Posted
on April 16, 2014
Thousands
of people flock to Zambia in the middle of April for this
festival...to hear the royal Maoma drumming, to watch the boatmen,
and to enjoy the singing.
Several
different sources say that this is the biggest and best-known
traditional ceremony in the country. And it all has to do with
water...
You
see, every year the Zambezi River floods the farmlands, making the
plains into a giant but shallow lake. Naturally, the people have to
move to higher ground – and this even includes the Lozi king. The
king, his family, and his entourage travel on a huge
black-and-white-striped barge to the rainy-season palace.
The
festival name, Kuomboka, is very literal, since it means “to move
out of the water.”
I
found it interesting that the Lozi have a legend that is similar to
the Jewish people's Noah's Ark story. The story is set a long time
ago, during the first chief's reign; there came a huge flood that
killed all the animals and swept away every farm. Some people were in
their canoes but were frightened of paddling such small craft in such
a big flood, so the high god Nyambe ordered a man named Nakambela to
build a great canoe so that all the people could escape the flood.
By
the way, I found it interesting that the Lozi king starts the
ceremony dressed in traditional dress, but during the journey he
changes into the full uniform of a British admiral. The first of
these British uniforms was presented to the Lozi king by King Edward
VII in 1902 in recognition of the treaties between the Lozi and Queen
Victoria.
Learn
more about Zambia at Our Africa.
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