Lovale

The Luvale people, also called (in Angola) the Luena or Lwena,are an ethnic group in Zambia and Angola. In Zambia they are found mainly in the North-Western Province of Zambia, centred in the town of Zambezi which was previously called Balovale. Some Zambian Luvale have left their ancestral lands for economic reasons and can be found in other locations in Zambia such as Lukanga Swamp. There is also considerable Rural-Urban migration to Lusaka. In Angola they reside in eastern Moxico Province.

The Lovale people are not united under one paramount chief but are composed of a number of subgroups speaking the Lovale language or dialects of it. The Luvale language (sometimes called Lwena) is a west central Bantu language, and a tonal language. The Lovale are closely related to the Chokwe who ended the Lunda Kingdom, and Chokwe and Lunda people also live in the same area.

In Zambia the Luvale people hold the 'Makishi festival' to mark the end of the 'kumukanda' (or 'initiation'). Every 5 years or so, boys from the same age group (young teenagers) are taken into the bush for 1–2 months where they undergo several rites of passage into manhood. These involve learning certain survival skills, learning about women and how to be a good husband, learning about fatherhood, and also they are circumcised. The Luvale consider uncircumcised men to be dirty or unhygienic. It is said that in some very rural areas where the kumukanda is maintained in its strictest traditional sense that if a woman is to pass by the boy's 'bushcamp' whilst they are undergoing kumukanda then she must be punished.To celebrate the boys' completion of the kumukanda the Makishi festival welcomes them back to the village as men. The masks represent specific characters: Pwebo (a female character... 'pwebo' meaning 'woman' in Luvale) and Chizaluke amongst others.

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