D. E. C. Stirke

“ A father commands more respect in many ways than a mother, but there are other reasons for that more than the imagined superiority of sex. Chief amongst them is, that in a country of easy and frequent divorce, the children when able to walk and look after themselves, immediately belong to the father and gradually forget their mothers. But the principle of “respect for age” still has a great effect on the young of either sex, throughout the country. A youthful induna of much importance will still be exceedingly polite to older indunas of much smaller position. ”

“ In the old days, chiefs, members of the blood royal, sons-in-law of the Chief, and the wives of the Chief, were the only people who could wear ivory bracelets, but nowadays, anyone who can afford to buy, wears them. Ivory pins for scratching the head were also a royal privilege, but anyone who likes can carry one now. So in former days, the carrying of an eland-tail fly switch was a royal privilege, but this has also lapsed with time and the approach of civilization. Beards are worn by the men, but moustaches are seldom seen. No beard used to be allowed to be longer than the Chief Lewanika’s. ”

“ There is no such thing as rape amongst the Barozi. A man criminally assaulting a female child under the age of puberty, might possibly have to pay a fine to the girl’s father, but carnal knowledge of an unmarried girl earned no penalty, and there is no known case of any woman or girl needing coercion, [111] in fact the power to refuse, on the woman’s part might practically be said to be non-existent, while the laxity or rather utter lack of morals certainly made the desire to refuse non-existent. ”

“ There is no doubt that the mother’s totem predominates and always has done so, as cases are numerous of men marrying back to the same (or partially the same) totem as held by their father, but marrying back to the totem held by the mother is practically unknown. The totem laws were probably the origin of the fear and disgust of the Barozi to anything like consanguinity of married couples, and although to-day the totem is forgotten to a great extent, the marriage of relatives of close blood relationship is unknown, and the very idea of such a marriage most abhorrent. ”

“ A dead man’s spirit is either captured by a witch doctor as his servant, or else starts a career of its own—always of evil-doing. The spirits of the dead always work off any old scores that may be outstanding between the deceased and other people. Sickness, bad crops, accidents, bad luck, &c., are all attributed to the malignancy of spirits. To this day, cattle are sent as an offering to the grave of Mwanambinji, who in his day was a great chief, and who becoming scared of his brother, descended with people and cattle into the earth near Sinanga in the Barozi Valley. ”

“ Women do all the carrying of water required by a household. All cattle herding and milking of cattle is done by men only, but the Barozi cannot give any reason for the custom except that it has always been men’s work. There is a belief that if women enter a cattle kraal, it will bring on an immediate and untimely menstrual discharge, the only women who go near a kraal are therefore very old women or very young children. The most notorious exceptions to the above customs are the Alunda. These people will often admit they are the slaves to their women folk. ”

“ It was argued that whoever was the father to the son of any man’s sister, the son must at any rate have a certain amount of his mother’s and hence of his maternal uncle’s blood, and was therefore the most suitable [114] person to appoint as heir. Comparing this with the Barozi law on the subject, it will be seen that although under Barozi law the nephew might be an heir if there were no sons of the deceased alive, yet the law or custom regulating succession in the other subordinate tribes, made the nephew heir in preference to all other possible heirs. ”

“ When the animals came back, they laughed at the hippo for being deceived by the hare. Then all the animals took turn to guard the well, but the hare deceived them all and dirtied the well every time after he had drawn his water. At last the tortoise was left in charge. He lay in the water close to the edge and pretended to sleep. When the hare saw the tortoise was on guard, he laughed, and said, “I shall have no trouble in deceiving that old fool.” So thinking the tortoise slept, he started to fill one gourd. ”

“ The average Lunda woman’s daily work is fishing, which they do by wading along the sides of streams, pushing a large wicker basket in front of them. The Alunda men use the hoe as well as the axe, and tend their gardens, grind meal for porridge, plaster their huts and do all the work that is generally supposed by other tribes to be women’s work only. In speaking of the Alunda, it must be remembered that the Alunda living in the Barozi country are only a small portion of the main tribe, the larger portion living in Southern and South-western Congoland. ”

“ A man’s first wife does not have to be paid for, but, as a man who marries more than one wife is nearly always a man of means, he is responsible for the tax of his second and other wives. Exemptions are granted from payment of tax, either for a number of years or for life, for sickness, disease or old age.
The Administrator of Northern Rhodesia pays a visit to the Barozi Reserve in person or by proxy every year, and during his visit the Chief and the people are at liberty to bring any complaints and grievances before him. ”

“ The reason for this is that wealth is nearly always represented by cattle and as in ancient European times, the Crown was the only possessor of lands, so the chief is by repute the owner of all cattle in the country, and on the death of any person of importance who was in charge of a large herd of the chief’s cattle, the Kotla had to step in to decide how many cattle should revert to the chief, how many were earned by the deceased as a reward for herding the rest, and how many should be left on the chief’s behalf in the care of the heir. ”

“ Of all the various trees used for boat making “mukwa” (a tree resembling an ash) is alone unsinkable, all other kinds sink on being submerged. Paddles are made of young “mukwa” as it has more play and give in it than other woods. Paddling itself is quite a fine art, and to be a paddler in the Barozi sense of the word is to have a more than useful knowledge of the science. Steering is done [56] by the stern paddler assisted by the bow paddler, but by no means all of those who are good paddlers are capable of paddling in the bow or stern. ”

“ The oldest woman being very old and near to death can therefore get no harm from the dead. So she is chosen to affront the dead by bringing back from the grave, those people who were employed in filling up the grave, and who having entered the grave were as dead or as the property of the dead. The use of the hoe is symbolical of the digging out. The Alunda after a burial do not leap a fire as the Barozi do, but stand at the nearest bifurcation of the path leading to the village, and the oldest woman of the village brings burning sticks and passes them round the burial party. ”

“ When a woman is pregnant a man, generally an acquaintance of hers or of her husband, will go up to her and place his hand on her stomach, at the same time addressing his remarks to the unborn child: “You within, if you are a woman, shall be my wife, but if you are a man, you shall be my friend.” ”

“ The woman does all garnering of grain, though the man builds the frame of the grain bin. Brewing of beer and cooking of food is woman’s work, though young and single men cook their own porridge or employ little boys to do it for them. All mud plastering is done by women though the framework of the house, the building of the reed fence, and the thatching of the house is the man’s portion. Grass cutting is chiefly women’s work, but men often assist at it, reed cutting for fence and hut building is done by both sexes. ”

“ The Barozi were very fortunate in the class of people they found occupying the country they settled in; the more timid tribes were at once enslaved, while more powerful people were propitiated and gradually absorbed. Unfortunately, the conquerors readily acquired all the vicious and degraded habits of the conquered, and are to-day, both physically and morally, a far poorer type of native than they were on entering the country, always providing their statements are true. ”

“ Work.—A very hard and fast rule is maintained in the division of the day’s work although, as is usual with many native races, the greater portion falls on the female. The axe and the hoe are very emblematic of the different kinds of work for each sex. The man does all wood cutting in preparing a new garden or in building a house, while the woman tills the garden with her hoe, cuts grass for thatching with her hoe and mixes mud for plastering the house with her hoe. ”

“ Children have other games in which the adults do not join. The little girls make clay models like human beings, and use these as dolls; the little boys make models of cattle and play at herding cattle. The sexes join in many of their games. The favourite games when boys and girls play together is “Mandwani.” The children go outside the village and make several little grass huts about two or three feet high. A chief is appointed, and indunas and other important people are elected, and a mock representation of the daily life at the capital is acted. ”

“ Very few girls reach the age of puberty without being already bespoken in marriage. Should the bridegroom elect have died just previously or at the time of his wife’s “mwalianjo” ceremony, the girl remains with her father and indulges in fairly promiscuous intercourse with the men and youths of the village, until a suitor turns up and marries her. Virginity is unknown and certainly not demanded. ”

“ Amongst other poisons the Barozi prefer to use the dried brain of the crocodile, as this when properly dried and powdered looks so similar to the ordinary meal from which they make their daily porridge, that it is indiscernible when mixed with the meal, and the impossibility of holding a post-mortem directly after death prevents the efficacy of the poison being proved or disproved. The Barozi themselves swear that it is most fatal. ”

“ The only people who have separate and special burial grounds amongst the Barozi are those of the blood royal. The less important members have a common burial place, but the paramount Chief and sub-chiefs at Nalolo, Libonda and Sesheke have each a village already built and selected, in the middle of which they will eventually be buried. In [69] former times, many of the reigning chiefs favourite indunas would voluntarily submit to having their arms tied behind their backs and being placed thus bound into a boat which had previously been bored through in several places. ”

“ The Alunda and Balubale who live to the north, and through whom the Barozi passed on their way south from the Congo, built square huts, but they also suggest that this was acquired from the Portuguese, so that it is a little difficult to determine what the true Barozi [134] style of architecture ever was. Several of the wilder and more debased tribes build little grass shelters only, while the people of the Makoma country often build their residences of mats only. Some of the Barozi state that the true Barozi style of building was a long rectangular hut with a reed frame and walled with grass. ”

“ The black grass used for patterns is of two varieties, one kind being the pith of a very slender root belonging to a small bush, while the other kind is simply the white grass as used in the main construction of the basket, soaked and partially decomposed in water before weaving. The Bankoya and the Alunda make a very closely woven grass basket which is waterproof and which is much used [60] in districts where clay is scarce, to carry and even to cook water. Grass baskets are almost universally made throughout the Barozi to carry grain, meal, sweet potatoes and other foodstuffs. ”

“ If possible a corpse is brought to its own burial ground. But this is only done when the person dies within a short distance of his or her home. Corpses are buried the same day as death takes place. Men always act as carriers, irrespective of the sex of the corpse. The corpse is lifted off the bier at the graveside and placed in the grave, on its side, head to the west. The Barozi dig a straight square hole and a mat is placed tent-wise over the corpse. The clothes of the deceased are put in the grave under the mat, as well as a few wooden dishes and pots, the latter being first broken. ”

“ Age has seniority, then married before single, maturity before immaturity. On the other hand, at a meeting or assembly, the younger men speak first on the supposition that their council is rashest and of least value, the old grey heads and deep thinkers having the last say. ”

“ Amongst the Barozi, monkeys are said to be human beings and the Barozi do not eat them, although some of the subordinate tribes do so. The “Lisikita” (grey owl) is looked on with great dread and only a few educated Barozi will shoot at it. Its presence is said to foretell the speedy death of some member of the village at which it is seen. The “Lisikita” is said to live on human bodies and is often considered to be a “Muloi” i.e., an evil spirit sent by some one to bewitch and kill an enemy. Great faith is put in witch-craft of all sorts. ”

“ The bridegroom also has certain obligations, such as cutting a garden for his wife’s parents and building or helping to build a new house for them. During the performance of these duties the newly married couple live in the wife’s village, eating the food of the wife’s parents, but after performing these duties, the couple return to the husband’s village, returning to visit the wife’s parents occasionally but having their permanent residence at the husband’s village. In case of divorce, the wife returns to her father’s village. No compensation is due from the girl’s parents if she is divorced. ”