FROM CHINAMWALI TO CHILANGIZO:

as well as preventing it from falling down when dancing. 13
189
It took some time for the
music and the drumming to resume in order for the girls to continue dancing. After a
few rounds of dancing they stopped again, and three anamkungwi went to the middle
ofthe ground and danced. They ended in a line in front ofthe chiefs and performed a
few displays - dance, bow, and slightly kneeling down. The chiefs gave them some
money. As the women walked away from the ground, the girls and their tutors also
came in and did likewise, performing in front of the chiefs, and in the end they were
also given money. That marked the end ofthe afternoon's event. All the people were
leaving, but the initiates were kneeling at one place with their tutors standing by. A
group of about ten anamkungwi were also standing in one place. I stayed to see what
was next. It was getting darker and I did not want to raise any suspicion, so I moved
to the chiefs house and sat on a verandah overlooking the ground. Then I saw the
girls move to where the women were standing. I could not see nor hear anything. I
knew they wanted to take off the crowns from the girls' heads. Eventually I gave up
and went home. I was then told that they were waiting to make sure it is quite safe for
them to remove the head crowns from the girls.
It was also at the mock chinamwali that I observed how they take offthe crown from
the head. They put a cloth on clear ground and let the girl lie down and roll her head
on the cloth, dropping every bit of the artefacts on it. The tutor rolls the cloth and
gives it to the girl's mother, who, while covering herself with a cloth, carries it and
hides it for disposal later. She would have to be careful with it for evil people may
steal it or any piece from it and use as chizimba (an activating agent.) The belief is
that if any piece from the artefacts is picked up and used by evil men, the girl may
become sick, barren, or die. Hence every precaution is taken to make sure that
initiates are protected. Many informants testified that the mkangali ceremony is very
dangerous because girls can become barren if the deterrents are not strong enough to
protect them from witchcraft.
The fourth day's activities ended with another vigil for the girls with the zirombo. All
the information concerning this ceremony was from oral sources. Since the nyau
dance is an integral part of the Chewa culture and represent the ancestral spirits, the
initiates must learn from them too. The zirombo, called anamkanya (representing
spirits who come to punish people'), spend the night with the girls, instructing them,