FROM CHINAMWALI TO CHILANGIZO:

42. The whole girls' ceremony at the tree is called chiwulu-wulu from the verb kuwuluka (to fly).
Sometimes this day is called tsiku la chiwulu-wulu (the 'flying' day). Similarly, the girls carried on the
shoulders are likened to the flying birds. That is why the girls were given names of birds. Another
informant explained that this was a traditional way of displaying the girls to the men so that they can
choose who to marry. Even the dressing of the girls was up to the waist only, leaving the whole top part
bare. In a similar way, in the churches, the youth camps and meetings also act as occasions for choice of
spouse (Int. Chiwayu, 2/7/2001).
43. Phwiti is a very small bird, living in the village fence (Scott and Hetherwick 1929).
44. Lumbe, the night-jar with long wing feathers (Scott and Hetherwick 1929).
45. Although I attended the chiefs vigil, it is outside the scope of this paper to give the full documented
text. It is an area that requires further pursuance. However, I was informed that this marked the climax of
the mkangali ceremony for it is where the new chief is 'officially' given some kind of a certificate in the
form of a package covered in either an old blanket or sack cloth containing some secret magical items.
The package is named chitamba (the elephant's trunk), and contain a small axe, a small axe handle, and
the zitsamba (magical herbs). Another informant said that included in the package is a human part from a
dead baby. The chief in charge of the whole ceremony prepares this trunk and hands it over to the new
chief at this ceremony. It is the chiefs property, and together with his wife (wives), he must observe all
taboos surrounding it, otherwise he or she will die. It is to be kept in the first wife's house, never to be
moved, and when the chief dies, he will be buried with it. If the wife does not produce the trunk on the
chiefs death she has a big case (mlandu) to answer.
46. While the small lamp does not give enough light to the room, it is also a deliberate requirement to
keep the light low.
47. The Chewa are a matrilineal culture where the husband stays at the wife's home, and many times the
young couple build closer to the parents' house.
48. This concerns mdulo taboos and the instruction also fonns a vital part ofthe chiefs vigil, where two
women acted in the similar way to teach the new chief the importance of observing the sexual taboos
especially when the nyau are in seclusion.
49. Since the girls are not yet married, the women do not explain the meanings of all the miyambo. This
is just the beginning. When the girl finds a spouse to marry, the elderly women counsel both of them
regarding marriage. This time they explain fully the meanings to the couple.
50. In addition to this meaning of 'nursing' or 'rearing,' Van Breugel (2001:30) gives a nineteenth
century association of Leza with 'the lightning' from T C Young (1961), The idea of God in Northern
Nyasaland.
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