FROM CHINAMWALI TO CHILANGIZO:

Then at the end ofthe song all the women shout:
Tiyeni tigwire! (one)
Aaa! nyamaa! (all)
Let us capture!
Yes! The anirnal!38
As the women shout, they all touch the girls, but the girls are not supposed to kudzidzi­
muka (to be threatened) for they should have been warned before. This ritual stresses
the fact that the girls have started the transition journey, and here they are identified
with an 'animal.'
The following rite is performed in order to check if the initiate is pregnant or not. 39
While kneeling and singing, four women turn the girls from side to side,40 at the same
time picking the money that the tutors hid under the girls' elbows and knees.
Timsande kodi wakula Let us search ifshe is grown (repeated)
After collecting the money while still kneeling, they show the money to each other (to
be shared later), and sing,
Mkanda de mkanda wa mkamwa
Ndatola mkanda de, mkanda wamkamwa
Ndatola, ndatola, mphande
Ndatola mphande
Beads the mouth beads
I have picked beads de, mouth beads
I have picked, picked money
I have picked money
Meaning: 'This money (mkanda and mphande) is my gift for my mouth' (singing). In
the past, they used (mkanda woyera (white beads) instead ofmoney to signify the purity
ofthe girl. Nowadays, money is used instead ofthe actual beads.
After establishing their purity, the girls are prepared to be introduced to the chief and
the public at the ground. The girls are uncovered and seated upright. Using white flour
paste, two women decorate the girls (kulocha or kutheka) with a pattern by painting a
ring round the upper arms, one dot on the forehead with three dots on each side of the
face and two dots on both the front and the back of the neck, ending with a dot on the
upper head (paliombo).41 Then they all go to the bwalo (the ground) where the initiates
meet and dance with the chiefand in front ofthe public.
53