Passing on the rites of passage : girls' initiation rites in the context of an urban Roman Catholic community on the Zambian Copperbelt

For nearly a century, girls' initiation rites in Zambia have been banned by Roman Catholic missionaries, who considered the rites pagan and immoral. However, initiation rites persisted, secretly and in curtailed form. Today the church has changed its point of view and tries to revitalize and reevaluate initiation rites. Initiation rites are presently performed by women's church groups, lay groups centred around a church. This book, which is based on fieldwork conducted in 1992 in the township of Luangwa on the Zambian Copperbelt, examines the specific ideas and practices related to these rites. The majority of the population of Luangwa claim to be Bemba or related to the Bemba. A detailed description of an initiation rite the author witnessed in Luangwa is included