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FROM CHINAMWALI TO CHILANGIZO:

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girls are taken to their respective homes. In almost every home there is a cluster ofpeo­<br />

ple drinking and chatting. Others who could not attend the whole ceremony come at<br />

least for this last day.<br />

The hair shaving ritual (kumeta) ends the girls' five-day seclusion period of the chi­<br />

namwali. At the tsimba their hair is cut short (in the past all the hair was shaved). Peo­<br />

ple believe that the hair should never enter the parent's home for fear that witches might<br />

steal the hair for chizimba (activating agent in magic). The hair must therefore be dis­<br />

posed of in a pit latrine. The logic is that the girl is now an adult, and everything from<br />

the old 'nature' must be left behind or be disposed of. After the hair shaving ritual, the<br />

girls wait at the mtengo, where their friends continue to teach them all the things they<br />

have been learning. They wait until all the other activities finish so that the women con­<br />

tinue with their programme to escort the girls to their homes to re-incorporate them,<br />

now adults, into the community life and its obligations. In other cases, this is done the<br />

following day.<br />

Dressed smartly (not necessarily new clothes) and with their heads covered, the girls sit<br />

lined up at the chiefs house. The mothers are supposed to 'redeem' their daughters by<br />

giving the chief the required amount per girl. Any man wishing to marry a girl would<br />

quickly discuss with the girl's uncle and give the redeeming money to the girl's mother<br />

and so she becomes his wife soon after the initiation.55 When all the dues are paid to the<br />

chief and with the leading girl in front, they all proceed to the home of the first girl<br />

while singing: Namwali tikamtule komake, Akasonkhe moto (Let us take the initiate<br />

back to her mother, to make fire). After performing all the necessary rites discussed<br />

below, they proceed to the home of the next one, and so on until all the girls are fin­<br />

ished.<br />

The mother welcomes them usually into the girl's own house, or if she does not have<br />

her own house, into her mother's house. Then at night the girl sleeps at a friend's house,<br />

for it is impolite for a mature girl to sleep in the same house with her parents. At the<br />

door, the namkungwi tells the girl to kneel while the other girls wait standing. The na­<br />

mkungwi puts a small stick below the first stair into the house. She helps the girl to<br />

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