The Lala people are a Bantu ethnic group found in the
Serenje District
Serenje is a town of Serenje District, Zambia, lying just off the Great North Road and TAZARA Railway. Serenje has a railway station on the TAZARA railway. Serenje is approximately 191 km from Kapiri Mposhi on the Great North Road. Mkushi ...
of the
Central Province of
Zambia
Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...
.
Language
The Lala language, known locally as Ilala, is mutually intelligible/closely related with the Bisa and
Bemba languages of the
Northern
Northern may refer to the following:
Geography
* North, a point in direction
* Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe
* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States
* Northern Province, Sri Lanka
* Northern Range, a ra ...
,
Muchinga, and
Luapula
The Luapula River is a section of Africa's second-longest river, the Congo. It is a transnational river forming for nearly all its length part of the border between Zambia and the DR Congo. It joins Lake Bangweulu (wholly in Zambia) to Lake Mwe ...
provinces of Zambia.
In 2016, there was an effort to take inventory of the proverbs of the Lala in Luano District.
History
Like many other ethnic groups in Zambia, the Lala are said to have descended from the
Luba-Lunda Kingdom in present-day
Democratic Republic of Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
. Most of the Lala settled in the Central Province under chief Chitambo in Serenje District.
Society & Culture
Hierarchy
The Lala are traditionally governed by chiefs. There are a number of chiefdoms that govern the Lala, including Chitambo, Muchinda, Chisomo, Serenje, Kabamba, Mailo, Chibale, Mboshya and others. At the top of the hierarchy is the most senior chief, Chief Muchinda, who oversees the welfare of all Lala chiefdoms. He is helped by other chiefs, who are at the same level of hierarchy to each other. Each chief presides over a certain chiefdom with boundaries marked. The Senior Chief holds the title of '
''Kankomba-we-Lala''
', and the royal family is called '
''Bena Nyendwa''
'. The third level are the '
''Chilolos''
', who preside over a bigger area with multiple villages and headmen within a chiefdom. Below them are Sulutani''
', village headmen and women. They oversee a small area and are aided or followed by village elders, who uphold Lala tradition.
Separate from this hierarchy is the traditional council, referred to as Insaka ye Lala''
'. It is an independent institution constructed to be an advisor to chiefs and other Lala community groups. According to Buckle in his 1976 manuscript on
David Livingstone
David Livingstone (; 19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) was a Scottish physician, Congregationalist, and pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, an explorer in Africa, and one of the most popular British heroes of t ...
, he attests to the existence of chiefs and headmen among the Lala in Livingstone's time.
Food
The Lala are traditionally small scale farmers, hunters, and fishermen. Staple foods include the cassava, finger millet, groundnuts, and maize. In the past, the main food of the Lala was '
''nshima ya maho na Mulimwa'
'' (
nshima
Ugali or Posho or sima (for others, see ) is a type of maize meal made from maize or corn flour in several countries in Africa. Sima is sometimes made from other flours, such as millet or sorghum flour, and is sometimes mixed with cassava flour. ...
with
bean
A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...
s). The nshima could come from
mielie-meal
Mielie meal, also known as mealie meal or maize meal, is a relatively coarse flour (much coarser than cornflour or cornstarch) made from maize or mealies in Southern Africa, from the Portuguese ''milho''. It is also known by various other indig ...
of amale''
' (
millet
Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets al ...
), kalundwe''
', or '
''tute''
' (
cassava
''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively ...
). Other traditional foodstuffs include kandolo''
' (
sweet potato
The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the Convolvulus, bindweed or morning glory family (biology), family, Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a r ...
es), ifipushi''
' (
pumpkin
A pumpkin is a vernacular term for mature winter squash of species and varieties in the genus ''Cucurbita'' that has culinary and cultural significance but no agreed upon botanical or scientific meaning. The term ''pumpkin'' is sometimes use ...
), imyungu/umumbu''
' (African squash), ichinyeka''
' (African polony, also called chikanda), '
''ifinkubala''
' (mopane worms), and others. The crops were traditionally cultivated in the '
''Chitemene''
' system, where trees were cut down to act as fertilizer for crops. Due to environmental concerns, this cultivation system was stopped in favor of cultivating lands far away from homes, and returning later after harvest. Globalization has also introduced new foods crops, such as rice, potatoes, new varieties of sweet potatoes, different types of beans,
maize
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
, and other crops.
In the past, the Lala relied on fishing and hunting; hunting was done using traps, spears, a bow and arrow, and women and men would commonly go to the river to fish. However, this has become unsustainable with declining numbers of game.
Clothing
The Lala people dress in a similar manner to other ethnic groups of Zambia. According to respondents, the Lala used '
''akamphangolishishi''
', a type of material, to make shirts and other clothes with 'chilundu', a type of tree. Elderly women would use '
''impande''
' (roots of a plant) from the water to make '
''ubulungu''
' (a type of necklet made from hairs); this symbolizes an elder who is pure Lala. However, these days, very few Lalas wear such materials. With the advent of globalization, many Lala women have adopted the wearing of chitenge fabric and ''ichitambal'' (head wraps), and men have adopted trousers, shorts, and chitenge tops. It is common to see such traditional dress during the '
''Ichibwela Mushi''
' ceremony.
Entertainment
Like many other Zambian societies, Lala entertainment takes the form of traditional songs, and evening storytelling around a fire. Dances of different kinds, such as the Kakele, are performed, and poetry and drama are very common.
Ceremonies
The Lala have also traditionally had an initiation ritual for girls upon getting their first period; they would be secluded from the community for a period of time, and be taught lessons, coupled with dances, in preparation for their adult life. This practice is similar to many other groups in Zambia, such as the ''wali'' ceremony of the
Luvale The Luvale people, also spelled Lovale, Balovale, Lubale, as well as Lwena or Luena in Angola, are a Bantu ethnic group found in northwestern Zambia and southeastern Angola. They are closely related to the Lunda and Ndembu to the northeast, but the ...
. It is no longer commonly performed by many among the Lala.
Ichibwela Mushi
The Ichibwela Mushi, also called Chibwelamushi, is a harvest festival celebrated by the Lala, Bisa, and Swaka in the
Mkushi district
Mkushi District is a district of Zambia, located in Central Province. The capital lies at Mkushi
Mkushi is a town in the Central Province of Zambia, located on the Great North Road and the Tazara railway, northeast of Kapiri Mposhi. The Ch ...
in September. The word means "returning to the village from the farms." The purpose of the ceremony is to give thanks to the ancestral spirits and gods for providing good rains and a bountiful harvest. During the ceremony, aspects of the Lala culture are shown off, like dances, dramas, and songs.
Traditional foods, like locally prepared beer, '
''katata''
' and katubi''
', along with locally grown crops are displayed. Traditional dress and crafts are also shown, like drawings, sculptures, hoes, axes, and others.
Marriage
Unlike some other groups in Zambia, the Lala practice monogamous marriages.
[{{Cite web, last=Baldwin, first=James, date=June 2004, title=Our Man in Zambia : Lalaland, url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/nottingham/features/2004/06/our_man_in_zambia_11.shtml, access-date=2020-07-30, website=bbc.co.uk] There are three conventional ways of marrying among the Lala: a pre-arranged marriage between a man and a woman's families, a man and a woman asking permission from their families to marry each other, and a man who impregnated a woman is pressured by her family to take her as his wife. The man's family will take a dowry from a woman's family, consisting of a '
''sembe''
' (hoe), ubulangeti''
' (blanket), and chitenge. In the past, money was not charged to the bride's family.
References
Ethnic groups in Zambia