CÉRÉMONIE NC’WALA DU PEUPLE NGONI

This ceremony near Chipata celebrates the end of the rainy season and the arrival of the new harvest. The festivities take place in two stages. The Ngoni chief tastes the first fruits (sugar cane, corn, squash). Then he performs a ritual of rebirth by locking himself in his house to drink a glass of bull's blood, sacrificed to bless the next seeds. The warrior dances performed by men dressed in leopard skin are the other highlight of the Nc'Wala.