Gatherings in Zambia: get-togethers of men

Gatherings in Zambia: get-togethers of men. Small gatherings of men take place in the nsaka, a round, open shelter – sometimes with a wall as high as 75 centimetres – that is present on every farm. Women, however, sometimes also use the nsaka or are present while some men gather there.

Proverb 40¹Example from the proverb book Amano mambulwa.²Photo 143.

Icikalilwa pa nsaka ni nshima

Insaka nincende imo umo abantu abalalume bekala nokutusha yangula ukulabilapo utwa malyashi utwa mu mushi bekala. Nakambi encende aba mu mushi abalalume naba baice balila icakulya. Abanakashi batwala inshima ku nsaka ekwakulila. Nomba ulo ico bakonkele capwa kufumamo. Takwabapo uko abekala calo bangabomba umulimo utakwetepo ubuyo ngabakofwaya ubuyantanshi. Enco pakucita icily conse kano mwabonapo ifyo cakumubombela.

Men in the resting shelter means food will be brought in

Things are as they are. A village shelter is a place where the men of the village go to rest and go through issues pertaining to the village. It is also a place where men plus young boys eat communally. Women take plates of food to the resting shelter. And after that men leave because they have had what they needed. The local community will only do new things when it is clear that these will bring fruitful results. So before embarking on a project, people should be aware of what it will bring to them.

These get-togethers have become rare

Gatherings in Zambia: get-togethers of men. In the 1980s and later, get-togethers of men in the nsaka were rare since most lived on farms where only one or two men were present. And, music was not very important for these gatherings. When the people still lived in villages, there was quite a repertoire for these meetings consisting of songs taken from the hunting, mourning and other repertoires, and of stories. The men’s leisure instruments accompanied these songs: the lamellophones, the musical bow, the manyema or a single ilimba. Nowadays, the use of instruments is rare except for the occasional banjo or, perhaps, kankobele.

Song 115

A hunting song accompanied on one ilimba by Kambele, 1981.

Text of Song 115 ∵ Where the hunter went

Kwalola bacibinda kawa
Kwalola nkonkalume kwabukabilila
Kwalola balukonga banama yenkabilila
Cepausha manyama ukonaile mukubamba

Where the hunter went, it’s now late
Where the big hunter went, it’s getting hot [it’s promising]
Where the small hunter went it’s less promising
Killer of game, where I went hunting

Song 116

A mourning song accompanied on the kankobele by Kambele, 1981.

Text of Song 116 ∵ Kamwale is lost

Kamulila nemunenu kamulila Kamwale
Kamwale waluba tumulile Kamwale
Kamwale wo
Bamama baliya kambalile wo
Bamayo baliya kambalile wo
Batata baloba kambalile wo
Batata baya kambalile wo
Nashala neka kanjilile wo
Kamwale waloba katulile Kamwale ee

Please cry, me, your friend, please cry for Kamwale
Kamwale has gone for good, let’s cry for Kamwale
Kamwale wo
My mother is gone, let me cry for her wo
Mother is gone, let me cry for her wo
My father has disappeared, let me cry for him wo
My father has gone, let me cry for him wo
I have remained alone, let me cry for myself wo
Kamwale has disappeared, let us cry for Kamwale ee

Song 117

A kankobele song by Tamala Waiti, 1981.

Text of Song 117 ∵ The singer for many

Ba Mukumbo wesu/mwe, mumpeko akasengo
Cimba mubengi, iyo cimba mubengi

Mukumbo of ours/you, give me the small horn
The singer for many, oh the singer for many

Continuous text repetitions, near ‘meditations’, were normal in men’s private music.