THE SIGNIFICANCE AND RESILIENCE OF THE CHINAMWALI INITIATION CEREMONY OF THE CHEWA PEOPLE OF KATETE DISTRICT OF ZAMBIA IN THE FACE OF SOCIAL CHANGE BY PEGGY MUTALE A dissertation submitted to the University of Zambia in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the Masters of Education in Religious studies UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA Lusaka 2017 COPYRIGHT All rights reserved. No part of this dissertation maybe reproduced or stored in any form or by any means without prior permission in writing from the author or the University of Zambia. © 2017, Peggy Mutale, i DECLARATION ii CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL iii DEDICATION This piece of work is dedicated to my dear husband Dennis Milanzi, lovely children Shuko, Natasha, Mwenje and Malumbo Milanzi, my mum Monica Musonda and my little sisters, my niece Miyoba and her daughter Taonga for their support. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to express my sincere gratitude to God almighty who granted me sufficient grace to go through the process research and writing the dissertation. My sincere thanks go to Dr.Tomaida Milingo for her unwavering mentorship. I would also like to extend my gratitude to Dr. Gift Masaiti for the research skills he taught us during our course work period and the encouragement he continued rendering to me during my study. Special thanks to the entire Religious Studies Department especially Prof. Mumba Cheyeka, Dr. Ziwa and Dr. Simuchimba for their support and encouragement. And not forgetting the 2015/2016 RS cohort, you are a great family, Christine, Ba Chipembele Dickson, Anthony, Ba Pastor Michael, Mr Ngoma Ackson, Mr. Ngoma Christopher ( bakulu as the gentlemen always called you) and Brian Katunansa my brother. We have been together on this journey and I salute you. To all the participants in my research, I thank you, without you this study could not have succeeded To all my friends at the hostel, Cecilia, Euodia, Merinda, Frida and Peggy, your support motivated me to work even harder. Finally I would like to thank my family most sincerely, and Fr. John Mujdrica for their motivational words and support. v ABSTRACT The study explored the significance and resilience of Chinamwali initiation ceremony of the Chewa of Katete District. In doing so, there was deep interrogation in terms of roles, morals and why Chinamwali initiation has survived in the midst of social changes in the religious cosmology of the Chewa people of Katete district. The study employed the qualitative approach and used the phenomenological design. This was chosen because of its appropriateness and effectiveness in unpacking the cultural related aspects of the group. Data collection protocol mainly involved the interview guide, focus group discussion guide and the observation checklist. The population comprised of 25 respondents of which 15 were initiators, 7 initiates and 3 headmen. Purposive sampling was used to identify initiators snowball sampling technique was used to identify initiates and extreme case was used to identify the headmen. Data was analyzed by using the emerging themes. The study established that Chinamwali initiation ceremony plays a major role in the Chewa tradition. Its major role is to transmit values and traditions of the culture from generation to generation. Chinamwali is also believed to help girls in their moral behaviour in the sense that the girls learn to respect elders and how to behave in the community. The study also confirms that Chinamwali initiation has survived in the midst of social changes because it is part of the Chewa cultural heritage and it is a way of preserving social cohesion. Despite some modifications to certain rituals like the beating of drums instead of tins, using sketches instead of drawings, Chinamwali has remained the key mode of transiting cultural values from generation to generation. The study recommends that, Chinamwali remains the main mode of value transmission from one generation to another and the Chewa religion should promote having two separate initiation ceremonies for puberty and marriage purposes. Bad practices like teaching girls at puberty on how to behave in marriage and providing a fisi (man to sleep with the girl) after initiation lessons should be discouraged through adequate sensitization. KEY WORDS: Chinamwali, significance, Chewa, social changes. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS COPYRIGHT ................................................................................................................................. i DECLARATION .......................................................................................................................... ii CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL .............................................................................................. iii DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................................................ v ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................... vii LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... x LIST OF PICTURES................................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 1 1.1 Overview ....................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Background to the Study ............................................................................................................... 1 1.3 Problem Statement ........................................................................................................................ 5 1.4 Purpose of the Study ..................................................................................................................... 5 1.5 Study Objectives ........................................................................................................................... 5 1.5.1 General Objective ................................................................................................................. 5 1.5.2 Specific Objectives ............................................................................................................... 6 1.6 Research Questions ....................................................................................................................... 6 1.7 Significance of the study ............................................................................................................... 6 1.8 Conceptual Framework ................................................................................................................. 7 1.9 Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................................. 7 1.10 Operational Definition of Terms ................................................................................................... 8 1.11 Structure of the Dissertation ......................................................................................................... 9 CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ............................................... 10 2.1 Overview ..................................................................................................................................... 10 2.2 African Traditional Religion and the Initiation Rites ................................................................. 10 2.3 Studies on different Initiation Rites ............................................................................................ 14 2.4 Chinamwali as the Chewa initiation Rite for girls ...................................................................... 26 2.5 Social Change ................................................................................................................................... 33 2.6 Summary ........................................................................................................................................... 34 vii CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ......................................................... 35 3.1 Overview ................................................................................................................................. 35 3.2 Research Design .......................................................................................................................... 35 3.3 Population ................................................................................................................................... 35 3.3.1 Target Population ................................................................................................................ 36 3.4 Sample and Sampling Procedure ................................................................................................ 36 3.4.1 Purposive sampling ............................................................................................................. 36 3.4.2 Snowball sampling .............................................................................................................. 37 3.4.3