Zambia - Atlas of our Changing Environment

Kuomboka Ceremony

The Kuomboka ceremony takes place in Mongu district,Western Province, usually in April during the flooding of the Barotse Floodplains. The name ‘Kuomboka’ means “to get out of the water onto dry ground.” Every year towards the end of the rainy season, as the water in the flood plain of the upper Zambezi valley rises, the Lozi people make a ceremonial move to higher ground.When the Litunga, the Lozi Paramount Chief, decides that it’s time to leave, heavy drumming signals his departure and the Lozi people follow. The Kuomboka ceremony may occur any time between February and May and it takes the chief about six hours to cover the distance between the dry season capital Lealui, and the wet season capital Limulunga. At Limulunga, the successful move is celebrated with traditional singing and dancing. This ceremony dates back more than 300 years when the Lozi people broke away from the great Lunda Empire to come and settle in the upper regions of the Zambezi River Basin (ZTB, 2012).

Drummers during the Kuomboka Ceremony ZTB, 2008

Kuomboka Ceremony, the Litunga in his barge and a troop of traditionally dressed paddlers, in the lead ZTB, 2008

Likumbi Lya Mize CEREMONY

handicrafts and joining in traditional singing and dancing. The dancers wear elaborate and colorful costumes popularly known as the ‘Likishi’. Masked dancers, known as ‘Makishi’, carry out theatrical performances and share the meanings of the masks with onlookers (ZTB, 2012).

The Likumbi Lya Mize ceremony takes place annually in August at Mize, the official palace of Senior Chief Ndungu, in Zambezi district, North- Western Province.

People of the Luvale tribe gather to celebrate their cultural heritage, bringing displays of all types of

A mask displayed at the Likumbi Lya Mize Ceremony Viotieno, 2008

Makishi dancer during the Likumbi Lya Mize Ceremony Eco-livelihoods, 2010

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ZAMBIA - ATLAS OF OUR CHANGING ENVIRONMENT