| Note his chair and scepter. |
My last blog post shared one aspect of my special opportunity to visit a king! I have been fascinated with the whole protocol of kingship since my first visit on his property two years ago. Two weeks ago on Saturday we were given the privilege of meeting him.
His name is Libosi Imwiko II. He is part of the Lozi tribe a people, who migrated from the Congo several hundred years ago. He is popular with his people though economic issue remain.
The cultural traditions of his people have been maintained, for the good or the bad. (Perspective).
The traditions are fascinating, foreign to me. Twice a year he moves. During the rainy, summer season he lives in Mongu proper. (Photo below) In the dry season he moves to the flood plain of the Zambzi River.
The regalia of him moving locations, is festive and very expensive for the people, but they love it and hold on to this experience. The king has one large canoe, his wife another! We visited the grounds on the flood plane this time. It is very, very modest and run down but, the tradition remains. We were not allowed to photograph his residence on the flood plane.The pictures of the king below I snagged from Google. :)
The tribal attire is bright and beautiful the red hat denotes he is chief as well. Chiefs of every village sport their red hats. In future blogs of Zambia you will see reds hats abound.
The King's land in Mongu has Lozi's renting from him. I asked how one got to 'be' on the Kings land. As in all cultures, it is political, whose village do you belong too, for example. It also costs a lot of money...I guess we would consider it the high rent district. The Zambzi river connects him to both of his homes. The photo below is the incredible sunset where the Zambzi forks onto his property. |
| A little chief in the making. |
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| He sits in within the striped area to greet the people. His home is behind the wall. |
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| Sunset on The Kings property. |
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| Women heading home for the evening. They live on the kings property |
When a tradition gathers enough strength to go on for centuries,
you don't just turn it off one day.
Chinua Achebe
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