Luvale people

They are closely related to the Lunda and Ndembu to the northeast, but they also share cultural similarities to the Kaonde to the east, and to the Chokwe and Luchazi, important groups of eastern Angola.

[9] By the mid 19th century, guns were widespread in both Luvale society and culture,[8] and travellers' accounts noted that practically all the major chiefs were also important slave traders.

[7] The Luvale would continually expand their domain in search of new raiding targets, coming to clash with the Southern Lunda chieftainships in particular.

In an unprecedented move, the Lunda chief Ishinde appealed to the Barotse's leader, Lewanika, for aid against the Luvale.

[1] In 1907, the slaves in the part of the Upper Zambezi under British administration were officially freed, but a system of debt slavery continued on a limited scale for decades.

[11] Lewanika had made the claim that the Upper Zambezi was under his domain, a valid statement in the eyes of the Barotse, as it was supported by their intervention in the Wars of Ulamba.

Years prior, Sir Hubert Young, the governor of Northern Rhodesia at the time, had signed a 1936 agreement with the Litunga and the Kuta, setting up Native Courts in Barotseland, including Balovale in it.

The two tribes argued that they should have been consulted for this agreement, and another meeting was held in Livingstone in 1937, attended by the Barotse, Lunda, and Luvale leaders.

King George VI selected Philip MacDonell as the president of the commission for his prior experience as a judge in Northern Rhodesia and elsewhere.

He visited the areas in question and interviewed witnesses, but upon MacDonell's return to England, the government became preoccupied with WWII, and a final decision took some years to be made.

On July 9, 1941, the Northern Rhodesia Government Gazette announced the change, stating that the King's Commissioner found that the land in the Balovale district did not belong to the Barotse.

Zambian President Chiluba had appointed only Lunda to top positions in local government in the region, widening ethnic divisions.

Commoner lineage groups play a bigger role than in other northwestern Zambian peoples, and are rather independent of the chiefs.

[1] Traditionally, the Luvale do not recognize a paramount leader, but instead pledge allegiance to local chiefs who inherit their positions matrilineally from the maternal uncle.

[7] On July 28, 2020, the Luvale royal establishment selected Chinyama Ngundu as the new senior chief,[15] as his predecessor (and uncle) passed away January of that year.

She is taken into seclusion and brought to a fig tree ("muulya"), a symbol of fertility, where she remains until a grass hut ("litungu") is built for her.

During the period of seclusion (which could last between four and six months[19]), girls are prepared for marriage through being taught about hygiene, sex, and domestic chores.

Due to a modernized legal system the initiation ceremony now happens later in a woman's life (before marriage) although it still happens at puberty for Luvale girls from rural areas.

Child marriages are now illegal in Zambia, so even if a girl reaches puberty at 13 in a rural area, she may do the wali but not get married straight away.

[2] There are three distinct stages, the first being the preparation, which begins when a village headman ("chilolo") or important elder, having reached consensus with the families of young uncircumcised boys, publicly announces that the time for the mukanda has come.

[2] The initiates ("vatunduji" or "tundanji") will undergo tests of courage and learn lessons on their future role as men and husbands.

The curriculum also includes cultural instruction in the ancient form of design and calculus known as "tusona", a tradition of ideographic tracings that are made in sand.

[3] The masks are made of wood and embellished with plant fiber, cordage, beads and other materials to convey the age, gender, social rank and power of the archetypes they embody.

[21] They represent the spirit of a deceased ancestor who returns to the world of the living to assist the boys in their transition from childhood to adulthood.

The boys are welcomed back into their community as adult men; the entire village is free to attend the makishi masquerade and pantomime- like performance.

In recent times, masks have incorporated notions of the new; newer representations of makishi might include the face of a boom box, a VCR player, radio, or etc.

[21] The mukanda has an educational function of transmitting practical survival-skills as well as knowledge about nature, sexuality, religious beliefs and the social values of the community.

This adjustment together with the increasing demand for makishi dancers at social gatherings and party rallies, might affect the ritual's original character.

[9] The Luvale and Lunda have often come into conflict with one another since the 1940s; strife has further intensified over prime agricultural lands, given the region's poor soils.

[3] Some Zambian Luvale have left their ancestral lands, often for economic reasons, and can be found in other locations in Zambia such as the Lukanga Swamp.