Traditional Circumcision Ritual among the Bemba (Kudulidwa kwamene)
Bemba People
The Bemba (BaBemba) are a Bantu people living in southern Africa, in the region stretching from Eastern Katanga (DR Congo) to Zambia. Some communities are also established in Angola.
The Bemba ethnic group is composed of tribes which include; Bemba, Lamba, Tabwa, and each tribe is subdivided into a clan called “Mukowa.” The passage of power among the Bembas follows a matrilineal line, from the maternal uncle to the nephew.
The Bembas and Bazelas have been mining copper since time immemorial in Katanga. Copper craftsmen called themselves “copper eaters.”
Source: Voice of America
Circumcision practice among the boys
Circumcision is a traditional core activity given unprecedented importance. One of the important conventional events among the Bemba is preceded by a series of rituals.
The puberty rites in traditional societies among the Bemba, known as the circumcision ritual, take place every three years for boys between 12 and 16 years (sometimes 20 years/age of marriage).
Mothers are responsible for the upbringing of children until adolescence; then, with initiation, the young pass under the responsibility of men. It is, above all, a ritual of separation between teenagers and mothers, ushering them into adulthood.
The day before, the head of the circumcised is shaved and thus becomes a newborn (symbolically); at the end of the ceremony, they will be reborn as adults.
On the day of initiation, at nightfall, the women stay in their family courts away from the eyes of men and sing to bless their children while the men pass by the procession on the edge of the village and respond with shouts and ritual chants.
When the night is set, the women return to their homes. This is how the border between the masculine and the feminine materializes. The procession of men then progresses to the rock canopy, located on the cliff overlooking the village.
This place is strictly forbidden to the uninitiated, that is to say to women and children. It is in this sacred place of worship and sacrifice that the circumcised await.
Circumcision symbolizes rebirth and access to knowledge that entails responsibilities, suffering, efforts, and prohibitions for life to come. At the same time, through the sacrifice imposed by circumcision and the blood it causes to flow, invisible forces are attracted; they represent enormous energy that must be turned into a positive.
This ceremony is an opportunity to invoke rain and ask for good tidings. At each initiation is repeated something mythical, essential, and therefore dangerous.
The circumcised never reveal to the uncircumcised or women the secrets of their initiation and rituals performed. Moreover, they will keep a strong link between them from this moment.
The following day, at dawn, the men descend from the cliff to the village, parading their place with older men and women. At night, the same thing happens to the circumcised, who go down to the big box of the initiates, where they will sleep until the end.
They are supported by the music and songs of women who came to bless their children and celebrate their courage. The third day is a competition for the enormous feast where the whole village is present and the surrounding villages.
The town’s prestige is played there, associated with courage and the potential of young people. After circumcision, follow other tests: solitary experience in the bush without water, food, or blankets to end hunger, thirst, and cold.
To bear the suffering to be worthy of being a man. According to the popular among the Bembas, “The man who has not learned of suffering cannot do anything well.”
Initiation of girls
Female circumcision occurs around the age of 3 or 4 by women in the family. Then at puberty, the girl is taken care of by her mother, who introduces her to sexuality, women’s secrets, and their roles in the founding myths about women. In a general way, the ritual of transition from childhood to adulthood implies a notion of the sacrifice of a part of oneself and symbolic death.
It also introduces sexuality, and it is in this sense we must understand circumcision as a removal of the female part of the body and excision as that of the male role in the girl.
The child thus becomes an adult and learns that he is made to suffer and die, but the ceremony also founds solidarity and cohesion between generations and families.
Initiation involves obstacles, struggles, and suffering (asceticism, circumcision, tearing or cutting of teeth, mutilation). At the onset of first menstruation, girls are taught by grandmothers (older women) about cycles and rites related to sexuality, the role of women, childbirth, and songs associated with these different moments.
Then, when the rules are regular, the girl leaves, accompanied by a woman more elderly who is not her mother, in a secluded corner of nature; there, she digs a hole and sits above.
She will stay there all the time during her period to let her blood flow into the earth without eating or drinking. The woman who accompanied her stays close to protect her from possible kidnappers. Upon return, she will be considered a full-fledged woman and will be able to get married.
Conclusion
Most Bemba traditions are still practiced today, particularly the circumcision tradition. Although the practice has been phased out in so many urban and has been limited to only remote areas in the Bemba settlement in Zambian.
Circumcision is an essential tradition with a series and rituals and ceremonies. The process serves as an initiation process for young wards just hitting puberty.
The circumcision process includes sequential rites and spiritual activities that take days, with a huge ceremony to celebrate the young wards into adulthood on the last day. With the conclusion of these initiation rites, the Bembas believe they’ve come of age to take the next step in life (marriage).
