Songs and dances in Zambia: the cinsengwe ing’omba

Songs and dances in Zambia: the cinsengwe ing’omba. There have been famous singers/composers who made such an impression and had such a distinct style that their names were connected to their songs as if they were song genres. These ing’omba were musicians-singers-composers, possessed by the spirit of a deceased ing’omba. Each led an ensemble that accompanied his songs. They were ing’omba sha cinsengwe (cinsengwe ing’omba), also called ing’omba sha malimba (ilimba ing’omba). They provided the classical repertoire for the one-note xylophone ensemble.

Cinsengwe ing’omba still known in Chibale

Musoka (died before 1940)
He had a village in Serenje chiefdom, some 120 kilometres east-north-east of Chibale.

Nkasabanya (died c.1950)
He was chief Kabamba, a chiefdom some 40 kilometres north-east of Chibale. Though people remembered his name, we have no recordings of his songs.

Chitelela (c.1870 – c.1954)
He was born in Chibale and had a village, Wasa, near Sancha hill. He began singing in the beginning of the 20th century and was very old when he died. People always recollect one particular story when talking about Chitelela. He left his village and Chibale, after having had prolonged problems with relatives not taking his advice. And he never returned. He went to live north of Chibale at the border between Muchinda and NaMopala because some of his relatives had settled there. Since he came from Chibale, some of his songs, notably Song 1, are played at identity/cultural heritage occasions, accompanied by the ilimba ensemble.

Susa (c.1895 – c.1955)
He was the youngest of the four and began in the 1930s. He was an official (kapaso) of chief Shaibila, some 40 kilometres west of Chibale.

Bringing ritual knowledge and news from across the region

Ing’omba have existed and still exist throughout the Kaonde-Lamba-Lenje-Lala area. They perform at beer parties, Cisungu, Cililo and Ipupo.
They were not in the service of chiefs, like the Bemba ing’omba¹See Mapoma (1974 & 1980a).. But chiefs, being organisers of many gatherings, often used their services. And they were advisors of the chief in case of problems. They ranked among the most influential persons of their time.

They played on invitation at important rituals and feasts and were experts in ritual knowledge. The cinsengwe ing’omba met each other as well as ing’omba of adjacent, ‘non-Lala’, areas forming an informal interregional network. Therefore, they were major sources of information and conservative innovation. They criticised and commented on any issue of importance for the region. Their reach, in both senses, is said to have been much bigger than that of the travelling Ciwila and Moba possessed of that time.

All possessed have more knowledge about kupupa but the ing’omba we are talking about had specialisation according to the way they did it. In case of poor yield, you could invite them to help in the kupupa, so next year would be better. But mostly, it was for Cililo, Ipupo, Cisungu, and Bwalwa. At Cisungu to make it hot (pa kukafye cila) and to bring new songs appropriate for the occasion which were an honour for the owner. The same for Bwalwa. There was no kupupa during Cisungu and Bwalwa. They were ‘paid’ through ritual gifts (kutaila). After the ing’omba had played their songs, new ones and old ones especially suitable for the occasion, people started making their own music again. Having an ing’omba at your daughter’s Cisungu-coming-out or at your beer party guaranteed a big attendance.
Mika Mwape Chungwa ∵ personal communication, 1986.

A reference to a network of ing’omba

Song 31

A cinsengwe made by the ing’omba Chitelela as sung by Mika Mwape Chungwa, 1986.

Text of Song 31 ∵ An informal network of ing’omba

Twakumana ba Susa wesu
Abanakashi bafye ukukumana
Twakumana ba Susa wesu
Mumbuleko icisemo mulokwimba icabwangu
Nkabuleko ba Ngosa Mano
Icisemo cilokwimba ba Susa wesu

We have met, Susa of ours
The children of one mother meet each other
We have met, Susa of ours
Pass on to me an example of the latest way of singing
I will go and inform [my wife] Ngosa Mano
About the way of singing of Susa of ours

One cinsengwe ing’omba, Chitelela, asks the other, Susa, to give him the latest in music. Wesu en abanakashi bafye indicate they are close and of the same trade.

The cinsengwe-ing’omba were mediums

Songs and dances in Zambia: the cinsengwe ing’omba. In case of Chitelela, the possessing spirit was Mulota. Therefore he was also sometimes called Mulota (Dream). Nkasabanya possessed Nkasabanya. The spirit Musoka possessed Musoka, his human name is not known. The original Musoka was an advisor (cilolo) of the chief, no shing’anga, dancer or singer. Susa was possessed by Mboloma, a chief in Mkushi district. The spirits that possessed them had already possessed ing’omba before them, except for Mboloma: ‘that was the start of a line’.

In the 1980s and later, ing’omba also were possessed but not by an ing’omba spirit. The word, also muomba, denotes a singer/dancer/composer who is invited to heat a ritual or feast through the good music and dancing he or she is able to bring. Chief Chibale invited ing’omba for rituals and feasts. This were famous Ciwila dancers (ing’omba ya baciwila) like Kansenkele and Sitifini Nunda. And shing’anga (ing’omba ya banamwami) like bamukaNdubeni, Mwela and Chalebaila. All these persons combined great musical qualities with a renowned knowledge of music, exegesis and rituals.
In the 2000s, Chibale Katumpa (ing’omba ya baciwila) was invited for Identity/Cultural heritage occasions.

Ensemble leader/singer/composer

Chitelela, Nkasabanya, Musoka and Susa differed from the possessed in the 1980s in that they were musebe players leading their own ensemble. They did not dance. The ing’omba was the lead vocalist and played two musebe, one in the right, one in the left hand. This double musebe was the mark of the ing’omba-ship. Chitelela’s musebe had names: the right one was called Namwele and the left one Telesa (after his wife). The other instruments in their ensemble were three one-note-xylophones (ilimba), one mukonkonto (sticks) and one, two or three mataba pa mbale (maize on a tray). So the maximum size of the ensemble was eight players. No drums were used for their music. In their time the ilimba and the drums were both normal. They could be alternated, but were never used together. Before their days drums were also used to accompany ilimbalakata and after their days too.
Contrary to other ing’omba in this period, the four were settled, that is not roaming like other professional dancers. However, through invitations coming from a rather large area, they served a large area. When playing in or near their village, they were mostly accompanied by the wife and people around. When further away, they took along three people (kampenga) to accompany them. Occasionally, they played in towns at special occasions for a large audience of diverse origin.

Tensions around the one-note xylophone and the drum

Songs and dances in Zambia: the cinsengwe ing’omba. The cinsengwe ing’omba did not dance and did not use drums. Some say: “they forbade the use of drums for their songs”. This may be an indication of a rekindling of the musebe-ilimba ensemble, the hunter’s music ensemble, possibly connected to the regaining of independence (from chiefdom) of hunting and hunting possession around 1900.
The relation between the one-note xylophone and the drum was not without tensions in the 20th century. Presumably this has to do with the process that during the 20th century practically all music for larger groups that was played inside either went public/outside or disappeared. The public version could differ from the inside one. This presumably is the reason that the ilimbalakata by some was called the cinsengwe accompanied by the drums while a ‘real’ (inside) cinsengwe would be accompanied by the (musebe-) ilimba ensemble. Related tensions in the same period were those between spirit possession connected to the local, central cults like that of the ing’omba and spirit possession of a more peripheral, cult of affliction nature (Moba and a part of the Ciwila possessed) that increasingly became involved with the local cults.

A tradition of ing’omba

Songs and dances in Zambia: the cinsengwe ing’omba. It is unlikely that ing’omba only existed in the 20th century. Many believe that the ing’omba were bamafumu. Based on what people say, we can make the following, hypothetical a reconstruction of their role in history. In the Bamafumu period the bamafumu provided political and spiritual leadership. They were the political leader, his or her advisors (cilolo), the shing’anga, the great hunter and the ing’omba. These were the people who had to lead a respected way of life. The ing’omba were the specialists in kupupa. They were not many. The gifts given to the ing’omba in fact were gifts given to the spirit possessing him. People would not say “Chibuye [human name] is coming to dance” but “Lucele [spirit name] is coming”.

Travelling shrines

So, in a way they were travelling shrines.
They earned a part of their living by roaming the country as, like literature calls them, ‘professional musicians/dancers’. Because they moved about and informed each other, they knew better ways and alternatives from other regions. The people consulted them about what to do ritually because of their knowledge about the old and the changed rituals of a rather large area comprising the Lala, Lenje, Lamba and Lima regions. Like in the possession cults of the 1980s, alternatives from other places were tested and tasted as viable possibilities for solving complicated problems.

After the political chief had become dominant, in the Bamfumu period, he needed ing’omba for kupupa which involved singing. For other kupupa he only needed the advisors or headmen. In this way, the ing’omba served in the chiefly cult while they were a more central part of the local, central cults before the chiefly cult. They guided the chief in his work since they were in contact with the bamafumu of old, ‘the owners of the land’. In this period the ing’omba also became the criticiser of the chief.
A relic is that also in the 1980s the mediums present at the Ipupo lya fikankomba could criticise the chief’s behaviour in songs. The chief, if agreeing, would give that dancer, but in fact the possessing spirit, a relatively large gift to show his respect for the advice given. They say that this was normal in former days: “the chief trusted the ing’omba”.

Ing’omba in historical stories

Ing’omba regularly play a role in stories. Even for historians it will be confusing since it is often unclear whether in a certain story it is the historical figure who acts or that it is someone possessed by his spirit. An example of this is the story about Kunda Mpanda, the founding father of the Ambo (Kambonsenga). Kunda Mpanda wants to capture the daughter of Lungo whom he has already married secretly but Lungo is not willing to let his daughter be married to him and has taken her somewhere else.²Munday (1940: 446-447).

Kunda Mpanda roams the country as an ing’omba

Kunda Mpanda all night is looking for the chief’s wife [his wife] and not seeing her, no. Therefore Kunda Mpanda asked the band of his clansmen together with the councillors saying: what shall I do? Consider. All spoke saying: she has crossed the Luapula, she has gone into the countries. Therefore Kunda Mpanda said: I shall go, I shall look for her, perhaps I shall find her. Therefore he took a few people and a drum and rattles. Saying: on going into the countries you must speak saying: it is a professional-dancer [ing’omba] going dancing for hire in the countries; that nobody may know that it is Kunda Mpanda the chief from the Luapula; we should find war, we should not see many countries, no.
That is the wisdom he planned on crossing the Luapula, that he might see a long journey beginning at the West and reaching the Mulungushi River, and reaching the Chongwe River, he went on and reached the Zambezi, he went on and reached the Luangwa river, there he found powerful chiefs, there was Lungo there too.
He began energetically to dance saying: Indeed it is at Lungo’s and my wife’s here. He began to dance. Then all came to dance with him, and the chief’s wife [his wife] also went to see. But Kunda Mpanda saw saying: that one is my wife. Then he went and caught hold of her saying: Peace? And she said: Peace. Then they went to a hut to question one another about the journey and their flight. The chief’s wife [His wife] spoke saying, it is not my palaver, no, it is father who began (it). Kunda Mpanda lived peacefully with the chief’s wife [his wife].

The repertoire of the cinsengwe ing’omba

Songs and dances in Zambia: the cinsengwe ing’omba. The ing’omba made cinsengwe with new texts and infrequently with new melodies (musango). They played their songs, already existing ones and a few new ones, for audiences anxious to hear their songs and texts. Sometimes people danced during the songs. Their music was widely copied, mostly then accompanied by three ilimba only. Their song texts are longer than those of most possession songs, which only consist of two lines, and so can bear more meaning. People consider their language to be deeper. Below you will find four Chitelela, one Musoka and two Susa cinsengwe.

The ing’omba songs were still appreciated in the 1980s. Chief Chibale Teneshi Njipika, played an important role in this. He was an accomplished player of the ilimba. Because many beer parties of the old type (Bwalwa) were organised for him or by him, the ilimba set was still played and the nyimbo sha kwa Chitelela and sha kwa Susa (songs of Chitelela and of Susa) were not forgotten. People also often sang their songs, unaccompanied or accompanied on the lamellaphone (listen to Song 75), for personal use (by older people), or in the family circle. During the 1990s, especially the songs of Chitelela gained status as cultural heritage music emphasising Chibale identity. The most frequently played song is Chitelela’s outstanding Amalimbe fi alila kwa Chibale, a song in which the appeal and power of music are contrasted with the utmost loneliness.

Song 32

A cinsengwe criticising the British made by the ing’omba Chitelela as sung by Mika Mwape Chungwa, 1986.

Text of Song 32 ∵ A dog is never trusted

Shilafula mfumu bafumya mu calo
Abasungu bacitala bamwansha nsoni
Takwaba mbwa ishibile
Babapata ukwabanesu
Babasamfya ubutungulushi bwabo
Bakushala busulutani ili bamina amabala

They reduced the number of chiefs in our country
The white man intervened, bringing shame to those
A dog is never trusted
They hated our friends
They cleansed them of their leadership
To leave them a headmanship: to scare the birds from the gardens

The song comments on the decreasing of the number of chiefdoms in both Serenje and Mkushi districts from 10 to 8 by the colonial government around 1930. Even if a dog is faithful, he is not always treated well. After this measure, two chiefs in each district were demoted to be just headmen taking care of a village. To scare the birds from the gardens is the duty of a young man.

Song 33

A cinsengwe made by the ing’omba Chitelela as sung by Franki Kampukesa, 2004

Text of Song 33 ∵ Now I’m tired

Ati/Baine nakokwelapo nakokwelapo nomba natendwa
Nakusende misebe yanji nakulola mbonshi ne muomba ilinyimba
Katwishi nokubwela nkalola mu mbonshi nikabanga lyaboya

I have spent much time here, now I’m tired
I’ll take my musebe westwards, me, the ing’omba playing on the way
I don’t know whether I’ll return from the west, maybe I’ll die there

This famous song Chitelela brought just before he left Chibale for Muchinda after having had troubles with some of his relatives. ‘To go westward’ implies the intention never to return – in actual fact Chitelela went northwards. As in Song 1, the last line is remarkably dark. In Song 173, Chitelela sings about the same theme.

Song 34

A cinsengwe commenting on important local issues made by the ing’omba Chitelela as sung by Mika Mwape Chungwa, 1986.

Text of Song 34 ∵ Strangers are thieves

Icupo mulokufya abomwishibile
Muulokufya abena fyalo, balupuma mbuto, bakabwalala abalwani
Bayibile imbalala/ndalama sha banafyala
Ala banafyala bashele mubwamba
Ngabaliko ba Kabiki ngabalimukonkele
Kabamwikata kabalokupanda ati lipanga

You should marry them to somebody you know
Don’t have her marry those who come from other regions, who will eat sowing-seeds; strangers are thieves
They stole the groundnuts/money of their mothers-in-law
So the mother-in-law remained without
If Kabiki would have been around he would have followed
And caught them to beat them as if them were mouses

As people had to pay hut tax in cash instead of in kind, men went out to try their luck in the Copperbelt area. Since they had to walk there, and back, they passed villages on their way where they stayed for a short period. Traveling before this period had not been rare and was facilitated by the clan system. Your clansmen would feed you and give you a place to stay. But with the numbers involved in the migrant labour things had to go wrong. ‘Strangers are thieves’ means: we used to welcome the strangers that visited our villages and find them interesting, but nowadays it is better to think the other way around.

Song 35

A mourning cinsengwe made by the ing’omba Chitelela as sung by Mika Mwape Chungwa, 1986.

Text of Song 35 ∵ Today you made a hole in Sancha

Cikonko mutima pamo no bwanga
Kamuwela, mwebalikupinga ukutibula Sancha
Lelo Sancha mwabikamo icipunda

Deep hatred in the heart, just like witchcraft medicines
Sing that chorus line well, you who were planning to drill a hole in Sancha hill
Today you have made that hole

Cikonko stands for any deep (bad) feeling which takes you into a certain state. Chitelela brought this song at the mourning ritual of an important person. Presumably it was a man because he is likened to the rock Sancha. He was hated by someone or a group in Chitelela’s village. The first line is a proverb (Proverb 2).

Proverb 2

Cikonko mutima pamo no bwanga
Deep hatred in the heart is like witchcraft medicine

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Song 36, a cinsengwe by the ing’omba Musoka, is very long and therefore we present it in a separate article.

Song 37

A cinsengwe with two stanzas in one musango, the same as in Song 38 (see below) and Song 134, made by the ing’omba Susa around 1940, as sung by Mika Mwape Chungwa, 1986.

Text of Song 37 ∵ Where the big hunter lay

Kulupili kwalila mfuti, kulupili kwakola necipungu
Kulele kasashi katemo kanamawele
Mone mishimu kotwakuya ulucelo
Umusana wakonekela mumapili
Mukukonkele ukulele bankombalume

In the hills a gun has sounded, in the hills the vulture coughs
There slept the swinger of the hunting axe, full of desire to hunt 
The spirits have shown us to go in the morning
The back has been broken in the hills
Because of tracing where the big hunter lay in wait

Ba Lunshi mutibwilwa
Mukosela kwabanya pa nsaka
Tamubwene batata wesu abenda mu mpanga bakasatya wa milimo
Ba Lunshi mutibwilwa
Sobone amaluma ng’ombe cabwela

Mr. Fly always waiting until a hole has been made
When it comes to sharing in the nsaka you are suddenly strong
Haven’t you seen our father going into the mpanga, always working very hard
Mr. Fly always waiting until a hole has been made
Come and see, the cutters of meat have returned

Song 38

A cinsengwe made by the ing’omba Susa around 1940, as sung by Sakaliya Mulwaso, 1981.

Text of Song 38 ∵ When getting it you were very humble

Cawaya umpene nkongole kale wampokele
Wabushe citala wantuka amatuka wati ni nambala
Pandalame shi wakope shisano walule tiki
Kabili walabila mucingeleshi wati pasopo
Pakukongola tewe ta walikupapata

Cawaya give me back what you got from me long ago
You have started to provoke me by saying that I am useless
My five shillings were a tickey [three pence] you say
You even speak in English saying ‘Pas op’
When getting it you were very humble

‘Pas op!’ is Afrikaans for ‘Watch it!’. In Chibale, it denotes a last warning.