Diplomacy in Motion:
Makishi as Political Harmony in Barotseland

Karen Milbourne
 

In 1982, Victor Turner wrote "perhaps only celebration can adequately understand celebration, but language can give an approximate rendering of it and some semantic perspective on its products . . ."(1) I think that celebration can be applied as a methodology. In the study of performance or pageantry, choices are made, and these decisions are the substance of a productive process. However, I believe that all too often scholars have equated change with deterioration. Celebration has proved useful in my own research, where beliefs in "purity" and "tradition" have set the tone for what little material there is. Celebration places change within the positive context of creativity.

I look to the performance of makishi masks, the cultural property of Mbunda peoples, in Lozi celebrations to demonstrate the means by which the arts are used to publicly display political cohesion. Mbunda, Lozi and nearly two dozen other groups, each defined by language, have settled along the Zambezi River in Zambia's Western Province, historically known as Barotseland.

I arrived in Limulunga, the flood-time capitol of the Lozi royalty, on June 30th, 1996, after thirty hours by bus on what I came to call, the "not-road." June 30th and the first two days of July are national holidays in Zambia, and in Limulunga they are filled with such festivities as a ten kilometer marathon and music and dance performances (Figure 1). As I walked down the path to the Nayuma Museum Guest house where I was to stay, I heard the rhythm of drams and the calling of whistles (Figure 2). I inquired after the cause of the music, and was told that local prisoners were dancing masks in the community performance space. The masked performances were coming to a close for that day, but I learned that the masks would return the following afternoon to conclude the holiday celebrations.

The presence of these masks excited me for a number of reasons. During the time that I was preparing for my preliminary trip to research Lozi arts, some scholars of Zambia had informed me that the Lozi produce no art, and they certainly do not use masks.(2) I knew of four masks in the collection of the American Museum of Natural History that a trader named Richard Douglas had in 1906 attributed to Barotseland, the land of the Lozi people.(3) These masks, three of which are of a claypacked fibre construction, came complete with costume for both male and female characters. The museum's records for the three fibre masks reads simply "headdress," but the fourth mask was documented as possibly that of a "witchdoctor." I have since learned this mask represents Samahongo, or Sachihongo, the glutton, one of many in the cast of makishi characters.

Makishi is the plural form of likishi among the Mbunda. When I showed my photographs to Dr. Mutumba Mainga Bull, a renowned historian of the Lozi who is herself Lozi, she told me how as a child her mother would threaten her if she failed to finish a meal with, "you had better eat that or Samahongo will come and get you.''(4)

Although not Mbunda, this mask held resonance for her. All four of the American Museum's masks are typical makishi, the masks and costumes danced in conjunction with mukanda, the boys' initiation process for Mbunda, Lunda, Luvale, and related peoples in Angola, Central African Republic, and north~ western Zambia. I had hoped that my research would enable me to disprove the skeptics, and show that these masks were "Lozi"- because I arrived in Zambia believing in the possibility of a "Lozi" rubric that would define an autonomous and prolific art-producing people.

During the July 1st performance in Limulunga, I had the good fortune to sit near a friendly gentleman of mixed parentage - Mbunda and Nkoya, who had married a Lozi woman. He was good natured enough to humor the new mukuwa (white person), and tell me a little about each mask as it appeared. Mwana pweo emerged first; my new friend described her as a Lovale depiction of a woman in mourning (Figure 3). The crowd seemed pleased as she carried out her shy routine. She was followed by Chikuza, whom he attributed to an Mbunda origin (Figure 4). As Chikuza grew increasingly aggressive, the whole of the crowd responded. Men attached red cloth to the mask's conical superstructure (Figure5), but it was the response of the children that most grabbed my attention. I noticed that even the smallest of Lozi children knew the proper response. One little girl (about four years of age) knew to run; she even sought protection from her older sister, who had her hands full attending to another baby. I soon realized that I was the only person present concerned with the ethnic origins of the masks. I had been asking the wrong question. The issue at hand was not who owned the masks, but how they were useful to and appreciated by the whole of the crowd. Two other masks, including Likulukulenge, gave animated performances to the appreciation of the diverse crowd that day (Figure 6).

I was not able to see makishi perform again while I was in the Western Province, although I did learn that a Mukanda camp was to be sponsored that July in a community near Limulunga. I was able however, to photograph fifteen makishi collected in 1992 in Mabumbu, another village within Mongu district. Unfortunately, the collector left the museum before any study had been made of the material. While at Nayuma Museum I was assisted by the son of a Lozi induna (court official, aristocrat), who was familiar with each of the masks and aware of their ongoing service for his neighbors in Barotseland. Though Lozi, he too, recognized each mask and was able to tell stories of his contact with their performance.

When I returned to the United States, I began to research makishi. Although many scholars, such as Victor Turner, have written on the masks, the extant research focuses on the masks as they relate to mukanda.(5) P. André Vrydagh is the second scholar to write on makishi made and performed within Barotseland specifically, but the first to focus on makishi as an art form that appears in more than one context.(6)

Vrydagh concerns himself with Mbunda peoples in particular, who he divides into two groups.(7) The first, the "old Mbunda," came from Angola early in the nineteenth century as agreed in a settlement between the leaders of the time, Lozi Litunga Mulambwa and Mbunda Mwene Mundu.(8) Another stream of Mbunda immigrants arrived in the Barotse province in the 1920s, but the practice of certain Mbunda rites already had changed among their predecessors, the "Old Mbunda." Vrydagh states that when Mbunda arrived in Zambia, "the makishi were one cultural element that patently distinguished them from their neighbors."(9) He further asserts that at the time of his research, in 1969, the Old Mbunda had assimilated into the dominant Lozi group and abandoned their circumcision rites.(10) The defining characteristic of the Old Mbunda as Mbunda was language, not material culture or actions. His argument is organized in two parts. First, he describes the later Mbunda immigrants and their continued practice of an "ancestral makishi theater" in relation to Mukanda, the initiation process in which boys are circumcised and transformed from children to men.(11) Then, he addresses the Old Mbunda, whose performances he considers to be simply entertainment -- or motivated by the desire for profit.(12)

Vrydagh's argument is based on two years of careful documentation and represents a thoughtful effort to distinguish Mbunda practices from those of the Luchazi, Luvale and other peoples. He identifies Sachihongo, the gluttonous hunter, Linyampa, the chief, Livweluvwelu, Chawa -- who has changed little in form since Richard Douglas collected a similar example -- and others. Nevertheless, in isolating Mbunda from their larger cultural context, he has raised different problems. Once Mbunda arrived in Barotseland, they became pan of a new social system through a carefully negotiated incorporative process.

Vrydagh implies that Mbunda immigrants from the second wave, who arrived approximately fifty years before his research was conducted, were somehow more true than their predecessors who came to Barotseland a century earlier. Mukanda has changed in the groups that passed through on occasion.(15) A map of the distribution of peoples in Western Zambia demonstrates the continued variety in the region (Figure 8). Although the "Lozi" as an autonomous people are identified along either side of the Zambezi, the diversity in the population of the whole of Barotseland is clearly visible. Gluckman includes Lozi as one of the twenty-five distinct groups, and briefly mentions their composite status. He also distinguishes other groups, such as the Kwangwa, as descendents from the same Luyi origin as the Lozi. An analysis of the term "Lozi," elucidates the complexities of ethnicity in this area.

The Lozi are believed to be born of Luyi roots. The Luyi, also known as the Luyana, most likely are not indigenous to the area. Although arguments have been made to connect the Luyi to the Rozwi kingdom of Zimbabwe, the evidence points north.(16) Mutumba Mainga Bull was able to gather numerous variations in accounts from the southern regions of Barotseland which support the story that Mwambwa, a Lunda princess, broke off from the Lunda and lead her party of followers into Barotseland in the seventeenth or eighteenth century.(17) Her Lunda, or Luyi, descendents governed Barotseland until approximately 1840 when they were toppled by an incursion of Kololo forces from southern Africa. The Sesotho-speaking Kololo were overthrown in 1864, yet their legacy undeniably remains. SiLozi, the de facto language of Barotseland,only differs from Sesotho in pronunciation. Although the group now known as Lozi regained rule, their government did not stabilize for another twenty years. They suffered a rapid succession of contenders for power, until Lubosi managed to solidify political control in 1885 (Figure 9).(18 ) Today, Lubosi is known as Lewanika, a variation of his praise name, Liwanika la matunga ("He who gathers together"). (19) The gathered referred to in this praise name includes representatives of groups other than the Lozi, or the Luyi-Kololo descendants carefully delineated on the map. Lewanika is referred to by Mbunda as Liwanika lya mufaci, "the uniter of nations."(20) Lewanika appointed indunas, or councilmen, to the kuta, the court now known as the Barotse Royal Establishment, from all of Barotseland's people -- Kwangwa, Nyengo, and others. He governed Barotseland as a collective. He also revived rituals considered today to be quintessentially Lozi, such as Kuomboka (Figure 10).

Kuomboka translates from Silozi as "to get out of the water." Each year, the rising waters of the Zambezi River necessitate that the inhabitants of the flood plain move to higher ground.(21) This migration forms the basis for the pageant known as Kuomboka, in which the litunga, or Lozi king, and his followers paddle richly adoreed barges from the submerged capital in Lealui to Limulunga, where a winter palace is located on dry land. The entourage is greeted By makishi performers at Nayuma harbor. Although Vrydagh asserted that the presence of makishi at Kuomboka indicated the loss of the masks' cultural value, I would argue the inclusion of makishi acknowledges the Mbunda constituency within the Lozi collective. The appearance of the makishi serves to demonstrate visually the symbiotic relations and political cohesion achieved in Barotseland. As Likando Kalaluka states, "Today kuomboka plays a great role among the people of the Western Province. It unites them and the Philosophy of Humanism rests comfortably upon it.''(22)

The inclusive nature of Kuomboka can be seen in a 1965 newsreel in the archives of the Zambia Information Services. In this clip, the confluence of ideas expressed in Kuomboka becomes abundantly clear. The filming begins in Lealui, where preparations for the voyage are undertaken. The litunga, Sir Mwanawina, who was knighted for his efforts on behalf of the British in World War I, appears wearing a white suit as he boards his royal barge, the Nalikwanda, in the company of then-president, Kenneth Kaunda. The Nalikwanda, with two royal dram ensembles aboard, then leads the way across the flood plain, accompanied by the other nine royal barges and numerous vessels of the flood plain's inhabitants following the king. As the Nalikwanda, which has been zigzagging across the flood plain for five to six hours, approaches Nayuma Harbor in Limulunga, women touch the water and splash their foreheads as a blessing for the king's safe arrival. The barge pulls close to the land three times before the paddlers still the barge. The litinga disembarks, now wearing a British Admiral's suit, as has been the custom since Lewanika was presented with such a suit when he attended the coronation of Edward VII (Figure 11). Of the two royal drum ensembles on board the Nalikwanda, one is Lozi, the other Nkoya; these drums are sometimes referred to as shambililenu, "the drums of life." The barge itself is built in a fashion learned from W. Waddell, the assistant to influential French missionary, François Coillard. Sir Mwanawina is shown next processing to the kasende, the throne before his winter-time palace, from which he watches the remainder of the day's events, including the performance of makishi.

A similar scenario can be constructed from photos taken in the 1980s for tourist publications and film footage produced by ZNBC (Zambia National Broadcast Corporation) which show Yeta IV, the current litunga, walking to the Nalikwanda in Lealui flanked by his royal xylophone and drum ensemble. He is also shown, in ceremonial attire, enthroned before the palace in Limulunga, above which his emblem, the elephant, has been painted.

The British uniform, the Nkoya drums, the royal barge itself, and the makishi, indicate the ongoing creativity of kuomboka. To borrow Terrence Ranger's phrase, kuomboka is an "invented tradition.''(23) It is a continually inventive tradition. The peoples of Barotseland imagined a pageant in which their forged unity can be celebrated publicly. Kuomboka is quintessentially Lozi in its inclusiveness and constant innovation.

In both his original discussion of invention in Africa, and his insightful revisitation of the same theme, Ranger focuses upon the interplay between colonial forces and colonized Africans.(24) Ranger uses the Lozi, and kuomboka, to illustrate the process of invention during the colonial era. British administrators considered the Lozi "aquatic display" a potential source of entertainment for visiting dignitaries.(25) And, Lozi officials responded in kind. Yeta Ill scored a symbolic triumph when he was able to gain an invitation to King George's coronation in 1937, because the Northern Rhodesian administration had maintained that the ceremony was appropriate only for whites.(26) Focusing upon the creative response to colonial domination does not represent a sufficiently fluid view of identity, and cultural process for Western Zambia, however. I have been interested in the dynamic process of identity and culture-building that existed long before the inescapable presence of the British South Africa Company.

When Lewanika built European influences into kuomboka, he demonstrated his ability to accommodate change and gain mastery over it. He was however, continuing an age old process. His forebear, Mulambwa, who ruled until 1840, had negotiated political and symbolic alliances with Mbunda and Nkoya that are visible still today in kuomboka.(27) These inclusions, in turn, I would suggest show the fluidity of Lozi identity.

Ethnicity has provided the impetus for a scholarly discourse which includes such prestigious contributors as Werner Sollors, Leroy Vail and Terence Ranger. As Vail has argued, ethnicity is an ideological statement.(28) His pivotal anthology, The Creation of Tribalism in Southern Africa addresses the local level motivations for ethnic consciousness in Africa over the past century, focusing on the time period since independence. I would argue however, that ethnicity can be a misleading term.

While I would agree with Terence Ranger that ethnic terminology was developed to differentiate as well as consolidate subjects, neither contemporary issues of ethnic consciousness nor explanations of ethnic terms reaches to what I would call a part to whole identity interchange.(29) An Mbunda presence in Barotseland is Lozi. Lozi has no meaning in and of itself. But, this does not mean that there are not thousands of individuals who consider themselves to be Lozi. To be Lozi is to be pan of a collective characterized by change and choice.

To conclude, I would assert that too frequently, the material culture of Western Zambia has either been ignored, or evaluated according to the belief in a fictive "pure" past. P. André Vrydagh's interpretation of Old Mbunda masks found in Barotseland provides one such example. Vrydagh's assertion that Mbunda peoples assimilated into the dominant Lozi society and abandoned their traditions, so that today the appearance of their makishi serves no more than entertainment value, is not useful. Makishi are no longer the exclusive prerogative of Mukanda, but the performace of these masks at Lozi political functions does not equate with decay. Rather, a likishi dancing at the annual kuornboka pageant represents a celebration of culture building. Political harmony is achieved and maintained in Zambia's culturally diverse Western Province through the ongoing incorporation of a wide range of statuary, music and performance arts in public demonstrations of unity. The movements of the makishi make visible the diplomatic efforts that sustain the Lozi collective. 

Endnotes 

1 Celebration: Studies in Festivity and Ritual (Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press): 11.

2 One scholar insisted that any arts found in Barotseland were the result of efforts by their neighbors; others said they were not sure whether or not there were any art~makers in the region.

3 Between 1907 and 1918, Richard Douglas sold or donated more than four thousand objects from south-eastern Africa to the American Museum of Natural History (AMINH), making the first extensive collection of African art. Of these, the greatest portion originate from Barotseland. One mask, Samahongo, is illustrated in ART/artifact: African Art in Anthropology Collections (New York: Center for African Art and Prestel Verlag, 1988): 189.

4 Personal Communication, 20 June 1996.

5 See Victor Turner, "Mukanda: The Rite of Circumcision" in The Forest of Symbols (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1967): 151-279, and Max Gluckman, "The Role of the Sexes in Wiko Circumcision" in Social Structure ed. Meyer Fortes (New York: Russell and Russell Inc., 1963): 145-167.

6 Max Gluckman wrote on makishi as they pertained to mukanda in "The Role of the Sexes in Wiko Circumcision" but his argument is specific to the mukanda rites of the "Wiko" ("People from the West" in silozi: Mbunda); he does not address the nuances of makishi appearances.

7 "Makisi of Zambia," African Arts 10:4 (1977): 12.

8 Robert J. Papstein, The History and Cultural Life of the Mbunda Speaking Peoples (Lusaka, Zambia: The Association, 1994): 49-50. Friendly relations were forged between Mbunda and Lozi leaders in the seventeenth century when Mwene Mundu Man'ulumbe visited litunga Yeta Twamona; the nineteenth century migration to Bulozi built upon this historic relationship. 

9 "Makisi of Zambia," African Arts 10:4 (1977): 14.

10 Ibid.., 15.

11 Vrydagh provides a synopsis of the distribution of twenty-two masks and the proper behavior in relation to their performances for the Mbunda, p. 14-15.

12 "Old Mbunda" performance of makishi and their commercial commissions, p. 18-19.

13 Ibid., 15.

14 1 choose the word harmony consciously. Although this term has been employed too simplistically in the past; I use it because it connotes music, performance, and the blending of distinct notes into a new whole. Each note maintains its distinctive sound, but participates in a performed unity. Harmony is neither free of tension nor is it synonomous with a "merry Africa"; this term does however, most closely echo the concepts implied by ceremony.

15 Economy of the Central Barotse Plain (Manchester: Manchester University Press for the Rhodes-Livingstone papers, 1941 ): 12.

16. W. Stirke made one of the earliest attempts to determine the origins of the Lozi. He wrote that the Rozwi/Karanga of Zimbabwe claim the Lozi are descendants of theirs and that Lewanika, the Lozi king at the turn of the century, is a direct descendant of their royal house. Recent studies by ethno-historians have attempted to trace this connection, but there is little evidence to confirm it. Stirke made an admirable effort tracing the history of the Lozi, however, he tends to confuse terms and interchange European theories with Lozi voices. See also Mutumba Bull, "The Origin of the Lozi: Some Oral Traditions," in The Zambesian Past ed. Eric Stokes (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1966): 240-243. There are strong cultural correlations between the Lozi and their neighbors from the Democratic Republic of Congo, such as the lore and practices surrounding royal investitures, which support their connection to the north.

17 Mutumba Bull, "The Origin of the Lozi: Some Oral Traditions:' in The Zambesian Past ed. Eric Stokes (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1966): 244-246.

18 Sipopa, and his ngambela (prime minister) Njekwa, led the attack against the Makololo. Lubosi served under Sipopa, but Sipopa proved a cruel leader. He was succeeded by Mwanawina, who lost his reign due to interference from his mother's relations. Lubosi was selected as the next litunga. His rule in turn, was overthrown by Tatila Akafuna, "The Usurper," but he regained control in 1885. See Gervas Clay, Your Friend, Lewanika (London: Chatto & Windus, 1968), François Coillard, On the Threshold of CentralAfrica (London: Frank Cass & Co., 1971), and Emil Holub, Emil Holub's Travels North of the Zambezi, 1885-6 (Manchester: Manchester University Press for The Institute for African Studies, 1975).

19 Mutumba Mainga (Bull) writes that Lubosi means "the escaped one," because Lubosi was the unfortunate born in exile in 1842, and Lewanika translates to "the conqueror." Most accounts of Lewanika's praise name make no mention of this aggressive connotation to his name, instead emphasizing the diplomatic means he used to unite Barotseland. See Bulozi Under the Luyana Kings (London: Longman, 1973): 128. Mbunda use of the term, "liwanika," supports a less militaristic translation; their inclusion in the Barotse polity was through treaty, not battle.

20 Likando Kalaluka, Kuomboka: A Living Traditional Culture among the Malozi ofZambia (Lusaka: NECZAM, 1979):35.

21 Although described as an annual event, Kuomboka is not performed every year. Rather, its occurrence is determined by a combination of economic climatic conditions. In fact, Kuomboka was not held from 1994-1996. I have not yet seen Kuomboka. The following description is based upon a review of the literature and existing film documentation.

22 Likando Kalaluka, Kuomboka: A Living Traditional Culture among the Malozi of Zambia (Lusaka: NECZAM, 1979): 38.

23 See "The Invention of Tradition in Colonial Africa," in The Invention of Tradition ed. Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983).

24 Ibid., and "The Invention of Tradition Revisited," in Legitimacy and the State in Twentieth-Centuy Africa ed. Terence Ranger and Olufemi Vaughan (Oxford: M in association with St. Antony's College, Oxford, 1993).

25 "The Invention of Tradition in Colonial Africa," in The Invention of Tradition ed. Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983): 240.

26 1bid., 241.

27 Brown, Ernest, Drums of Life: Royal Music and Social Life in Western Zambia (University of Washington: dissertation, 1984): 336.

28 The Creation of Tribalism in Southern Africa ed. Leroy Vail (London, Berkeley and Los Angeles: James Currey and University of California Press, 1989). See in particular, "Introduction," "Tribalism in the Political History of Malawi," and "From Ethnic Identity to Tribalism: the Upper Zambezi Region of Zambia, 1830-1981

29 Terence Ranger, "The Invention of Tradition Revisited," in Legitimacy and the State in Twentieth-Century Africa ed. Terence Ranger and Olufemi Vaughan (Oxford: Macmillan in association with St. Antony's College, Oxford, 1993): 82-83.   

Works Cited 

Brown, Emest Douglas. Drums of Life: Royal Music and Social Life in Western Zambia. University of Washington: dissertation, 1984.

Bull, Mutumba Mainga. "The Origin of the Lozi: Some Oral Traditions," in The Zambesian Past ed. Eric Stokes.

Clay, Gervas. Your Friend, Lewanika. London: Chatto & Windus, 1968.

Coillard, Francois. On the Threshold of Central Africa; a Record of Twenty Years Pioneering among the Barotsi of Upper Zambezi. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1897.

Gluckman, Max. Economy of the Central Barotse Plain. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1941.

________. The Role of the Sexes in Wiko Circumcision," Social Structure ed. Meyer Fortes. New York: Russell and Russell, Inc., 1963.

Herreman, Frank and Constantijn Petridis, eds. Face of the Spirits: Masks from the Zaire Basin. Antwerp: Ethografisch Museum, 1993.

Holy, Ladislav. Masks and Figures from Eastern and Southern Africa. London: Hamlyn, 1967. Emil Holub. Travels North of the Zambezi trans. Christa Johns. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1975.

Jordan, Manuel A. "Masque comme processus ironique: les makishi du nord-ouest de la Zambia," Anthropologie et Societes. Quebec, vol. 17, no.3, 1993, p.41-61.

Kayongo, Kabunda. Reciprocity and Interdependence: The Rise and Fall of the Kololo Empire in Southern Africa in the 19th Century. Lund, Sweden: Almquist and Wiksell International, 1987.

Mwondela, Willie Robert. Mukanda and Makishi in North-western Zambia. Lusaka: NECZAM, 1972.

Papstein, Robert J. The History and Cultural Life of the Mbunda Speaking Peoples, 1st ed. Lusaka, Zambia: The Association, 1994.

________. "From Ethnic Identity to Tribalism: The Upper Zambezi Region of Zambia, 1830 - 1981 ," in The Creation of Tribalism in Southern Africa ed. Leroy Vail. London and Berkeley and Los Angeles: James Currey and University of California Press,1989.

Prins, Gwyn. The Hidden Hippopotamus.. A Reappraisal in African History, the Early Colonial Experience in Western Zambia. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1963.

Ranger, Terence. "The Invention of Tradition in Colonial Africa," The Invention of Tradition_ed. Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983.

________. "The Invention of Tradition Revisited," Legitimacy and the State in Twentieth-Century Afriea ed. Terence Ranger and Olufemi Vaughan Oxford: Macmillan in association with St. Antony's College, Oxford, 1993.

Stirke, D.W. Barotseland: Eight Years among the Barotse. London: John Bale, Sons & Daniellson, Ltd., no date.

Stokes, Eric and Richard Brown, eds. The Zambesian Past: Studies in African History Machester: Manchester University Press, 1966.

Turner, Victor. "Mukanda: Rite of Circumcision," in The Forest of Symbols: Aspects of Ndembu Ritual. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1967.

________. The Lozi Peoples of Northwestern Rhodesia. London: International African Institute, 1952. Turner, Victor, ed. Celebration: Studies in Festivity and Ritual. Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1982.

Vail, Leroy, ed. The Creation of Tribalism in Southern Africa. London and Berkeley and Los Angeles: James Currey and University of California Press, 1989.

Vrydagh, P. André. "Makisi of Zambia," African Arts 10 (4), July 1977.