ya Kalenga." The headman or elders will be listening attentively, and If the visiting relative or clansman fails to mention names of ancestors, the village headman or elders will rub his forehead with other ordinary meal flour without him knowing. Then a chicken will not be slaughtered for “ku sindika.” In Luchazi culture, it is imperative that a person knows the name of the village of his or her parents, the names of grandparents and great grandparents, their lineages and clan.
They also believe in spirits known as Mahamba which manifests in both men and women. The common types of spirits include tundundu, viyaya, kamulami and vindele. To cast out these spirits or to calm them down, a special song and dance ritual is performed. During the ritual, the herbalist prepares and boils a mixture of herbal medicine to sprinkle (kuzima) the possessed person. Sometimes those who are possessed by the spirit of tundundu have the ability to prophesy and speak in strange tongues.
To prove that the manifestation is real, village elders mixed water and hot chili peppers in a bucket and the person manifesting was required to dip his or her face into this mixture as many times as possible during the ritual dance. The other test involved hiding a needle in a secret place and the person manifesting was required to let the spirits lead him or her to go and get the secretly hidden needle. The reason for these tests was to deter those other people that did it for entertainment purposes.
In the past, those who used to manifest the spirits of vindele built thatched huts for their spirits next to their houses. These spirits may belong to an individual, a family or a community. Now and then they were required to enter backwards in these huts and appease these spirits; and neglecting them may result in personal suffering or collective misfortune.
Divination (kutaha).
If there is a persistent problem in a family or village, the family members or villagers through their headman decide to consult a diviner to find the cause. The diviner has supernatural power or magical insight to discover hidden causes to the problems. The most common form of divination among the Luchazi is known as Ngombo which the diviner performs to determine the cause of the problem or sickness and prescribe a remedy.
There are different types of ngombo and these are:
Ngombo ya cilambu (in this type, the diviner uses an animal skin), Ngombo ya
kasanda (the diviner uses a basket known as lisehua, this divination consists of
tossing miniature dolls known as tumponia), Ngombo ya zimbinga (the diviner
uses animal horns), Ngombo ya kusantsela etc.
Magic and witchcraft.
In Luchazi society, different types of magic (mahesi)
are used by chiefs, village headmen and tribal elders to protect their
families, villages or communities from evil forces. It is also used for
personal protection and for use as entertainment at initiation ceremonies such
as ciuila (chiwila) and mungonge. In the past, the magical rituals were used to
protect villages and communities from rival villages or communities especially
in the night whenever these rivals carried out raids to capture or kidnap
sleeping villagers.
Therefore, they practiced magical rituals that made
their villages and communities invisible to the invading party or by the use of
invisible magical figures called makisi that come out at night to guard the
village or homestead. In the past, it was prohibited to come out of the house stark naked during the night or move about in the
night, those who did so risked their lives being cut short by these nightly
makisi. Victims of these makisi attack usually died in their sleep with blood
oozing from their noses.
Vandumba zia vantu (common among women) are magical
invisible figures that are used by women for evil and selfish purposes to
settle scores with their perceived enemies, and it is believed these women
consume the meat of their victim in the spiritual world. The vandumba zia vantu
are inherited, and it is for this reason that women are forbidden from
accepting gifts such as pumpkins from elderly women especially those who are
not family members.
Others practice witchcraft (vulozi) for evil purposes and the most common types of vulozi are Mbati (this is a tortoise which is used in supernatural world to bewitch), vuhole (this is black magic used to make somebody appear dead to the public while he/she is taken into captivity by the witches. In the past, the witches used this type of magic to bewitch those they wanted to sell into slavery).
Christianity.
In 1482, the first Portuguese missionary by the name of Diogo Cão arrived in the present day Angola. Then he was followed by the first Catholic missionaries who arrived in 1491. Following a series of disagreements, Portuguese colonial officials expelled the Jesuits in 1759 and suppressed all orders in 1834. Revival of Catholic influence in the Portuguese colony of Angola began in 1866 with the arrival of French Holy Ghost fathers. The influence of Catholic church is evident today, many traditional rulers adopted the Catholic cassocks as their traditional royal robes/dresses (see picture below).
The traditional rulers also adopted the style of mitres (liturgical headdresses of Catholic bishops) as Luchazi royal mitres (see picture below).
On 11th November 1880 the Evangelical
Congregation Church was founded (now called IECA). Following a series of
uprisings from 1902 to 1907, the Portuguese colonial officials closed all
catholic mission posts in 1910. They believed that the missionaries were behind
these uprisings and supporting pro-independence activities. In 1935 the Seventh
Adventist missionaries established the Lucusse mission in Moxico province,
south of Luena town. By 1940 all native religions were abolished and outlawed in
Angola, and all were required to convert to Christianity.
The Luchazi have adopted Christianity and have been
responsive to the Christian gospel. The membership of churches in Angola, Congo
(DRC), Namibia and Zambia connected with Africa Evangelical Fellowship and
Catholic Church is huge. Others are Apostolic Faith and Jehovah's Witnesses especially those in
Western and North-Western provinces of Zambia.
Many youths have taken up to singing Luchazi gospel songs especially those in Namibia where they have gospel bands like the renowned Kolesa Gospel Band (in picture below).
Luchazi rites of passage.
Mukanda camp.
The boys are taken into the bush camp to be initiated
into the tribe as demanded by custom. Every boy at maturity is initiated into
the ceremonial life of the Luchazi people. Every Luchazi parent is expected to have
his son or male ward circumcised upon attainment of appropriate age. The
circumcision is normally performed by a skilled traditional doctor called
cikendzi who uses a traditional surgical knife to cut off the foreskin. The
operation is performed with no anaesthetic.
The idea to host a mukanda is brought up for
discussion by the father or guardian of the boys to be initiated. The father or
guardian of the head initiate is called cizika mukanda who is entrusted with
the overall organisation of the mukanda and performs the supernatural
activities (kuzika or kukoteka mukanda) of protecting the mukanda camp from
evil forces and wild animals like lions. Arrangements and consultations are
made within the community, then a circumciser (cikendzi) is hired. The uncircumcised
boys are mobilised and resources among the parents are pooled. It is usually arranged
for the head initiate to go and kill a housefly. After that he is given an
imitation wooden knife and told to stick the housefly at the sharp pointed end.
Then he is told to go and provoke the cikendzi (circumciser) by giving him the imitation
wooden knife as a challenge to his ability to exhibit his skill on him! The
head initiate and one or two others are circumcised on the first day at the
place known as lusumba on the verge of the village and taken to the mukanda
camp.
The head initiate who is circumcised first is called cizika
mukanda just like his father or guardian. Any additional uncircumcised boys are
also circumcised in similar manner as and when they are brought. The cizika
mukanda (father/guardian) gives strict orders to observe certain taboos which
ensures that all tundanda (initiates) are supernaturally protected from evil
forces. Some taboos/rules are given by the Cilombola, and these may include: no
salt, not to eat beans or catfish or vegetables seasoned with groundnuts etc.
These taboos vary from one cizika mukanda or Cilombola to another.
A mukanda camp is identified as for the Luchazi tribe
when it has two entrances; one on the eastern side and another on the western
side, with the window called ndambi situated several meters away from the
western entrance. One of the entrance is for use by the Vilombola and the other
entrance for use by initiates and Vilombola ntito. While a mukanda is identified
as Luvale when it has only one entrance, and on the opposite side the ndambi.
During their stay at mukanda, the boys now called
tundanda undergo a series of rites and experiences some of which would appear
to be cruel under normal circumstances. There, under the supervision of their
warden called Cilombola or Vilombola (plural), they are put through a course of
sprouts. They
are each subjected to sleeping in the open air in an individual roofless
enclosure of small sticks with an opening at the roof and fire on either side; no
blankets, these are tests of the boys' courage and endurance. During this healing phase, the initiates are not allowed to bath and their movements are restricted. There is a Cilombola/Kalombola ntito whose duty is to fetch food and drinks for the initiates from
the village, and it is a requirement that as he is approaching the mukanda he
should sing a song and the tundanda should respond. There are songs for food such as civundu and songs for drinks. Failure to respond appropriately, entailed short rations, teasing and whipping. The boys are required to eat their meals without washing their hands; the only water given to them is for drinking (water discipline). This also presents an opportunity for adults to give instructions
under very hard circumstances, and during which the boys are trained to take on
physical hazards, the moral fibre to withstand any danger and the temptation to
reveal secrets and rites imparted to them.
During the initial stage, the tundanda (initiates) are taught manners, to obey orders and instructions from their parents/guardians without question, to participate in manual work, to eat their food communally with their fellow tundanda, to regard one another as blood friends, loyalty to the clan, tribe and service to the tribe, etc. They are also taught survival skills, and encouraged to excel in these activities. These tasks teaches them to appreciate the need for teamwork and leadership; team work teaches them to be assertive. These activities help boys develop personal skills such as how to take risks, how to handle criticism, and how to cooperate with those who are not their friends. This imparts a sense of creativity and adventure in the boys.
After three months, the initiates are presumed to be healed and a ceremonial ritual called kulonda ntsimba is held. There is an all night singing and dancing both at the mukanda camp and the village. At dawn a man or cilombola at the mukanda usually climbs on the top of the mukanda structure and mentions the names of the mothers of the initiates in the ritual song:
Upon hearing her name, the mother to the initiate ululates and dashes towards the mukanda camp and hurls a chicken towards the camp. During this ritual of kulonda ntsimba, mothers to the initiates and mature women gather at dawn on the verge of the mukanda camp, some armed also with whips ready to square off with men at the camp; if some rogue or mischievous women or women with dutch courage manage to breach the security and collect ashes from the camp fires, then the camp is regarded as "disgraced". Therefore, the entrances to the camp are heavily guarded on this day and the initiates are told to stay inside. On the other side, the makisi and men go out to fight the women with whips and to chase them away. After chasing the women away, after sunrise the initiates are taken to the river for their first bath since circumcision. The men continue to fend off a gang of women who are eagerly waiting to have a glimpse of the initiates. Once at the riverbank, men of the village form up a file with whips as the initiates jump the ritual fire as they go into the river for a bath; whipping the initiates for the last time. After bathing the boys are said to have completed the initial phase; corporal punishment is minimized and they are allowed to carry out tasks without supervision; they are allowed to go out and collect firewood for the camp etc.
After the ritual of kulonda ntsimba, a short period of time or so is allowed to pass and then the time comes where the boys are said to have been swallowed by the big Likisi. During this period, the mukanda is in total silence; no activity is allowed. Then the boys are introduced to the makisi of the mukanda for the first time; a terrifying moment for the initiates. After their introduction to the makisi, the boys are said to have been vomited out and are shown every corner of the camp. The boys are taught how to sing and dance; especially kukuua accompanied by wooden clippers and kutanga.
A man visiting the camp at night announces his approach by singing a song known as nguli which serves as a password, and the tundanda plus men present respond to his nguli. Most of the singing at the mukanda is call-and-response which is at times accompanied by wooden clippers. There are songs that are sung during the induction lessons at the mukanda. One of the common songs is:
Makisi the masked dancers.
The makisi (masked dancers) are the rebirth of vakulu (ancestors) in new bodies specially brought back to life on the occasion of the coming-of-age ceremony (mukanda) of boys. According to Luchazi tradition, the makisi are the departed spirits (vakulu) that are associated with death and afterlife; they incarnate from the graveyards. The makisi are highly respected and feared. Therefore, it is inappropriate or not allowed to inquire about who is inside; the makisi speak in an accent different from humans. The primary role of the makisi is to protect the initiates and to defend the mukanda camp; they have weapons such as machetes, bow and arrows, axes and daggers. Many people mistakenly think these weapons are dancing tools. In ancient times, the masquerades were used to carry out surprise attacks on the rival communities. Throughout the mukanda process different types of masked dancers known as makisi (singular, likisi) appear at various stages.
The secondary role of the makisi is to provide entertainment by dancing in village square. The makisi are always accompanied by a group of initiated men who assist and protect them during these dances. The makisi also make the mukanda camp alive, warm and active place from beginning to end.
Traditionally, the masked dancers of the Luchazi are supernaturally protected (kukoteka); it is strictly a taboo for women to have any physical contact with any type of likisi, let alone have a handshake or hug a likisi. A woman who does so, suffers prolonged menstrual periods, and if uncircumcised man tried to uncover the likisi, he was strike with madness; touching or hugging a likisi by a woman or uninitiated man is considered an insult. Uncircumcised youth or man (Cilima) is not allowed to insult a likisi. This rule applies also to women. The first likisi to appear on the first day of mukanda is Katotola, who emerges early in the morning.
Katotola: is reincarnation of the dead man who has been transformed in the grave to look as he does with one white eye and one red eye because of his crooked ways. During the mukanda period, men take the opportunity to settle scores with women who have been perceived to be disrespectful by ensuring that the makisi whip these women. Women too take advantage of the presence of the makisi to discipline their children especially the naughty ones. They invite the passing makisi to come and snatch the bad children. The other makisi are:Ndondo: believed to be the incarnation of a dead youth who had a swollen belly because he wanted everything he could get his hands on and was never satisfied. So, this youth was bewitched because of such behaviour. This likisi is so full of jokes and fantastic idiosyncrasies that they are a delight to watch.
Chileya: Likisi Chileya is said to be the incarnation of a middle-aged man with greying hair who loved to spend most his time with women instead fellow men.
Other makisi are regarded as being more dignified and appear usually towards the end of the mukanda period. These are Muengo and Kangandzi who precede Lipumpu.
Lipumpu: He is the most dignified and highly respected of all the masked dancers. He is believed to be the reincarnation of an elderly ancestor specially brought back to life on the occasion of one of his descendants' (initiate's) final mukanda rites. He is portrayed in a transformed figure, with a colourfully pattern-painted face and a well-trimmed, ear-to-ear white beard. He travels whilst lifted up on the shoulders of a man, and only in the cool of the late afternoon. He is received at the miyombo (village ancestral shrine) with ritual pomp and ceremony.
On the day of cessation of the mukanda rites (burning down of the camp), in the morning the initiates (tundanda) leave the camp. The initiates are told not to look back at the burning camp. On the verge of the mukanda camp or several metres away from the camp, the initiates are traditional decorated with pattern paintings of red and white ochre (mukundu and mpemba). A piece of cloth called mukotola is wrapped around the initiate’s bottom and between his legs and tied around the waist. A band made of trimmed thin fibre gins (ziondzi) called zindzombo/zintsambo is wrapped around the initiate’s waist. A headgear called cikuko is placed on his head and holds a single rattle (ntsangu) stuck to a stick.
After all the initiates are dressed, a Cilombola leads
them into a procession called kutanga as they move towards the centre of the
village, and finally the ndzango. Initiates first dance with their zindzombo by shaking rhythmically their waists to and fro called kuhunga. Afterwards the initiates dance moving their shoulders rhythmically up and down. At the end of
the celebrations, the boys are taken back to their various homes in accordance
with traditions. The following morning, the zindzombo, vikuko and mikotola are
buried secretly along the riverbank. The boys then bath and put on new clothes.
This gives them the sense of importance and sets them apart from all the uncircumcised
boys and females.
Mungonge.
Nyalupanda.
Ndanga.
Mbongo.
Vuso.
Vuso is the girls' initiation process which a Luchazi girl undergoes. It is held in dry season and can last one to three months. Girls are brought up by their mothers. Maternal care is one of the Luchazi women's most important instincts passed on from their biological parents and ancestors. All the girls who reach puberty are taken to Vuso. This is a traditional way of marking the end of childhood and the beginning of adult responsibilities. A thatched shelter called Cisevuilo is constructed at the rear of their mother's house where the girls will be spending their time during the day. In addition to Cisevuilo, a cone-shaped hut called Litungu is constructed in front of their mother's house facing the ndzango area, and this is the hut where the initiates sleep during the night. The Litungu is constructed by the fiancés of the girls if they are betrothed, or by their male cousins if not yet betrothed.
The initiation takes place in the morning, and it is carried out by initiated females at a secluded place within the village premises. Uninitiated girls are not allowed to be near this area; men are not allowed to pass near where the initiation is taking place, doing so would attract violent beating from the women. After the process, the initiates called va niamuso are covered in clothes from head to below the knees with part of the cloth used as veils for their heads and faces. In the afternoon before the sunset, the initiates are taken to the cisevuilo amid singing and dancing by women. Other women carry whips, and men including children of the village are at their mercy! In the initiation camp, the girls undergo their maidenhood seclusion stay. Here they might stay three months or more, and uninitiated girls are not allowed to enter girl's initiation camp. It is also strictly taboo for men to enter any girls' initiation camp; men who are foolhardy enough to do so, do it on the pain of strong condemnation by other men of the village and the heavy compensatory punishment to be meted out by the headman or chief.
In most Luchazi villages and communities, close relatives such as aunts, grandmothers, grand-aunts, elder sisters and cousins all played a role in the upbringing of a girl child. She is taught to listen to and accept advice from well-meaning women, particularly the elderly. She is taught that a Luchazi women's place is first and foremost in the field and then in the kitchen. She is taught the importance of working hard in her fields and be self-sufficient in the production of food for herself and family; taught how to process and preserve various foodstuffs such as, cassava, leafy vegetables, mushroom, etc. She is taught the varied crafts of cooking, sewing, basketry, pottery and housekeeping. She is prepared for the tasks as woman in the Luchazi society. She is also taught to behave like a well-bred woman at all times in all places and in all circumstances. She is forbidden to associate or indeed have sexual relationship with uncircumcised men.
During Vuso, dances are held in the late afternoons where women showcase their dancing skills and the participants are exclusively women, with only a few men who play the drums. This dance is called nteta. Men are mere spectators who give tokens of appreciation to the dancers.
Ndzango.
Luchazi traditional marriage.
Once in her husband's home, the woman uses the kitchen (ntsenge) of her mother-in-law to cook food; she is not allowed to cook food from her kitchen before the ceremony called kuvueka coto. After a week or so, the relatives of the woman perform kuvueka coto ceremony where they take cooked foodstuffs to the man's village. The purpose of this ceremony is to show the man's relatives that their daughter has been well tutored, and the foodstuffs presented is how she should always cook them. The woman's relatives also present gifts of preserved foodstuffs consisting of calabashes of dried groundnuts, pumpkin seeds, mutete and mushrooms to the couple including baskets or sacks of processed dried cassava tubers. Once the ceremony is performed, the woman is now free to cook food from her kitchen (ntsenge) and serve in the ndzango. After the ceremony, the man automatically becomes responsible for her well-being.
Women and children are considered valuable to the tribe. With the birth of the couple's first child, the child's name is used in referring to the parents of the child such as SaChiyena (father of Chiyena) or NiaChiyena (mother of Chiyena). It is considered inappropriate to call a person who has a child or children by their first name. It is believed that this system of name assigning binds the core family together and emphasizes the importance of rearing children.
There are strong family and community sanctions against mistreatment of wives or children. If the wife becomes in any way disadvantaged physically or otherwise in the course of her marriage, the husband pays compensation to her relatives, with the amount of compensation depending on the seriousness of the injury or illness. Should the wife die from whatever cause while still with the husband, the amount of payment is extremely high. In old days, plenty of vikuka (compensation) was paid, including manufactured goods, livestock etc. The vikuka was collected from the whole family of the widower.
Traditionally, the Luchazi have strong beliefs in the sanctity of marriage, and are obligated to do everything possible to preserve family unity. In old days, men used to go on trade expedition for months, and if the wife became pregnant for another man whilst her husband was away, the husband was immediately briefed on what had happened upon his return from the trade expedition. He was not allowed to divorce his wife. He was obligated to take care of the child as his own, and the man who impregnated his wife was told to keep away and never lay claim to the child.
Problems between a husband and a wife may lead to divorce. Common reasons for divorce are the wife’s failure to bear children, a husband’s impotence, unfaithfulness, cruelty, wife’s talkativeness, and laziness. Some clans or lineages have sayings which reflect their family values, for example the Va ka Sachisunga would say, "tu ku niunga muli muana, ka uesi na muana ku katuka kuya" meaning if the wife is talkative or lazy and does not have a child, then there was no point in keeping this troublesome wife in family. Divorce is easy if the wife is healthy, though it must be negotiated between the families, as the marriage was. As earlier stated, it is considered an insult to divorce over adultery; the husband or wife must find other reasons such as laziness, talkativeness etc other than adultery. Divorce over adultery was considered an insult because it implied that the husband or wife failed to perform his or her conjugal duties in bed or matrimonial duties.
Polygamy is still practiced by the Luchazi though it is outlawed by the established christian mission churches. A man can marry at least two or more wives, if he can afford it or if he is a good provider. In old days, the Luchazi practiced a rarer custom of lending wives called kuli solokela. In this custom, a man offered his wife to friend as long as he brought a goat to him as payment. Once the goat was presented, the man left the village and went on a trip in order to give chance to his friend to sleep with his wife.
Royal marriage.
Luchazi names.
Sons
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Daughters
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Ndala (firstborn)
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Ntumba (firstborn)
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Ntsandala (second born)
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Mutango (second)
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Ntsamba (third born)
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Kakuhu (third)
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Kasanga (fourth born)
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Mbakakuhu (fourth)
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Ntsakasanga (fifth born)
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Mbakakuhuluila (fifth)
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Kasongo (sixth born)
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Kasongo (sixth)
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Ndakasongo (seventh born)
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Mbakasongo (seventh)
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Ndakasongoluela (eighth born)
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Mbakasongoluela (eighth)
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- Mixed twins (boy and girl); Njamba (or Nguvu) for the boy, and Ngeve for the girl.
- Twins (both boys); Cilunda (Chilunda) for the first born and Muntomba for the second born.
- Twins (both girls); Cinenge (Chinenge) for the first born and Mbacinenge (Mbachinenge) for the second born.
- Kahalu: the name is given to the surviving female twin after the death of the boy.
- Kanianga (kanyanga): the name given to the surviving male twin.
- Kafuti: the name is given to the baby born immediately after twins.
- Kanianga (kanyanga): the name is given to a male baby whose mother died at birth.
- Masela: the name is given to a baby whose father died before the child was born, either boy or girl.
- Cipango: taken from the name of the Cipango fertility ritual isolation shelter itself.
- Vihemba: taken from the medicine used during fertility ritual.
- Kasueka (Kasweka): refers to the mother's restriction to the Chipango shelter during pregnancy.
- Calula (Chalula): attest to the efficacy of the medicines used.
- Vilengeya: also attest to the efficacy of the medicines used during fertility ritual.
- Vihinda: refers to roots that were used as medicine.
Surnames and nicknames.
The use of the Portuguese language by many Angolan
tribes dates back hundreds of years; some were able to speak and read
Portuguese as early as 1491 especially those along the north-western Atlantic
coast. As these tribes embraced Christianity, they adopted Portuguese, English
and Afrikaans names after baptism, but many Luchazi people have maintained
their naming tradition.
The surnames which most Luchazi people have are a recent possession. In the past, people had only one name at a time. However, the Luchazi people being a matrilineal tribe would refer to a person by her mother's name; examples: Chipipa ca Vuime (Chipipa son of vuime - Vuime is the mother), Kakuhu ka Kalemba (Kakuhu daughter of Kalemba), Ngongola ya Kanunga (Ngongola son of Kanunga), Mutunda ua Ngambo (Mutunda son of Ngambo), Katolo ka Chindamba (Katolo son of Chindamba), etc.
There are also nicknames given to individuals in line with their personality or character. Battle names were given to warriors and others also added descriptive praise name such as Tovola ya Visali (the one who caught fish in streams) for Muangana Mweni Kwenye, Mutandeveyo ua Zinjila (he who spreads his legs across paths; the toll collector from travelers) for Muangana Mweni Kavangu, or Kazika Mazila (he who blocks paths; toll collector). Others changed their names after some achievements, thus indicating a new personality, or another chapter in their lives. Traditionally, it is a taboo to call someone by his or her name after sunset.
Luchazi traditional funerals and burials.
Traditionally, all the fires of the village are extinguished after the death of a member of the village especially a headman. All mourners are required to camp outside the house of the deceased.
Traditionally, the corpse is not allowed to pass through the door of the house. Children are not allowed to see a corpse, and an opening is made at the back of house where the corpse is extracted. The corpse is usually placed on a bier known as vuhango. If all customs are done, the deceased is buried in a grave at a village cemetery with the head placed in the eastern direction. Household utensils used by the deceased such as plates or cups or pots are placed on top of the grave (mbumbo). After the dispersal rites, the house of the deceased is demolished (and the ruins or place is referred to as mbozo) especially if the deceased used to live alone in the house.
Marriage customs determines what is to be done if the husband or wife or child dies. The death of a husband doesn’t seriously affect the situation on ground. But if a wife or child of a Luchazi village dies, it constitutes a very serious offence for the entire village, except fellow bride-price women and their children. As a matrilineal tribe, the children of the Luchazi marriage are presumed to belong to the mother. If a child dies the father pays something in lieu of the dead child to the brother or uncle of the wife. In old days, the reasoning was that since the child was going to be counted in its mother's matrilineal village, a replacement should be made accordingly.
The death is announced to the village of the deceased
woman's relatives by a messenger sent from the widower's village who shouts the
bad news from the verge of the village and immediately runs back for fear of
being harassed or beaten. The mourning relatives of the dead woman will then go
in a procession to the husband's village and stop on the verge of that village,
with women crying and wailing. A goat is then offered to them which they
slaughtered there and then. The first goat offered is known as cisanga-ninga.
The mourning group then enters the village with the
slaughtered goat and camp in the front yard of the funeral house. The widower
is then confined or was placed in seclusion and supervised during the period of
mourning. A series of animal offerings at various stages of the mourning rites
follows. A female relative of the deceased is appointed to cook for the widower
and to generally serve him routinely by way of giving him water to drink,
lighting a fire at night for him to warm himself. Before these services are
provided, the widower or his relatives are required to pay for these services.
Failure to pay results in the widower being starved, but in any case the
widower is just served water whether the relatives paid or not. During the
funeral the widower is not allowed to bathe or touch the fireplace.
After the payment of services for the widower, the male relatives of the deceased demand compensation for the loss of their deceased relative and all relatives of widower are required to contribute something towards the payment. In old times, they would demand a minimum quantity of goods to be made as initial payment by marking a four-sided space with four poles about the height of a man to be filled with goods. Burial cannot be authorized unless a reasonable amount is paid. Once the initial payment has been made, burial takes place at the village graveyard. The widower is not allowed to attend the burial and is taken into the bush where cleansing rituals commence. After burial the widower is returned home.
Sexual cleansing ritual.
During the cleansing rituals the widower is required
to be personally involved in the sexual cleansing ritual in which he engages in
sexual intercourse overnight with a chosen female. Demands for compensation are
suspended during the performance of cleansing rituals.
The day after burial and cleansing ritual, demands for
more payments and negotiations resume. After reaching an agreement, a
reasonable lapse of time is then allowed after which the final payment of
compensation should be made. After payment, the case is closed. Then relatives
of the dead wife are expected to provide a substitute as a new wife.
If after the deadline the widower and his relatives
failed to make the final payment of compensation for any excuse whatsoever,
then the relatives of the deceased refer the matter to their chief. The chief
invites some headmen to accompany him and visit the widower's village at the
throng, camping on the verge of the widower's village, later move to a nearby
village after the widower has paid another cisanga-ninga.
Whenever such a case is referred to the chief for his
ruling, the action of the dead wife's relatives is always upheld. If the chief
is satisfied that the failure to pay is deliberate, he intervenes with more
firmness. He orders the widower to pay off the remaining major portion of the
compensation in the form of two or three cattle. In old days, a temporary
indentured worker known as ntompo would be paid in lieu of cattle, and if the
husband and his relatives cannot afford an indentured worker, his nephew or
niece or even himself could be snatched in lieu and later be sold as slaves for
goods.
Once the matter is settled, the chief is also paid for
his intervention. In old days he was given an able bodied young man called
ntungisi to supplement the workforce at his palisade! Gradually this act of
heavy compensation led to men having secret affairs with their sister-in-laws
(vampuevo zia matemo).
Inheritance.
In older times when the father of a family died, one of the nephew inherited his uncle’s estates including his aunties. The Luchazi now practice western patterns of inheritance. There are still matrilineal families in parts of the Luchazi communities, but they are slowly passing due to intermarriages. In modern times, the state has taken over most of the roles and functions of clans in education, protection of members, social and economic help.
List of prominent Luchazi people.
1. Business, economics and politics.
- Enoch P. Kavindele: Born on 7th July 1950. He is a businessman who established Woodgate Holdings in the 1970s. He is also a politician who started his political career as Member of Parliament of Chingola constituency in 1987 under the United National Independence Party (UNIP). He joined Multi Party Movement for Democracy (MMD) and served as Republican Vice President of Zambia from 2001 to 2003. He is the Chairman of the North-Western Railway Company.
2. Art and media
- Enock Kaleji: He is the best ever Luchazi traditional folk singer.
- Mingeli Palata: He is a broadcaster; a filmmaker and a script writer. In 2014, he was a double nominee in the Zambia Film Television and Radio Awards (ZAFTARS) for Best feature "Beautiful lie" and Best script writer "Foolish me". In 2015, he become Africa Magic Viewer's Choice Awards nominee for Best TV series for "Maliposa".
3. Sports
- Chisanda Mutti, nicknamed as "Kent Green", was born on 14 February 1957 in Matero, Lusaka Zambia. He was a professional middleweight boxer, light heavyweight, cruiserweight and heavyweight boxer. He is the only Zambian boxer to have fought the great Evander Holyfield; Evander Holyfield vs. Chisanda Mutti. The double knock down in Lee Roy Murphy vs Chisanda Mutti on October 19, 1985, has entered the Boxing Hall of Fame as one of the greatest double knockdowns ever.
Author's note: Now that the guns are silent in Angola, it is time to embark on a journey of historical and cultural enquiry about the Luchazi people. This blog is largely the result of an extensive compilation effort. The information is from sources ranging from the early European Christian missionaries to the present senior citizens (vivendzi) of the Luchazi tribe. It contains oral historical and cultural information from the Luchazi people themselves as handed over to them by their forefathers; these oral accounts which had already been validated by the Luchazi themselves via Cikota ca Luchazi. Other sources of information include renown encyclopaedias. I wish to state that the blog will be constantly updated or edited as and when new information is provided and validated by Cikota ca Luchazi. They say that the past is brought to life by those who were there. And to understand the present, you have to understand the past. History is not only events, it is also about culture.
The book entitled: "The Luchazi people - Origins and History" is now available on Amazon. Get your copy.
Beautiful history i am delighted to read, just disturbed on the defficient list of the prominents! Meaning we have not done much as Luchazis.
ReplyDeleteThis is very good information. Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteWell reasearched. If possible would be good to get some commentary on Mwene Kalunga & Mwene Mutunda Wa Ngambo. Twa sangala mwanetu
ReplyDeleteTua sangala muane this is very important to know,we salute you muata for such a wonderful package of information about Luchazi people..Njambi akale nenu ntsimbu yose..
ReplyDeleteInteresting. This cultural community is also found in Botswana in the North West District in what are known as Etsha villages.
ReplyDeleteInteresting piece, tua sansela. We need more of this, i don't even know our traditional attires
ReplyDeleteThis is good, I at least have an idea about the rich history we have. Let's keep pushing for more.
ReplyDeleteAnge ni njika'ngengela wa ku Wila-Luvango. Vaci ngweni ngangela ili lika ku Kwandu na KUVANGU, ou Moxiku, ku Vie na ku Kunene. Luvango lukala kuliko?
ReplyDeleteOs ngangelas não só estão no Moxico, Bié, Malanje, K.K, Cunene, mas sim na província da Huíla ocupando uma vasta região, desde o leste do Município da Matala (depois.do rio Cunene) Até KUVANGU, Jamba mineira.
ReplyDeleteInteresting.
ReplyDeleteTu na sangala muakama. Zinguli ngeci muezi zisilivila muamo ngambo.