IN last week’s edition we looked at how Zimbabwean BaTonga customs and Africa as a whole, are influenced by song and dance as a crucial component to ceremonies.
We also looked at how people from several tribes living in the Zambezi River Valley (Northern Zimbabwe and Southern Zambia) including the BaTonga, reincarnate once a year as Gule-wamkulu (zvigure) or Makishi dancers to conduct ceremonial rituals.
The BaTonga through their relationships with their Zambian Gwembe-Tonga cousins share a lot of cultural activities since they have a common culture that was separated by the Zambezi River.
They also share some common dances with their relatives in Mozambique, Angola and Malawi.
We continue to look at how the cunning Gule-wamkulu called Mbaula dances around, giving gifts, and even allows people to make popcorn on his head, but this generosity is a deception to hide his true character.
He is really after power, someone else’s wife, undeserved wealth, or all three.
The BaTonga elders say this mask appeared only in the 1980s among the Malawian Gule-wamkulu in response to the despotism, acquisitiveness and sexual incontinence of some powerful people in their society.
In fact, many of the masks are used as a satirical mirror, and have an overt political message as well as a covert moral one.
But some, while still communicating a serious message, are just adorable.
Chilembwe, a cute, hilariously funny roan antelope character displays some of the best physical humour at the Kulamba/Lwiindi Gonde ceremonies.
Dances are held for many different purposes such as initiations, funerals, the appointment of chiefs, the interpretation and treatment of spirit possession and placation of the ancestors.
Gule-wamkulu can be used to guide or reprimand the community or specific people who have behaved contrary to accepted traditional custom.
That’s where characters like ‘Mbaula’ come in, and there are others that warn against unfaithfulness, theft, domestic violence and the abuse of magic.
The ancestors are very conservative, and demand adherence to a strict moral code in terms of interpersonal relations, distribution of resources, succession, inheritance, gender issues and sexual norms.
Dancers also perform at important ritual and political events, like the Kulamba. This is a gathering of Chewa, Bemba, Gwembe-Tonga, Luvale and Lozi people from all over Malawi, Eastern Zambia, Zimbabwe and Western Mozambique to pay homage to Gawa Undi, the king of all the Chewa.
Dating back hundreds of years, this is a real ‘gathering of the clans’.
But this has changed somewhat in nature and is now complete with busloads of people, gourds of traditional opaque beer, temporary markets selling anything from Kariba kapenta to tapestries and traditional cloths as well as crafts from all the participating countries.
Loud music, hot sun, dust and spectacular Gule-wamkulu dances seal the ceremony.
The Gule-wamkulu also perform at ceremonies such as the Likumbi Lya Mize that takes place on the last week of August every year.
The event takes place on both sides of the Zambezi River.
Masked dances and theatrical performance take place throughout the days and the meanings of the masks are shared with onlookers.
Not many people in Binga and Zimbabwe regard the Gule as a good people.
A number of people spoken to said, “They are ghastly, they can beat you up or threaten you with magic.”
However, this attitude is as a result of the demonisation of the Gule-wamkulu by the early missionaries who were against African tribal traditions and way of life.
The Gule-wamkulu, just like Makishi, attach themselves to the world of spirits and while dancing, lose their personal identity, becoming the character they portray.
The Makishi are shrouded in secrecy and it is taboo to ask who hides behind the mask and red and black striped woolen costumes.
The Gule-wamkulu are spirits that represent the ancestors and they command the utmost respect.
They normally appear during the mukanda (circumcision ceremony) and other important ceremonies, then return to their graves immediately afterwards.
Their appearance creates an eerie, but fascinating atmosphere among the BaTonga, Lunda, Luvale, Chokwe, Mbudu and Luchazhi tribes most of them now living in Angola, Malalwi, Congo DRC, Namibia and Zambia.
The Gule-wamkulu masquerades are very popular in mining and commercial farming towns dotted around Zimbabwe, such as Zvishavane, Shurugwi, Mvurwi, Mutorashanga and Hwange where mostly migrant workers from countries such as Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi and Angola work.
They perform these dances with pride at traditional ceremonies, political gatherings and other social occasions.