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The Legends Of The Royal Graves Of Barotseland
By Yuyi Libakeni
Imwambo
Mundimunene ta Mboo Mwanasilundu
Imwambo is the resting place for Mboo Mwanasilundu whose given name
was Muyunda , the first male Litunga of the Aluyi and from whom
dynastic numbering of Litungas begins. Mundimunene simply means a
great or big village. Indeed Imwambo is the second most important
royal shrine of the Lozi after that of Mbuywamwambwa at Makono,
where Litungas are crowned. Mboo was initially buried in his
capital Ikatulama ( now commonly but wrongly spelt Ikatulamwa).
Ikatulamwa means standing out alone, away from other villages -
Makono to the south was a distance away as Nayaka was to the north.
Shortly after burial Mboo ‘escaped’ from his grave, limbwata,
in Ikatulamwa which was found wide open without its contents. A
search for the missing chief was mounted by his people until he was
found. Two versions are given regarding this search. The first
tells us that the search party was aided by the trail of white
traditional beads, makekete, associated with royalty much like mande,
cowrie shells. Starting from limbwata in Ikatulamwa the trail led
through the countryside stopping at a point on a natural uninhabited
mound to the north of Ikatulamwa by the Zambezi riverside; next
to Nakatindi’s old village, Sisheke and Mwanambinyi's Nayaka which
is today’s Nakatindi village. The spot was freshly clean beside a
siulu bush tree. Also found at the spot was royal paraphernalia
previously buried with Mboo in Ikatulamwa.
Another version tells us that with the help of a medicine man, a
drove of oxen led the party, the oxen bellowing louder as they drew
closer to the new grave! Both routes led to the same spot, gradu
diverso via una, the conclusion was obvious ndondo or,
as a Roman would put it, Eureka! We have found it. With this the
spot was officially consecrated as Mboo’s official grave. One
informant told me that the mound was then called Tweu-to-ulila
because of this incident.(1)
Once
Imwambo was established, the spirit of Mboo decreed a set of taboos,
miila for those living in the village. Women on the menses
are persona non grata and must vacate to complete their cycle
elsewhere. For this a separate village, Namuloongo, was built
nearby. Only the traditional Aluyi houses, maongo - the long hut
complete with its roof - were acceptable. Loitering at night is
taboo, if you do you may never find your way back. Roofs with a
pinnacle-like apex would be blown off without much ado. Ducks are
welcome but not chickens; for those straying into the village there
is certain and instant death awaiting them. Whitemen and people of
Andonyi extraction are not welcome, entering the village at their
own peril.(2) It is taboo for any chief or senior royal to pass
Imwambo without stopping for a brief homage. An incident is told
when one senior royal who was in a hurry, had his speed boat stuck,
never to go again, in mid river, it's engine resting on the river
bed
The
villagers know when Mboo is happy - at day break they will be
greeted by a sea of white beads, the makekete discussed above, which
had sprung up like mushrooms overnight! Children will pick and
wear necklaces - and look beautiful at that - but only for a while,
for at the next dawn all will be necklace-less, their bounty of
necklaces dried up in the air lyae lya wela ku wilu! They
also know when he takes leave of them: a congregation of pied crows
and white cattle egrets will ceremoniously leave the village tree
tops, their daily habitat, joined by open billed stork adorning the
surrounding grassland, in beautiful formation depart to the west,
away from the river. Locals know he has gone to Nakatakela, a
distance away, his local Mfuwe, for a well earned relaxation in an
area that, during his time, was renowned for a good view of wild
game coming to drink water in the surrounding lakes. Mboo was a keen
hunter and spent time hunting in this area. To this day the area
remains a game area although, typical of Mboo, hunters fail to down
their animals no matter how close or how many bullets they pump into
the animal! But when he is happy animals would come closer and die
even before they are hit by the bullet.
At
Nakatakela there is also a beatified spot and there are incidents of
people straying on to it and getting stuck. A series of such recent
incidents have been narrated by many of the local people. There was
a case of a senior Induna who was attracted to a crop of sweet
potatoes at a place locals call Linangelelo - viewing point -
he then cut out some for seed which he proudly presented to his
wife. By day break the ‘contraband’ had gone. It is these strange
habits or miracles of Mboo, which it is said have led to the name
Imwambo. Habit or custom is translated in Lozi as muambo.
There
are however, some who say that the name is onomatopoeic, that is, it
is derived from the sound of the oxen cries, mooo. This version
would overturn the long held explanation that the source of the name
Mboo is the remorse that his mother suffered when she was told to
stepdown in his son's favour. Although I had this from one
informant only, I put it here merely because the informant is a
well placed resident of Imwambo.
Mboo’s grave keeper is known as Akashambatwa meaning one who
cannot be felled. The first person to occupy this position is said
to be the man who, in the nation’s hour of greatest needs, released
his daughter, Nambula, to take the role of sibimbi,
the girl who precedes the army in battle. At the time the nation
was facing an ominous attack from Angola and noone was prepared to
sacrifice his daughter for the noble cause. It is said by some
that Akashambatwa was the name of the first occupant which has
been converted into an official title in honour of the man.
Akashambatwa was, however, no ordinary person; he was a prince,
descendant of Atangambuyu, a sister of Mboo who held the
principality of what is today Makoma.
The
ngambela, as the local headman is addressed, is known as Silulu.
It will be recalled that the new grave site in Imwambo was a
spot next to a siulu tree, it is contended that through usage
and abusage siulu has become silulu. However, whether
or not this abusage explanation is tenable, silulu is a
plant, particularly bitter and poisonous
Mboo
has fascinated many ( like his young brother and competitor
Mwanambinyi) but one thing is clear to his people - when he smiles
everybody basks in the sun but when he gets upset, there is thunder!
That is him. Well, you can’t fell him but neither can he be eaten
up, that is Mboo Mwanasilundu, impregnable!
This
discussion, whose first instalment appeared in the October 2004
edition, was designed to test the proposition that by examining the
names given to a particular Litunga’s burial village, its headman
and grave keeper, one can decipher something about the man and his
times. We have done this by examining a selection of past Litungas:
two from the ancient times (Mboo, the first and Yeta I, the third),
one in the days of our time (Mbikusita, the twentieth) and the
interconnector (Lewanika, the fourteenth), linkage between
primitivity and modernity, to use anthropological terms. I hope it
has been possible to demonstrate that the proposition is
tenable.
Notes:
(1) I
owe this to a man, now deceased, whose maternal roots are in Imwambo.
I have however not been able to find corroboration for this but
nearly everyone I have consulted felt it possible since, some have
pointed out, the "tweu" in the phrase tweu to ulila
sound similar to a term used to describe a holding area for royal
spears, implying that spears might have been among the items found
at Mboo's new grave at Imwambo. In ordinary Lozi, the phrase "fo
ni yendekile malumo" (on which I rest my spears) refers to
someone on whom you depend maybe the only surviving senior family
member etc.
(2)
Adjacent to Makono there is a grave of a white veterinary officer
who, in 1917, defied orders and defiled the shrine . He lived no
longer than it took him to come out of the village! |
January 2005