ABSTRACT

A traditional Bemba marriage was contracted by gradual steps, a series of stages, generally marked by ritual, by which a young man became incorporated in his wife's family by dint of joint residence and by exchange of his services for food and general support from his relatives-in-Iaw. To reach a stable Bemba marriage the relationship between the two groups had to reach a fine equilibrium based on sentiment, shared economic tasks and an accepted division of rights over the children of the union. It had always something of the trial and error nature about it, during the first years of married life, and it still had these characteristics in 1931.