Zambian "Cousinships"

One Zambian government publication that I saw stated that the country has a “rich di­verse cultural heritage.”



There are absolutely some cultural gems here like Zam­bia’s claim to Musi-oi-Tunya (Lozi for “the smoke that thun­ders” — Victoria Falls), the traditional ceremonies that are spread across the country, as well as the clothing, endem­ic languages, the use of “Zam” as a prefix for companies (like Zambeef and Zambikes), and the notion of “cousinship” to name a few.



The man on the right is a Chokwe, while the man at center and woman on the left are from the Kaonde tribe.  Tribalism exists in Zambia, but the idea and use of "cousinship" has greatly reduced its effects, which has allowed Zambia to remain a very peaceful nation.

Some of those cultural as­pects we know about in the Western Hemisphere, but maybe you’re wondering what cousinship is?  It’s strictly Zambian and it’s an institution unto itself.



Cousinship is a practice in which Zambians from differ­ent tribes basically make fun of each other every chance they get. And yet, it’s all com­pletely out of fun — no offense is taken.

  When I first arrived in Zambia and witnessed the Zambians that work for Peace Corps practicing cousinship, I was completely taken back.



The things said were the kinds of statements that would get a fist to the face in the Unit­ed States, but after (and dur­ing) the back and forth, teeth were shown to be the result of huge smiles and deep laughs, not because of a snarl of anger.



A Kaonde man and a Chokwe man hold a photo of the former President of Zambia, Michael Sata, whom they both loved.  Sata was a Bemba.

Every Zambian belongs to a tribe (often they’re from a mixed tribal background) and each tribe has at least one cousinship tie with another tribe. Some of the cousinship jabs are based on food, like those from the North eating monkeys, while from the East, they eat mice.

  Some are based on intelli­gence: “The wise men came from the East…and never went back.” Others are based on perceived motivation, or lack there of, like with the La La tribe.  It’s said they sleep too much.



Occasionally they’re seed­ed in the average height of a tribe — the Lunda tribe — and others still are more subtle as is the case with the tribe that I stay with, the Kaondes, and one of their traditional cous­ins, the Lozis of Western Prov­ince.

Mrs. Fubisha (foreground) and her mother separating maize from the cob.  She's of the Lamba tribe, but married a Kaonde man.  Inter-tribal marriages have also greatly helped Zambia's peacefulness. 

Once, a long time ago, the Lozis came north to Kaonde­land looking for land to graze their cattle, and as often oc­curred back then, a fight erupted between those look­ing for land and those holding the land.



The Lozis were fighting hard to take this new land and were beating the Kaondes badly.  The Kaondes were los­ing so badly that the remain­ing warriors were forced to re­treat up a steep hill with the Lozis in full pursuit.



With no hope, the Kaondes began rolling rocks down the hill and killing the Lozis.  Even­tually, they killed enough that the tide of the battle turned and the Lozis were pushed back.  The Kaondes had won.



Now, it is enough for a Kaonde to give a Lozi a hand­ful of rocks as a reminder of the battle so long ago. Instead of punches, laughs will break out.  That’s cousinship.

  All these cousinships have their roots based in past bat­tles and wars. At some point the tribes battled one another and at the end of this a cousin­ship formed between the two. These cousinships allowed the tribes a way of making peace and forming tribal bonds be­tween one another.



Traditional drummers and a xylophone player at a Kaonde Traditional Ceremony (Ntongo) in North-Western Province, Zambia.  A sense of place within a tribe is a powerful thing to many throughout Zambia, but it's not a limiting factor for most.

This might seem like a strange and bloody way to get some laughs, but Zambia has had a very peaceful history (something that some African countries can only dream of) and it’s largely due to cousin­ship.



Instead of having to side­step certain issues, having to become overly politically cor­rect or letting anger build up, this is an opportunity to poke fun at one another and lighten the mood.



I don’t know how well cous­inships would work in the United States. I imagine Tex­ans would undoubtedly be up­set, those from New Jersey would continually feel picked on, Southerners would turn re­bellious (again) and Midwest­erners would go from being Midwest nice to Midwest mean in seconds.

Maybe it would work though, and just maybe it would relieve some of our na­tion’s tensions and anxiety.