Traditional Culture
The Luba tended to cluster in small villages, with rectangular houses facing a single street. Agriculture was based upon slash-and-burn cultivation in areas with good soil (usually by rivers), supplemented by hunting and fishing in the surrounding bush country. Kilolo, patrilineal chieftains, headed local village government, under the protection of the king. Cultural life centered around the kitenta, the royal compound, which later came to be a permanent capital. The kitenta drew artists, poets, musicians and craftsmen, spurred by royal and court patronage.
The Bambudye secret society had an important mnemonic device to help them keep straight the complex history and ritual life of the Luba nation. It was the lukasa, or memory board. Colored beads and shells set into a carved wooden board gave those who knew how to interpret it a spatial representation that would be used to help them remember important facets of Luba culture and history.
The Luba were famous as wood carvers. Particularly noteworthy were ceremonial masks, and such symbols of kingship as ceremonial canes, bracelets, and axes.
Another significant feature of Luba culture was kibuta – divination. The Bilumbu were spirit mediums who would enter a trance state, gazing into mboko, sacred baskets or gourds, within which ritual objects were placed. The diviner would use the objects within the mboko as an oracle, reading the will of the spirits through the position the objects took within the bowl.
For Baluba religion see the article on Baluba mythology.
Read more about this topic: Luba People
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