the zambian kingdoms series: the kaonde people
the kaonde are a bantu-speaking people concentrated in solwezi, kasempa, mufumbwe, kalumbila, and mushindamo in north-western province. chikaonde — the kaonde language — is one of the seven official vernacular languages of zambia. their name means thin one, derived from the river kaondi — narrow and thin — where they settled.
their origin traces to the luba empire in what is now the DRC. before the year 1600, the kaonde people were part of the luba empire, belonging to the basanga group. three distinct clans migrated separately into what is now zambia between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries — each arriving at different times, from slightly different directions.
the river clan under chief kasongo settled around solwezi, having spent some time south of the kafue river where they came into contact with the ila people. the mushroom clan under chief kasempa arrived from the north and, finding the river clan already settled, moved further south. the monkey clan under chief ntambo arrived from the south — from the barotse floodplain, where they had been living among the aluyi and kololo, leaving after a dispute with the kololo invaders.
what is distinctive about the kaonde political history is what did not happen. the three clans never unified under a paramount chief. unlike the lozi with the litunga, the bemba with the chitimukulu, the ngoni with mpezeni, or the lunda with the mwata yamvo — the kaonde lived as loosely connected families with similar language and customs, moving around considerably and mixing with neighbouring tribes. when they settled their present territory in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, they acknowledged the paramount chief of the lunda empire to the north as their overlord. several autonomous kaonde chiefships arose in the eighteenth century and came to prominence in the nineteenth — a period marked by battles with the lozi and by kaonde slave raids against the ila.
north-western province — where the kaonde have lived for centuries — is the location of some of zambia's most significant modern copper discoveries. the kansanshi mine near solwezi, operated by first quantum minerals, is one of the largest copper mines in africa. the sentinel mine at kalumbila — also first quantum — is a massive open-pit operation. the lumwana mine — operated by barrick gold — is one of the world's largest copper mines by resource. the kaonde people are the indigenous inhabitants of the territory that these operations occupy.
the main traditional ceremony of the kaonde is the juba ja nsomo — hosted by senior chief kasempa of kasempa district, held during the first week of june. the chief blesses the food and the land, prays for protection from fierce animals, and gives thanks for the abundance of the season.
the zambian kingdoms series continues. 🇿🇲
