Chikuza

 

The mukanda is practiced by Chokwe and related peoples in Angola, Congo and Western Zambia. A bush camp is built. All contents found therein are the property of the organizers. Parents pay numerous fees for their children's participation. The mukanda serves nearby initiates, as well as others who may travel from afar, the later necessitated by the tradition falling away in their areas.

 

The aim of mukanda is to transform young boys to manhood. It begins with their circumcision and continues for a period of 3 - 5 months, sometimes longer. The boys learn discipline, hunting skills and how to make costumes and masks.

 

Ancestral personalities are represented in costume and danced. From these experiences, boys grow into men, while custom is re-enacted and passed on. At the end of the mukanda, most reed, fibre and resin masks are destroyed by fire, together with the camp. 

 

The mukanda initiation begins after harvest and continues until the end of the dry season, sometimes longer.

 

 

Lupali village mukanda grass figures found above the enclosure.

 

 

Lupali village mukanda camp.

 

 

Entrance to the mukanda.

 

 

Protective medicines within the mukanda enclosure.

 

 

Rigid, compartmentalized sleeping quarters.

 

 

Masks found within a mukanda enclosure.

 

 

Ndeke found within an enclosure.

 

 

Inside a mukanda enclosure.

 

 

Boys singing a welcome tune.

 

Boys singing a welcome.

 

The boys sit motionless for hours.

 

 

And hours....

 

 

A time of healing.

 

 

Preparing Food

 

 

Dressed boys after the kuliachiza / shimba ritual bath at the river.

 

 

Allowed to eat with men.

 

 

Dressed boys after the kuliachiza / shimba ritual bath at the river.

 

 

Making sisal cord for costumes.

 

 

Stripping Sisal Leaves

 

 

Completed stained sisal cord.

 

 

Costume construction from  sisal cord.

 

 

Samasengo and Pwevo

 

 

Mwana Pwevo, Chiwigi, Katotola

 

 

Chikuza

 

 

Munguli

 

 

Ndeke?

 

Kaluwe, Chikuza, Kalelwa and Mwana Pwevo

 

 

Kaluwe, Chikuza, Kalelwa and Mwana Pwevo

 

 

Kalelwa with a representation of Chikuza above.

 

Be sure to visit our masque page for Chokwe related masks.     

 

 

Information provided as a service to viewers.