The importance water in Bemba culture: Ukusefya pa N’gwena - celebrating the crocodile.
My home country Zambia is nation fillled with a rich culture consisting of around 72+ recognised tribes and dialects. The Bemba tribe makes up a significant portion of the northern province of Zambia and the most spoken language having about 3.6 million citizens who speak it as their first language. The origins of Abemba can be traced as an off shoot of the Luba-Lunda kingdom that originated from the Congo basin, (See The origins of Ababemba ). The legend has it that a Luba king called Mukulumpe met a an alien woman in a forest named Mumbi Mukasa with ears as large as an elephant with no relatives but a descendant of the Ngwena clan (crocodile), that had allegedly fallen from the sky. They then proceed to birth three sons and one daughter Nkole, Katongo, Chiti and Chilufya Mulenga, who then fleed their fathers tyrannical rule and fled across the Luapula river into what is know today as the northern province of Zambia , my hometown. This history has shaped the rituals and culture we&