Title : Samu Lya Moomba Lwiindi traditional Ceremony
Contributors
Dr. Jive Lubbungu, Kwame Nkrumah University, Kabwe, Zambia and Mr. Daniel Hampande, Monze, Zambia.Abstract
Traditional ceremonies in southern province of Zambia are one of the prominent cultural activities that cannot escape documentation in the history of Zambia. Among different kinds of ceremonies is the popular Lwiindi traditional ceremony. There are various lwiindi ceremonies which include that of Chief Simaamba of the Gwembe valley, lwiinde Gonde Ceremony of Chief Monze, and the Cuundu lwiindi traditional ceremony of Chief Chikanta among others. Added to the afore stated is a relatively new ceremony called Samu lya Moomba traditional ceremony. This ceremony set its ground in 2016 but is understudied. Therefore, the purpose of the chapter is to give an objective study rather account of the Samu lya Moomba traditional ceremony which takes place in Chief Choongo of Bweengwa in Monze district. This study also discusses the significance of the ceremony in the political history of Zambia as it relates to the struggle for Zambia’s independence.
Introduction
Various lwiindi ceremonies are held in different parts of southern province of Zambia each year and a number of scholars have explored such ceremonies like the lwiindi ceremonies of the valley (Colson,2006; O’Brien & O’Brien 1997). For instance, the lwiindi of the Bagande clan of Simaamba is held around October and November when people are preparing to their fields out of the belief that without the blessings of their ancestors, the fertility of the land is compromised. (Kakoma, 2017). As for the lwiindi Gonde ceremony celebration, it is normally held in the first weekend of July to give thanks to the ancestral spirits and to appease the spirits for good health, rains and good harvest. (Chipembele, 2017). During the ceremony, a number of farm produce are brought for display. The annual festival takes place at a place called Gonde, near Chief Monze’s place in Monze District.
Cuundu lwiindi traditional ceremony of Chief Chikanta is yet another version of lwiindi tradional ceremony among other lwiindi which takes place in the first week of October every year. The festival is held to give thanks to the ancestral spirits for good harvest as well as to ask for rains not to mention the promotion of local trade trade between farmers of the chiefdom and people who come from outside. However, the Samu lya Moomba lwiindi traditional ceremony has not been popularized as it is relatively new on the scene despite playing a significant role in the history of Zambian cultures and indeed the political history of the nation. The ceremony derives its name from a tree called ‘Samu lya Moomba’ (hornbill’s tree) based in Choongo’s chiefdom. It is named Samu Lya Moomba because a southern Thornhill bird used the tree at the site as its residence for some time until the shrub was no more. (Chiinga, 2021). The tree was used to host the Ila and Tonga people to gather their animals which were later sold to raise money to enable the Freedom Fighters to travel to England to get the White paper of the Zambian Constitution. Since 2016, Samu lya Moomba heritage site was awakened from slumber and came on the scene as one of the critical traditional annual festival in Zambia. Samu lya Moomba which was
dubbed as ‘The Inaugural Samu Lya Moomba Lwiindi Traditional Ceremony’ became a hive of activity recently when the typically tranquil place became alive to Tonga/Ila traditional norms. This was during the celebrations of Zambia’s 57th independence when President Hakainde Hichilema did not mince his words and resonated the significance of keeping the country’s history records intact for future generations. During the festival, a number of activities take place at the site.
Sam Lya Moomba lwiindi Traditional Ceremony
Samu Lya Moomba celebrations take place annually in Chief Choongo’s area, about five kilometres from Monze town. Howver, this ceremony has not been in the public eye until recently when president Hakainde Hichilema attended the ceremony and underscored the need to recognise the significance of sites like Samu Lya Moomba in the country. The president said “Samu Lya Moomba contributed significantly to the political emancipation of the country from the colonial yoke. Samu Lya Moomba has great historical significance. This celebration which is
part of the 57 years of independence for the country is a milestone. Samu Lya Moomba should never, never ever be forgotten in the history of the country” (Chiinga, 2021).
The Bweenga member of parliament Mr Kasauta Michelo added his voice and emphasised that the site is where Zambia’s forefathers, the people who fought for independence, used to gather to contribute cattle to enable freedom fighters like Nkumbula, Kaunda, Kapwepwe and others strategise execution of liberation battles.
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Samu Lya Moomba is a heritage site where there was a gigantic tree several years back, but what now remain are smaller trees which form part of the historic place as show in figure 1 above. The site is an important element of the cerebrations as it was used by the Ila and Tonga people to
Samu Lya Moomba Site
Figure 1.
gather their animals which were later sold to raise money to enable the Freedom Fighters to travel to England to get the White paper of the Zambian Constitution Moonze (2021) submits that:
It is called samu lya moomba because there lived a hornbill that acted miraculously during the struggle for independence. It is said to miraculous because it was a shelter where our freedom fighters used to hide from Whites. They say those days if you ran into the bush where Samu lya moomba is housed, no one from outside would see you. The site has been neglected over the years for unknown reasons, here are theories attached to the importance of this place:
Samu lya moomba is a tree that hosted the formation of the first political party led by a black politician in Zambia which was the African National Congress led by Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula. It is said that the time Northern Rhodesia wanted independence from the Britons, there was need for a Zambian delegation to travel to Lancaster in United Kingdom for the talks of Zambia's birth and also the collection of its first Constitution. The Whites did not want to fund the travelling of Our forefathers because they were hesitant of seeing blacks rule themselves, that’s how Zambians then converged at Samu lya moomba and started donating cattle, goats and Chickens raising transport fees for the black delegation to travel to UK:
The Eve of the Ceremony
A day before the ceremony, a lot of preparatory activities take place at the Samu Lya Moomba heritage site. Although the actual tree is no longer at the site, the bush where the tree used to stand is still there and active. And so the chiefdom that actively participated in contributing cattle for the event are given where to camp during the ceremony. In these camps, traditional drink called Cibwantu is brewed in readiness for the main event. Both domestic and wild animals are slaughtered and shared among chiefdom. Some food stuffs are prepared specifically for the dignitaries who attends the main event.
As people go to the venue (Samu lya Moomba site) they are not supposed to use one route to get to the site. Various routes must be used as a demonstration of how people were moving to avoid
being spotted by the colonial masters. Further, the black long garment that chief Choongo Mubbenge was wearing at the time he received Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula is brought to the site from chief Choongo’s palace. Chief Choongo used to wear a black garment as a sign of rebellion against the colonial rule.
Cattle parade
During the celebrations at Samu Lya Moomba heritage site, cattle are displayed to signify the form of contribution that facilitated Zambia’s liberation struggle. According to Headman Leonard Kalyalya, who was part of the struggle, “the struggle started at Samu Lya Moomba through Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula who started lobbying for money from chiefs like Mungaila, Nalubamba, Hamusonde and Chief Choongo.” Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula explained the reason for lobbying for money as Headman Kalyalya indicates:
I want to go to England to look for the white paper. I have seen something bad in the governance system of the country. We are still being treated like slaves. We need these colonial masters to move away from this country
The above reason convinced the chiefs who committed themselves to support Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula’s vision. This culminated into meetings to strategise on how the money could be
Figure 2.raised, and the meeting was eventually convened at Samu Lya Moomba site. According to Mr Kalyalya, “People started donating cattle and this was disguised through an initiation ceremony called Nkolola. The colonial masters’ police were hoodwinked.” Out of these donations, 52 cattle were raised which were later sold to enable Nkumbula to fly to United Kingdom. This is explaining why cattle is an important element at Samu Lya Moomba lwiindi Traditional ceremony.
In view of the above, it is clear that the centre of activities at the ceremony is about war, a war against colonial rule. So all the activities that take place are war in nature. This war was fought using the animals that were contributed at Samu lya Moomba to allow Nkumbula to travel to England to bring the white paper. Hence, people show their source they used in fighting colonial rule in the name of cattle. As a result, cattle are paraded at the ceremony showing people’s source of strength to fight white minority rule. Big oxen are paraded in honour of the role animals, cattle in particular played in fighting colonial rule.
At the same event, various dances that are war in nature are performed as shown in Figure 3. Tongas from both the valley and the plateau showcase their war dances to show their determination to fight colonialism. Plateau Tongas perform their battle dance called kukwezya using a special drum sound called Yabukali and while holding their battle spear called namo. On the hand, valley Tonga also showcase their battle dance called budima. During the budima
Figure 3
performance, a special drum is sounded along with various flutes made out of small animal horns.
Drumming
Figure 4
Conclusion
Samu Lya Moomba ceremony is now an annual event to pay homage to spirits at the shrine where former freedom fighters sued to meet to plan for the struggle for independence.The Samu Lya Moomba shrine where it is believed that former freedom fighters including former First Republican President Kenneth, Harry Mwanga Nkumbula among several others used to meet during the struggle for independence.
References
Chipembele, E.S (2017). The contribution of Mukanzubo cultural research Institute to the promotion of the Tonga religious and cultural heritage. Unpublished MA Disertation. University of Zambia: Lusaka
Chiinga,A. (2021). Samu Lya Moomba: Untold tale of Bweengwa. Lusaka: The Zambia Daily Mail,20th November.
Colson, E., 2006, Tongareligiouslifeinthetwentiethcentury, Bookworld Publishers, Lusaka.
Kaoma, K. ( 2017). ‘Towards an African theological ethic of earth care: Encountering the Tonga lwiindi of Simaamba of Zambia in the face of the ecological crisis’,HTSTeologieseStudies/TheologicalStudies 73(3), a3834. https://doi.org/ 10.4102/hts.v73i3.3834
Moonze, . (2021).
O’Brien, D. & O’Brien, C., 1997, ‘The Monze rain festival: The history of change in a religious cult in Zambia’, The International Journal of African Historical Studies 29(3), 519–541. https://doi.org/10.2307/221359