Bemba: The Zambian wedding tradition with a focal point on the bride’s culinary skills

Jun 29, 2023 10:00AM ● By Jerrywright Ukwu

Image: Bemba bride using her teeth to cook. Photo credit: JEB Photography

The Bemba tribe is the largest of a whopping 72 different tribes in Zambia, Southern Africa. It is also the most predominant language in the country. Its homeland is Luapula, Northern, and Muchinga provinces. Some Bembas can also be found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola.

The Bemba tribe migrated to Zambia from the Luba Kingdom (present-day Democratic Republic of Congo) during the Bantu Migration, which took place between the 15th and 17th centuries.

Photo credit: JEB Photography

One exciting thing about the Bemba ethnic group is their traditional marriage rites. For them, marriage is a very serious process with several stages that must be completed before the couple is declared married! Each approach has its cultural significance. Also, because of the Bemba people’s strong sense of oral tradition, marriages are contracted by word of mouth, not by a certificate.

In the Bemba culture, marriage starts with a class called Bana Chimbusa, a secret counseling session for the bride. It is followed by Chilanga Mulilo, where the bride’s family takes different family dishes and presents them to the groom’s family, giving a symbolic preview of what the groom will be fed when married. Nights before the wedding are filled with many dance parties, a good warm-up for the ceremony, or the Ama Shikulo, an official merging of the two families where people give advice and best wishes to the couple.

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Photo credit: JEB Photography

As part of the tradition, the bride’s family cooks several traditional dishes for the groom’s family before the wedding. It shows the groom’s family that they can always eat at their in-law’s homes. Translated as ‘show the fire,’ it symbolizes an open invitation to the groom to dine with the bride’s family on all future visits. Before this, the groom could not eat at the bride’s parents’ or guardian’s house.

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Photo credit: JEB Photography

One controversial aspect of the tradition is that the bride uses her teeth to lift cooking utensils while preparing the meal for the groom’s family. It is used to prove that should the woman lose her limbs, she can still cook and care for her husband. Critics, however, say it is a misogynistic practice and should be taken off the rites.

Although some of these Bemba wedding traditions are no longer practised today, others are still in vogue, as many couples see the relevance and fun in having them as part of the wedding ceremony!