DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49272#0278
262
HARVARD AFRICAN STUDIES
“Anambalapi ulamba, yosepe yekoto! ”
“You sable deceit, everything (is) lovely!”
Next comes chomboko, the ferry. There is no image but two posts represent the ferry;
the m’michila stands on one side of the two posts with his two assistants opposite him, one
holding a bunch of leaves, the other a burning log: the first fans the log of the second,
using leaves as bellows, while the m’michila sings:
“Ngumba, ngumba, kujikututa, ngumba!”
“The female pudenda, where it pushes itself!”
after which the wali one by one are pushed through between the two assistants. Chomboko
signifies the passage from one part of the ceremony to another; here, from the inyago to
= to cross a stream.
As they reach ching’undang’unda the m’michila sings:
“ Ching’undang’unda nalilembile jingawe nguo jakupochela wailambo!”
“Ching’undang’unda I have marked out if it were calico distinctive of chiefs!”
One of his assistants is told to go and get a pot of beer. When it is brought he sings:
“Amwali, kamembe, nawila kunyuma!”
“You girl, little fly, wash your hands behind you!”
This is the sign for the woman who volunteers for the service to the leader, to come for-
ward, followed in turn, as each mwali is dealt with, by other women. The woman stands
back to back with her mwali and they hold hands, while the m’michila comes and pours a
little beer on their hands; they make movements as of washing the hands and then separate,
the woman rejoining the crowd, the boy standing to one side until all have performed the
rite. This woman ever afterwards is treated by the mwali as his adopted sister. After this,
each mkamusi takes his mwali into the bush near by and holding the boy’s cloth over the
lad’s head, he waits there for the boy’s relatives to come and redeem him with fees. It is a
point of honor that as many relatives as possible shall turn out to show that the boy is much
liked, this being, of course, so much the better for the mkamusi who gets a present from each.
The akamusi then uncover the boys’ faces and hand over the lads to their mothers who take
them away to rest in the shelters.
The m’michila, meantime, has withdrawn to his hut, where all the relatives later collect;
he then comes out holding his “ tail,” singing:
“Kwende akajoje ukwanonyere koga!”
“Come and bathe those who love to bathe!”
Each adopted sister or woman guardian takes her mwali brother on her back and carries
him off to the stream to bathe. The woman sets her mwali down on the bank and then
leans across his back while the m’michila comes along and dipping his “ tail ” into the
HARVARD AFRICAN STUDIES
“Anambalapi ulamba, yosepe yekoto! ”
“You sable deceit, everything (is) lovely!”
Next comes chomboko, the ferry. There is no image but two posts represent the ferry;
the m’michila stands on one side of the two posts with his two assistants opposite him, one
holding a bunch of leaves, the other a burning log: the first fans the log of the second,
using leaves as bellows, while the m’michila sings:
“Ngumba, ngumba, kujikututa, ngumba!”
“The female pudenda, where it pushes itself!”
after which the wali one by one are pushed through between the two assistants. Chomboko
signifies the passage from one part of the ceremony to another; here, from the inyago to
= to cross a stream.
As they reach ching’undang’unda the m’michila sings:
“ Ching’undang’unda nalilembile jingawe nguo jakupochela wailambo!”
“Ching’undang’unda I have marked out if it were calico distinctive of chiefs!”
One of his assistants is told to go and get a pot of beer. When it is brought he sings:
“Amwali, kamembe, nawila kunyuma!”
“You girl, little fly, wash your hands behind you!”
This is the sign for the woman who volunteers for the service to the leader, to come for-
ward, followed in turn, as each mwali is dealt with, by other women. The woman stands
back to back with her mwali and they hold hands, while the m’michila comes and pours a
little beer on their hands; they make movements as of washing the hands and then separate,
the woman rejoining the crowd, the boy standing to one side until all have performed the
rite. This woman ever afterwards is treated by the mwali as his adopted sister. After this,
each mkamusi takes his mwali into the bush near by and holding the boy’s cloth over the
lad’s head, he waits there for the boy’s relatives to come and redeem him with fees. It is a
point of honor that as many relatives as possible shall turn out to show that the boy is much
liked, this being, of course, so much the better for the mkamusi who gets a present from each.
The akamusi then uncover the boys’ faces and hand over the lads to their mothers who take
them away to rest in the shelters.
The m’michila, meantime, has withdrawn to his hut, where all the relatives later collect;
he then comes out holding his “ tail,” singing:
“Kwende akajoje ukwanonyere koga!”
“Come and bathe those who love to bathe!”
Each adopted sister or woman guardian takes her mwali brother on her back and carries
him off to the stream to bathe. The woman sets her mwali down on the bank and then
leans across his back while the m’michila comes along and dipping his “ tail ” into the