Lozi people

The Lozi (Balozi), 1.56 million people of Zambia and Zimbabwe, call their country Bulozi, Barotseland, the great Zambezi floodplain. Thirteen tribes, Bamakoma, Kwanda, Totela, Yeyi, Subia and their sisters, intermarried into one nation under the Litunga king, whose royal barge moves between dry and wet capitals in the Kuomboka ceremony, the greatest water festival of Africa. Cattle, floodplain maize and Zambezi fish feed the plain; Lozi drums, basketry and the Ngomalume pipes order its year. Kololo invaders once seized the plain, British treaties then fenced it into Northern Rhodesia, and independence folded it into Zambia; Barotse autonomy activism still stirs. Mongu markets, Senanga fisheries and the Kuomboka barges keep the floodplain kingdom remembering its water. Bamakoma, Kwanda and Subia villages still intermarry freely. Zambia and Zimbabwe both count Lozi citizens today. Bulozi remains the Lozi name for the homeland. Intermarriage still strengthens the bonds between all thirteen tribes. Lozi drums still summon the tribes to council.