The Sunday News
The Tonga people of Zimbabwe/Zambia celebrate every harvest season through a special ceremony : lwiindi lwa kooloka, which is similar to the inxwala festivities of the Nguni people.
The ceremony is done as thanksgiving to the ancestors for the good harvest and to pave the way for the community to begin harvesting their crops. The ritual takes place at the time when the crops are ready for harvest.
People cannot harvest their crops until this ceremony has been performed. In the past, the whole community also had to abstain from sex over a number of days, as part of the preparations for the ceremony.
First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa and elderly Tonga women interact with girls on the importance of valuing their tradition and culture as well as preserving their dignity during nhanga/gota/ixhiba session
During preparations for the ceremony, the Sikatongo (village earth priest) announces the date of the ceremony to the people in order to give them a period for preparation before the ceremony date.
The Sikatongo – (mostly a male earth priest) and Mulela (the woman official custodian) of the kaanda ka malende (the sacred hut) are the key spiritual figures in the conduct of the festivities.
During preparations for lwiindi, the Sikatongo and Mulela go into seclusion from the community over a number of days. Women brew traditional beer that is presented to the ancestors.
Part of the preparation process involves the collecting of the first fruits of the harvest and presenting them to the Sikatongo, a day before the ceremony.
As the one in charge of the earth, the Sikatongo is responsible for all the environmental concerns of the community including the health of the livestock and good harvest.
Members of the community are required to bring the best of their agricultural produce to the kaanda ka malende, (the ancestral hut). The Sikatongo then blesses the crops and presents them to the ancestors and the Supreme Being, Leza.
After the produce has been blessed it is handed over to the women to be cooked and distributed to the whole community for a communal meal. Eating together also helped to appease the ancestors who are believed to be part of the community of the living dead.
This celebration is one of the biggest events which also involves visiting the malende (Tonga rain shrine) to offer supplications to balezya or mizimo (the rain ancestors) for a good harvest and to ask for more rains in the year ahead.
At the rain shrine, women gather around the sacred hut barefooted dressed in black outfits singing songs of praise and supplication to the mizimo or balezya requesting for more rain in the next season. (Source: @RealMzalaTom)
